If Kat had realized that there was evidently something special about names with humans, she may not have thought out loud about hers. The looks she got from both Taz and Bo told her enough, and even more so the shake of Robo-Cop's head. Humans. She sighed to herself, turning slightly to listen to what Commander Jackass was saying. Which wasn't even very interesting in the first place. Jeeze, what is it with humans? You just do it, you don't talk about it. What if someone is listening in? Kat was absolutely perplexed with them as they were with her, though as Bo helped to place Wolf's head over Reign's she couldn't help but grin slightly with the gentle way he did it; Kat hadn't met very many humans like that. She gave him a rare smile and just said "Thanks."
Is he EVER going to shut up? She wondered as C.J. continued talking... and talking... and talking. Kat yawned but then turned her head as Razu came out of the cockpit. She saw his eyes look over the way Reign and Wolf were placed on her back and actually complemented her? What th- uh, am I entirely sure these people are human? She shook her head and had to stifle a laugh as Razu stared down C.J. She took that moment, quick to fully settle Wolf and Reign comfortably on her shoulders, and then moved out with Bo, Taz, Razu, and Senturo. She sighed as they moved, she noticed that, though they may not have been trying, but the four she was walking with almost made a circle around her again. She shrugged it off having told Robo-Cop she'd be a good little girl, though she ended up growling as the Commander barked at her again. Though instead of getting mad, she laughed.
"Yeah, but this 'ghost' promised to be on her best behavior and stick with these guys C.J." When Kat heard Bo ask about the mask, she sighed again as they spoke about her as if she weren't there. She'd break them of that habit yet. Though something in Bo's voice didn't really put her on guard. I'd bet my last tooth he's like one of those gentle giants. She thought to herself. Kat kept her footsteps pretty much silent unless you had superb hearing, along with the quiet steps, Kat continued to keep her center of balance low to the ground and looked around. When Senturo left it didn't really surprise her as she had heard him ask Razu about snipers. Hmmm, well, whatever a sniper is it must be pretty dangerous. She thought.
Taz's question once more caught her off guard though. Had Kat wolf ears still, she would have flicked one. She really didn't seen too much harm in the question and didn't see the reason why Razu glared at Taz. 'Sides, now that she thought about it... "I don't know." She said simply, continuing to walk as if nothing was abnormal. "I don't travel normally by maps or names of cities. I don't bother. I go where I want and don't give a damn about what I'd find there. And, well, I don't even remember coming into the city. Oh well. Once you've seen one city, you've seen 'em all."
A little further on Kat started to crouch a little more. She could smell blood faintly. Though her nose on the outside and her ears were normal, she had allowed herself to keep some of her wolf senses in order to be more aware of her environment. Her eyes flicked from one side to another. She flinched slightly, not having remembered that Razu was next to her, she listened quietly to what Razu said. Though just as C.J. spoke, she growled and watched as the jackass ran off! She snarled as Razu reached that point and then swiftly bent down as low as she could go and still walking as he told them to get down. Fuck, fuck, FUCK! She snarled in her mind. That Jackass is going to get everyone here killed. She moved up closer only to duck down into the ledge in the road with the others, snarling as the road above busted with blasts from the Strider's guns.
Crap! Now what are w- Kat paused for a second. Looking up but then quickly looking down. Shit! If we don't move soon we'll be surrounded and then we'll really be fucked. She carefully looked between Razu, Taz, and Bo. I said I'd be good, but if it means saving their lives... wait, wait a second. I promised I'd not run ahead of the group.. I never said anything about going backwards or off to the sides. Slowly so that Kat didn't make her movement noticeable to the incoming Striders she put Reign down first and the put Wolf's body over his, overlapping their heads once more. She still felt they wouldn't shoot at him as long as Wolf had that helmet.
She crawled over towards Razu, her eyes slightly golden once more. Before she spoke she touched her burn marks and the left over bullet holes. She hadn't fully healed yet. There's too much to heal all at once, on top of all this stress. I have a bad feeling I'm going to be over doing this. She thought, wincing slightly as she pulled a finger out that had fresh blood on it from her wounds from up on the big ship. But still... she looked over at Wolf and at Reign.
"Razu." She whispered, edging closer to him. "If we don't get out of here we're gonna learn the entire idea of becoming one with our environment." She looked up at the Striders. "You know I can take more hits then you or the others. I heal and grow things back in a matter of minutes, hours, or just a couple days depending on the wounds. You all don't." The fur rippled back down her leg as she spoke, slipping her hand into her jacket pocket she reached into her pocket and then pulled out the bullet from before. "Here's the bullet your friend was shot with. I caught a scent from before, this is just in case I can't find you guys for a while. Figure out who shot him." Kathryn dropped the bullet into Razu's hand and then shivered into her wolf form, her new Syi blade clamped between her teeth carefully, her jacket actually fitting her wolf form. She turned and winked at Taz, a long lupine grin on her face.
Carefully creeping out, Kathryn moved out into a shadow, keeping low to the ground, her belly dragging along it as she moved. She aimed to somehow get behind the Striders. Little by little she crept until she didn't move any more. Staying in the deepest shadow. Come on... come on walk past me. She lowered herself down as far as she could, hoping beyond hope that her plan worked. Carefully, she changed into a more human shape clamping down on her mouth to keep from panting. Her bullet and burn wounds had reopened all the way and some blood was dribbling out again. What have I gotten myself into. She wondered as she lay there. Now more human then wolf. Her face human and the fur back to where it was when she left the group. Claws out and holding onto the Syi blade. Please, let this work.
((Bwahahaha! Third page! >3))
News: ~August 18th 2022~ - (Old News)
The move has been completed successfully! Everything appears to have survived the move just fine, but if anyone finds a broken link or anything else that doesn't work as it should, please make a post in Away from the Woods to let me know, thank you.
RP News: ~November 19th 2015~ (Old RP News)
There is no current plot. The forests welcome new travelers within these lands.
Event Status: Not Active (each accepted character allowed to RP in multiple RP threads)
RP Season: Summer
This means everything is green, flowers are everywhere, and the shining sun creates a need for shady shelter on the warmest days.
The move has been completed successfully! Everything appears to have survived the move just fine, but if anyone finds a broken link or anything else that doesn't work as it should, please make a post in Away from the Woods to let me know, thank you.
RP News: ~November 19th 2015~ (Old RP News)
There is no current plot. The forests welcome new travelers within these lands.
Event Status: Not Active (each accepted character allowed to RP in multiple RP threads)
RP Season: Summer
This means everything is green, flowers are everywhere, and the shining sun creates a need for shady shelter on the warmest days.
~ Fallen Angels ~ (Mild adult Language and Violence)
Moderator: forgerofsouls
OOC: @Barbie: I assume Siru would not hesitate to hang on to Li-Six, so I'm moving forward a bit here.
---------------
Far below Siru's window, in the street, a small troupe of striders were advancing, searching he abandoned shops and storefronts with silent efficiency. The area was quickly becoming swamped with enemy presence. The window of escape was quickly shrinking.
A faint shimmer and the clicking of grappling hooks could be sensed close to the window as the cloaked tank moved down the side of the building to where Siru was making himself heard. The, now fainter, blue light she used for communication blinked from thin air straight in his face.
No sound. she said in code.
Enemy all around.
Scanners fooled for now.
Climb on.
Hang on.
A section of the air shimmered briefly, revealing a handhold floating in the air outside the window, ready for Siru to grab onto.
The marine carefully climbed up into the window frame and reached out for the floating hand hold. It took some courage to make that small jump clear of the window, with seemingly nothing below but a long fall to the street fourty meters down. But as he did his foot connected with something invisible and Siru realized he was in fact hunched on the side of Li-six (since she hung unto the side of the building), his hand holding tight onto a handhold right below her side rocket launcher.
The tank's cloak was a distortion field rerouting light past the tank. Essentially, by allowing light to bend around the tank instead of hitting it, and since no photons could be reflected back off any surface of the tank it was truly invisible to scans in a wide range of wavelengths. The technique was almost identical to the one employed by the Dragoons, and some claimed human engineers must have used alien technology to create it. Then again, others claimed it was in fact the Dragoons that had stolen the technique from the humans in the same way they seemed to adapt to so many other things.
The problem with the cloak was its complexity. It was tuned to the outline of Li-six and it took careful re-alignment to change that shape -- time she didn't have. So she couldn't include Siru in her cloak shape. Hence, since Li-six was essentially transparent, Siru looked like he was floating freely in mid-air.
What a disaster this was, the tank thought, as it carefully began climbing sideways along the house, with Siru lying sprawled over its side in mid-air looking like some flying super-hero-cliché.
---------------
Far below Siru's window, in the street, a small troupe of striders were advancing, searching he abandoned shops and storefronts with silent efficiency. The area was quickly becoming swamped with enemy presence. The window of escape was quickly shrinking.
A faint shimmer and the clicking of grappling hooks could be sensed close to the window as the cloaked tank moved down the side of the building to where Siru was making himself heard. The, now fainter, blue light she used for communication blinked from thin air straight in his face.
No sound. she said in code.
Enemy all around.
Scanners fooled for now.
Climb on.
Hang on.
A section of the air shimmered briefly, revealing a handhold floating in the air outside the window, ready for Siru to grab onto.
The marine carefully climbed up into the window frame and reached out for the floating hand hold. It took some courage to make that small jump clear of the window, with seemingly nothing below but a long fall to the street fourty meters down. But as he did his foot connected with something invisible and Siru realized he was in fact hunched on the side of Li-six (since she hung unto the side of the building), his hand holding tight onto a handhold right below her side rocket launcher.
The tank's cloak was a distortion field rerouting light past the tank. Essentially, by allowing light to bend around the tank instead of hitting it, and since no photons could be reflected back off any surface of the tank it was truly invisible to scans in a wide range of wavelengths. The technique was almost identical to the one employed by the Dragoons, and some claimed human engineers must have used alien technology to create it. Then again, others claimed it was in fact the Dragoons that had stolen the technique from the humans in the same way they seemed to adapt to so many other things.
The problem with the cloak was its complexity. It was tuned to the outline of Li-six and it took careful re-alignment to change that shape -- time she didn't have. So she couldn't include Siru in her cloak shape. Hence, since Li-six was essentially transparent, Siru looked like he was floating freely in mid-air.
What a disaster this was, the tank thought, as it carefully began climbing sideways along the house, with Siru lying sprawled over its side in mid-air looking like some flying super-hero-cliché.
(OoC: np Griatchyness :3 Sorry for the little wait)
Ic:
"You like this?!" came a screaming voice of a marine, his armor lit up the dark corridor he was standing, the walls around him were scattered with burns and bullet holes, long claw marks lining the double doors that waited before him. He held up a large gun with a double layer plasma charger. It was the rapid-fire repeater rifle few marines were equipped with. He leaned forward, a menacing grin on his face as he laughed out, "Come on! Come on!" he roared, blasting continuous fire into one Dragoon after the other. They continued to ravage up the stairs and towards the doorway reaching out their claws to rip into the door, but each and every time being stopped by the single marine.
Drayis dropped down from the stairs to the marine’s side and looked back, blood dripping down one of his eyes. He leaned out and covered his mouth, coughing violently, he looked out the doorway, reaching up his pistol and shooting a few pot shots into the oncoming tide,
"Marine, we have to fall back into the sub levels, Booma and the others are already there" he growled as blood trickled from his mouth.
The marine pulled his gun back and took a few steps back, looking into the tide of moving creatures, outside the city building was dark and filled with moving smoke, the streets could not be seen, nothing, nothing beyond that... it was only dragoon, "I will keep the doors closed as long as I can, you guys get the railway back online and get the fuck out of here!" the marine shoved passed Drayis and opened fire, his laser fire rippling across the walls as one smashed through the doorway, its swinging claws just missing his face.
Drayis pulled his gun back and took a few steps back, "Fuck" he spoke up watching as the single marine pushed aside the doorways of the library and looked outwards. His marine suit auto lights flickering on and revealing to him the impossible tide of moving claws. His gun suddenly ignited in light, blasting fire into them as if he had hope... there was none.
The captain turned back and ran, moving to the lower level and jumping down a few steps or two. The sounds around the large building were eerie, claws digging through the undergrounds, building tunnels to find a weak spot in the library underground. Drayis dropped down into the sub level, running across scattered isles of scattered and ruined books, before he came up to a clearing, a recently blown out hole in the ground. He leapt into the air and dropped down, his boots splashing through the thick dark water waiting for him. Drayis leant up, holding out his pistol before moving up and down the small tunnel, moving for the lights set up near the end,
"Captain!" came a voice over the loud speaker, "Where the fuck is Dale?" he called over as Drayis moved up to the gathered marines. The large L5 mecha took a step forward, raising its twin chain guns in the direction of where Drayis had come from,
"He's dead" Drayis wiped the blood from his mouth, "Booma, hold guns on the opening... they will be coming soon" he spoke up without emotion in his tone,
"Sir, the subtrain is blown, it's going to take a while longer before I get her going" spoke up Mya, looking to Drayis as she leant out from the subtrain engine room. The tunnel Drayis had run through led up to a long bay, where an old subtrain lay waiting, it was old, just by looking over it, it was able to be seen. The tracks led through a long tunnel that dug deeper and deeper into the earth.
Drayis turned his back and leant down to pick up a repeater rifle, holding it up over his shoulder, the pistol he had before still in his other hand. Scite slowly stepped up and pointed both of his rifles into the opening where the sounds were coming from, deepened hollers and screams... The dragoon were on their way,
"We are going to give you enough time, get it done soldier" Drayis spoke up, watching as dust and broken tiles dropped down into the water over their heads. Booma locked in his central footpads; the chain guns on each arm slowly began to spin. Drayis narrowed his eyes, waiting and watching.
A light suddenly dropped down from the hole, all the marines watched in terror as Dale's body crashed into the water with a loud splash of blood. He was still gripping his weapon tightly in his hands. Scite leaned forward, watching as Dale slowly twitched and moved, groaning out as blood poured out from his wounds, one of his legs was missing. He reached up, his weapon pointing up in the hole above him, watching as the dragoon gathered around the edges. He pulled the trigger and let loose a few short bursts of plasma charge, the while blasts streaming across the roof of the sublevel. But his attack didn't last long, they began to drop down. The first snapped into the water and ravaged into what was left of Dale, the others soon swarming and scattering to every part of the tunnel,
"Bastards!" roared Booma over the link, unleashing streams of chain fire into them. The tunnel suddenly lit up with open fire, bullets and streams of rapid plasma blasts tore into the oncoming tides of Dragoon. Drayis held out the rifle with one hand, feeling the strain on his hand as it weighed against him, he could feel the pollution from the outside air filling his lungs, cutting up his insides, but he continued on, wanting revenge for his dead comrades.
Scite held both rifles, leaning against the closest wall for support, both guns blazed into the mobs of moving aliens, streams of steam pouring up from the vents in the weapons sides. He held still, knowing that the repeater blaster was good for mopping up dragoon armor, but at some point they would run out of coolant recharge. He held up and stopped using one gun, leaning it against his knee, the steam from the weapon streaming up, using the other and letting his other cool down for a little.
Mya held onto the controls, every circuit box opened within the cockpit of the train, she leant down her movements were twitchy, hearing the constant fire from the marines, and the screams from the oncoming tides of Dragoon. She leant back, kicking closed one of the boxes and pulling at the ignition switch, watching as finally the lights on the front of the train snapped on and lit the long tunnel ahead. She screamed out in delight, "It's on! Power link is charged!"
Drayis pulled up his repeater blaster and shot from his pistol, turning back to Scite, "Scite, you take front! Mya you are controlling, activate it now and go as fast as that old bastard can go!" He turned up to Booma, calling over the comm-link so he could hear over the chain fire, "Booma! Train is ready! Once we are on the move, you trail in on track and cover our ass!"
Booma nodded and took a step to his side, covering the hole that led to the train, continuing his fire into them, "Then you best get moving then sir!"
Drayis pulled up his pistol as Scite dropped back from his position and ran into the side doorway opened in the old subtrain. The captain shot a few last shots into some of the Dragoon that managed to claw up and onto the ceiling towards them, he pulled back and moved backwards into the same door Scite had gone. He turned and leaned his head against the wall, blood dripping from his lips. The train lurched forward as the sidelights flickered on,
"Mya, see if you can switch off the interior train lights, keep onto the back and front lights on" he called out as the train began to pick up speed. He could see to the end of the carriage Scite had broken one of the windows, holding a gun on the edge of the window edge. They had already unlinked the other carriages from the train, to make sure they only had one to protect. Three marines within an enclosed spot with repeater blasters were more effective then being spread out. Scite held his weapon out, waiting and watching. Then Booma jumped out onto the railway behind them, his side chest lights flickering on as he followed on closely running and keeping up pace with the train.
Behind him however a horde of following Dragoon scattered and swarmed all over the railway tunnel. Booma slowly dropped his feet into the ground, getting enough balance before his rollers could grip; he stopped running and instead activated his roller drive. Smoke blasted from the back of his heels as he steamed forward, closer to the end of the train,
"Their coming up behind you Boom!" Scite called out, only able to see the shine in their armor as they made a final rush forward. Booma picked up speed, unable to turn his arms to fire into them. He rushed forward just a few feet from the end of the train. Scite nearly dropped back, shaking his head, "what the fuck..." he spoke softly; watching as the tunnel behind them suddenly drew quiet, leaving only the churn from the train and rollers of the mech to fill their ears. The Dragoon stopped in their tracks, not taking another step closer as the train began to go deeper into the tunnel way, moving downwards,
"We are clear from them now guys" Drayis coughed out, "But it wont last long... cool weapons. Mya, keep trying on you communications... it would be good to know what’s happening on the outside..."
~
Bo held his plasma rifle close, pressing his back to the wall, moving his hands and aiming his rifle to face just above with only his hands showing, it was blind shot, but it would keep them distracted no problem. He pulled the trigger and shot a few off balance blasts into the open street. All three striders dropped to their knees, taking aim and hammering shots into the sidewall, causing Bo to drop his gun back and feel smoke and rubble bounce off the top of his head along with the other soldiers. Taz held his rifle close, his pistol tight in the other hand; he turned slowly to Razu and shook his head,
"They have us pinned down, if anyone is to make a run for the commanders path, they are sure to be shot to shit in the back" he called out over the firing as plasma blasts snapped quickly over head and into the opposite building with a pop following, "What are your orders sir!" he called, looking back and holding up his pistol and shooting a shot into their general direction. The tech Jamesson was huddled up next to Bo, his arms around his knees and curled up as close as he could, even with the armor he felt he was in the wrong place, wanting to be at the military base already.
Razu looked across from the corner, dust dropping over their heads. He knew this was only the beginning of the attack, more striders; possibly heavy troops would move in and sweep their position easily. The only problem now is that they could possibly lead an even bigger strike force into where they were supposed to be going. He turned across and noticed Kat was stirring, placing Reign and wolf down as if she was preparing to do something, 'oh shit' he thought.
The only way to get out of this was to both lose these guys and hope to hell their friends don't track them down, or sit back, kill the attackers and run, move quickly before their reinforcements can arrive. He looked across as Kat edged up to him and told him her plan, that she was going to go out there? Into the Striders,
"What the hell are you going to do?" he asked before being handed the bullet, the one she had pulled from Reigns shoulder. The way she told him, that he had been shot, it could be seen she knew something, or sensed something out of the wound. He didn't know whether he should let her go, or hold her down and hope she doesn't rip into him. He slowly placed the rogue bullet into his side belt, fastening the latch. But as he looked up, she had already turned wolf, with a blade in her mouth and her jacket still covering her black fur body. He moved to speak, but nothing came out.
Bo shook his head as if he were seeing things, "Hey... what just happ--" Taz gave him a shove in the side,
"Keep your eyes on the corners man, never know when their strider buddies are gonna come knocking" he laughed, watching as Kat moved away and down the shadows of the side street.
Razu shook his head, reaching out just to miss her tail, fire smacking into the wall again, sending debris all over them once more. The dust moved back, only letting Kat have a few moments of cover. The major sighed and pressed back, holding his gun close, "Damnit... Senturo is going to kill me,” he mumbled as he turned and pressed his hand to his comm-link,
"Commander Omarah, this is Major, do you read?" he called out over the fire, not sure if the link between then was clear enough over the fire. A voice crackled back,
"Where the hell are you guys!" called the commander, fire coming from the background of his link too, "We are being pinned down by walkers! Support would be appreciated!" Razu rolled his eyes watching as Bo and Taz gave Kat cover fire, to keep the Striders attention just on them,
"Sir, we were split up and stopped by a group of SFS (Special Force Striders). We are moving to take them out... I think... support will be on its way as soon as we can get free. Till then you are on your own as you so desired to do! Over and out"he spoke before clicking off the link for now hearing the last words of the commander,
"Hey, wai-" before the link was gone, Razu looked across to the rooftop,
"Senturo, you got any ideas?" Razu spoke through to Senturo, but there was only radio silence, nothing but static, "Senturo? Do you copy?" He looked across to Taz and watching him shake his head,
"Maybe he got found out?" Bo spoke up before looking across to the rooftops, trying to see if there was any movement at all. But there was nothing, only the deep dark smoke coming from the distant fires...
The SFS were moving in closer with every moment, Kat's move was precise and there was not one of them that noticed her sneaking through the shadows and close to the wall, the cover fire from the marines their main trouble. But they moved in closer with every moment. Kat had stopped in her tracks now, sticking to the shadow from the sunlight moving away from the streets, there were plenty enough shadows to move through. Though something suddenly lit up, three bright lights snapped right into her shadows, lighting up the entire spot she had stuck too. A smooth black machine slowly dropped from the side of the building just where the windows were, moving three of its four mechanical arms towards her and revealing her position. Its bright green eyes seemed to flicker for a moment, the front of its shape moving, revealing all of its many eyes. The thing was insect-like almost. It slipped a little closer before the eyes clicked and hummed, bright lights flashing over her as if it were taking photos.
But before even one Strider could take notice, or the thing could send out an alarm signal, glass shattered down from one of the windows above a Strider body crashing out from the second story and dropping dead onto the floating alarm system. His body cracked into it and sent it blasting into the ground its lights flickering. The body of the Strider was slashed, his body opened from a military wrist blade.
Two of the Striders in the open street turned quickly their attention to the window that the Strider had fallen. A steam of white thinned out light snapped through the air, only those with a good eye could even see the bolt as it cracked through the air to snap into the head of one of the Striders. The SFS was thrown against the ground with a loud crack, its head actually engraving itself into the tar road and breaking through as its body fell over itself with smoke fuming from the hole.
The remaining Striders in the street, moved backwards, opening fire on the broken window, blasting into the glass with their weapons. Though that was only just the beginning, before Kat could have reacted there was something more she should worry about, the wall just a few feet in front of her broke open, wood and stone bindings dropping with a blast of smoke following. Stepping out of the broken front was an M5 battle mech, its arm reaching up with a hiss. Leg snapped in after the other as it crunched through the ruined building side, out of Senturo's sight. The mech turned and looked to where Kat was hidden, its chaingun beginning to spin as smoke and heat fumes rose up as it blasted fire right towards her, the bullets snapped across the ground and wall, speeding towards Kat...
~
All Siru could do was curse within his mind, looking out across the city area, it was surely infested with enough Striders to make any sort of half stealth duo visable to all, it would only be a matter of time before someone saw something. The marine held onto the given handles, at first he had thought it a bad idea, coming out of the window and into the open streets, but if they could just make it around the corner maybe the tank could figure something out. He looked across, watching the side of the building, not saying a thing as he heard the distant cracks of fire, battle going on somewhere else through the city, probably where the other guys had landed.
For all he knew they were head first in the thick of it, enemies all around, close quarters, but no, he was stuck here, with nothing more then a pistol in his holster and a tank that would be more so concerned on leaving him somewhere so he can't get into any trouble. Siru growled and moved an arm, pulling himself slightly to keep up, he looked back into the tank for a moment as she continued on. Maybe they would run into something, some sort of patrol and this quietness would be over! Siru moved his eyes and sighed quietly in thought. No, no that wouldn't happen, he was with Miss think-too-much here, she would surely try to find the means of skulking around corners like a drone, boring.
Siru moved his arm and pulled himself up as she moved over the side of the building silently, the marine was in thought, trying to think of someway that he could maybe get away from her and do his own thing. What would be so hard about that? She had been dropped here for a reason, he knew that for sure, and he also knew that it was not a mission that should have included dragging his ass around town, sure as that. Siru turned his eyes and looked across the street as the tank made her slow movements, trying to keep Siru out of sight.
For a moment Siru tried to formulate a plan, hard work in his case, but his planning was answered with a ear wrenching whistle that speared across their heads. A drop pod sped across the sky and snapped through the smog clouds above the city, it snapped into the buildings only a short distance from where they were moving. The pod that landed did not carry any sort of new unit, enemy... only that of a device. Siru grinded his teeth and twitched as a high pitched noise ripped through his comm-link, it patched into each channel and opened one of its own,
"Fuck! It's a screamer!" before Li-six could tell Siru to shut his mouth; their position was already found. On the far end of the street a truck slid to a stop just at the end, smashing into the very corner of the apartments. The truck end fell open and Strider Special Forces began to rush out. An alarm sounded through the street, coming directly from below them, the drone slowly lifting up from the markets down below. Siru turned his head, it wouldn't be long until they shot at him, Li-six still had the cover of her cloak, invisible unless that drone picked up on her signal. The marine slipped back as his position was seen, the Striders moving down the street with their weapons raised, plasma shots snapped around them.
Siru, pressed one hand against the side of the think-tank, hearing nothing but a radio scream burning within his link, most likely attempting to hack and spread into Li-six's links, "Do what you need to do!" he called before slipping up, moving his foot ready to jump off of the tank without another thought. The window on the other side of the street suddenly blasted open, smoke bellowing out and towards the two, a glowing rocket snapped into sight and ripped into the side of the building just where Siru had been. Siru felt the heat on his feet as he was thrown, the blast breaking through the side of the apartment sending flame and ruin down into the street below. Glass shattered as he fell through the side of the wall and broke down two levels at least until hitting the floor inside, feeling as rubble dropped down against him, his comm-link switching off.
Smoke rose up from the street as drones lifted from the openings, moving their lights through the thick smog, looking for any signs of what Siru had been holding onto. The sounds of feet crunching through broken glass down below told them that the Striders were searching through the broken debris for anything left of their supposed kill...
The area around Li-six began to fill with movement...
Ic:
"You like this?!" came a screaming voice of a marine, his armor lit up the dark corridor he was standing, the walls around him were scattered with burns and bullet holes, long claw marks lining the double doors that waited before him. He held up a large gun with a double layer plasma charger. It was the rapid-fire repeater rifle few marines were equipped with. He leaned forward, a menacing grin on his face as he laughed out, "Come on! Come on!" he roared, blasting continuous fire into one Dragoon after the other. They continued to ravage up the stairs and towards the doorway reaching out their claws to rip into the door, but each and every time being stopped by the single marine.
Drayis dropped down from the stairs to the marine’s side and looked back, blood dripping down one of his eyes. He leaned out and covered his mouth, coughing violently, he looked out the doorway, reaching up his pistol and shooting a few pot shots into the oncoming tide,
"Marine, we have to fall back into the sub levels, Booma and the others are already there" he growled as blood trickled from his mouth.
The marine pulled his gun back and took a few steps back, looking into the tide of moving creatures, outside the city building was dark and filled with moving smoke, the streets could not be seen, nothing, nothing beyond that... it was only dragoon, "I will keep the doors closed as long as I can, you guys get the railway back online and get the fuck out of here!" the marine shoved passed Drayis and opened fire, his laser fire rippling across the walls as one smashed through the doorway, its swinging claws just missing his face.
Drayis pulled his gun back and took a few steps back, "Fuck" he spoke up watching as the single marine pushed aside the doorways of the library and looked outwards. His marine suit auto lights flickering on and revealing to him the impossible tide of moving claws. His gun suddenly ignited in light, blasting fire into them as if he had hope... there was none.
The captain turned back and ran, moving to the lower level and jumping down a few steps or two. The sounds around the large building were eerie, claws digging through the undergrounds, building tunnels to find a weak spot in the library underground. Drayis dropped down into the sub level, running across scattered isles of scattered and ruined books, before he came up to a clearing, a recently blown out hole in the ground. He leapt into the air and dropped down, his boots splashing through the thick dark water waiting for him. Drayis leant up, holding out his pistol before moving up and down the small tunnel, moving for the lights set up near the end,
"Captain!" came a voice over the loud speaker, "Where the fuck is Dale?" he called over as Drayis moved up to the gathered marines. The large L5 mecha took a step forward, raising its twin chain guns in the direction of where Drayis had come from,
"He's dead" Drayis wiped the blood from his mouth, "Booma, hold guns on the opening... they will be coming soon" he spoke up without emotion in his tone,
"Sir, the subtrain is blown, it's going to take a while longer before I get her going" spoke up Mya, looking to Drayis as she leant out from the subtrain engine room. The tunnel Drayis had run through led up to a long bay, where an old subtrain lay waiting, it was old, just by looking over it, it was able to be seen. The tracks led through a long tunnel that dug deeper and deeper into the earth.
Drayis turned his back and leant down to pick up a repeater rifle, holding it up over his shoulder, the pistol he had before still in his other hand. Scite slowly stepped up and pointed both of his rifles into the opening where the sounds were coming from, deepened hollers and screams... The dragoon were on their way,
"We are going to give you enough time, get it done soldier" Drayis spoke up, watching as dust and broken tiles dropped down into the water over their heads. Booma locked in his central footpads; the chain guns on each arm slowly began to spin. Drayis narrowed his eyes, waiting and watching.
A light suddenly dropped down from the hole, all the marines watched in terror as Dale's body crashed into the water with a loud splash of blood. He was still gripping his weapon tightly in his hands. Scite leaned forward, watching as Dale slowly twitched and moved, groaning out as blood poured out from his wounds, one of his legs was missing. He reached up, his weapon pointing up in the hole above him, watching as the dragoon gathered around the edges. He pulled the trigger and let loose a few short bursts of plasma charge, the while blasts streaming across the roof of the sublevel. But his attack didn't last long, they began to drop down. The first snapped into the water and ravaged into what was left of Dale, the others soon swarming and scattering to every part of the tunnel,
"Bastards!" roared Booma over the link, unleashing streams of chain fire into them. The tunnel suddenly lit up with open fire, bullets and streams of rapid plasma blasts tore into the oncoming tides of Dragoon. Drayis held out the rifle with one hand, feeling the strain on his hand as it weighed against him, he could feel the pollution from the outside air filling his lungs, cutting up his insides, but he continued on, wanting revenge for his dead comrades.
Scite held both rifles, leaning against the closest wall for support, both guns blazed into the mobs of moving aliens, streams of steam pouring up from the vents in the weapons sides. He held still, knowing that the repeater blaster was good for mopping up dragoon armor, but at some point they would run out of coolant recharge. He held up and stopped using one gun, leaning it against his knee, the steam from the weapon streaming up, using the other and letting his other cool down for a little.
Mya held onto the controls, every circuit box opened within the cockpit of the train, she leant down her movements were twitchy, hearing the constant fire from the marines, and the screams from the oncoming tides of Dragoon. She leant back, kicking closed one of the boxes and pulling at the ignition switch, watching as finally the lights on the front of the train snapped on and lit the long tunnel ahead. She screamed out in delight, "It's on! Power link is charged!"
Drayis pulled up his repeater blaster and shot from his pistol, turning back to Scite, "Scite, you take front! Mya you are controlling, activate it now and go as fast as that old bastard can go!" He turned up to Booma, calling over the comm-link so he could hear over the chain fire, "Booma! Train is ready! Once we are on the move, you trail in on track and cover our ass!"
Booma nodded and took a step to his side, covering the hole that led to the train, continuing his fire into them, "Then you best get moving then sir!"
Drayis pulled up his pistol as Scite dropped back from his position and ran into the side doorway opened in the old subtrain. The captain shot a few last shots into some of the Dragoon that managed to claw up and onto the ceiling towards them, he pulled back and moved backwards into the same door Scite had gone. He turned and leaned his head against the wall, blood dripping from his lips. The train lurched forward as the sidelights flickered on,
"Mya, see if you can switch off the interior train lights, keep onto the back and front lights on" he called out as the train began to pick up speed. He could see to the end of the carriage Scite had broken one of the windows, holding a gun on the edge of the window edge. They had already unlinked the other carriages from the train, to make sure they only had one to protect. Three marines within an enclosed spot with repeater blasters were more effective then being spread out. Scite held his weapon out, waiting and watching. Then Booma jumped out onto the railway behind them, his side chest lights flickering on as he followed on closely running and keeping up pace with the train.
Behind him however a horde of following Dragoon scattered and swarmed all over the railway tunnel. Booma slowly dropped his feet into the ground, getting enough balance before his rollers could grip; he stopped running and instead activated his roller drive. Smoke blasted from the back of his heels as he steamed forward, closer to the end of the train,
"Their coming up behind you Boom!" Scite called out, only able to see the shine in their armor as they made a final rush forward. Booma picked up speed, unable to turn his arms to fire into them. He rushed forward just a few feet from the end of the train. Scite nearly dropped back, shaking his head, "what the fuck..." he spoke softly; watching as the tunnel behind them suddenly drew quiet, leaving only the churn from the train and rollers of the mech to fill their ears. The Dragoon stopped in their tracks, not taking another step closer as the train began to go deeper into the tunnel way, moving downwards,
"We are clear from them now guys" Drayis coughed out, "But it wont last long... cool weapons. Mya, keep trying on you communications... it would be good to know what’s happening on the outside..."
~
Bo held his plasma rifle close, pressing his back to the wall, moving his hands and aiming his rifle to face just above with only his hands showing, it was blind shot, but it would keep them distracted no problem. He pulled the trigger and shot a few off balance blasts into the open street. All three striders dropped to their knees, taking aim and hammering shots into the sidewall, causing Bo to drop his gun back and feel smoke and rubble bounce off the top of his head along with the other soldiers. Taz held his rifle close, his pistol tight in the other hand; he turned slowly to Razu and shook his head,
"They have us pinned down, if anyone is to make a run for the commanders path, they are sure to be shot to shit in the back" he called out over the firing as plasma blasts snapped quickly over head and into the opposite building with a pop following, "What are your orders sir!" he called, looking back and holding up his pistol and shooting a shot into their general direction. The tech Jamesson was huddled up next to Bo, his arms around his knees and curled up as close as he could, even with the armor he felt he was in the wrong place, wanting to be at the military base already.
Razu looked across from the corner, dust dropping over their heads. He knew this was only the beginning of the attack, more striders; possibly heavy troops would move in and sweep their position easily. The only problem now is that they could possibly lead an even bigger strike force into where they were supposed to be going. He turned across and noticed Kat was stirring, placing Reign and wolf down as if she was preparing to do something, 'oh shit' he thought.
The only way to get out of this was to both lose these guys and hope to hell their friends don't track them down, or sit back, kill the attackers and run, move quickly before their reinforcements can arrive. He looked across as Kat edged up to him and told him her plan, that she was going to go out there? Into the Striders,
"What the hell are you going to do?" he asked before being handed the bullet, the one she had pulled from Reigns shoulder. The way she told him, that he had been shot, it could be seen she knew something, or sensed something out of the wound. He didn't know whether he should let her go, or hold her down and hope she doesn't rip into him. He slowly placed the rogue bullet into his side belt, fastening the latch. But as he looked up, she had already turned wolf, with a blade in her mouth and her jacket still covering her black fur body. He moved to speak, but nothing came out.
Bo shook his head as if he were seeing things, "Hey... what just happ--" Taz gave him a shove in the side,
"Keep your eyes on the corners man, never know when their strider buddies are gonna come knocking" he laughed, watching as Kat moved away and down the shadows of the side street.
Razu shook his head, reaching out just to miss her tail, fire smacking into the wall again, sending debris all over them once more. The dust moved back, only letting Kat have a few moments of cover. The major sighed and pressed back, holding his gun close, "Damnit... Senturo is going to kill me,” he mumbled as he turned and pressed his hand to his comm-link,
"Commander Omarah, this is Major, do you read?" he called out over the fire, not sure if the link between then was clear enough over the fire. A voice crackled back,
"Where the hell are you guys!" called the commander, fire coming from the background of his link too, "We are being pinned down by walkers! Support would be appreciated!" Razu rolled his eyes watching as Bo and Taz gave Kat cover fire, to keep the Striders attention just on them,
"Sir, we were split up and stopped by a group of SFS (Special Force Striders). We are moving to take them out... I think... support will be on its way as soon as we can get free. Till then you are on your own as you so desired to do! Over and out"he spoke before clicking off the link for now hearing the last words of the commander,
"Hey, wai-" before the link was gone, Razu looked across to the rooftop,
"Senturo, you got any ideas?" Razu spoke through to Senturo, but there was only radio silence, nothing but static, "Senturo? Do you copy?" He looked across to Taz and watching him shake his head,
"Maybe he got found out?" Bo spoke up before looking across to the rooftops, trying to see if there was any movement at all. But there was nothing, only the deep dark smoke coming from the distant fires...
The SFS were moving in closer with every moment, Kat's move was precise and there was not one of them that noticed her sneaking through the shadows and close to the wall, the cover fire from the marines their main trouble. But they moved in closer with every moment. Kat had stopped in her tracks now, sticking to the shadow from the sunlight moving away from the streets, there were plenty enough shadows to move through. Though something suddenly lit up, three bright lights snapped right into her shadows, lighting up the entire spot she had stuck too. A smooth black machine slowly dropped from the side of the building just where the windows were, moving three of its four mechanical arms towards her and revealing her position. Its bright green eyes seemed to flicker for a moment, the front of its shape moving, revealing all of its many eyes. The thing was insect-like almost. It slipped a little closer before the eyes clicked and hummed, bright lights flashing over her as if it were taking photos.
But before even one Strider could take notice, or the thing could send out an alarm signal, glass shattered down from one of the windows above a Strider body crashing out from the second story and dropping dead onto the floating alarm system. His body cracked into it and sent it blasting into the ground its lights flickering. The body of the Strider was slashed, his body opened from a military wrist blade.
Two of the Striders in the open street turned quickly their attention to the window that the Strider had fallen. A steam of white thinned out light snapped through the air, only those with a good eye could even see the bolt as it cracked through the air to snap into the head of one of the Striders. The SFS was thrown against the ground with a loud crack, its head actually engraving itself into the tar road and breaking through as its body fell over itself with smoke fuming from the hole.
The remaining Striders in the street, moved backwards, opening fire on the broken window, blasting into the glass with their weapons. Though that was only just the beginning, before Kat could have reacted there was something more she should worry about, the wall just a few feet in front of her broke open, wood and stone bindings dropping with a blast of smoke following. Stepping out of the broken front was an M5 battle mech, its arm reaching up with a hiss. Leg snapped in after the other as it crunched through the ruined building side, out of Senturo's sight. The mech turned and looked to where Kat was hidden, its chaingun beginning to spin as smoke and heat fumes rose up as it blasted fire right towards her, the bullets snapped across the ground and wall, speeding towards Kat...
~
All Siru could do was curse within his mind, looking out across the city area, it was surely infested with enough Striders to make any sort of half stealth duo visable to all, it would only be a matter of time before someone saw something. The marine held onto the given handles, at first he had thought it a bad idea, coming out of the window and into the open streets, but if they could just make it around the corner maybe the tank could figure something out. He looked across, watching the side of the building, not saying a thing as he heard the distant cracks of fire, battle going on somewhere else through the city, probably where the other guys had landed.
For all he knew they were head first in the thick of it, enemies all around, close quarters, but no, he was stuck here, with nothing more then a pistol in his holster and a tank that would be more so concerned on leaving him somewhere so he can't get into any trouble. Siru growled and moved an arm, pulling himself slightly to keep up, he looked back into the tank for a moment as she continued on. Maybe they would run into something, some sort of patrol and this quietness would be over! Siru moved his eyes and sighed quietly in thought. No, no that wouldn't happen, he was with Miss think-too-much here, she would surely try to find the means of skulking around corners like a drone, boring.
Siru moved his arm and pulled himself up as she moved over the side of the building silently, the marine was in thought, trying to think of someway that he could maybe get away from her and do his own thing. What would be so hard about that? She had been dropped here for a reason, he knew that for sure, and he also knew that it was not a mission that should have included dragging his ass around town, sure as that. Siru turned his eyes and looked across the street as the tank made her slow movements, trying to keep Siru out of sight.
For a moment Siru tried to formulate a plan, hard work in his case, but his planning was answered with a ear wrenching whistle that speared across their heads. A drop pod sped across the sky and snapped through the smog clouds above the city, it snapped into the buildings only a short distance from where they were moving. The pod that landed did not carry any sort of new unit, enemy... only that of a device. Siru grinded his teeth and twitched as a high pitched noise ripped through his comm-link, it patched into each channel and opened one of its own,
"Fuck! It's a screamer!" before Li-six could tell Siru to shut his mouth; their position was already found. On the far end of the street a truck slid to a stop just at the end, smashing into the very corner of the apartments. The truck end fell open and Strider Special Forces began to rush out. An alarm sounded through the street, coming directly from below them, the drone slowly lifting up from the markets down below. Siru turned his head, it wouldn't be long until they shot at him, Li-six still had the cover of her cloak, invisible unless that drone picked up on her signal. The marine slipped back as his position was seen, the Striders moving down the street with their weapons raised, plasma shots snapped around them.
Siru, pressed one hand against the side of the think-tank, hearing nothing but a radio scream burning within his link, most likely attempting to hack and spread into Li-six's links, "Do what you need to do!" he called before slipping up, moving his foot ready to jump off of the tank without another thought. The window on the other side of the street suddenly blasted open, smoke bellowing out and towards the two, a glowing rocket snapped into sight and ripped into the side of the building just where Siru had been. Siru felt the heat on his feet as he was thrown, the blast breaking through the side of the apartment sending flame and ruin down into the street below. Glass shattered as he fell through the side of the wall and broke down two levels at least until hitting the floor inside, feeling as rubble dropped down against him, his comm-link switching off.
Smoke rose up from the street as drones lifted from the openings, moving their lights through the thick smog, looking for any signs of what Siru had been holding onto. The sounds of feet crunching through broken glass down below told them that the Striders were searching through the broken debris for anything left of their supposed kill...
The area around Li-six began to fill with movement...
~
(Teh posteh of crappehness! ^_^; )
This probably isn't my smartest idea, but it's better then the idea of grabbing a bull by the horns and deciding to go for a ride on that farm that one time.
Kathryn was hidden in the shadows and had just settled when a sudden flash of light hit her eyes. The Striders hadn't even gotten past her, but she had been found out! She turned over only to yell out as her eyes were blinded by a series of light flashes. She rolled over and rubbed her eyes. Damn! She cursed as she tried to blink the dots away. She didn't have enough time before something smashed down from above right on top of the cursed thing that had blinded her! She could hear gun fire, but she still couldn't see properly as she got up onto her knees, squinting her eyes and trying to see.
Her eyes had only just started coming into focus as she turned her head as the side of the building busted soon followed by a hissing sound. Flailing backwards as a huge form came up in front of her, Kathryn tried to find her footing as the bullets shot into the ground near her, but growled as her side was pulled funny. She had missed a bullet. There was one still in her side, how could she have been so stupid? She rolled over and over making distance between her and the strange suit of mechanical mayhem that was trying to plaster her brain with bullets. Kat pulled the Syi blade that she had found on the big ship-thing and clicked on all the settings. As she came back up and could see the mechanical mayhem machine, she flicked her wrist and sent the blade right towards the thing. She hoped her aim was right, her eyes were still fuzzy. Fuck this all to hell. I seriously need to wake up now.
Kat scrambled to get up and only moved herself forward a couple of feet, she couldn't see properly and her body was starting to deteriorate. Kat was pretty darn strong, well, she practically couldn't die for fuck's sake, but with all the stress that she was going through, not use to being hurt left and right, shot almost everywhere and anywhere she could think of, well it was a lot for anyone to take! More so, considering the average person would, well, be dead!
Kat stopped moving and rubbed her eyes a few more times, if she caught a few bullets, then she caught some bullets, she didn't care but she needed to clear her eyes. All she knew is that there were shots being fired from behind her, and from the sounds of it being shot up into the air. I need to wake up now. I'm sure this is all just a dream. Kat hadn't thought about it too much until they had gotten into that shuttle type thing, but how could all this spring up in a moment's notice? How was it that she didn't remember going into that city? She may have played it coy with Taz, but she really didn't know and it did bug her.
Kat moved her hand to her side and pressed her fingers into the bullet hole, pulling the bullet out with a growl. Finally, the last one. Stupid things got stuck everywhere, didn't surprise her that she had missed one. Now, where were the others? She felt slightly turned around for the moment, but knew that she hadn't been 100% noticed, save for that flashing-light-bug-...thing. And the giant mechanical monster, but what was going on? Looking around she saw the Striders were firing up at the window, while the others were shooting at the striders. Wolf boy, we seriously shouldn't dig through the garbage for our dinner any more. It's giving me some very weird nightmares. I guess for now I just have to play along with it until I can wake up.
This probably isn't my smartest idea, but it's better then the idea of grabbing a bull by the horns and deciding to go for a ride on that farm that one time.
Kathryn was hidden in the shadows and had just settled when a sudden flash of light hit her eyes. The Striders hadn't even gotten past her, but she had been found out! She turned over only to yell out as her eyes were blinded by a series of light flashes. She rolled over and rubbed her eyes. Damn! She cursed as she tried to blink the dots away. She didn't have enough time before something smashed down from above right on top of the cursed thing that had blinded her! She could hear gun fire, but she still couldn't see properly as she got up onto her knees, squinting her eyes and trying to see.
Her eyes had only just started coming into focus as she turned her head as the side of the building busted soon followed by a hissing sound. Flailing backwards as a huge form came up in front of her, Kathryn tried to find her footing as the bullets shot into the ground near her, but growled as her side was pulled funny. She had missed a bullet. There was one still in her side, how could she have been so stupid? She rolled over and over making distance between her and the strange suit of mechanical mayhem that was trying to plaster her brain with bullets. Kat pulled the Syi blade that she had found on the big ship-thing and clicked on all the settings. As she came back up and could see the mechanical mayhem machine, she flicked her wrist and sent the blade right towards the thing. She hoped her aim was right, her eyes were still fuzzy. Fuck this all to hell. I seriously need to wake up now.
Kat scrambled to get up and only moved herself forward a couple of feet, she couldn't see properly and her body was starting to deteriorate. Kat was pretty darn strong, well, she practically couldn't die for fuck's sake, but with all the stress that she was going through, not use to being hurt left and right, shot almost everywhere and anywhere she could think of, well it was a lot for anyone to take! More so, considering the average person would, well, be dead!
Kat stopped moving and rubbed her eyes a few more times, if she caught a few bullets, then she caught some bullets, she didn't care but she needed to clear her eyes. All she knew is that there were shots being fired from behind her, and from the sounds of it being shot up into the air. I need to wake up now. I'm sure this is all just a dream. Kat hadn't thought about it too much until they had gotten into that shuttle type thing, but how could all this spring up in a moment's notice? How was it that she didn't remember going into that city? She may have played it coy with Taz, but she really didn't know and it did bug her.
Kat moved her hand to her side and pressed her fingers into the bullet hole, pulling the bullet out with a growl. Finally, the last one. Stupid things got stuck everywhere, didn't surprise her that she had missed one. Now, where were the others? She felt slightly turned around for the moment, but knew that she hadn't been 100% noticed, save for that flashing-light-bug-...thing. And the giant mechanical monster, but what was going on? Looking around she saw the Striders were firing up at the window, while the others were shooting at the striders. Wolf boy, we seriously shouldn't dig through the garbage for our dinner any more. It's giving me some very weird nightmares. I guess for now I just have to play along with it until I can wake up.
You never know what you can do, 'till you try.
Art and Silth © Me
Li-six was beginning to think that this would actually work. That she would actually manage to take this meatbag out of here unharmed. She quietly thought that she would have gotten a medal for such things back in the day. Back when the war was new and heroics still mattered -- when her operators really thought the Dragoons could be beaten. Back when there were still hopes and dreams and grand futures. When medals where given even to the mechanical troops.
Back when there had been people around to hand out medals in the first place.
Thinking like that, she should have gotten a lot of medals. Hells, everyone still operational up until this point -- biological or cybernetic -- was a hero and deserved a medal. Everyone on the ship, everyone in the flying fortress. This Siru person. All the civilians on the ground. All of humanity...
Li-six forcibly shut down the sentimentality subroutine that had gone unchecked for too long. She must not be distracted now. That was when the damn screamer hit the rooftop next to her bathing the area in electronic countermeasures. Siru shouted and suddenly the situation turned from critical to catastrophic in an instant. She lurched forward as the rocket hit the side of the building and it was not until afterwards that she realized that Siru had jumped off and was heading into the building telling her to do "her own thing".
Damn the man! After all the trouble she had gone through to get him! Li-six had no choice. Now she could only hope he had the sense to take his life before they could question him on her.
Half-blinded by the wide-spectrum countermeasures that was flooding the area, all she could do was block any random intrusion attempts while making a run for it before the probe could scan her at point-blank range. Her cloak helped her, for it routed energy around her, and that included most of the noise from the screamer. Rounding the corner of the building she made a leap right across the street. She could only hope that troops in the street were still investigating the rubble below. The other side of the street was a skyscraper, with a mirror facade of large reflective windows. Many were already broken, and as it were, Li-six went straight through, landing in what used to be some sort of department store on the 12th floor. She rolled and crashed a dozen meters into the locale. Behind her striders opened fire on the opening she had made.
Rolling on the larvae tracks the tanks brutally tore through the deserted stores, here and there tearing down walls and display windows alike. Fashionable clothes, furry toys and luxurious TV-sets flew and scattered around her. A memory of a former civilization. Had there ever been a food store, it would have been ransacked long ago.
A skyscraper was built solely around its corners and its central support pillar. Most of the other walls were thin as paper; she went straight through. Having crossed through the entire building, she revved up and came out the windows on the other side, unfolding her legs like a giant leaping spider.
Li-six continued her headlong rush of fury through building after building for another block before she began to be careful. So far a child could track her from the destruction she was causing. Now however, it seemed she was clear of the immediate kill-zone. There would be at least 40 seconds before someone could follow her into this area.
Having finally ended up on top of a hydro-gas station, she climbed down to the street and picked a random direction away from the kill zone. The street was deserted, littered by cars in various states of decay, but on the street she could pick up a decent speed. She zick-zacked in a random patter a few times without meeting any enemy presence other than a few standard patrols lacking the equipment to detect her. Eventually she came upon a construction site. Climbing up into the scaffolding (partly hot-wiring a construction elevator on the way), she climbed onto a construction crane, finally giving her the elevation she needed.
She had, in a matter of fifteen minutes, travelled about ten blocks away from the kill zone. It was a huge area to cover, looking for a cloaked unit -- and unless Siru was caught there was no way they could know for sure she was cloaked or even what she was. On long range telescope she observed the kill-zone. The screamer was still there, but it seemed the probe had been drawn off by her violent escape and was investigating one of the buildings on her path of destruction. The streets were crawling with enemy, but if she had lured any of them to follow her maybe Siru might still have a chance. Maybe they hadn't realized there were two of them at all. She couldn't do anything for him now though, for now he was on his own.
Li-six opened his transmitters an bounced a weak coded carrier wave off Earth's atmosphere. The secure code reply from the Marine force's automatic beacoms came from west of her, roughly from where the ship had set down. There seemed to some sort of bridge there, but from her position, even her strongest telescope could not make out the marine force itself. She would have to move closer, and soon.
She picked their transponders and linked them through her firewall defences. As opposed to a normal coded broadcast, she was aiming this directly at them, bouncing the beam strategically in the atmosphere so it came down on them almost from above. That meant there was no way to even theoretically hack it, since, well, no one could even pick it up unless they were exactly at the location of that marine. She didn't include Siru in her link-up, partly because he was inside a building and partly because she couldn't risk linking to him if he would get caught soon.
She noticed the other marines were split up into two parts, separated by about 300 meters. Also Senturo's beacon was separated from the others, but not much. She patched them all in.
"Gentlemen" she said, confident that even if they were too busy to respond they would at least listen. "Li-six in position. Your secure comm-link is up on this channel. As long as you're under open sky or not below too much steel or concrete I will re-route your communications for complete security. If you loose my link, you have to go back to normal coded broadcast -- just remember that you can be pin-pointed that way if the military codes have been compromised. Li-six over and out. "
Back when there had been people around to hand out medals in the first place.
Thinking like that, she should have gotten a lot of medals. Hells, everyone still operational up until this point -- biological or cybernetic -- was a hero and deserved a medal. Everyone on the ship, everyone in the flying fortress. This Siru person. All the civilians on the ground. All of humanity...
Li-six forcibly shut down the sentimentality subroutine that had gone unchecked for too long. She must not be distracted now. That was when the damn screamer hit the rooftop next to her bathing the area in electronic countermeasures. Siru shouted and suddenly the situation turned from critical to catastrophic in an instant. She lurched forward as the rocket hit the side of the building and it was not until afterwards that she realized that Siru had jumped off and was heading into the building telling her to do "her own thing".
Damn the man! After all the trouble she had gone through to get him! Li-six had no choice. Now she could only hope he had the sense to take his life before they could question him on her.
Half-blinded by the wide-spectrum countermeasures that was flooding the area, all she could do was block any random intrusion attempts while making a run for it before the probe could scan her at point-blank range. Her cloak helped her, for it routed energy around her, and that included most of the noise from the screamer. Rounding the corner of the building she made a leap right across the street. She could only hope that troops in the street were still investigating the rubble below. The other side of the street was a skyscraper, with a mirror facade of large reflective windows. Many were already broken, and as it were, Li-six went straight through, landing in what used to be some sort of department store on the 12th floor. She rolled and crashed a dozen meters into the locale. Behind her striders opened fire on the opening she had made.
Rolling on the larvae tracks the tanks brutally tore through the deserted stores, here and there tearing down walls and display windows alike. Fashionable clothes, furry toys and luxurious TV-sets flew and scattered around her. A memory of a former civilization. Had there ever been a food store, it would have been ransacked long ago.
A skyscraper was built solely around its corners and its central support pillar. Most of the other walls were thin as paper; she went straight through. Having crossed through the entire building, she revved up and came out the windows on the other side, unfolding her legs like a giant leaping spider.
Li-six continued her headlong rush of fury through building after building for another block before she began to be careful. So far a child could track her from the destruction she was causing. Now however, it seemed she was clear of the immediate kill-zone. There would be at least 40 seconds before someone could follow her into this area.
Having finally ended up on top of a hydro-gas station, she climbed down to the street and picked a random direction away from the kill zone. The street was deserted, littered by cars in various states of decay, but on the street she could pick up a decent speed. She zick-zacked in a random patter a few times without meeting any enemy presence other than a few standard patrols lacking the equipment to detect her. Eventually she came upon a construction site. Climbing up into the scaffolding (partly hot-wiring a construction elevator on the way), she climbed onto a construction crane, finally giving her the elevation she needed.
She had, in a matter of fifteen minutes, travelled about ten blocks away from the kill zone. It was a huge area to cover, looking for a cloaked unit -- and unless Siru was caught there was no way they could know for sure she was cloaked or even what she was. On long range telescope she observed the kill-zone. The screamer was still there, but it seemed the probe had been drawn off by her violent escape and was investigating one of the buildings on her path of destruction. The streets were crawling with enemy, but if she had lured any of them to follow her maybe Siru might still have a chance. Maybe they hadn't realized there were two of them at all. She couldn't do anything for him now though, for now he was on his own.
Li-six opened his transmitters an bounced a weak coded carrier wave off Earth's atmosphere. The secure code reply from the Marine force's automatic beacoms came from west of her, roughly from where the ship had set down. There seemed to some sort of bridge there, but from her position, even her strongest telescope could not make out the marine force itself. She would have to move closer, and soon.
She picked their transponders and linked them through her firewall defences. As opposed to a normal coded broadcast, she was aiming this directly at them, bouncing the beam strategically in the atmosphere so it came down on them almost from above. That meant there was no way to even theoretically hack it, since, well, no one could even pick it up unless they were exactly at the location of that marine. She didn't include Siru in her link-up, partly because he was inside a building and partly because she couldn't risk linking to him if he would get caught soon.
She noticed the other marines were split up into two parts, separated by about 300 meters. Also Senturo's beacon was separated from the others, but not much. She patched them all in.
"Gentlemen" she said, confident that even if they were too busy to respond they would at least listen. "Li-six in position. Your secure comm-link is up on this channel. As long as you're under open sky or not below too much steel or concrete I will re-route your communications for complete security. If you loose my link, you have to go back to normal coded broadcast -- just remember that you can be pin-pointed that way if the military codes have been compromised. Li-six over and out. "
(OoC: sorry for the wait guys ^^; took me ages to get back into this (writing block) but now i have passed it! muha! 
welcome back FA! And Griatchness, i know i didn't give you too much to reply to in this one :3 cause the only thing i had in mind sadly was attacking Li-six more lol xD so yeah :3 I think this one is one of those kinda posts where there isn't tooooo much to reply to except reactions and such, sorries buut :3 enjoy)
Ic:
There was no time to look around, nor turn to see if he had been shot or wounded from the break in, Siru didn't even turn around to see if Li-six had made her getaway, or perhaps been hit by the rocket. He knew one thing, he had to run... The marine burst into action, throwing aside parts of the fallen building, running into the corridor of the apartment block, all around him he could hear ringing, footsteps, the thudding of something outside and the crackle of fire. Dust fell from the ceiling above as he snapped out of the door, running down the lengthy hallway. He moved with such speed he pummeled right into a Strider marine taking a step out of one of the closer doorways. The machine dropped back and fell into the ground, letting his plasma rifle slide back behind him.
Siru jumped back on one foot and watched as three more Strider's came pushing out of the next door down. One directly pointed at Siru as the others rose their guns towards him,
"Shit!" Siru called out as he twisted back and began to run back the other way. Smoke broke through all around them, pouring down from the floor above where there was obviously a fire burning. He spun the next corner and into a smoking room as blasts from the weapons whizzed right past the side of his head. He could feel the head just whipping right past his sensors and snapping into the wall as he threw back to the door to slam closed. Siru flicked back the lock with a simple movement of his hand, making his way to the closest window. To his dismay, every one had been boarded up with planks of wood, back in the days when the first Dragoon appeared it was thought they could also infect humans as well as AI... but it was not proven. But most cities like these were boarded up and blocked just as a precaution to anything of the sort.
Siru rose up a leg and snapped his foot into the wood, smoke poured out from behind him as a blast of plasma cracked through the lock of the door, simply melting through the wood like hot lava. The marine broke away the scattered wood that outlined the window. He slipped up to the edge and looked down into the alley below him. It was a pretty messed up street, garbage spread across and all over the street. Steam vents were below, covering most of the underground venting network. Siru turned back suddenly, hearing the door snap open. A single strider ran in with his gun automatically pointing towards him... But with that sight, Siru had already leapt out of the building. His feet snapped into the closest grid railing, the noise surely raising concern all around him. Blasts snapped out of the window, shattered wood and glass broke free as the Striders within the building still blasted relentlessly at the window he had leapt from. He could still hear the flames above and the movements of the Striders rushing for the window, but he did not remain in the one location long.
The marine held out the pistol he still carried, rushing across the grid railing before slipping his hand to the edge, lifting his legs up and throwing himself from the top, looking down... A two story drop awaited him. His legs buckled as he broke down into the dry street, his back sweeping down and his body finally collapsing against a large set of abandoned chairs and tables. Leaving one almighty crack of sound that echoed down the street, though with the firing and sound of the fire, it would have been only noticeable if there were drones close enough. Siru groaned as he leaned forward, brushing away broken wood and glass from his shoulders with one hand and the end of his gun. He sighed and slowly stood up, brushing smoldering metal from his body... The street he had fallen into seemed much like the others, but abandoned, all but the odd few wandering rats.
He held his gun up finally, pressing his back to the closest wall he could find. The alley way was narrow enough to keep himself hidden from any oncoming traffic such as Strider troop carriers, but if there was a drone to come creeping in, he was screwed. He eyed the sides of the walls, noticing an odd few side doors... possibly back doors to some of the apartments within. The area was some residential block, basic buildings, old. This city part had been abandoned most likely for quarantine, but seeing the rats showed clearly that the air here was less toxic then further on the borders of the city itself. Siru slowly slid across the wall, hearing the humming of drones over head, skimming across the tops of buildings, all seeming to move in one general direction, the high rise buildings none to far from him.
The marine sighed, looking to his sides, peeking out of the alley way before shaking his head to the sight. The streets and alleys all around him were filled to the brim with patrols, Strider marines, special forces. He gazed across the courtyard garden where two M5's stood poised in position, neither one moving. To each side of the mechs were at least five standard marines... He could see troop carriers parked off to the side. Siru panned across the lower buildings, indeed there were windows, but luck was not with him this time, there was no revealing snipers this time... but that didn't mean they were there. To the center of the courtyard stood one Strider in particular, he had no ranks like the other marines, his shoulder colored a bright blood red, something quite new to these Striders was one thing, probably bad news for everyone else.
Siru tilted his head, looking down the corner, he could only make out something, just a gap between one building and another, lines of people being pushed up into loading troop carriers, their heads covered in steel gray masks. Siru rose an eyebrow, confused as he searched across and looked back to the two standing mechs, still motionless... as if their pilots were being briefed, possibly in one of the closest buildings.
It was then a plan began to formulate within his mind, making him corner a smirk and grin, in his mind his plan would work, though if anyone else were to hear it, he was sure they would think otherwise...
~
There were so many things going wrong!
Those were the thoughts that rushed through the Major's mind, Razu sat with his back against the wall, two marines to his sides firing pot shots into the spread out Strider marines. Kat was out there, with no weapons, Senturo himself had been separated and damn it all the ass commander had abandoned them and gotten himself into much deeper shit then he could imagine. Razu growled, holding his weapon close, watching the flashing blasts of the weapons snapping around him. He could hear the shattering glass and wall as the mech broke free from within the building walls. It was then he chose to move up, tilting his head around the corner and watching as Kat was stuck right in the center, between two striders and a M5 battle mech,
"Fuck!" he growled, pressing back and leaning up, looking across to the side. To the far side of the street he could see more bad news, Strider marines began to move in. Their formations were scattered, clearly telling him their leaders were somewhere else, possibly some scrap band of patrols aiding their comrades. Razu leaned up and pressed his chest against the stone battlement, he leant his gun across and blasted a few shots into the two Striders. One blast snapped across the shoulder of one, his armor snapping back with chips of metal following. With one marine faltering, the other two marines to the Majors side opened fire onto him while he stood in one spot. The strider was filled with more blasts then any other, his body dropping back onto the road smoking.
Razu turned to the M5 that rushed from the inside of the building, the thing had most likely been in there from the start, some sort of sentry for this area. Its bullets cracked across the pavement right towards the kid, making Razu stand up and shout out over the street,
"GET OUT OF THERE KID!" he called out as she threw the blade she held into the air. With a snap and jolt of power the blade cracked into one of the mech's visual nodes. Glass shattered across the ground as its arm slipped up and blasted holes into the roof above it. It seemed to stagger back, its sensors messing around with it... blind.
It was then Li-six was heard over a clear comm-link, no static, the touch of the Strider network was affecting it none. 'Finally some good news' were the thoughts that came to mind. She had fixed their link, giving them clear communication and secure over a network. Razu pointed down to Taz,
"Taz, go in there and get the kid!" He turned without waiting for Taz to reply, motioning to Bo, "Bo, see if you can get a communication out, see if we can at least have 'some' backup before we die" With that Razu turned back, he didn't stop. He leapt across the stone railing, looking out across the street, watching as at least ten or so striders rushing in from the distance. He held his rifle out with one hand, blasting shot after shot into the last remaining strider closest to him. Taz ran to his side, keeping close to the wall, leaving Bo and the Tech behind. He could see the kid up ahead, the mech going nuts and blasting holes into the ground as if a trigger had been stuck.
Razu ducked down as blasts broke in, the remaining SFS dropping back to a broken down jeep, its frame all burnt out, but nothing within. The strider ducked down and took cover, a more safer spot then where Razu stood. The Major looked across, trying to see the rooftop where Senturo was, "Senturo! We need some cover fire!" he yelled over the street.
Taz rushed up towards Kat his gun outwards towards the mech, who seemed to be controlling the breech in his sensor net,
"Come on Kid, we need-" his voice was taken away as more fire began to break in, plasma shots shattering across the walls with bright light, sparks running across the stone and wood walls. Taz stood just by Kat as if ready to use his body so that she wouldn't be shot up. Even though Taz had seen her take more then one bullet before, he could tell right now, something was not right, his instincts however told him to keep where he was. He watched as the rest of the strider groups moved in from the cover of the buildings to the distance... This was the group Senturo had been talking about...
Razu backed up, holding his weapon out in front of him, watching as the area began to fill up with more and more... He skimmed over things he could do... If they pulled back to the ship they would surely gain fire from air support, they would be shot down in no time now. They couldn't move back to the commander, they too were dipping their toes in hot water too. His group was spread out enough so they couldn't soak up too much concentrated fire. The thought of ordering Li-six back came to mind... but at the moment, she couldn't be offense and attack these bastards. Razu gripped his handle tight, looking out as Senturo appeared from the open windows above, he held a large white strider sniper rifle in one hand, looking down to the mech that staggered to stand, aiming its weapons towards Taz and Kat.
Taz held up his weapon, "This is going to hurt..." he groaned...
Razu held his hand to side of his commlink, "Li-six..." he began as he moved across the street, holding out his weapon towards the mech, shooting blast after blast into its side... his weapon having no effect on its side shoulder armor...
A stream of light snapped across the street, rushing past Razu with a trail of gray smoke. Within seconds something snapped into the lower body of the mech, fire snapping out as its lower armor exploded, one leg swiveling off into the air as its bulk broke down backwards and snapped into the ground with a loud snap. Razu looked across as one six wheeled vehicle slid across the ground with smoke following, lining up and coming to a stop right to the side of Razu... The machine was heavily armored around the sides, battle mech armor, six thickly mounted wheels with spikes lining the rubber on the front two. It was an opened topped eight person carrier with the additional mountable turret on the backside. Razu held his weapon up as sigh of relief broke from his lips, watching as two marines leaped down from the sides of the large vehicle. The mounted marine held the turrets controls, firing another rocket into the moving Striders. The ground opened up in a blast of fire and dust.
The two marines that had exited the tank moved towards the front of the vehicle, opening fire onto the oncoming striders, taking cover behind the front mounted blast shield on the tank. A third figure jumped off from the side of the tank, leaving only the turret control and a driver inside,
"You wouldn't believe your timing!" Razu spoke up,
"Sorry it took so long to get here... Seems the Striders are making themselves known across the whole city without a moments notice..." the man spoke up, his armor was almost identical to that of Razu, same shape, color and same ranks.
Taz looked across to the smoldering mech, slowly taking a few steps towards it, "Bastards... they could have at least hit something without making it unusable..." he spoke, almost in a sad tone. He pointed his gun to the front mounted armor shield where the pilot would be sitting within, the flame had indeed weakened the front panel enough to shoot something within... not that the pilot was alive now, but to Taz, that didn't matter. He blasted two shots into the front of the mech, sparks snapping out of its burning ruin. The marine sighed and grinned, turning back to Kat, "Damn kid, what do you think you are? Super Wolf? Standing up to a thing like this and running out here against the odds..." he then came to notice the wounds, the way she was... at first he was going to do the concerned thing and ask how she was, or if she needed aid... but even though he had only talked to her a couple of times, he was bound to get a smart ass answer, so instead, "I hope your keeping count kid... I really do"
Senturo leapt down from the rooftop above, looking across and watching as a second six wheeler drove out from the side street, a lot closer to the incoming striders... Though by now they were beginning to pull back. But he knew very well that they couldn't remain here for long, Striders had a habit of calling in the big guns when their militia wasn't effective enough.
Razu held his weapon up over his shoulder, looking towards where Bo had been, only to find the large marine making his was across the street, with Reign slumped over one shoulder, and wolf on the other, both hanging unconscious. The tech staggered quite closely behind, his arms folded over his chest, as if trying to hide closer behind Bo. The major, looked out to the other six wheeler as the marine reinforcements began to mop up the last few stragglers,
"Two SWG's? (Six Wheeled Gunner)" Razu questioned, "Weren't they all meant to be out in the barrens?" he looked to the new major,
"We managed to find five of these blessings in an old warehouse the Striders had set up as some civilian holding area... good find..." the major looked to Razu, "Major Razu I assume?"
Razu nodded, there was no saluting on the battlefield so he stood where he was, giving a side glance to the major, "Yes, where is Captain Halberd? I was informed he was the top rank down here"
"Not anymore, Halberd is MIA, his team moved out only five minutes ago, not long after your communication, he was actually moving to meet with your group, but we have heard nothing since... right now ground has no leader. Oscar 3 is scattered... Base has few guards as it is..." the Major nodded, watching as Bo approached the side of the SWG lifting up Reign and sliding him into one of the single panel seats before pulling himself up with wolf still over his shoulder,
"I'm Major Ravine, me and the boys were on routine check and got drift of your fire over here... This is whats left of Oscar you see here... Mostly newbies, backwater ground troops, nothing special... Seems all the rest have either been captured or being hauled up somewhere we are yet to find"
There was no relief now that there were still marines down here, that Oscar was here, without captain Halberd on the field, that would simply mean the commander, Omarah, would have a chance of taking command of this field... and that wasn't a good thing in Razu's eyes, he looked to Ravine, "Gather up your men, saddle up and lets get the hell out of this hole, we still have a commander to rescue" with that said the other major nodded and waved his arm across, watching as the second and further down SWG began to turn, moving back and towards them.
Razu looked across to Taz, Senturo and Kat, "Lets keep moving!" he called out...
Senturo held the large rifle across his shoulder as he approached Kat and Taz, moving his hand across and slowly picking up the shimmering blade that waited to the feet of the burning mech, its form still in good order, the hilt a little melted off to the side, but nothing that couldn't stop it from being used. Nodding to Taz he came up to stand before Kat, pressing one knee down and holding the blade in his fingers, pointing the hilt towards her, "Nice work, without your distraction... Razu and the others would have been swamped" he spoke softly, unaware if it had been her intentions or not to sneak past the marines and draw out the M5 mech... it seemed to work.
"All belted up and ready to go here sir" Bo spoke up from on the tank, locked into his seat with Reign leaning against the side, Wolf was in behind him though, just to the side panels of the turret, two straps over him, one over his body and one over the mask that covered his head.
Razu lifted his hand to his comm-link, "Li-six, all clear down here" he began, "You are open to continue your mission. From my knowledge the Striders are spread out... Congestion in one area doesn't seem to be on their main agenda" he turned and watched as the marines around him began to load up, leaping up the small step ladder from the side of the tank and hopping in, "Now I don't know any specifics, but it looks like they are hauling civilians with some sort of new technology... masks like I have not we have seen before... I need Intel! See if you can dig into a high rank load out base, look for drop ships, its the only way they are dropping troops into Catacarn..." Razu looked across as Major Ravine leapt up the side of the tank, just leaning against its outer armor, holding his weapon out, "We are on route to an outpost... after we make a pickup... I will contact you again with a silent message... feed me updates as soon as they come, over"
Senturo reached his hand down to Kat, offering her a hand to get up, "Come on Kat, we have to keep it going"
welcome back FA! And Griatchness, i know i didn't give you too much to reply to in this one :3 cause the only thing i had in mind sadly was attacking Li-six more lol xD so yeah :3 I think this one is one of those kinda posts where there isn't tooooo much to reply to except reactions and such, sorries buut :3 enjoy)Ic:
There was no time to look around, nor turn to see if he had been shot or wounded from the break in, Siru didn't even turn around to see if Li-six had made her getaway, or perhaps been hit by the rocket. He knew one thing, he had to run... The marine burst into action, throwing aside parts of the fallen building, running into the corridor of the apartment block, all around him he could hear ringing, footsteps, the thudding of something outside and the crackle of fire. Dust fell from the ceiling above as he snapped out of the door, running down the lengthy hallway. He moved with such speed he pummeled right into a Strider marine taking a step out of one of the closer doorways. The machine dropped back and fell into the ground, letting his plasma rifle slide back behind him.
Siru jumped back on one foot and watched as three more Strider's came pushing out of the next door down. One directly pointed at Siru as the others rose their guns towards him,
"Shit!" Siru called out as he twisted back and began to run back the other way. Smoke broke through all around them, pouring down from the floor above where there was obviously a fire burning. He spun the next corner and into a smoking room as blasts from the weapons whizzed right past the side of his head. He could feel the head just whipping right past his sensors and snapping into the wall as he threw back to the door to slam closed. Siru flicked back the lock with a simple movement of his hand, making his way to the closest window. To his dismay, every one had been boarded up with planks of wood, back in the days when the first Dragoon appeared it was thought they could also infect humans as well as AI... but it was not proven. But most cities like these were boarded up and blocked just as a precaution to anything of the sort.
Siru rose up a leg and snapped his foot into the wood, smoke poured out from behind him as a blast of plasma cracked through the lock of the door, simply melting through the wood like hot lava. The marine broke away the scattered wood that outlined the window. He slipped up to the edge and looked down into the alley below him. It was a pretty messed up street, garbage spread across and all over the street. Steam vents were below, covering most of the underground venting network. Siru turned back suddenly, hearing the door snap open. A single strider ran in with his gun automatically pointing towards him... But with that sight, Siru had already leapt out of the building. His feet snapped into the closest grid railing, the noise surely raising concern all around him. Blasts snapped out of the window, shattered wood and glass broke free as the Striders within the building still blasted relentlessly at the window he had leapt from. He could still hear the flames above and the movements of the Striders rushing for the window, but he did not remain in the one location long.
The marine held out the pistol he still carried, rushing across the grid railing before slipping his hand to the edge, lifting his legs up and throwing himself from the top, looking down... A two story drop awaited him. His legs buckled as he broke down into the dry street, his back sweeping down and his body finally collapsing against a large set of abandoned chairs and tables. Leaving one almighty crack of sound that echoed down the street, though with the firing and sound of the fire, it would have been only noticeable if there were drones close enough. Siru groaned as he leaned forward, brushing away broken wood and glass from his shoulders with one hand and the end of his gun. He sighed and slowly stood up, brushing smoldering metal from his body... The street he had fallen into seemed much like the others, but abandoned, all but the odd few wandering rats.
He held his gun up finally, pressing his back to the closest wall he could find. The alley way was narrow enough to keep himself hidden from any oncoming traffic such as Strider troop carriers, but if there was a drone to come creeping in, he was screwed. He eyed the sides of the walls, noticing an odd few side doors... possibly back doors to some of the apartments within. The area was some residential block, basic buildings, old. This city part had been abandoned most likely for quarantine, but seeing the rats showed clearly that the air here was less toxic then further on the borders of the city itself. Siru slowly slid across the wall, hearing the humming of drones over head, skimming across the tops of buildings, all seeming to move in one general direction, the high rise buildings none to far from him.
The marine sighed, looking to his sides, peeking out of the alley way before shaking his head to the sight. The streets and alleys all around him were filled to the brim with patrols, Strider marines, special forces. He gazed across the courtyard garden where two M5's stood poised in position, neither one moving. To each side of the mechs were at least five standard marines... He could see troop carriers parked off to the side. Siru panned across the lower buildings, indeed there were windows, but luck was not with him this time, there was no revealing snipers this time... but that didn't mean they were there. To the center of the courtyard stood one Strider in particular, he had no ranks like the other marines, his shoulder colored a bright blood red, something quite new to these Striders was one thing, probably bad news for everyone else.
Siru tilted his head, looking down the corner, he could only make out something, just a gap between one building and another, lines of people being pushed up into loading troop carriers, their heads covered in steel gray masks. Siru rose an eyebrow, confused as he searched across and looked back to the two standing mechs, still motionless... as if their pilots were being briefed, possibly in one of the closest buildings.
It was then a plan began to formulate within his mind, making him corner a smirk and grin, in his mind his plan would work, though if anyone else were to hear it, he was sure they would think otherwise...
~
There were so many things going wrong!
Those were the thoughts that rushed through the Major's mind, Razu sat with his back against the wall, two marines to his sides firing pot shots into the spread out Strider marines. Kat was out there, with no weapons, Senturo himself had been separated and damn it all the ass commander had abandoned them and gotten himself into much deeper shit then he could imagine. Razu growled, holding his weapon close, watching the flashing blasts of the weapons snapping around him. He could hear the shattering glass and wall as the mech broke free from within the building walls. It was then he chose to move up, tilting his head around the corner and watching as Kat was stuck right in the center, between two striders and a M5 battle mech,
"Fuck!" he growled, pressing back and leaning up, looking across to the side. To the far side of the street he could see more bad news, Strider marines began to move in. Their formations were scattered, clearly telling him their leaders were somewhere else, possibly some scrap band of patrols aiding their comrades. Razu leaned up and pressed his chest against the stone battlement, he leant his gun across and blasted a few shots into the two Striders. One blast snapped across the shoulder of one, his armor snapping back with chips of metal following. With one marine faltering, the other two marines to the Majors side opened fire onto him while he stood in one spot. The strider was filled with more blasts then any other, his body dropping back onto the road smoking.
Razu turned to the M5 that rushed from the inside of the building, the thing had most likely been in there from the start, some sort of sentry for this area. Its bullets cracked across the pavement right towards the kid, making Razu stand up and shout out over the street,
"GET OUT OF THERE KID!" he called out as she threw the blade she held into the air. With a snap and jolt of power the blade cracked into one of the mech's visual nodes. Glass shattered across the ground as its arm slipped up and blasted holes into the roof above it. It seemed to stagger back, its sensors messing around with it... blind.
It was then Li-six was heard over a clear comm-link, no static, the touch of the Strider network was affecting it none. 'Finally some good news' were the thoughts that came to mind. She had fixed their link, giving them clear communication and secure over a network. Razu pointed down to Taz,
"Taz, go in there and get the kid!" He turned without waiting for Taz to reply, motioning to Bo, "Bo, see if you can get a communication out, see if we can at least have 'some' backup before we die" With that Razu turned back, he didn't stop. He leapt across the stone railing, looking out across the street, watching as at least ten or so striders rushing in from the distance. He held his rifle out with one hand, blasting shot after shot into the last remaining strider closest to him. Taz ran to his side, keeping close to the wall, leaving Bo and the Tech behind. He could see the kid up ahead, the mech going nuts and blasting holes into the ground as if a trigger had been stuck.
Razu ducked down as blasts broke in, the remaining SFS dropping back to a broken down jeep, its frame all burnt out, but nothing within. The strider ducked down and took cover, a more safer spot then where Razu stood. The Major looked across, trying to see the rooftop where Senturo was, "Senturo! We need some cover fire!" he yelled over the street.
Taz rushed up towards Kat his gun outwards towards the mech, who seemed to be controlling the breech in his sensor net,
"Come on Kid, we need-" his voice was taken away as more fire began to break in, plasma shots shattering across the walls with bright light, sparks running across the stone and wood walls. Taz stood just by Kat as if ready to use his body so that she wouldn't be shot up. Even though Taz had seen her take more then one bullet before, he could tell right now, something was not right, his instincts however told him to keep where he was. He watched as the rest of the strider groups moved in from the cover of the buildings to the distance... This was the group Senturo had been talking about...
Razu backed up, holding his weapon out in front of him, watching as the area began to fill up with more and more... He skimmed over things he could do... If they pulled back to the ship they would surely gain fire from air support, they would be shot down in no time now. They couldn't move back to the commander, they too were dipping their toes in hot water too. His group was spread out enough so they couldn't soak up too much concentrated fire. The thought of ordering Li-six back came to mind... but at the moment, she couldn't be offense and attack these bastards. Razu gripped his handle tight, looking out as Senturo appeared from the open windows above, he held a large white strider sniper rifle in one hand, looking down to the mech that staggered to stand, aiming its weapons towards Taz and Kat.
Taz held up his weapon, "This is going to hurt..." he groaned...
Razu held his hand to side of his commlink, "Li-six..." he began as he moved across the street, holding out his weapon towards the mech, shooting blast after blast into its side... his weapon having no effect on its side shoulder armor...
A stream of light snapped across the street, rushing past Razu with a trail of gray smoke. Within seconds something snapped into the lower body of the mech, fire snapping out as its lower armor exploded, one leg swiveling off into the air as its bulk broke down backwards and snapped into the ground with a loud snap. Razu looked across as one six wheeled vehicle slid across the ground with smoke following, lining up and coming to a stop right to the side of Razu... The machine was heavily armored around the sides, battle mech armor, six thickly mounted wheels with spikes lining the rubber on the front two. It was an opened topped eight person carrier with the additional mountable turret on the backside. Razu held his weapon up as sigh of relief broke from his lips, watching as two marines leaped down from the sides of the large vehicle. The mounted marine held the turrets controls, firing another rocket into the moving Striders. The ground opened up in a blast of fire and dust.
The two marines that had exited the tank moved towards the front of the vehicle, opening fire onto the oncoming striders, taking cover behind the front mounted blast shield on the tank. A third figure jumped off from the side of the tank, leaving only the turret control and a driver inside,
"You wouldn't believe your timing!" Razu spoke up,
"Sorry it took so long to get here... Seems the Striders are making themselves known across the whole city without a moments notice..." the man spoke up, his armor was almost identical to that of Razu, same shape, color and same ranks.
Taz looked across to the smoldering mech, slowly taking a few steps towards it, "Bastards... they could have at least hit something without making it unusable..." he spoke, almost in a sad tone. He pointed his gun to the front mounted armor shield where the pilot would be sitting within, the flame had indeed weakened the front panel enough to shoot something within... not that the pilot was alive now, but to Taz, that didn't matter. He blasted two shots into the front of the mech, sparks snapping out of its burning ruin. The marine sighed and grinned, turning back to Kat, "Damn kid, what do you think you are? Super Wolf? Standing up to a thing like this and running out here against the odds..." he then came to notice the wounds, the way she was... at first he was going to do the concerned thing and ask how she was, or if she needed aid... but even though he had only talked to her a couple of times, he was bound to get a smart ass answer, so instead, "I hope your keeping count kid... I really do"
Senturo leapt down from the rooftop above, looking across and watching as a second six wheeler drove out from the side street, a lot closer to the incoming striders... Though by now they were beginning to pull back. But he knew very well that they couldn't remain here for long, Striders had a habit of calling in the big guns when their militia wasn't effective enough.
Razu held his weapon up over his shoulder, looking towards where Bo had been, only to find the large marine making his was across the street, with Reign slumped over one shoulder, and wolf on the other, both hanging unconscious. The tech staggered quite closely behind, his arms folded over his chest, as if trying to hide closer behind Bo. The major, looked out to the other six wheeler as the marine reinforcements began to mop up the last few stragglers,
"Two SWG's? (Six Wheeled Gunner)" Razu questioned, "Weren't they all meant to be out in the barrens?" he looked to the new major,
"We managed to find five of these blessings in an old warehouse the Striders had set up as some civilian holding area... good find..." the major looked to Razu, "Major Razu I assume?"
Razu nodded, there was no saluting on the battlefield so he stood where he was, giving a side glance to the major, "Yes, where is Captain Halberd? I was informed he was the top rank down here"
"Not anymore, Halberd is MIA, his team moved out only five minutes ago, not long after your communication, he was actually moving to meet with your group, but we have heard nothing since... right now ground has no leader. Oscar 3 is scattered... Base has few guards as it is..." the Major nodded, watching as Bo approached the side of the SWG lifting up Reign and sliding him into one of the single panel seats before pulling himself up with wolf still over his shoulder,
"I'm Major Ravine, me and the boys were on routine check and got drift of your fire over here... This is whats left of Oscar you see here... Mostly newbies, backwater ground troops, nothing special... Seems all the rest have either been captured or being hauled up somewhere we are yet to find"
There was no relief now that there were still marines down here, that Oscar was here, without captain Halberd on the field, that would simply mean the commander, Omarah, would have a chance of taking command of this field... and that wasn't a good thing in Razu's eyes, he looked to Ravine, "Gather up your men, saddle up and lets get the hell out of this hole, we still have a commander to rescue" with that said the other major nodded and waved his arm across, watching as the second and further down SWG began to turn, moving back and towards them.
Razu looked across to Taz, Senturo and Kat, "Lets keep moving!" he called out...
Senturo held the large rifle across his shoulder as he approached Kat and Taz, moving his hand across and slowly picking up the shimmering blade that waited to the feet of the burning mech, its form still in good order, the hilt a little melted off to the side, but nothing that couldn't stop it from being used. Nodding to Taz he came up to stand before Kat, pressing one knee down and holding the blade in his fingers, pointing the hilt towards her, "Nice work, without your distraction... Razu and the others would have been swamped" he spoke softly, unaware if it had been her intentions or not to sneak past the marines and draw out the M5 mech... it seemed to work.
"All belted up and ready to go here sir" Bo spoke up from on the tank, locked into his seat with Reign leaning against the side, Wolf was in behind him though, just to the side panels of the turret, two straps over him, one over his body and one over the mask that covered his head.
Razu lifted his hand to his comm-link, "Li-six, all clear down here" he began, "You are open to continue your mission. From my knowledge the Striders are spread out... Congestion in one area doesn't seem to be on their main agenda" he turned and watched as the marines around him began to load up, leaping up the small step ladder from the side of the tank and hopping in, "Now I don't know any specifics, but it looks like they are hauling civilians with some sort of new technology... masks like I have not we have seen before... I need Intel! See if you can dig into a high rank load out base, look for drop ships, its the only way they are dropping troops into Catacarn..." Razu looked across as Major Ravine leapt up the side of the tank, just leaning against its outer armor, holding his weapon out, "We are on route to an outpost... after we make a pickup... I will contact you again with a silent message... feed me updates as soon as they come, over"
Senturo reached his hand down to Kat, offering her a hand to get up, "Come on Kat, we have to keep it going"
~
It was hell.
Bullets and that weird stuff was flying everywhere, and Kat's side hurt and burned like nothing else. Her hand clamped down on her side as she watched it all happen. She was glad to see the weird machine giant was having issues with her blade in it's eye. Serves the damn thing right. She growled though as bullets zipped past her head and sides. However, as often as they did, Kat made sure not to move... she didn't entirely feel like becoming pockmarked with bullet holes again. Not when she was having issues fighting off shock, which were none too successful.
A werewolf's body is a strange thing. Kat could take hit after hit after hit with an amazing amount of stamina, but when she got stressed or started to go into shock, a type of chemical throughout her body, similar to crocodiles. This could actually poison her body, making it harder and harder for Kathryn to continue the healing rate she normally has. This same chemical, which she didn't have a name for, was starting to build up in her body. That wasn't made any more clear then the bullet holes that still remained in her body, in the least vital places since she prioritized the healing rate. The bullet she had found in her side was still bleeding and when it should be clogged and healed by now, it was still an open wound. She closed her hand tight on it, trying to keep still as bullets and plasma burst flew past her.
I have to keep going, for Wolf. She thought quietly to herself, trying to rationalize through the shock that slowly started to set in. She was out of her element, and still a young wolf. Even an adult werewolf would have a very difficult time dealing with everything that was going on around her. Kat was just too stubborn to give up. And it kinda helped that she wasn't really afraid of much.
She growled as the strange giant machine seemed to spazz out. Watching it, she knew it really wasn't a good thing to just be sitting here, but that didn't exactly matter when you couldn't move five steps before getting hit. It's true, it's easier to hit a still target, but from what she saw, she wasn't so sure that people were firing for her. Best to go with her gut reaction then to try and move and put herself in between a bullet and its real target.
She looked up as Taz moved over to her. She would have told him to go, but she could hardly talk. The pain in her side was horrible. She was use to pain, just not use to it lasting so long. Even as he stood there, she could hear the bullets hitting the pavement around them, see that strange stuff that burned skin and bone alike melting the pavement as well. She couldn't really see his face, but knowing humans, he was probably itching to do something heroic. It was good he didn't. She would have mauled him herself.
It wasn't until the machine moved to point it's weapon at the two of them. And Kat chimed practically in time with Taz. "This is going to hurt." For a split second after Kat heard him say it as well, she wondered just how similar they were to each other. He may not be a werewolf, but she bet he'd be a damned good one... if he survived his first Change that is...
It was when the stream of light hit the machine that Kat jumped, wincing as she pulled her side wrong. There was a small blood pool on the ground, hidden by her hoodie however. Her hand tightened further on her side as she kept quiet about it. She wasn't interested in anything else around her. Hopefully now that someone else had come, then maybe they could get Wolf and that Reign guy out of here. A strange, car, of some sort was now between them and the advancing Striders. Kat didn't pay much attention as the others spoke, and looked up at Taz as he spoke.
If he was expecting some smart-ass answer or response, he didn't get one. Kat was a little too preoccupied with her own thoughts. She was hoping, praying softly to herself in her head that this was all just a dream. As she did so however, she moved a little further into shock. Her eyes didn't want to focus correctly. This time, she wasn't going to be able to reason her way out of this. Instead she'd have to wait until things calmed down or she could rest. She held her side tight as he looked at her. She figured he must'uve seen her wounds, but she didn't care. Keeping count? Keeping count of what?
Kat stayed where she was, trying to stop the bleeding, not paying attention to anything that was really being said around her. Her hand pressing in to stop the bleeding. It was slowing, but it hadn't as of yet stopped completely. It wasn't until Senturo walked up to her and Taz that she actually started to pay attention. When he bent down, Syi blade handle pointed to her, she looked up at him with a suspicious look in her eyes. Yet, when he told her she had done nice work, Kat was taken back by that. She paused, more so flabbergasted at the fact that she didn't get yelled at or reprimanded. Isn't that what these guys were suppose to do if someone disobeyed orders?
Kat just barely managed to nod as she reached out and took the Syi blade in her right hand, flipping it back and hitting the switch while it twisted over her fingers, placing it in the pocket of her hoodie in one movement. She hardly winced as she pulled her side slightly, instead looking up at where Bo (who really didn't seem like all that bad of a human to her eyes) had placed Wolf and Reign. Turning, she looked around. Everyone was right. They had to get out of here.
She would have taken Senturo's hand, if no one else had been there maybe. Instead, she slowly got up on her own. She looked at Senturo and gave a slight 'no' shake of her head. She'd been in a Pack for too long. Show weakness and your position was threatened. So instead, she got up on her own. Guessing that they'd probably want her to get up into the vehicle. She walked over to it. Trying not to show a hint of her pain, she climbed the steps but as she got to the top, tripped and moved her left hand out, the one that had been covering her wound, and had to push against the side of the strange vehicle. Acting as if she didn't notice the amount of blood that stained her hand, and the mark it left on the vehicle. She walked over to Wolf and knelt down beside him. She was worried about him. She wasn't sure what that helmet was doing to him, what it would do to him over time if it hadn't done anything yet. Taking up the seat next to Wolf. Kat was tempted to lay her head back, but instead she curled her legs up closer to her. Not sure how the strange belt things worked, and leaned gently against Wolf, keeping her left hand over her side. It was still bleeding, but she leant on that side so that no one could see.
"Please tell me this isn't what you humans do for fun."
Bullets and that weird stuff was flying everywhere, and Kat's side hurt and burned like nothing else. Her hand clamped down on her side as she watched it all happen. She was glad to see the weird machine giant was having issues with her blade in it's eye. Serves the damn thing right. She growled though as bullets zipped past her head and sides. However, as often as they did, Kat made sure not to move... she didn't entirely feel like becoming pockmarked with bullet holes again. Not when she was having issues fighting off shock, which were none too successful.
A werewolf's body is a strange thing. Kat could take hit after hit after hit with an amazing amount of stamina, but when she got stressed or started to go into shock, a type of chemical throughout her body, similar to crocodiles. This could actually poison her body, making it harder and harder for Kathryn to continue the healing rate she normally has. This same chemical, which she didn't have a name for, was starting to build up in her body. That wasn't made any more clear then the bullet holes that still remained in her body, in the least vital places since she prioritized the healing rate. The bullet she had found in her side was still bleeding and when it should be clogged and healed by now, it was still an open wound. She closed her hand tight on it, trying to keep still as bullets and plasma burst flew past her.
I have to keep going, for Wolf. She thought quietly to herself, trying to rationalize through the shock that slowly started to set in. She was out of her element, and still a young wolf. Even an adult werewolf would have a very difficult time dealing with everything that was going on around her. Kat was just too stubborn to give up. And it kinda helped that she wasn't really afraid of much.
She growled as the strange giant machine seemed to spazz out. Watching it, she knew it really wasn't a good thing to just be sitting here, but that didn't exactly matter when you couldn't move five steps before getting hit. It's true, it's easier to hit a still target, but from what she saw, she wasn't so sure that people were firing for her. Best to go with her gut reaction then to try and move and put herself in between a bullet and its real target.
She looked up as Taz moved over to her. She would have told him to go, but she could hardly talk. The pain in her side was horrible. She was use to pain, just not use to it lasting so long. Even as he stood there, she could hear the bullets hitting the pavement around them, see that strange stuff that burned skin and bone alike melting the pavement as well. She couldn't really see his face, but knowing humans, he was probably itching to do something heroic. It was good he didn't. She would have mauled him herself.
It wasn't until the machine moved to point it's weapon at the two of them. And Kat chimed practically in time with Taz. "This is going to hurt." For a split second after Kat heard him say it as well, she wondered just how similar they were to each other. He may not be a werewolf, but she bet he'd be a damned good one... if he survived his first Change that is...
It was when the stream of light hit the machine that Kat jumped, wincing as she pulled her side wrong. There was a small blood pool on the ground, hidden by her hoodie however. Her hand tightened further on her side as she kept quiet about it. She wasn't interested in anything else around her. Hopefully now that someone else had come, then maybe they could get Wolf and that Reign guy out of here. A strange, car, of some sort was now between them and the advancing Striders. Kat didn't pay much attention as the others spoke, and looked up at Taz as he spoke.
If he was expecting some smart-ass answer or response, he didn't get one. Kat was a little too preoccupied with her own thoughts. She was hoping, praying softly to herself in her head that this was all just a dream. As she did so however, she moved a little further into shock. Her eyes didn't want to focus correctly. This time, she wasn't going to be able to reason her way out of this. Instead she'd have to wait until things calmed down or she could rest. She held her side tight as he looked at her. She figured he must'uve seen her wounds, but she didn't care. Keeping count? Keeping count of what?
Kat stayed where she was, trying to stop the bleeding, not paying attention to anything that was really being said around her. Her hand pressing in to stop the bleeding. It was slowing, but it hadn't as of yet stopped completely. It wasn't until Senturo walked up to her and Taz that she actually started to pay attention. When he bent down, Syi blade handle pointed to her, she looked up at him with a suspicious look in her eyes. Yet, when he told her she had done nice work, Kat was taken back by that. She paused, more so flabbergasted at the fact that she didn't get yelled at or reprimanded. Isn't that what these guys were suppose to do if someone disobeyed orders?
Kat just barely managed to nod as she reached out and took the Syi blade in her right hand, flipping it back and hitting the switch while it twisted over her fingers, placing it in the pocket of her hoodie in one movement. She hardly winced as she pulled her side slightly, instead looking up at where Bo (who really didn't seem like all that bad of a human to her eyes) had placed Wolf and Reign. Turning, she looked around. Everyone was right. They had to get out of here.
She would have taken Senturo's hand, if no one else had been there maybe. Instead, she slowly got up on her own. She looked at Senturo and gave a slight 'no' shake of her head. She'd been in a Pack for too long. Show weakness and your position was threatened. So instead, she got up on her own. Guessing that they'd probably want her to get up into the vehicle. She walked over to it. Trying not to show a hint of her pain, she climbed the steps but as she got to the top, tripped and moved her left hand out, the one that had been covering her wound, and had to push against the side of the strange vehicle. Acting as if she didn't notice the amount of blood that stained her hand, and the mark it left on the vehicle. She walked over to Wolf and knelt down beside him. She was worried about him. She wasn't sure what that helmet was doing to him, what it would do to him over time if it hadn't done anything yet. Taking up the seat next to Wolf. Kat was tempted to lay her head back, but instead she curled her legs up closer to her. Not sure how the strange belt things worked, and leaned gently against Wolf, keeping her left hand over her side. It was still bleeding, but she leant on that side so that no one could see.
"Please tell me this isn't what you humans do for fun."
You never know what you can do, 'till you try.
Art and Silth © Me
OOC: It's Ok, Barbie, to be honest I don't give you much to work with in this post either. Now, I felt some more introspective posts are needed amongst all the action and battles, so this is more of a mood-setting thing, and maybe something that can give inspiration. I should say I'm quite proud of the second part of this post.
-------------
Jamesson, the tech, rose shakily from the shelter just off and to the side of Razu. He looked carefully over the edge, clearly ready to duck at any moment. "I guess I could eventually get used to people shooting at me" he said. "But not when the one's shooting are wearing our own colours, our own faces." He glanced over at the smoldering remains of the mech. "I have serviced M5 mechs for two years" he said to noone in particular. "They should be beacons of light, a welcome sight when your back's against the wall. Now ... I wonder if there is any light at all anymore."
~~~
"Affirmative" Li-six sent back to Razu. "Commencing infiltration." She spent two minutes setting up a relay transmitter there at the top of the construction crane. It was a magnetic box the size of a tennis ball and would help her link to the marines also when she had left this excellent position.
Carefully climbing down from the crane and taking the hot-wired elevator to the ground (she was a tank, not a goddamn acrobat!), she set out down the asphalt road she had seen before.
Now that she had a rough overview of the surrounding city she knew reasonably well where to go. For her to give Razu any intel directly usable to him, she needed to get closer to the marines. Flank them, try to secretly track what kind of hornet's nest they were stirring up.
This part of the city seemed to have been deserted long before this latest combat. The air was not so bad here (her sensors told her), but some of the buildings showed signs of radiation burns. Years old. Maybe a bremsstrahlung-bomb, she mused. The bremsstrahlung-bomb was labeled a "clean" bomb. The intense but brief burst of gamma radiation wiped out all unshielded biology -- fried the unarmoured civilians but left the houses and armoured military standing.
Li-six had also heard it called a "moving-in-bomb" -- because as long as you yourself had proper armour you could just drop the bomb and directly go live in the enemy houses. All you needed to do was brush up the biological ashes everywhere ...
... So, a terrible thing it was, the bremsstrahlung-bomb. Forbidden in a dozen international human treaties. But that was back in the time when the world was sane. When treaties still mattered. When humanity was still not about to loose an entire planet. Once you do, you tend to try all the nastiest weapons you can find against the enemy. And they against you, when they find them. Oh, the Dragoons had learned from mankind, alright. Learned all too well.
Li-six's suspicions about the bremsstrahlung-bomb was confirmed a few minutes later as she came upon the bomb crater itself, in the center of what must have been a busy market square. The radiation directly under the impact had melted away the concrete into a small perfect bowl of glass, now full of rain water.
Li-six hulked unseen next to the bomb crater. Something was wrong. Not even a small bremsstrahlung-bomb like this was as completely harmless to surrounding structures as the commercials claimed -- at the point of impact it still burned away some things with its immense but brief burst of lethal radiation. It was a small area that was burnt compared to the anti-biology radiation burst radius, but it was still burnt.
Yet here, just a few steps away from the ground zero was the remains of an outdoor café, complete with wooden (wooden!) chairs and railings surrounding them ... And over there a derelict internet booth, the glass even whole here and there. A park bench -- also in wood. A streetlight. Things were worn and the paints were cracked. But at this distance from the bomb there should be nothing left. The market square should be wiped clean.
And it was not.
The concrete was cracked and bubbled away from the glass crater, yet things in wood and flimsy aluminium had survived. Li-six's AI mind worked, ticking away the various possibilities, comparing it to what she knew about this terrible bomb-type. She found no possible way for the café, the internet booth and all the other things to have survived.
Which left only one possibility. And if Li-six would have had a spine, a cold chill would have been running up it right now.
This place had been restored. Someone had put the café back in its place. Or rather a cracked replica of the café. A ghost of its former self, the chairs lined up like rows in a church. Someone had replaced the internet booth, the park bench and the streetlight, tried to put them back to the way they were.
Someone had rebuilt this place as well as they could, trying to recreate a place that no longer was. Li-six began backing away, suddenly very glad over her cloak and that she had made no sounds up to this point.
She had backed up to the side of the square when she saw the coffee cup.
The cup was hovering over one of the chairs. While she looked, it was lifted up into the air, then angled as if it was being drunk from. There was nothing in the cup. It was an empty, mechanical movement, without meaning. A pantomime. A mimicry.
Dragoons had learned a lot from humans.
They could also cloak.
Confused and spooked, Li-six fled away from the market square that was living again, yet was not. Behind her an ancient newspaper plasti-strip appeared from thin air. It was held out as if to be read.
It was held upside down.
-------------
Jamesson, the tech, rose shakily from the shelter just off and to the side of Razu. He looked carefully over the edge, clearly ready to duck at any moment. "I guess I could eventually get used to people shooting at me" he said. "But not when the one's shooting are wearing our own colours, our own faces." He glanced over at the smoldering remains of the mech. "I have serviced M5 mechs for two years" he said to noone in particular. "They should be beacons of light, a welcome sight when your back's against the wall. Now ... I wonder if there is any light at all anymore."
~~~
"Affirmative" Li-six sent back to Razu. "Commencing infiltration." She spent two minutes setting up a relay transmitter there at the top of the construction crane. It was a magnetic box the size of a tennis ball and would help her link to the marines also when she had left this excellent position.
Carefully climbing down from the crane and taking the hot-wired elevator to the ground (she was a tank, not a goddamn acrobat!), she set out down the asphalt road she had seen before.
Now that she had a rough overview of the surrounding city she knew reasonably well where to go. For her to give Razu any intel directly usable to him, she needed to get closer to the marines. Flank them, try to secretly track what kind of hornet's nest they were stirring up.
This part of the city seemed to have been deserted long before this latest combat. The air was not so bad here (her sensors told her), but some of the buildings showed signs of radiation burns. Years old. Maybe a bremsstrahlung-bomb, she mused. The bremsstrahlung-bomb was labeled a "clean" bomb. The intense but brief burst of gamma radiation wiped out all unshielded biology -- fried the unarmoured civilians but left the houses and armoured military standing.
Li-six had also heard it called a "moving-in-bomb" -- because as long as you yourself had proper armour you could just drop the bomb and directly go live in the enemy houses. All you needed to do was brush up the biological ashes everywhere ...
... So, a terrible thing it was, the bremsstrahlung-bomb. Forbidden in a dozen international human treaties. But that was back in the time when the world was sane. When treaties still mattered. When humanity was still not about to loose an entire planet. Once you do, you tend to try all the nastiest weapons you can find against the enemy. And they against you, when they find them. Oh, the Dragoons had learned from mankind, alright. Learned all too well.
Li-six's suspicions about the bremsstrahlung-bomb was confirmed a few minutes later as she came upon the bomb crater itself, in the center of what must have been a busy market square. The radiation directly under the impact had melted away the concrete into a small perfect bowl of glass, now full of rain water.
Li-six hulked unseen next to the bomb crater. Something was wrong. Not even a small bremsstrahlung-bomb like this was as completely harmless to surrounding structures as the commercials claimed -- at the point of impact it still burned away some things with its immense but brief burst of lethal radiation. It was a small area that was burnt compared to the anti-biology radiation burst radius, but it was still burnt.
Yet here, just a few steps away from the ground zero was the remains of an outdoor café, complete with wooden (wooden!) chairs and railings surrounding them ... And over there a derelict internet booth, the glass even whole here and there. A park bench -- also in wood. A streetlight. Things were worn and the paints were cracked. But at this distance from the bomb there should be nothing left. The market square should be wiped clean.
And it was not.
The concrete was cracked and bubbled away from the glass crater, yet things in wood and flimsy aluminium had survived. Li-six's AI mind worked, ticking away the various possibilities, comparing it to what she knew about this terrible bomb-type. She found no possible way for the café, the internet booth and all the other things to have survived.
Which left only one possibility. And if Li-six would have had a spine, a cold chill would have been running up it right now.
This place had been restored. Someone had put the café back in its place. Or rather a cracked replica of the café. A ghost of its former self, the chairs lined up like rows in a church. Someone had replaced the internet booth, the park bench and the streetlight, tried to put them back to the way they were.
Someone had rebuilt this place as well as they could, trying to recreate a place that no longer was. Li-six began backing away, suddenly very glad over her cloak and that she had made no sounds up to this point.
She had backed up to the side of the square when she saw the coffee cup.
The cup was hovering over one of the chairs. While she looked, it was lifted up into the air, then angled as if it was being drunk from. There was nothing in the cup. It was an empty, mechanical movement, without meaning. A pantomime. A mimicry.
Dragoons had learned a lot from humans.
They could also cloak.
Confused and spooked, Li-six fled away from the market square that was living again, yet was not. Behind her an ancient newspaper plasti-strip appeared from thin air. It was held out as if to be read.
It was held upside down.
(OoC: ^_^ back to posting again lol XD hehe ^^ no worries Griatch 
the battles for now mainly are gonna be low for now ^^ got some more storyline building parts in this :3 now once more there isn't too much to react for both of you in this one ^^; sorries, but my next post will be definantly! like I said ^^ just kinda building the story in this )
Ic:
Central...
"What do you mean we can't bring it up!" commander Jeocia called over the comm-link, holding her arm close to her eyes, a static picture of a nervous tech standing there... Monitors flickered behind him as he shook his head,
"They have some sort of connection on it, we can't work out what it is Commander" the tech scratched his head, turning back and looking to the monitors, other tech's rushing past in the background, "The Striders have somehow filtered the entire Sat communication network, we can't send any international signals out, neither can we receive any" he turned and pointed over one of the monitors, the camera he was holding flickering as it came into sight to show a mapping system. Though looking close, there was nothing really to see at all, a black mass of shadow covered everything from top to bottom, "It's the most sophisticated black out program we have ever come across... Its broken all emergency signals, intercepted all beacons that intend to move international... nothing"
The commander leant back in her chair and closed her eyes, "Keep working on it, I need results... report back in an hour with your report, if you can even find a space of signal, I need your call ASAP, do you understand?"
The signal seemed to become less clear, his picture flickering away, leaving his static words behind, "Of course Commander..."
Jeocia placed the video link to her steel desk and leant back, raising her hand and rubbing her fingers against her right temple, trying to think. But her quiet was once more interrupted by another call, this time it was her personal comm-link,
"This is Major Cota, SIERRA Squad, do you read?" came the voice, clear as crystal over the link,
The commander leant up in her chair, pressing the side of her earpiece, her eyes still closed, "I read you Major, what’s the situation?"
There was a pause for a moment, but it was not the comm... The Major went silent for a few more seconds before his voice came over clear again, "Commander, our Intel has broken through with information on the Strider operation. At first we were not sure, that they were taking random civilians and killing the rest..."
"What have you found Major? Tell me everything!" she spoke up, leaning more forward in her seat, intent on hearing what he had to say,
"They are looking for something specific, the masks they put on these people are some sort of scanning device, so far we can only find that its somehow inspecting blood types... but there is something more we are working on right now" he paused a moment, voices in the background spoke out to him before he could continue, "We found one of the area's they were using as a conversion zone"
"A conversion zone?" The commander’s voice seemed more concerned now,
"Commander... the striders have been doing this longer then we are to believe, this invasion was only the beginning of a war... but they have been killing and testing people long before. Illegally producing Strider Marine hosts,” The Major sighed, turning as he leant his rifle against his right shoulder, looking down into a massive crater hole buried within the central of a ghost town. Behind him a drop ship hummed waiting, slowly dropping down, dust and debris spewing around him. The zone around him was filled with activity, marines wearing desert combat armor... He looked down into the crater; thousands and thousands of metal helmets littered the ground, toppled over each and every one, the stink of blood filling up his sensors. Heads without bodies, easily sliced from their neck... they were old, old enough to be perhaps months...
The Major lowered his hand from the comm-link,
"You have to see it to believe it commander..."
---
"Hold on!" Called Major Ravine as he gripped one of the steel side rails of the SWG. The air around them seemed cold, dust and debris floating down from the sky. The air itself was stale and old, but it was somehow different then the other city, less toxic of the sort, the clouds above them were a death grey, the faded light from the sun giving off a gloomy glow across the area. The SWG snapped back into the ground as it pushed forward, leveling easily through the ruined side of a burnt out vehicle. The gunner atop the mounted defense ducked as a chunk of the vehicle snapped above his head, barely missing him.
His voice was not heard as he called out abuse to the driver to watch where he was going.
Major Ravine looked across and down to Razu who sat next to him, his eyes were out on the roads however, his rifle stationed on the side mount of the armored car, waiting for anything to set him off. Ravine turned back, reaching down to the comm-link and clicking in,
"Private! Think you can handle walkers on your own?" he called into the link to the other SWG only a few meters behind them.
A voice snapped back, flickering with bare reception, "We have enough firepower to put a hole in one, extract the commander and get our asses out of there... It will be dangerous with only one squad though... what are you suggesting sir?"
Ravine looked back into the group gathered in the seat of his SWG. Kat and the wolf sat closer to the back, Bo and Reign were strapped in tight, Reign still unconscious. Razu was close to the front, Taz held onto one of the side steps of the vehicle, one arm on his rifle while the other held him to the side so he wouldn't go falling off the side. Senturo was in the same position as Taz, but he was on the other side, holding the large Strider sniper up against his side like it was a prize. He had one marine in the cannon and one driver, the rest of his squad accompanied by the tech, Jamesson, was within the other SWG.
The major eyed the blood stains against the side railings for a moment before speaking into the comm, looking across the marines, "I have two wounded, we need to get back to base ASAP. Take your men and rescue the commander, remember, you have a tech with you, guard him... we need him back at base" Ravine looked back to the SWG trailing behind them. Both cruised through the deserted street, boarded up houses and buildings lined to the sides with abandoned cars around them like some ghostly graveyard, "Copy?"
The voice crackled back, "I copy sir, we will keep you updated, over and out" the link snapped off. Within moments the SWG that trailed behind them turned, snapping over the top of a burnt out car, its wheels sliding through it like butter as it turned and moved off back down the way they came.
Razu looked up to Ravine,
"Two wounded?" he questioned, not knowing that Kat herself was wounded and still bleeding, he knew of Reign's condition however.
Ravine clicked the comm-link off and hung down from the upper railing, "You're marine has been shot and is unconscious" he paused a moment as he leant back up, the dust pressing against his back as they turned a corner, he looked to Kat, the soft glow coming from his mask dimming, "Your girl is wounded too..." Razu pulled his weapon back slightly, turning his eyes to look back past Bo to see Kat. He didn't stare for long, but anyone could see in his motions he wasn't too pleased. She had leveled through many of the Strider's back up in the sky; she was quick and completely dangerous. He looked back out in the streets, his scanners picking up no Strider activity at all. Knowing that Kat was wounded however put him on edge...
"Sir!" Bo called out unexpectedly.
Both Ravine and Razu turned to look to the marine, but it was Razu, who spoke out first,
"What is it private?" Razu noticed he was holding up his side bracelet unit, a small flickering green screen before him, showing charts and scattered numbers. Bo shook his head, pressing against the screen slightly,
"I’ve been recording the atmospheric changes... the air throughout our landing in this area. I have no major readings of pollution, not even the slightest" he spoke, looking across to Razu, "When the defense grid went down, so did the atmosphere conditioners across each city in this zone... there are 'no' readings of the barriers being up, but the air is non-toxic"
"No shit Sherlock!" Taz laughed out, being one of the only marines right now with no helmet on. Indeed, being a marine of the Alpha squads gave him clearance to be implanted with a personal atmospheric unit. It would have at least given him plenty of him to assign himself a new helmet; the implants don't last long, and tend to be quite expensive, even for a full service marine like Taz... But he had no helmet. No signs of infection or weakness,
"I don't know" Razu spoke up seriously. He didn't know what to say, or what to think on the subject, but it being impossible, how could the striders have a barrier up around the city without it being readable. The atmosphere couldn't have healed in a matter of moments. He shook his head and looked to Bo, "Keep recording and scanning marine, we will have to have a closer look at it once we get out of this shit... good work"
Bo nodded his head, looking back down to the screen and flicking it across, looking over more statistics.
Reign slowly leant his head forward, his eyes shut closed, he felt numb all over, but not enough to ignore the bumps of the vehicle he was riding within. He shook his head lightly, the glow in his mask flickering slightly as it came back online, He slumped for a while, looking across to the view screen Bo was messing with. The marine had no idea what was going on, all he knew now was that he was feeling like shit, trying to figure out why the hell he even woke up this morning... He had been sent on a mission to rescue, instead having his foot sliced open... And now some sort of invasion from the Strider Corp, being shot, and now somewhere on the ground riding in back with no one he knew... or from what his blurred eyesight could give him.
He coughed lightly, before leaning his head forwards again, the straps around him, holding him tight in his place... Blood trickled down from his lip within his helmet where no one could see. He closed his eyes tight and fell back into unconsciousness...
"Twenty more minutes and we will be in range of base sir!" came the voice of the driver...
--
Strider Networking Base
"These are mere errors in our network, the central trying once more to trick us into following them into a trap... We need not suffer to bare these as truthful Intel" Came an almost inhuman machine voice. A simple blue screen suddenly lit up in the completely black room, showing static and out of focus side shot of a marine, seeming to leap from an object in mid-air,
"There are NO errors in the network!" came another voice, this one seemed different to the first, accent-wise, but it still carried the same machine/robotic-like tone, "This is Marine technology that has been kept from our database! It is not the network thats the problem"
The first voice returned,
"Speculations... rumors... The marines are not smart enough to use this in their own stead, if they had such technology still operational, wouldn't we know of it? Wouldn't there be any signs?" it paused for a moment, "The network would have told us!"
Suddenly the light screen switched off in a flash, revealing four figures around a steel and simple square table, but only for a moment. A blank static screen suddenly appeared above the table, slowly turning around as the voice of another slipped into being, it however was not from within the room; it was from the communications port,
"We have just been able to secure a slither of data left behind from Sentry 5's network... It seems an outside organization have been deleting inside net information from outside the Sentry 5. We have managed to scramble up one name on the listing, but it has no fall back... we cannot track the location of this 'Prezer' but this data was all that was left from a complete memory wipe of the Sentry 5 security camera system... Location was close to the docking bays"
The screen came on for a moment, static lines running through the old monitor as if it had not been serviced for quite a long time. The camera revealed marines rushing into the back of a landing craft, strider design, but what followed was the one thing each of them was looking for. The screen paused quickly on the glimpse of a fully armed Think-tank...
There was silence within the room; a second screen appeared, showing once more the marine floating in mid air, Siru, leaping from an invisible think-tank, Li-six. The comm-link voice appeared once more, "Scan's have proven the shapes and certain inclines of both visuals, and the tank in the video is indeed the same from the screen capture..."
"Errors in the network?" came the second, "A operational think-tank is no matter of rumor and speculation... This is 'no' error"
"How could we have known there was still 'one' in operation? One tank is merely enough to-"
"One think-tank is enough to bring down the entire network if it were to hack into central. If it were to get hold of such encrypted information, it could be the entire shutdown of this operation!" came the second once more, anger in its voice.
There was silence...
Another voice filled the room, this voice however was more human then the others, old, but stern in his tone, there was no emotion, "We cannot let one machine stand between us and our destiny... This tank can easily spoil all that is planned" there was a pause, the two screen's suddenly slipping away and bringing up a new one, showing a single Strider marine standing within a bare white central room. It nodded,
"Yes?"
There was once more silence before his voice filled the room again, still, no emotion,
"I want this think-tank found, activate the Kamikaz unit..."
the battles for now mainly are gonna be low for now ^^ got some more storyline building parts in this :3 now once more there isn't too much to react for both of you in this one ^^; sorries, but my next post will be definantly! like I said ^^ just kinda building the story in this )Ic:
Central...
"What do you mean we can't bring it up!" commander Jeocia called over the comm-link, holding her arm close to her eyes, a static picture of a nervous tech standing there... Monitors flickered behind him as he shook his head,
"They have some sort of connection on it, we can't work out what it is Commander" the tech scratched his head, turning back and looking to the monitors, other tech's rushing past in the background, "The Striders have somehow filtered the entire Sat communication network, we can't send any international signals out, neither can we receive any" he turned and pointed over one of the monitors, the camera he was holding flickering as it came into sight to show a mapping system. Though looking close, there was nothing really to see at all, a black mass of shadow covered everything from top to bottom, "It's the most sophisticated black out program we have ever come across... Its broken all emergency signals, intercepted all beacons that intend to move international... nothing"
The commander leant back in her chair and closed her eyes, "Keep working on it, I need results... report back in an hour with your report, if you can even find a space of signal, I need your call ASAP, do you understand?"
The signal seemed to become less clear, his picture flickering away, leaving his static words behind, "Of course Commander..."
Jeocia placed the video link to her steel desk and leant back, raising her hand and rubbing her fingers against her right temple, trying to think. But her quiet was once more interrupted by another call, this time it was her personal comm-link,
"This is Major Cota, SIERRA Squad, do you read?" came the voice, clear as crystal over the link,
The commander leant up in her chair, pressing the side of her earpiece, her eyes still closed, "I read you Major, what’s the situation?"
There was a pause for a moment, but it was not the comm... The Major went silent for a few more seconds before his voice came over clear again, "Commander, our Intel has broken through with information on the Strider operation. At first we were not sure, that they were taking random civilians and killing the rest..."
"What have you found Major? Tell me everything!" she spoke up, leaning more forward in her seat, intent on hearing what he had to say,
"They are looking for something specific, the masks they put on these people are some sort of scanning device, so far we can only find that its somehow inspecting blood types... but there is something more we are working on right now" he paused a moment, voices in the background spoke out to him before he could continue, "We found one of the area's they were using as a conversion zone"
"A conversion zone?" The commander’s voice seemed more concerned now,
"Commander... the striders have been doing this longer then we are to believe, this invasion was only the beginning of a war... but they have been killing and testing people long before. Illegally producing Strider Marine hosts,” The Major sighed, turning as he leant his rifle against his right shoulder, looking down into a massive crater hole buried within the central of a ghost town. Behind him a drop ship hummed waiting, slowly dropping down, dust and debris spewing around him. The zone around him was filled with activity, marines wearing desert combat armor... He looked down into the crater; thousands and thousands of metal helmets littered the ground, toppled over each and every one, the stink of blood filling up his sensors. Heads without bodies, easily sliced from their neck... they were old, old enough to be perhaps months...
The Major lowered his hand from the comm-link,
"You have to see it to believe it commander..."
---
"Hold on!" Called Major Ravine as he gripped one of the steel side rails of the SWG. The air around them seemed cold, dust and debris floating down from the sky. The air itself was stale and old, but it was somehow different then the other city, less toxic of the sort, the clouds above them were a death grey, the faded light from the sun giving off a gloomy glow across the area. The SWG snapped back into the ground as it pushed forward, leveling easily through the ruined side of a burnt out vehicle. The gunner atop the mounted defense ducked as a chunk of the vehicle snapped above his head, barely missing him.
His voice was not heard as he called out abuse to the driver to watch where he was going.
Major Ravine looked across and down to Razu who sat next to him, his eyes were out on the roads however, his rifle stationed on the side mount of the armored car, waiting for anything to set him off. Ravine turned back, reaching down to the comm-link and clicking in,
"Private! Think you can handle walkers on your own?" he called into the link to the other SWG only a few meters behind them.
A voice snapped back, flickering with bare reception, "We have enough firepower to put a hole in one, extract the commander and get our asses out of there... It will be dangerous with only one squad though... what are you suggesting sir?"
Ravine looked back into the group gathered in the seat of his SWG. Kat and the wolf sat closer to the back, Bo and Reign were strapped in tight, Reign still unconscious. Razu was close to the front, Taz held onto one of the side steps of the vehicle, one arm on his rifle while the other held him to the side so he wouldn't go falling off the side. Senturo was in the same position as Taz, but he was on the other side, holding the large Strider sniper up against his side like it was a prize. He had one marine in the cannon and one driver, the rest of his squad accompanied by the tech, Jamesson, was within the other SWG.
The major eyed the blood stains against the side railings for a moment before speaking into the comm, looking across the marines, "I have two wounded, we need to get back to base ASAP. Take your men and rescue the commander, remember, you have a tech with you, guard him... we need him back at base" Ravine looked back to the SWG trailing behind them. Both cruised through the deserted street, boarded up houses and buildings lined to the sides with abandoned cars around them like some ghostly graveyard, "Copy?"
The voice crackled back, "I copy sir, we will keep you updated, over and out" the link snapped off. Within moments the SWG that trailed behind them turned, snapping over the top of a burnt out car, its wheels sliding through it like butter as it turned and moved off back down the way they came.
Razu looked up to Ravine,
"Two wounded?" he questioned, not knowing that Kat herself was wounded and still bleeding, he knew of Reign's condition however.
Ravine clicked the comm-link off and hung down from the upper railing, "You're marine has been shot and is unconscious" he paused a moment as he leant back up, the dust pressing against his back as they turned a corner, he looked to Kat, the soft glow coming from his mask dimming, "Your girl is wounded too..." Razu pulled his weapon back slightly, turning his eyes to look back past Bo to see Kat. He didn't stare for long, but anyone could see in his motions he wasn't too pleased. She had leveled through many of the Strider's back up in the sky; she was quick and completely dangerous. He looked back out in the streets, his scanners picking up no Strider activity at all. Knowing that Kat was wounded however put him on edge...
"Sir!" Bo called out unexpectedly.
Both Ravine and Razu turned to look to the marine, but it was Razu, who spoke out first,
"What is it private?" Razu noticed he was holding up his side bracelet unit, a small flickering green screen before him, showing charts and scattered numbers. Bo shook his head, pressing against the screen slightly,
"I’ve been recording the atmospheric changes... the air throughout our landing in this area. I have no major readings of pollution, not even the slightest" he spoke, looking across to Razu, "When the defense grid went down, so did the atmosphere conditioners across each city in this zone... there are 'no' readings of the barriers being up, but the air is non-toxic"
"No shit Sherlock!" Taz laughed out, being one of the only marines right now with no helmet on. Indeed, being a marine of the Alpha squads gave him clearance to be implanted with a personal atmospheric unit. It would have at least given him plenty of him to assign himself a new helmet; the implants don't last long, and tend to be quite expensive, even for a full service marine like Taz... But he had no helmet. No signs of infection or weakness,
"I don't know" Razu spoke up seriously. He didn't know what to say, or what to think on the subject, but it being impossible, how could the striders have a barrier up around the city without it being readable. The atmosphere couldn't have healed in a matter of moments. He shook his head and looked to Bo, "Keep recording and scanning marine, we will have to have a closer look at it once we get out of this shit... good work"
Bo nodded his head, looking back down to the screen and flicking it across, looking over more statistics.
Reign slowly leant his head forward, his eyes shut closed, he felt numb all over, but not enough to ignore the bumps of the vehicle he was riding within. He shook his head lightly, the glow in his mask flickering slightly as it came back online, He slumped for a while, looking across to the view screen Bo was messing with. The marine had no idea what was going on, all he knew now was that he was feeling like shit, trying to figure out why the hell he even woke up this morning... He had been sent on a mission to rescue, instead having his foot sliced open... And now some sort of invasion from the Strider Corp, being shot, and now somewhere on the ground riding in back with no one he knew... or from what his blurred eyesight could give him.
He coughed lightly, before leaning his head forwards again, the straps around him, holding him tight in his place... Blood trickled down from his lip within his helmet where no one could see. He closed his eyes tight and fell back into unconsciousness...
"Twenty more minutes and we will be in range of base sir!" came the voice of the driver...
--
Strider Networking Base
"These are mere errors in our network, the central trying once more to trick us into following them into a trap... We need not suffer to bare these as truthful Intel" Came an almost inhuman machine voice. A simple blue screen suddenly lit up in the completely black room, showing static and out of focus side shot of a marine, seeming to leap from an object in mid-air,
"There are NO errors in the network!" came another voice, this one seemed different to the first, accent-wise, but it still carried the same machine/robotic-like tone, "This is Marine technology that has been kept from our database! It is not the network thats the problem"
The first voice returned,
"Speculations... rumors... The marines are not smart enough to use this in their own stead, if they had such technology still operational, wouldn't we know of it? Wouldn't there be any signs?" it paused for a moment, "The network would have told us!"
Suddenly the light screen switched off in a flash, revealing four figures around a steel and simple square table, but only for a moment. A blank static screen suddenly appeared above the table, slowly turning around as the voice of another slipped into being, it however was not from within the room; it was from the communications port,
"We have just been able to secure a slither of data left behind from Sentry 5's network... It seems an outside organization have been deleting inside net information from outside the Sentry 5. We have managed to scramble up one name on the listing, but it has no fall back... we cannot track the location of this 'Prezer' but this data was all that was left from a complete memory wipe of the Sentry 5 security camera system... Location was close to the docking bays"
The screen came on for a moment, static lines running through the old monitor as if it had not been serviced for quite a long time. The camera revealed marines rushing into the back of a landing craft, strider design, but what followed was the one thing each of them was looking for. The screen paused quickly on the glimpse of a fully armed Think-tank...
There was silence within the room; a second screen appeared, showing once more the marine floating in mid air, Siru, leaping from an invisible think-tank, Li-six. The comm-link voice appeared once more, "Scan's have proven the shapes and certain inclines of both visuals, and the tank in the video is indeed the same from the screen capture..."
"Errors in the network?" came the second, "A operational think-tank is no matter of rumor and speculation... This is 'no' error"
"How could we have known there was still 'one' in operation? One tank is merely enough to-"
"One think-tank is enough to bring down the entire network if it were to hack into central. If it were to get hold of such encrypted information, it could be the entire shutdown of this operation!" came the second once more, anger in its voice.
There was silence...
Another voice filled the room, this voice however was more human then the others, old, but stern in his tone, there was no emotion, "We cannot let one machine stand between us and our destiny... This tank can easily spoil all that is planned" there was a pause, the two screen's suddenly slipping away and bringing up a new one, showing a single Strider marine standing within a bare white central room. It nodded,
"Yes?"
There was once more silence before his voice filled the room again, still, no emotion,
"I want this think-tank found, activate the Kamikaz unit..."
~
Every bump, every movement caused agony to spear up Kathryn's side. Her face was as emotionless as ever however, not letting a single bit of pain show in even the corners of her mouth. Strangely however, she didn't avert her eyes from anyone. If anyone turned to look at her she'd look into their eyes, her eyes filled with unquestioned challenge. If they thought she was weak because she had a few bullet holes in her side that wouldn't heal, well, that was their business; the truth would be too hard for them to stomach anyway. Finally, after the beginning of their bone-jarring ride, Kathryn's eyes came to rest on Reign. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he couldn't be doing all that well. Even with everything clogging her nose, Kat could still smell him from where she was, she could smell something coming from him that hadn't come from him before. That was never a good sign.
She listened to everything as quietly as she could, her eyes still resting on Reign until, that is, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Looking up, she looked directly into Razu's eyes as his came to rest on her. Her eyes were still a strange mix of blue and gold, not the normal blue that you would expect from a young teenage girl of nineteen years. She didn't move as he turned away, she could tell that he was nervous, but the question was: what, or who, was he nervous about? Kathryn shrugged it off, pressing her hand in tighter against her side as they hit a bump. She noticed with grim observance that the other vehicle had broken off. Probably off to help C.J. She thought quietly to herself. Forfeit the game, before someone takes you out. She thought quietly to herself, looking back to Reign once more.
He coughed and moved slightly. The others may not have noticed, but none of them were watching him, they were all busy with some other thing. Watching him, part of Kat told her that she shouldn't even care. He was human the less of them on the planet the safer it would be for herself and Wolf, but at the same time, this particular human had shown that he was willing to be protective of Wolf, had done nothing to either of them. Did he really deserve her scorn when he needed help? Should he die so that she could simply sit there, smug that another human life had been snuffed out?
That's what they think of me. She thought to herself, thinking back to the hunts that had been lead against her when all she had wanted to do was get back in touch with her human half. She had tried and tried and no one had given her even a single chance, let alone a second. They thought of me as an animal, is that the same way I look at these humans? Or is this all still just a dream? The pain is as real as anything, and it's not like this wouldn't be the first time I've had painful dreams... Kathryn tried to make up her mind, but it was hard when your brain was fogging up with a stress chemical that impended your most basic of functions. Finally, she looked down at Wolf. How would Wolf view this human? Kat's hand tightened in Wolf's fur, how she wished her old friend were awake and well right now to let her know what he thought.
Kat had to quickly bite her tongue before she could start getting emotional. Right now really wasn't the time, and she knew Wolf would have bitten her himself if he thought she wasn't paying attention. She sighed inwardly to herself and when the strange vehicle hit a smooth patch, Kat quietly got up while everyone else was preoccupied with other things.
It was hard moving around on the strange car, with the other soldiers and the limited space as it was, Kat stumbled more then once and one time ran into Bo with a muffled 'sorry'. Her blood slick hand slipped and she nearly toppled face first to the floor, but caught herself as her tail waved behind her (having been kept and now stuck that way) to give her better balance. Kneeling, Kathryn looked up at Reign as blood drizzled down her side creating a thick pool where her right knee touched the ground. It seemed, however, as if she didn't notice it as she gently, far more gently then anyone may think, placed two fingers up against Reign's neck, but she couldn't feel a damned thing. She had heard what Bo said and decided it probably wouldn't hurt if she pulled the guy's helmet off. How to do it though without damaging anything?
"I'm assuming that the wiring can be repaired." Kathryn pulled up her one hand, her fingertips still possessing claws from before, and gently pulled at the material around Reign's neck. Carefully she slit a single area right over his jugular and pressed two fingers over it like she had heard to do since the thumb had a pulse of its own. Feeling, she could feel Reign's heartbeat, but it wasn't as strong as she would have preferred it to be. Gauging it against her own heart rate (though estimating how much slower a human's would be) Reign's heart was slowing. She remembered something that she had over heard and wondered if he could be, what was it? Bleeding on the inside, internally? Yes, that had to be it. Kathryn tried to think, and then lifted her fingers up to his helmet. "Let me know if he won't be able to breath any time soon 'cause o'th' air." She said quietly, not noticing that with her movements more blood started to move down her already wet side.
Kathryn had to carefully get his helmet off, but after some effort* she was able to pull Reign's helmet off, only to see the blood that had trickled down from his mouth. Adding two and two together, considering he had coughed, Kat leaned up closer and pressed her ear against his chest and listened to his breathing. It almost sounded like gurgling... not only that, but gently pressing her hands against the side of his ribcage, she could feel that it was almost swollen. She looked up and pressed a hand against Reign's forehead, it was hot.
The moon-child looked up at Razu and her eyes narrowed, voice more then just serious, deadly in the way it stayed so cold. "If you don't get him back to some sort of doctor, you won't have to worry about the atmosphere getting to him any time soon after all this, he's bleeding internally, you can hear it if you rest your ear against his chest and still your own breathing. If we're not there in under fifteen minutes, I don't know what'll happen to him. His ribcage is swollen. I'm no doctor, but I know if a wolf takes a hit to the cage and get's swelled like that, he, or she, dies within a short period of time because of, of.." For the first time, Kat had to struggle with the word she wanted and just suffered through a childish explanation. "Bleeding inside." Kathryn placed the helmet back onto Reign's head and did her best to go off memory of how it was placed and where everything should connect, well at least she aligned it properly.
As she got up to go and sit back down with Wolf, the vehicle hit a nasty bump and sent her flying into the guard rail, smashing her already bloodied side into it. Kat slumped to the floor, holding her side in pain but not a single word or sound escaped her lips as she curled up on her side. After a moment, she got up and sat back down next to Wolf, curling up even tighter as the bleeding got worse. She could feel several cracked ribs. Another day in the life of a teenage werewolf. She thought dryly to herself.
*Didn't know what kind of wiring there was, Barbie, so if ya feel like it, feel free to elaborate XD
She listened to everything as quietly as she could, her eyes still resting on Reign until, that is, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Looking up, she looked directly into Razu's eyes as his came to rest on her. Her eyes were still a strange mix of blue and gold, not the normal blue that you would expect from a young teenage girl of nineteen years. She didn't move as he turned away, she could tell that he was nervous, but the question was: what, or who, was he nervous about? Kathryn shrugged it off, pressing her hand in tighter against her side as they hit a bump. She noticed with grim observance that the other vehicle had broken off. Probably off to help C.J. She thought quietly to herself. Forfeit the game, before someone takes you out. She thought quietly to herself, looking back to Reign once more.
He coughed and moved slightly. The others may not have noticed, but none of them were watching him, they were all busy with some other thing. Watching him, part of Kat told her that she shouldn't even care. He was human the less of them on the planet the safer it would be for herself and Wolf, but at the same time, this particular human had shown that he was willing to be protective of Wolf, had done nothing to either of them. Did he really deserve her scorn when he needed help? Should he die so that she could simply sit there, smug that another human life had been snuffed out?
That's what they think of me. She thought to herself, thinking back to the hunts that had been lead against her when all she had wanted to do was get back in touch with her human half. She had tried and tried and no one had given her even a single chance, let alone a second. They thought of me as an animal, is that the same way I look at these humans? Or is this all still just a dream? The pain is as real as anything, and it's not like this wouldn't be the first time I've had painful dreams... Kathryn tried to make up her mind, but it was hard when your brain was fogging up with a stress chemical that impended your most basic of functions. Finally, she looked down at Wolf. How would Wolf view this human? Kat's hand tightened in Wolf's fur, how she wished her old friend were awake and well right now to let her know what he thought.
Kat had to quickly bite her tongue before she could start getting emotional. Right now really wasn't the time, and she knew Wolf would have bitten her himself if he thought she wasn't paying attention. She sighed inwardly to herself and when the strange vehicle hit a smooth patch, Kat quietly got up while everyone else was preoccupied with other things.
It was hard moving around on the strange car, with the other soldiers and the limited space as it was, Kat stumbled more then once and one time ran into Bo with a muffled 'sorry'. Her blood slick hand slipped and she nearly toppled face first to the floor, but caught herself as her tail waved behind her (having been kept and now stuck that way) to give her better balance. Kneeling, Kathryn looked up at Reign as blood drizzled down her side creating a thick pool where her right knee touched the ground. It seemed, however, as if she didn't notice it as she gently, far more gently then anyone may think, placed two fingers up against Reign's neck, but she couldn't feel a damned thing. She had heard what Bo said and decided it probably wouldn't hurt if she pulled the guy's helmet off. How to do it though without damaging anything?
"I'm assuming that the wiring can be repaired." Kathryn pulled up her one hand, her fingertips still possessing claws from before, and gently pulled at the material around Reign's neck. Carefully she slit a single area right over his jugular and pressed two fingers over it like she had heard to do since the thumb had a pulse of its own. Feeling, she could feel Reign's heartbeat, but it wasn't as strong as she would have preferred it to be. Gauging it against her own heart rate (though estimating how much slower a human's would be) Reign's heart was slowing. She remembered something that she had over heard and wondered if he could be, what was it? Bleeding on the inside, internally? Yes, that had to be it. Kathryn tried to think, and then lifted her fingers up to his helmet. "Let me know if he won't be able to breath any time soon 'cause o'th' air." She said quietly, not noticing that with her movements more blood started to move down her already wet side.
Kathryn had to carefully get his helmet off, but after some effort* she was able to pull Reign's helmet off, only to see the blood that had trickled down from his mouth. Adding two and two together, considering he had coughed, Kat leaned up closer and pressed her ear against his chest and listened to his breathing. It almost sounded like gurgling... not only that, but gently pressing her hands against the side of his ribcage, she could feel that it was almost swollen. She looked up and pressed a hand against Reign's forehead, it was hot.
The moon-child looked up at Razu and her eyes narrowed, voice more then just serious, deadly in the way it stayed so cold. "If you don't get him back to some sort of doctor, you won't have to worry about the atmosphere getting to him any time soon after all this, he's bleeding internally, you can hear it if you rest your ear against his chest and still your own breathing. If we're not there in under fifteen minutes, I don't know what'll happen to him. His ribcage is swollen. I'm no doctor, but I know if a wolf takes a hit to the cage and get's swelled like that, he, or she, dies within a short period of time because of, of.." For the first time, Kat had to struggle with the word she wanted and just suffered through a childish explanation. "Bleeding inside." Kathryn placed the helmet back onto Reign's head and did her best to go off memory of how it was placed and where everything should connect, well at least she aligned it properly.
As she got up to go and sit back down with Wolf, the vehicle hit a nasty bump and sent her flying into the guard rail, smashing her already bloodied side into it. Kat slumped to the floor, holding her side in pain but not a single word or sound escaped her lips as she curled up on her side. After a moment, she got up and sat back down next to Wolf, curling up even tighter as the bleeding got worse. She could feel several cracked ribs. Another day in the life of a teenage werewolf. She thought dryly to herself.
*Didn't know what kind of wiring there was, Barbie, so if ya feel like it, feel free to elaborate XD
You never know what you can do, 'till you try.
Art and Silth © Me
Li-six retreated from the eerie scene on the dead plaza. Dragoons were large charging killing machines as far as she was concerned --they schemed and they planned, but they were utterly alien and noone really knew what they wanted here on Earth or where they came from. Why would a cloaked dragoon try to drink coffee and read a magazine on a restored café?
Li-six didn't have imagination enough to figure that one out. It made no sense to her. So she just stored her sensor readings away for now. Maybe the marines or techs could make sense of it.
Now she had to get back into the fray if she were to be able to help her squad. Li-six, still cloaked, travelled almost a kilometer before she was sure the Dragoons had not detected her. Then she climbed onto an abandoned highway, put down her larvae tracks and started criss-crossing between stalled cars and downed hovers on the way towards the old downtown.
Her squad was on the move, the comm signals she relayed for them were traveling fast, moving almost parallel to her, except several miles off to the west. They had secured vehicles and from the communication she relayed for them it sounded like they were splitting up.
She sent a beep into Razu's link. The marine had hooked up with a major Ravine as well, but Li-six was a special ops unit and she was strict with not letting people in on her links just because of rank. As far as Li-six figured, Razu was her commanding officer. "Be advised" she sent to Razu. "There are cloaked dragoons in the city south-west quadrant. Threat level low for the moment; they are not performing hostile actions. They seem to be ... " she hesitated. "... moving in."
The tank approached a large highway crossing, a towering maze of curving highway bridges crossing over and under the one she was moving on. Beyond lay the towering skyscrapers of downtown. The towers were burning and ash rained from the sky, covering the highway in thicker and thicker layers as she approached. She was starting to leave tracks in the ash and the falling matter sizzled on the outer rim of her cloaking field. Not good.
She was just about to leave the highway when her sensors detected a tracking laser spot on her surface. Before her AI had even processed it, her autonomous defense systems sent a bright pulse of light back along the laser beam to blind the sniper. She swiveled to the side moments before the laser-guided rocket struck into the pavement where she had been. It went clean through the highway surface, detonating inside the structure. The asphalt heaved from the detonation, ash flying in all directions, making her outline visible.
"Damn it all to rust!" she growled and charged through the nearest railing, crashing to the highway below. Above, the highway heaved under a series of detonations. Cluster grenades, spraying the area. The entire highway crumbled under the onslaught. Li-six could only flee for her life as the entire upper highway came crashing down in a thunderous roar. Jumping down to the next level forced her to land on her spider legs to absorb the fall. Something broke and Li-six stumbled forward as one of her eight legs gave away unsuspectingly. And above her the pillars of the highway cracked like sticks and fell under the weight of the upper layers.
The multi-layer highway crossing was coming down, tearing layer upon layer. The sky above her was full with concrete and steel. There were still several levels of highways between her and the ground. It was impossible to tell if the bombs were still falling; she could only hope the snipers hadn't suspected the structure to collapse like this and that they were fleeing for their lives too.
Limping on seven legs, the tank took charge to reach the edge of the highway only to find herself being hindered by a crashed school bus. Behind her the upper levels tore through the tarmac heaving the ground beneath her. Li-six tried to climb the bus only to find it was rolling backwards with her, taking her down with her in the collapsing structure.
And so the tank fell, and the highway came crashing down after her.
Li-six didn't have imagination enough to figure that one out. It made no sense to her. So she just stored her sensor readings away for now. Maybe the marines or techs could make sense of it.
Now she had to get back into the fray if she were to be able to help her squad. Li-six, still cloaked, travelled almost a kilometer before she was sure the Dragoons had not detected her. Then she climbed onto an abandoned highway, put down her larvae tracks and started criss-crossing between stalled cars and downed hovers on the way towards the old downtown.
Her squad was on the move, the comm signals she relayed for them were traveling fast, moving almost parallel to her, except several miles off to the west. They had secured vehicles and from the communication she relayed for them it sounded like they were splitting up.
She sent a beep into Razu's link. The marine had hooked up with a major Ravine as well, but Li-six was a special ops unit and she was strict with not letting people in on her links just because of rank. As far as Li-six figured, Razu was her commanding officer. "Be advised" she sent to Razu. "There are cloaked dragoons in the city south-west quadrant. Threat level low for the moment; they are not performing hostile actions. They seem to be ... " she hesitated. "... moving in."
The tank approached a large highway crossing, a towering maze of curving highway bridges crossing over and under the one she was moving on. Beyond lay the towering skyscrapers of downtown. The towers were burning and ash rained from the sky, covering the highway in thicker and thicker layers as she approached. She was starting to leave tracks in the ash and the falling matter sizzled on the outer rim of her cloaking field. Not good.
She was just about to leave the highway when her sensors detected a tracking laser spot on her surface. Before her AI had even processed it, her autonomous defense systems sent a bright pulse of light back along the laser beam to blind the sniper. She swiveled to the side moments before the laser-guided rocket struck into the pavement where she had been. It went clean through the highway surface, detonating inside the structure. The asphalt heaved from the detonation, ash flying in all directions, making her outline visible.
"Damn it all to rust!" she growled and charged through the nearest railing, crashing to the highway below. Above, the highway heaved under a series of detonations. Cluster grenades, spraying the area. The entire highway crumbled under the onslaught. Li-six could only flee for her life as the entire upper highway came crashing down in a thunderous roar. Jumping down to the next level forced her to land on her spider legs to absorb the fall. Something broke and Li-six stumbled forward as one of her eight legs gave away unsuspectingly. And above her the pillars of the highway cracked like sticks and fell under the weight of the upper layers.
The multi-layer highway crossing was coming down, tearing layer upon layer. The sky above her was full with concrete and steel. There were still several levels of highways between her and the ground. It was impossible to tell if the bombs were still falling; she could only hope the snipers hadn't suspected the structure to collapse like this and that they were fleeing for their lives too.
Limping on seven legs, the tank took charge to reach the edge of the highway only to find herself being hindered by a crashed school bus. Behind her the upper levels tore through the tarmac heaving the ground beneath her. Li-six tried to climb the bus only to find it was rolling backwards with her, taking her down with her in the collapsing structure.
And so the tank fell, and the highway came crashing down after her.
The skies once more fell silent, the clouds above giving off a faded dead light, spreading across as far as the eye could see, almost giving the broken city a deathly gray look. The invasion drop ships had all moved in, landed throughout the cities they were targeted for. From above, not a sound of a capital ship could be heard, the engines of the Strider battle crafts running silent, leaving above the clouds completely and utterly now their own territory. Throughout Catacarn city there was short battles, bursts of fire, remains and fragments of scattered military, basic teams, civilians who had fought back... but as time began to pass, the Strider Corp marines continued to push their forces, sweeping every building, every block, ever street.
The network to the outside had been brought down, small means of communications were hard to keep up, but any outside link was cut off completely, there were no calls for outside help, no signals could be sent. The net had been shut off from the link itself, standard and local area nets were still in place, but slowly and steadily the Striders continued to break it down, making it near impossible for the military to push back.
The push the Striders had made was unexpected...
The forces, the designs of such ships, such marines and Strider Special Forces did not exist. All that remained was rumors, words of such creations, experiments that were not meant to be created. They had suffered a blow like nothing else, the remainders of the military network continued to strive forward, doing what they could to find out how spread the damage was, whether it was global or just national... Strider Corp's leaders were nowhere to be seen, there was no reports from the representatives, if there were any. All that was known now was that it was an invasion from the inside, a betrayal within...
No one would know that thousands of distress transmissions were being filtered out by the dark grip the Striders had on the net, the danger calls, links from scattered troops and stranded civilians. Some had laid down personal links, separated from the iron hold of the Strider Corp Network.
Catacarn city for now was the main staging grounds of the Alpha teams, what remained of the scattered army fell back on this large urban city, fleeing from the moving Strider armies, trying to figure out the reasons for such attacks. So far nothing has come out of such investigations... But as some are yet to find out, it is not all about the Strider Corp.
---
With one swift snap of his hand he brought the knife straight down into the side of the Strider's neck, the blade snapping through its vocal wires, bursting with a slick of black liquid into its inner circuits. He brought his other hand across, gripping his hand around the side of the marines face, bringing it back and snapping his head across with one swift pull. There was no sound, no movement in the Strider from then on, its body slumping back into Siru's arms. He dropped back, pulling the body backwards and up to the opened window he had used to get in, he pulled it back, leaving a slimy trail of black goo behind. He simply shrugged it off, holding his knife out, looking down the corridor. The building was rather old, doors scattered to each side, old apartments, and almost identical to the one he had fallen within when he was with Li-six. Though this one seemed to have been deserted a while ago... from his knowledge this was one of the two guards remaining as patrols to keep it empty.
Siru pulled the blade down and wiped the black liquid to the side of his armor, not getting all of it, but enough to stop it from dripping. He slowly crept forward, the floor making enough noise to wake the dead, but lucky for him, the other patrol would consider it as his partner... well at least that was Siru's plan.
The marine made his way down the murky hall, only stopping when he heard voices coming from the outside. He came up to the end of the hall, two rooms to his sides and a window boarded up with long planks of rotted wood. He slowly slipped his side to the door, crouching down; he ran his hand against it softly, looking up to the handle, his helmet visor scanning it over carefully. No dust had been moved, from what he could tell anyway. The marine reached across and slipped his hand around, pushing the door open slowly, creeping in quietly, moving back and closing the door behind him. He moved across the empty apartment, making his way to the side, moving right for a window. Lucky for him the wood was rotted enough to simply push his hand through. He pressed his hands to the edges of the window, sliding it across, feeling the humid air brush against him. He turned, pulling away the wood slowly. It almost turned to dust in his hands; the wood was chalky and far beyond dead.
He slowly sat up, his back to the window, leaning back and sitting on the windowsill, he leant back, looking out from the alleyway the window had provided him with. It was vacant, a few random trashcans spread out, and that was all. Siru turned, slowly leaning back till he fell from the window, slowly dropping from the second floor, moving in the air, he flipped, his boots snapping into the ground, his legs bending. With one fluent movement he threw his arm forward, the knife breaking through the rotted wood, shattering through the faded window and into the face of the second patrol. It made a gurgling noise, its eyes flashing as Siru twisted the blade. He pulled back, hearing its body slump down against the broken glass and stop moving.
He turned quickly, pressing his back to the wall as the small group of Strider marines rushed across the courtyard towards the building. Siru spun around, moving his hand down, pulling up his pistol, moving across until he stood at the very edge of the building, he could see the two mech's standing empty in the center of the courtyard... it was a little less crowded now, the troop carriers had moved off, now that remained was two full squads, some random patrols and the two mech’s... though the pilots still were no where to be seen!
Siru watched as the four Striders rushed up to the front door, two of them waiting, the other two snapping open the door to investigate the noise. With that, he made his move, rushing forward, he knew he could be spotted, the fact that he had the gut feeling there could be sniper attachments in the higher buildings that surrounded the courtyard made no difference. He made his move quick. The marine rushed across, hearing scatter fire suddenly break around him. Window's to his sides snapped and shattered as plasma blasts broke across the pavement, just skipping across his feet. He held his knife in one hand, his pistol in the other.
The marine turned his body, holding out his pistol arm, shooting a couple of fizzled blasts back towards them, showing he could at least defend himself. With that, they began to spread out; taking cover just in case he held any other weapons... but the fact he was making a break for the two vacant mech's was bad news for them all. Suddenly an ear-piercing ring broke into his senses, a bright blue line raced just past his visor, causing it to flicker with static. The sniper blast breaking through the ground like it was butter, melting away at pavement soil and stone. Not even that slowed him, the marine finally coming up to the unguarded mech's, the thought on his mind on how this was too easy stayed to the back. He leapt against its leg, feeling a plasma blast snap into his shoulder, the material burning into its shape. He continued to climb, throwing away his knife as he leapt up with one hand. He lifted himself to the broad head plate of the battle-mech...
He pressed his hands to the curve behind its thick armored skull, knowing very well there were at least two seconds left on the sniper reloading. With that, instead of unbuckling the headgear, he blasted a hole in the locking mechanism before suddenly moving across, one foot connecting with the shoulder guard. He leapt from the mech towards the second one. A shimmering blue light broke across, scorching the bottom of his foot before colliding with the side of the mech he had leapt from. The shot snapped right through the mech, sparks and flame burning from its inside.
Siru slammed into the head of the second mech, feeling the burning of the plasma melting against his shoulder, burning into his flesh, he pulled his pistol up to the lock, blasting it apart, the mech head loading to the side, revealing the red lit snug compartment below. He slid his body across, feeling another plasma shot snap right past his head. He slid into the cockpit, his feet sliding into the openings. Siru threw his pistol to his side before raising his hands, flickering across the control keypad. The head slowly slithered shut, he could feel the plasma shots bouncing off his hard case armor, he knew very well he had to hurry, that sniper would make short work of this plan if he took any more time then he needed. Siru snapped his hands out and slid them down the arm control compartments, hearing the headgear shut and lock. The system had been easily overridden, it was still Strider Corp connected, in which it could be easily tracked... but that was not his main concern right now,
"Bring the pain!" Siru laughed out.
The mech rose its free hand, breaking against the smoldering side hull of the second mech, he pushed the thing aside and rose his chain gun mounted arm, the chains coming to a burning spin. Shattering hot bullets began to pour out of the five nozzles. The side building he had seen the light of the sniper come from was soon broken; the walls began to bleed out glass and dead wood, stone. The blasts snapped across the side, breaking apart anything it touched. Siru laughed, turning, his foot snapping into the ground harshly, he brought the burning chain cannon across, its bullets still pouring out, he watched on as it totally ripped and shattered the remained squads that were firing upon him, their armor turning to broken flaming wreaks of what used to be soldiers.
He turned back, his arm coming across, firing into the walls of the buildings that surrounded the courtyard, glass and debris flailing out all around him, breaking out and against his hard armor.
With flames all around him he pulled his chain arm back, locking it in place, his other hand still pressed against the fallen corpse of the other mech, its chest still smoldering from the sniper shot. Siru pulled one arm from the hand compartment, moving back and pulling his helmet off, setting it in the personal compartment to the side of his head, he pressed his hand to the keyboard, ready to check on his location... but his scanners picked up on movement...
He slipped his hand back down the compartment, turning the mech and looking into the sky... trailing across until he saw a large cloud of dust and smoke raising into the horizon, above some of the lower buildings... Something had fallen. He had no idea it was the bridge Li-six has been using, or else he would have decided against falling in, but instead he activated his mounts, his legs bending as the engines burned. The mech swept across the ground, coming to action as it traveled out of the courtyard and moved quickly down one of the main roads towards the raising smoke...
---
The dulled scatter fire of a couple of old rifles flickered into being. Dust fell all around, the damp rumbles of the upper levels crumbling down ever so close. The torn up school bus was facing straight down into the ground, its front end buried within at least half a meter of rubble, mud and filthy water. Within the unstable wreak was the think tank, named Li-six. Above the school bus were broken layers of concrete, dust and rubble falling from every edge. The sewer tunnel was broken all over, long cracks slowly creeping their way across, a constant rumble following with each extension of the crack. Li-Six would find herself now somewhat submerged within the filthy water... the roof of the bus facing her.
The fire came from the outside of the bus...
Soon followed voices...
"Simon! Cover me damnit, we gotta crack this thing open!" the voice called forth, firing continuing only after he had finished talking, but only for a short moment. The second voice was further away, sounding a lot younger, though he had toughness to him,
"This is not right Jack, we shouldn't even be down here... it's swamped with these damn-" he paused, firing off a few shots into the distant tunnels, "-these damn Dragoon nests!"
There was no more talking for now, instead another noise poured into the open, a flickering flame melting into the rooftop that Li-six would be facing, it slowly slid down its shape, melting away the steel with no problem. He moved slowly, holding the blast shield up to his face, moving the flame slowly down the bus's roof. He slowly moved back across, hooking a corner close to the end before moving back upwards. The metal burned and simmered as he made his way back up to the same height he was, unsure exactly who he was rescuing...
"Come on!" Simon called out impatiently, shooting another few shots off into the dark tunnels that surrounded him. The ceiling above slowly cracked a little more, the ground shaking slightly as more dust began to fall, "It's getting more and more unstable, we need to get out of here!"
Jack moved his gloved hands to the edge of the metal, pulling against it, he bent his back as he pulled the metal down... a feat not any normal human being could pull off, but the sounds of his elbow joints squeaking slightly gave off the clue he had some sort of implant. He pulled down the faded yellow metal until he could see the sight within,
"I knew there was something in here! I knew it!" he laughed, pulling a foot up to the opening and leaning in slightly, looking across the seats and glancing over the think-tank, "Holy shit... isn't this one of those... maintenance bots they used to have down at the central hall some months back?" it was only then he noticed it was far from any maintenance bot, its weaponry giving that away easily.
Simon pulled back, stepping through the dark filth infested water, his constant view on the tunnels. The area they were in was a crossroad, moving off into four different directions, two of the tunnels were caved in, from the earlier highway collapse, but the other two were darkened and led off deeper into the sewer network. Simon stood back and leant his side against the bus, looking in his eyes widening,
"Lets just leave it, get the hell out of here... We don't wanna go messing with their military crap anymore" he began to say, "We have lost too many already with getting mixed up with their shit-"
"We aren't gonna get into trouble" Jack interrupted, looking down at Li-Six, "Besides, looks like he's broken anyway... that cannon might come in handy you know..."
Both mean looked quite gruff, they were both in their thirties, though it could be easily seen that Simon was the older one, he had a full grown beard, long black and mattered hair moving to his shoulders. His voice too gave that away. They were both wearing pretty grubby clothes, old leather and cloth mixed, looking as if they were being held together with just some sort of old wire. Simon was wearing some sort of Strider Marine shoulder guard though, cracked, showing it had been taken with force. Jack had a clean shaved face, though he was very dusty, almost giving his skin a pale gray look. His arms looked almost like some sort of off colored plastic material, close to the skin tone of a normal human, though a small blue tint to it. He wore glasses, the silver rims were held mostly together with binding tape. He had a large backpack on the flaming torch gear coming from there.
The rifle that Simon held was nothing too special, it almost looked antique, rusted, using standard lock and load bullets, and way beyond the recent years.
"Lets just go, please" Simon spoke out, moving back, looking down the sewer network, "We got the supplies, we have to make it back before-"
His voice was suddenly cut off, the ceiling above them shuddering... The sounds that came above them were not from anything falling or breaking, but something falling from the sky and into the rubble. It sounded like it was coming from the sky, a drop ship. The ceiling shuddered again, the second object snapping into the rubble... then a third... All became silent once more, both humans looking up at the cracks, hearing the sound of something moving and being opened,
"What the hell was that?" Jack spoke out; chewing on the end of the smoking cigar he had in his lips, looking across to Simon... The man shook his head looking down the tunnels,
"Shit!" Simon called, watching as shadowed creatures rushed from the other two tunnels, snapping across the edges with their long spines... They were smaller versions of the Dragoon warriors, children to them. But the claws, they were far from being immature, easily long and sharp enough to cleave a man in two without stopping. Simon pulled his gun up, smoke blasting from the end as he shot into the closest. Its body literally exploded, sending blood and gore into the walls around. As ancient as his weapon was, its large bullets could make short work of armor. He aimed for the next, the lock clicking,
"Damnit!" he groaned, moving his hand across and pulling up an ammo pack. Jack pulled his free hand out, revealing an old revolver, blasting an ear piecing shell into the closest Dragoon Hiveling. Simon faltered, the ammo pack dropping into the thick unclear water, he dropped to his knee and pushed his hand into it, searching around... Jack shot another bullet into the moving creatures, watching as they began to gather... more then their usually was... it had to be the vibrations above that pushed them out of rest. Fear came to his eyes,
"Damnit... I should have listened to you..."
---
The three sleek black pods smoked with heat. Their frontal loading chambers breaking open with a fizzing and hissing liquid splashing across the ruins of the collapsed highway. A shadow swept away over them, the blackened Strider drop ship slowly lifting up into the bellowing smoke raising from the ruins, leaving the cigar shaped pods opening by themselves. Steam rose up from the openings of each pod, their doors grinding against the ground.
From the first of the pod arose a dark armored humanoid, its body completely black, its armor dull and smooth. Its helmet sleeked back and spiked back in a hood. Its shoulders were low, spines flipping from its back like extra arms, tentacles. There were no defining features on its armor at all, from the outside it was rather basic, but built for high movement, fast and agility combat... from the look of things, there were no weapons showing at all upon its body.
The only part on each that differed one from the other were the faded white numbers bolded on the side of their helmets, each given a number 1, 2 and 3. Its dark black glass visor shimmers as a collective of deep blood red numbers flickered across one side.
It pulled back, bending its body backwards almost, cracks in its spine clicking away as the other two figures crept out of their doors, looking around the area. The collapsed highway was entirely unstable, parts continued to fall to the ground, the smoke and dust still raising into the sky from the fall, some of the sniper sight lasers were still marking through the smoke, searching to see what was there...
The first of the black armored figures reached its three fingered hand to the side of its mask, a picture flickering across it's view sight, showing an outline of Li-six in the dust, the picture was static, broken and terrible to gain any sort of knowledge of what weaponry the tank was carrying, the sniper had taken it without looking into the visor, being proven unable to. The Kamikaz unit looked back to the right hand side figure, raising his hand and pulling it down, opening his fingers and nodding.
A flickering red orb switched on and off within the visor of Number.2 it turned back, the lines attached to its back suddenly snapping away with blasts of steam and liquid. It disconnected from the pod unit, stepping forward, gaining its stance before leaping away with one solid bound... Leaving the other two standing and waiting...
---
"We are coming in range of the outpost Sir!" called the Driver. They moved through the rubble filled streets without a shot fired, without a Strider seen, for all they could see, there was no military activity at all... and for coming up to an army installation, an outpost there surely were not any guards posted, no weapons showing, no signs of any base close to them. The SWG moved through the broken streets, slowly taking a right turn, its thick mounted tires ripping through anything that came in contact. It moved into the smaller street, breaking through an old abandoned car, the front guards tearing apart the smoke and dust ridden carcass throughout, sending it to either side. Taz lifted his foot as the rubble passed, kicking it slightly with a laugh, his hand still firmly holding his rifle, still unsure if this silence was too good to be true or not.
Razu looked directly across to Reign now, watching as Kat made her harsh way back to her seat, he watched Senturo slowly lift from his spot, looking in her general direction. It could be seen easily that those of the Delta team were concerned over her, the fact that she was leaving blood all over was not a good sign, knowing how fast her wounds were supposed to heal, like last time. Knowing that they were remaining this time was not a good sign at all.
Bo looked over Reign, the Marines head still slumped forward, there was no movement in him anymore, he was still breathing, but weakly. Bo looked back to Razu and nodded his head,
"She's right Sir..." the marine spoke out, lowering his arm and looking back to Reign.
Razu lowered his eyes for a moment before standing up, wrapping his hands around one of the supports, making his way to the front of the SWG, he pressed his hand to the drivers shoulder and leant down, his head close to the side of the drivers head,
"How long soldier?" he asked out loudly, trying to keep his voice above the rubble they were driving through,
"Not long now sir" the driver replied,
"We need medical assistance on entry, I have one... two badly wounded. They will need aid as soon as we arrive, can you call in and or-"
"No sir" the driver interrupted, "We cannot open comm link this close to entry I’m sorry, but we will be able to call in the med unit ASAP once we enter the secured gates..." The driver turned his head slightly, "I'm sorry sir but you are gonna have to sit tight, we will make it under fifteen minutes..." The pilot moved his sights back to the main road, making another turn, breaking through a few scattered rubble piles from the buildings above.
Razu patted his hand against his shoulder and turned back, still holding onto one of the railings near his head, looking back over his squad and troops. It was then his link became active; he didn't make a movement to show anything had changed however,
"Be advised" came the voice of Li-six over his comm-link; "There are cloaked dragoons in the city south-west quadrant. Threat level low for the moment; they are not performing hostile actions. They seem to be ... " there was a pause "... moving in."
Razu turned his head to Ravine, knowing the Major was looking directly to him. He turned his head back and looked out across the roads and city, hearing Ravine speak out, though quietly almost, knowing something was up,
"What is it?" he asked, keeping his eyes on Razu without a flinch.
The Major looked across to him, pausing for a moment before speaking out, though his voice wasn't quiet, there was nothing he would keep between him and the other Major, if he had something to say now, it had to go through the other marines too, "Dragoons are still within the city" he began, "My intelligence has pinpointed that they are occupying the South Western area's and are indeed cloaked. Low level danger at this current time... but this outpost best be warned of such things..." He looked to Ravine, "Your base has been equipped with Marker Lights I’m hoping?"
Ravine nodded, "We have at least 4 functional ML's 2 were destroyed in transportation... we are spread thin with supplies, but have enough man-power to hold a good defense"
Razu nodded, "This outpost, how does it lay out of Strider sights?"
"Coming up to the gates now!" The driver called out.
Razu slowly turned his head, watching as the SWG moved straight for the side of a skyscraper. He moved back and ducked down, Taz did the same, leaning forward, getting ready for impact... Sen however remained where he was, holding his treasured sniper rifle in the air and watching the building wall come in towards them. The front of the SWG simply brushed into it, the wall rippling suddenly as if it were water. All around them colored lights flickered; smoke ran through the vehicle and past them all as they moved in. The SWG lowered, dropping down onto a metal ramp as it moved through the illusion. Taz leaned back, the smoke and lights moving through his red hair, all he could do was grin, looking up at the holographic hole in the wall,
"Sweet..." he smiled,
They dropped down the ramp, the tires meeting the cold floor coming into a long metal corridor. Razu looked across, leaning back up and leaning against the support railing, looking as they passed through the corridor. To their sides were four battle tanks. They were far, far less advanced then any sort of think tank, they were basically armored, thick, but with a shot from a rocket, they were done for. The thing that held them together however was the cannon mounted on its head, a long sleek design. The weapon could make short work of any armor that came in range... Atop the head in the same of each was a military unit, a lot less armored then the marines, they held onto a heavy mounted machine gun, fitted with special ammo.
The SWG moved down the hall and turned, moving into the main hangers, passing another three SWG's, though they were taken apart, their outer hull pulled out and their tires being worked with. As they drove passed, all those around the hanger bay seemed to close in, looking across and into the SWG, trying to get a peek at. Some seemed a little off by the appearance, shaking their heads and folding their arms, others seemed overjoyed, relieved.
This base was filled with regulars. The military that had not been trained like the Alpha's, they barely had any implants, some had none. They were the flesh and blood of what remained of humanity, many of them untouched by the machine of the new world.
The base was less military orientated, more spacecraft-like. It was armored to hell, the walls thick and complete metal, only artificial light shone in from the low ceiling above. There were no separate rooms; no quarters for commanders, but just loading bays, moving across and connecting with slide doorways. They passed through the second doorway, moving into a much larger loading bay. The SWG hummed as it ran down another ramp, moving down further from the surface above, leading down into the much larger bay. One side was covered in dark urban tents, each able to fit around 5 or so men in them at a time. While on the other side there was a much larger complex, it looked to be an old landing bay briefing room, able to fit in at least 100 or so men.
They suddenly came to a stop, a couple of men rushing out from the bay and towards the SWG, another few moving from behind. Razu automatically reacted,
"MEDIC!" he called out quickly, moving his hand across the side and leaping from the SWG before the loading side slipped down and opened up. Bo slowly stood up, moving his hands to Reign's sides, pulling back the support straps, he leant down and pulled Reign up and over his shoulder, slowly standing up, with not even a puff of breath. Bo turned and moved, stepping down the loading steps,
"I need some assistance" he spoke out softly, one of the military moving up and pulling off Reign's helmet, as Bo moved towards the complex opening. Blood dropped down in splashes against the ground, leaving a trail across the pale metal floor leading to Reign. Taz leapt off the side and pulled his rifle back, there was no smile on his face, he watched Bo take Reign inside the complex, shaking his head,
"Damnit... how the fuck could he get so messed up sir?" Taz said, a serious tone to his voice for once.
Razu looked across to Kat, watching as Sen leapt over the railing and moved to the back of the SWG towards her, though the Major's voice was directed to Taz, remembering what Kat had told him about the bullet she had given him, "I don't know... but I will get to the bottom of it... that’s for sure..." Taz looked to the Major, unsure of his comments for certain, but he knew something was on his mind that was not good at all...
Ravine leapt off of the side and looked across to some of the Military, he rose his hand and spun it, "Wind it up guys, we need full surveillance on this area, I have word there are Dragoons, I want to know 'now' that they are at least far from here... I want two scout groups moving within the hour.... Now move out" With that, said two of the mean moved off towards the tents...
Sen stood over Kat, looking across the blood that was spread all around her now, showing her wound was anything but small. He nodded to her,
"Now I know you don't want to look like a weak ass" he said bluntly, "But I don't care what you think Kid, you need help, and whether or not you like to have my help, I’m going to do my best to offer it... if you don't like it... then fine" he moved forward, slipping his arm towards her, "I promised I won't let anything happen to you... Nothing has changed, nothing will change"
He offered his hand once more...
The network to the outside had been brought down, small means of communications were hard to keep up, but any outside link was cut off completely, there were no calls for outside help, no signals could be sent. The net had been shut off from the link itself, standard and local area nets were still in place, but slowly and steadily the Striders continued to break it down, making it near impossible for the military to push back.
The push the Striders had made was unexpected...
The forces, the designs of such ships, such marines and Strider Special Forces did not exist. All that remained was rumors, words of such creations, experiments that were not meant to be created. They had suffered a blow like nothing else, the remainders of the military network continued to strive forward, doing what they could to find out how spread the damage was, whether it was global or just national... Strider Corp's leaders were nowhere to be seen, there was no reports from the representatives, if there were any. All that was known now was that it was an invasion from the inside, a betrayal within...
No one would know that thousands of distress transmissions were being filtered out by the dark grip the Striders had on the net, the danger calls, links from scattered troops and stranded civilians. Some had laid down personal links, separated from the iron hold of the Strider Corp Network.
Catacarn city for now was the main staging grounds of the Alpha teams, what remained of the scattered army fell back on this large urban city, fleeing from the moving Strider armies, trying to figure out the reasons for such attacks. So far nothing has come out of such investigations... But as some are yet to find out, it is not all about the Strider Corp.
---
With one swift snap of his hand he brought the knife straight down into the side of the Strider's neck, the blade snapping through its vocal wires, bursting with a slick of black liquid into its inner circuits. He brought his other hand across, gripping his hand around the side of the marines face, bringing it back and snapping his head across with one swift pull. There was no sound, no movement in the Strider from then on, its body slumping back into Siru's arms. He dropped back, pulling the body backwards and up to the opened window he had used to get in, he pulled it back, leaving a slimy trail of black goo behind. He simply shrugged it off, holding his knife out, looking down the corridor. The building was rather old, doors scattered to each side, old apartments, and almost identical to the one he had fallen within when he was with Li-six. Though this one seemed to have been deserted a while ago... from his knowledge this was one of the two guards remaining as patrols to keep it empty.
Siru pulled the blade down and wiped the black liquid to the side of his armor, not getting all of it, but enough to stop it from dripping. He slowly crept forward, the floor making enough noise to wake the dead, but lucky for him, the other patrol would consider it as his partner... well at least that was Siru's plan.
The marine made his way down the murky hall, only stopping when he heard voices coming from the outside. He came up to the end of the hall, two rooms to his sides and a window boarded up with long planks of rotted wood. He slowly slipped his side to the door, crouching down; he ran his hand against it softly, looking up to the handle, his helmet visor scanning it over carefully. No dust had been moved, from what he could tell anyway. The marine reached across and slipped his hand around, pushing the door open slowly, creeping in quietly, moving back and closing the door behind him. He moved across the empty apartment, making his way to the side, moving right for a window. Lucky for him the wood was rotted enough to simply push his hand through. He pressed his hands to the edges of the window, sliding it across, feeling the humid air brush against him. He turned, pulling away the wood slowly. It almost turned to dust in his hands; the wood was chalky and far beyond dead.
He slowly sat up, his back to the window, leaning back and sitting on the windowsill, he leant back, looking out from the alleyway the window had provided him with. It was vacant, a few random trashcans spread out, and that was all. Siru turned, slowly leaning back till he fell from the window, slowly dropping from the second floor, moving in the air, he flipped, his boots snapping into the ground, his legs bending. With one fluent movement he threw his arm forward, the knife breaking through the rotted wood, shattering through the faded window and into the face of the second patrol. It made a gurgling noise, its eyes flashing as Siru twisted the blade. He pulled back, hearing its body slump down against the broken glass and stop moving.
He turned quickly, pressing his back to the wall as the small group of Strider marines rushed across the courtyard towards the building. Siru spun around, moving his hand down, pulling up his pistol, moving across until he stood at the very edge of the building, he could see the two mech's standing empty in the center of the courtyard... it was a little less crowded now, the troop carriers had moved off, now that remained was two full squads, some random patrols and the two mech’s... though the pilots still were no where to be seen!
Siru watched as the four Striders rushed up to the front door, two of them waiting, the other two snapping open the door to investigate the noise. With that, he made his move, rushing forward, he knew he could be spotted, the fact that he had the gut feeling there could be sniper attachments in the higher buildings that surrounded the courtyard made no difference. He made his move quick. The marine rushed across, hearing scatter fire suddenly break around him. Window's to his sides snapped and shattered as plasma blasts broke across the pavement, just skipping across his feet. He held his knife in one hand, his pistol in the other.
The marine turned his body, holding out his pistol arm, shooting a couple of fizzled blasts back towards them, showing he could at least defend himself. With that, they began to spread out; taking cover just in case he held any other weapons... but the fact he was making a break for the two vacant mech's was bad news for them all. Suddenly an ear-piercing ring broke into his senses, a bright blue line raced just past his visor, causing it to flicker with static. The sniper blast breaking through the ground like it was butter, melting away at pavement soil and stone. Not even that slowed him, the marine finally coming up to the unguarded mech's, the thought on his mind on how this was too easy stayed to the back. He leapt against its leg, feeling a plasma blast snap into his shoulder, the material burning into its shape. He continued to climb, throwing away his knife as he leapt up with one hand. He lifted himself to the broad head plate of the battle-mech...
He pressed his hands to the curve behind its thick armored skull, knowing very well there were at least two seconds left on the sniper reloading. With that, instead of unbuckling the headgear, he blasted a hole in the locking mechanism before suddenly moving across, one foot connecting with the shoulder guard. He leapt from the mech towards the second one. A shimmering blue light broke across, scorching the bottom of his foot before colliding with the side of the mech he had leapt from. The shot snapped right through the mech, sparks and flame burning from its inside.
Siru slammed into the head of the second mech, feeling the burning of the plasma melting against his shoulder, burning into his flesh, he pulled his pistol up to the lock, blasting it apart, the mech head loading to the side, revealing the red lit snug compartment below. He slid his body across, feeling another plasma shot snap right past his head. He slid into the cockpit, his feet sliding into the openings. Siru threw his pistol to his side before raising his hands, flickering across the control keypad. The head slowly slithered shut, he could feel the plasma shots bouncing off his hard case armor, he knew very well he had to hurry, that sniper would make short work of this plan if he took any more time then he needed. Siru snapped his hands out and slid them down the arm control compartments, hearing the headgear shut and lock. The system had been easily overridden, it was still Strider Corp connected, in which it could be easily tracked... but that was not his main concern right now,
"Bring the pain!" Siru laughed out.
The mech rose its free hand, breaking against the smoldering side hull of the second mech, he pushed the thing aside and rose his chain gun mounted arm, the chains coming to a burning spin. Shattering hot bullets began to pour out of the five nozzles. The side building he had seen the light of the sniper come from was soon broken; the walls began to bleed out glass and dead wood, stone. The blasts snapped across the side, breaking apart anything it touched. Siru laughed, turning, his foot snapping into the ground harshly, he brought the burning chain cannon across, its bullets still pouring out, he watched on as it totally ripped and shattered the remained squads that were firing upon him, their armor turning to broken flaming wreaks of what used to be soldiers.
He turned back, his arm coming across, firing into the walls of the buildings that surrounded the courtyard, glass and debris flailing out all around him, breaking out and against his hard armor.
With flames all around him he pulled his chain arm back, locking it in place, his other hand still pressed against the fallen corpse of the other mech, its chest still smoldering from the sniper shot. Siru pulled one arm from the hand compartment, moving back and pulling his helmet off, setting it in the personal compartment to the side of his head, he pressed his hand to the keyboard, ready to check on his location... but his scanners picked up on movement...
He slipped his hand back down the compartment, turning the mech and looking into the sky... trailing across until he saw a large cloud of dust and smoke raising into the horizon, above some of the lower buildings... Something had fallen. He had no idea it was the bridge Li-six has been using, or else he would have decided against falling in, but instead he activated his mounts, his legs bending as the engines burned. The mech swept across the ground, coming to action as it traveled out of the courtyard and moved quickly down one of the main roads towards the raising smoke...
---
The dulled scatter fire of a couple of old rifles flickered into being. Dust fell all around, the damp rumbles of the upper levels crumbling down ever so close. The torn up school bus was facing straight down into the ground, its front end buried within at least half a meter of rubble, mud and filthy water. Within the unstable wreak was the think tank, named Li-six. Above the school bus were broken layers of concrete, dust and rubble falling from every edge. The sewer tunnel was broken all over, long cracks slowly creeping their way across, a constant rumble following with each extension of the crack. Li-Six would find herself now somewhat submerged within the filthy water... the roof of the bus facing her.
The fire came from the outside of the bus...
Soon followed voices...
"Simon! Cover me damnit, we gotta crack this thing open!" the voice called forth, firing continuing only after he had finished talking, but only for a short moment. The second voice was further away, sounding a lot younger, though he had toughness to him,
"This is not right Jack, we shouldn't even be down here... it's swamped with these damn-" he paused, firing off a few shots into the distant tunnels, "-these damn Dragoon nests!"
There was no more talking for now, instead another noise poured into the open, a flickering flame melting into the rooftop that Li-six would be facing, it slowly slid down its shape, melting away the steel with no problem. He moved slowly, holding the blast shield up to his face, moving the flame slowly down the bus's roof. He slowly moved back across, hooking a corner close to the end before moving back upwards. The metal burned and simmered as he made his way back up to the same height he was, unsure exactly who he was rescuing...
"Come on!" Simon called out impatiently, shooting another few shots off into the dark tunnels that surrounded him. The ceiling above slowly cracked a little more, the ground shaking slightly as more dust began to fall, "It's getting more and more unstable, we need to get out of here!"
Jack moved his gloved hands to the edge of the metal, pulling against it, he bent his back as he pulled the metal down... a feat not any normal human being could pull off, but the sounds of his elbow joints squeaking slightly gave off the clue he had some sort of implant. He pulled down the faded yellow metal until he could see the sight within,
"I knew there was something in here! I knew it!" he laughed, pulling a foot up to the opening and leaning in slightly, looking across the seats and glancing over the think-tank, "Holy shit... isn't this one of those... maintenance bots they used to have down at the central hall some months back?" it was only then he noticed it was far from any maintenance bot, its weaponry giving that away easily.
Simon pulled back, stepping through the dark filth infested water, his constant view on the tunnels. The area they were in was a crossroad, moving off into four different directions, two of the tunnels were caved in, from the earlier highway collapse, but the other two were darkened and led off deeper into the sewer network. Simon stood back and leant his side against the bus, looking in his eyes widening,
"Lets just leave it, get the hell out of here... We don't wanna go messing with their military crap anymore" he began to say, "We have lost too many already with getting mixed up with their shit-"
"We aren't gonna get into trouble" Jack interrupted, looking down at Li-Six, "Besides, looks like he's broken anyway... that cannon might come in handy you know..."
Both mean looked quite gruff, they were both in their thirties, though it could be easily seen that Simon was the older one, he had a full grown beard, long black and mattered hair moving to his shoulders. His voice too gave that away. They were both wearing pretty grubby clothes, old leather and cloth mixed, looking as if they were being held together with just some sort of old wire. Simon was wearing some sort of Strider Marine shoulder guard though, cracked, showing it had been taken with force. Jack had a clean shaved face, though he was very dusty, almost giving his skin a pale gray look. His arms looked almost like some sort of off colored plastic material, close to the skin tone of a normal human, though a small blue tint to it. He wore glasses, the silver rims were held mostly together with binding tape. He had a large backpack on the flaming torch gear coming from there.
The rifle that Simon held was nothing too special, it almost looked antique, rusted, using standard lock and load bullets, and way beyond the recent years.
"Lets just go, please" Simon spoke out, moving back, looking down the sewer network, "We got the supplies, we have to make it back before-"
His voice was suddenly cut off, the ceiling above them shuddering... The sounds that came above them were not from anything falling or breaking, but something falling from the sky and into the rubble. It sounded like it was coming from the sky, a drop ship. The ceiling shuddered again, the second object snapping into the rubble... then a third... All became silent once more, both humans looking up at the cracks, hearing the sound of something moving and being opened,
"What the hell was that?" Jack spoke out; chewing on the end of the smoking cigar he had in his lips, looking across to Simon... The man shook his head looking down the tunnels,
"Shit!" Simon called, watching as shadowed creatures rushed from the other two tunnels, snapping across the edges with their long spines... They were smaller versions of the Dragoon warriors, children to them. But the claws, they were far from being immature, easily long and sharp enough to cleave a man in two without stopping. Simon pulled his gun up, smoke blasting from the end as he shot into the closest. Its body literally exploded, sending blood and gore into the walls around. As ancient as his weapon was, its large bullets could make short work of armor. He aimed for the next, the lock clicking,
"Damnit!" he groaned, moving his hand across and pulling up an ammo pack. Jack pulled his free hand out, revealing an old revolver, blasting an ear piecing shell into the closest Dragoon Hiveling. Simon faltered, the ammo pack dropping into the thick unclear water, he dropped to his knee and pushed his hand into it, searching around... Jack shot another bullet into the moving creatures, watching as they began to gather... more then their usually was... it had to be the vibrations above that pushed them out of rest. Fear came to his eyes,
"Damnit... I should have listened to you..."
---
The three sleek black pods smoked with heat. Their frontal loading chambers breaking open with a fizzing and hissing liquid splashing across the ruins of the collapsed highway. A shadow swept away over them, the blackened Strider drop ship slowly lifting up into the bellowing smoke raising from the ruins, leaving the cigar shaped pods opening by themselves. Steam rose up from the openings of each pod, their doors grinding against the ground.
From the first of the pod arose a dark armored humanoid, its body completely black, its armor dull and smooth. Its helmet sleeked back and spiked back in a hood. Its shoulders were low, spines flipping from its back like extra arms, tentacles. There were no defining features on its armor at all, from the outside it was rather basic, but built for high movement, fast and agility combat... from the look of things, there were no weapons showing at all upon its body.
The only part on each that differed one from the other were the faded white numbers bolded on the side of their helmets, each given a number 1, 2 and 3. Its dark black glass visor shimmers as a collective of deep blood red numbers flickered across one side.
It pulled back, bending its body backwards almost, cracks in its spine clicking away as the other two figures crept out of their doors, looking around the area. The collapsed highway was entirely unstable, parts continued to fall to the ground, the smoke and dust still raising into the sky from the fall, some of the sniper sight lasers were still marking through the smoke, searching to see what was there...
The first of the black armored figures reached its three fingered hand to the side of its mask, a picture flickering across it's view sight, showing an outline of Li-six in the dust, the picture was static, broken and terrible to gain any sort of knowledge of what weaponry the tank was carrying, the sniper had taken it without looking into the visor, being proven unable to. The Kamikaz unit looked back to the right hand side figure, raising his hand and pulling it down, opening his fingers and nodding.
A flickering red orb switched on and off within the visor of Number.2 it turned back, the lines attached to its back suddenly snapping away with blasts of steam and liquid. It disconnected from the pod unit, stepping forward, gaining its stance before leaping away with one solid bound... Leaving the other two standing and waiting...
---
"We are coming in range of the outpost Sir!" called the Driver. They moved through the rubble filled streets without a shot fired, without a Strider seen, for all they could see, there was no military activity at all... and for coming up to an army installation, an outpost there surely were not any guards posted, no weapons showing, no signs of any base close to them. The SWG moved through the broken streets, slowly taking a right turn, its thick mounted tires ripping through anything that came in contact. It moved into the smaller street, breaking through an old abandoned car, the front guards tearing apart the smoke and dust ridden carcass throughout, sending it to either side. Taz lifted his foot as the rubble passed, kicking it slightly with a laugh, his hand still firmly holding his rifle, still unsure if this silence was too good to be true or not.
Razu looked directly across to Reign now, watching as Kat made her harsh way back to her seat, he watched Senturo slowly lift from his spot, looking in her general direction. It could be seen easily that those of the Delta team were concerned over her, the fact that she was leaving blood all over was not a good sign, knowing how fast her wounds were supposed to heal, like last time. Knowing that they were remaining this time was not a good sign at all.
Bo looked over Reign, the Marines head still slumped forward, there was no movement in him anymore, he was still breathing, but weakly. Bo looked back to Razu and nodded his head,
"She's right Sir..." the marine spoke out, lowering his arm and looking back to Reign.
Razu lowered his eyes for a moment before standing up, wrapping his hands around one of the supports, making his way to the front of the SWG, he pressed his hand to the drivers shoulder and leant down, his head close to the side of the drivers head,
"How long soldier?" he asked out loudly, trying to keep his voice above the rubble they were driving through,
"Not long now sir" the driver replied,
"We need medical assistance on entry, I have one... two badly wounded. They will need aid as soon as we arrive, can you call in and or-"
"No sir" the driver interrupted, "We cannot open comm link this close to entry I’m sorry, but we will be able to call in the med unit ASAP once we enter the secured gates..." The driver turned his head slightly, "I'm sorry sir but you are gonna have to sit tight, we will make it under fifteen minutes..." The pilot moved his sights back to the main road, making another turn, breaking through a few scattered rubble piles from the buildings above.
Razu patted his hand against his shoulder and turned back, still holding onto one of the railings near his head, looking back over his squad and troops. It was then his link became active; he didn't make a movement to show anything had changed however,
"Be advised" came the voice of Li-six over his comm-link; "There are cloaked dragoons in the city south-west quadrant. Threat level low for the moment; they are not performing hostile actions. They seem to be ... " there was a pause "... moving in."
Razu turned his head to Ravine, knowing the Major was looking directly to him. He turned his head back and looked out across the roads and city, hearing Ravine speak out, though quietly almost, knowing something was up,
"What is it?" he asked, keeping his eyes on Razu without a flinch.
The Major looked across to him, pausing for a moment before speaking out, though his voice wasn't quiet, there was nothing he would keep between him and the other Major, if he had something to say now, it had to go through the other marines too, "Dragoons are still within the city" he began, "My intelligence has pinpointed that they are occupying the South Western area's and are indeed cloaked. Low level danger at this current time... but this outpost best be warned of such things..." He looked to Ravine, "Your base has been equipped with Marker Lights I’m hoping?"
Ravine nodded, "We have at least 4 functional ML's 2 were destroyed in transportation... we are spread thin with supplies, but have enough man-power to hold a good defense"
Razu nodded, "This outpost, how does it lay out of Strider sights?"
"Coming up to the gates now!" The driver called out.
Razu slowly turned his head, watching as the SWG moved straight for the side of a skyscraper. He moved back and ducked down, Taz did the same, leaning forward, getting ready for impact... Sen however remained where he was, holding his treasured sniper rifle in the air and watching the building wall come in towards them. The front of the SWG simply brushed into it, the wall rippling suddenly as if it were water. All around them colored lights flickered; smoke ran through the vehicle and past them all as they moved in. The SWG lowered, dropping down onto a metal ramp as it moved through the illusion. Taz leaned back, the smoke and lights moving through his red hair, all he could do was grin, looking up at the holographic hole in the wall,
"Sweet..." he smiled,
They dropped down the ramp, the tires meeting the cold floor coming into a long metal corridor. Razu looked across, leaning back up and leaning against the support railing, looking as they passed through the corridor. To their sides were four battle tanks. They were far, far less advanced then any sort of think tank, they were basically armored, thick, but with a shot from a rocket, they were done for. The thing that held them together however was the cannon mounted on its head, a long sleek design. The weapon could make short work of any armor that came in range... Atop the head in the same of each was a military unit, a lot less armored then the marines, they held onto a heavy mounted machine gun, fitted with special ammo.
The SWG moved down the hall and turned, moving into the main hangers, passing another three SWG's, though they were taken apart, their outer hull pulled out and their tires being worked with. As they drove passed, all those around the hanger bay seemed to close in, looking across and into the SWG, trying to get a peek at. Some seemed a little off by the appearance, shaking their heads and folding their arms, others seemed overjoyed, relieved.
This base was filled with regulars. The military that had not been trained like the Alpha's, they barely had any implants, some had none. They were the flesh and blood of what remained of humanity, many of them untouched by the machine of the new world.
The base was less military orientated, more spacecraft-like. It was armored to hell, the walls thick and complete metal, only artificial light shone in from the low ceiling above. There were no separate rooms; no quarters for commanders, but just loading bays, moving across and connecting with slide doorways. They passed through the second doorway, moving into a much larger loading bay. The SWG hummed as it ran down another ramp, moving down further from the surface above, leading down into the much larger bay. One side was covered in dark urban tents, each able to fit around 5 or so men in them at a time. While on the other side there was a much larger complex, it looked to be an old landing bay briefing room, able to fit in at least 100 or so men.
They suddenly came to a stop, a couple of men rushing out from the bay and towards the SWG, another few moving from behind. Razu automatically reacted,
"MEDIC!" he called out quickly, moving his hand across the side and leaping from the SWG before the loading side slipped down and opened up. Bo slowly stood up, moving his hands to Reign's sides, pulling back the support straps, he leant down and pulled Reign up and over his shoulder, slowly standing up, with not even a puff of breath. Bo turned and moved, stepping down the loading steps,
"I need some assistance" he spoke out softly, one of the military moving up and pulling off Reign's helmet, as Bo moved towards the complex opening. Blood dropped down in splashes against the ground, leaving a trail across the pale metal floor leading to Reign. Taz leapt off the side and pulled his rifle back, there was no smile on his face, he watched Bo take Reign inside the complex, shaking his head,
"Damnit... how the fuck could he get so messed up sir?" Taz said, a serious tone to his voice for once.
Razu looked across to Kat, watching as Sen leapt over the railing and moved to the back of the SWG towards her, though the Major's voice was directed to Taz, remembering what Kat had told him about the bullet she had given him, "I don't know... but I will get to the bottom of it... that’s for sure..." Taz looked to the Major, unsure of his comments for certain, but he knew something was on his mind that was not good at all...
Ravine leapt off of the side and looked across to some of the Military, he rose his hand and spun it, "Wind it up guys, we need full surveillance on this area, I have word there are Dragoons, I want to know 'now' that they are at least far from here... I want two scout groups moving within the hour.... Now move out" With that, said two of the mean moved off towards the tents...
Sen stood over Kat, looking across the blood that was spread all around her now, showing her wound was anything but small. He nodded to her,
"Now I know you don't want to look like a weak ass" he said bluntly, "But I don't care what you think Kid, you need help, and whether or not you like to have my help, I’m going to do my best to offer it... if you don't like it... then fine" he moved forward, slipping his arm towards her, "I promised I won't let anything happen to you... Nothing has changed, nothing will change"
He offered his hand once more...
~
OOC: I hope Blue don't mind that I reply again. After all, Li-Six and Kat cannot interact with one another anyway right now.
---------------------
Li-six was not dazed. She had no brain to shook around, no intestines to jolt, no skull to crack. But even a tank feels the impact of falling through a highway complex inside a school bus. She was running internal checks when two humanoids approached the bus and didn't bother acting on them. Her had taken her sensors down to run a diagnostic, so she couldn't scan them through the side of the bus, but from the gunshots fired it sounded like small-arms fire. Not even caseless rounds. Old style weapons for home defence. Useful against unarmoured biological units, maybe -- utterly useless against any form of modern armour.
The think tank ran a check on the nanotube muscles of her leg, the one that had folded before. It had several micro-fractures along the ligaments, and it was the legs' internal safety mechanisms had shut the cybernetic muscle fibres down to prevent it from snapping completely. She immediately rewrote that safety routine. She didn't want the leg to shut down like that, it could have gotten her destroyed. A tech needed to fix those fractures, but that was not much she could do about it right now.
Her armour had received some pretty heavy hits. A massive piece of the highway had bounced off her in the fall, leaving a sizeable tent in her side panzer. The stealth field would have to be adjusted for that buckle, it would be hard to maintin perfect stealth with it there.
One of the civilians-- at this point she was pretty sure from their dialogue that these were no hardened military grunts -- bent open the metal of the bus. He seemed to have some sort of cheap cybernetics in his arms and shoulder blades. Maybe had had been in an accident or had once been working in a place with a lot of heavy lifting.
Maintenance bot? this pissed her off, but still she had some more checks to run before she could give his hide some well-deserved "maintenance". The other one sounded anxious, and he had reason to be. Something landed above them, above the rubble that no doubt was covering this location. But the other man's mention of "Getting back" with their supplies interested her. Clearly these men were civilian survivors. Could more people have survived down here under the city? A resistance movement, or only ragged fugitives? This warranted further investigations.
But first they had to get out of here. With a hum, the tank came to life, the green lights that was its eyes casting an eerie glow on the inside of the old bus. About time too, outside the two civilians were getting company. No wonder, the way they talked loud and shot random shots around them.
The school bus split in two behind the two men. Simon, kneeling closest, still desperately grasping for his spare ammunition, cried out as the dark spider that was Li-six poured out of the bus carcas like a spider larvae. At the shout, Jack spun around, firing a round in panic at this new monster . The shell bounced harmlessly off the tank's front armour. The Dragoon Hiveling closest to him, saw the chance to advance on his exposed back.
"Morons." growled the tank, annoyed. "Leave the shooting to the maintenance bots."
Jack's eyes widened as the small stubby turrets all over the tank suddenly seemed to all swivel in his direction. "Craaaaaap" he howled throwing himself down, just as the Hiveling jumped.
Suddenly the catacombs were filled with the shrieks of Dragoon hivelings, a chaos of howls and hisses. No shots were heard, but the smell of ozone and burning flesh suddenly stood heavy around them. The hivelings lost interest in them, something bigger had attracted their attention. Jack crawled over to Simon, who was also lying prone on the ground. In one hand Simon had the packs of provisions, in other was the ammo pack he had landed on when diving to the ground. He clasped them hard, as if he was afraid to let go of them. The two men grabbed hold of each other by their arms.
"We have to get out of here!" howled Simon. "While we have the chance!"
"Over there!" Jack howled back and pointed. "If we get to the south tunnel we can make a run for it!" Get the supplies safely back. That was all that really mattered.
Simon nodded and the two began crawling across the rubble. The chaos of the room was all around them. The dragoon hivelings were running straight past them a few times, clearly they had bigger fish to fry. Or to be fried by. The two men sweated and groveled. The stench of burnt flesh became so intense they both threw up and had to wrap pieces of their shirts around their noses. Their legs and clothes were soon torn and bloody, but they dared not stand up and become targets in the war they had just stepped into.
They had only a few meters to go to the waiting empty passageway when suddenly silence fell in the chamber. Jack and Simon looked at each other. They had just crawled through a jumbled wall of concrete and metal supports. Carefully they lifted their heads and looked back.
The scene was covered in gore. Around the school bus was a circle of torn bodies, some still twitching, but most no more than puddles of bloody mush. The black spider stood where it had first appeared. It was also covered in blood, where hivelings had come close enough to splattered over it. The spider moved with eerie determination, stepping through the carnage and walked up to the rubble were the two paralyzed men were hiding.
"They didn't even have armour. Most satisfying" said the spider, looking directly at Simon and Jack. "Let me see a maintenance bot do that!
---------------------
Li-six was not dazed. She had no brain to shook around, no intestines to jolt, no skull to crack. But even a tank feels the impact of falling through a highway complex inside a school bus. She was running internal checks when two humanoids approached the bus and didn't bother acting on them. Her had taken her sensors down to run a diagnostic, so she couldn't scan them through the side of the bus, but from the gunshots fired it sounded like small-arms fire. Not even caseless rounds. Old style weapons for home defence. Useful against unarmoured biological units, maybe -- utterly useless against any form of modern armour.
The think tank ran a check on the nanotube muscles of her leg, the one that had folded before. It had several micro-fractures along the ligaments, and it was the legs' internal safety mechanisms had shut the cybernetic muscle fibres down to prevent it from snapping completely. She immediately rewrote that safety routine. She didn't want the leg to shut down like that, it could have gotten her destroyed. A tech needed to fix those fractures, but that was not much she could do about it right now.
Her armour had received some pretty heavy hits. A massive piece of the highway had bounced off her in the fall, leaving a sizeable tent in her side panzer. The stealth field would have to be adjusted for that buckle, it would be hard to maintin perfect stealth with it there.
One of the civilians-- at this point she was pretty sure from their dialogue that these were no hardened military grunts -- bent open the metal of the bus. He seemed to have some sort of cheap cybernetics in his arms and shoulder blades. Maybe had had been in an accident or had once been working in a place with a lot of heavy lifting.
Maintenance bot? this pissed her off, but still she had some more checks to run before she could give his hide some well-deserved "maintenance". The other one sounded anxious, and he had reason to be. Something landed above them, above the rubble that no doubt was covering this location. But the other man's mention of "Getting back" with their supplies interested her. Clearly these men were civilian survivors. Could more people have survived down here under the city? A resistance movement, or only ragged fugitives? This warranted further investigations.
But first they had to get out of here. With a hum, the tank came to life, the green lights that was its eyes casting an eerie glow on the inside of the old bus. About time too, outside the two civilians were getting company. No wonder, the way they talked loud and shot random shots around them.
The school bus split in two behind the two men. Simon, kneeling closest, still desperately grasping for his spare ammunition, cried out as the dark spider that was Li-six poured out of the bus carcas like a spider larvae. At the shout, Jack spun around, firing a round in panic at this new monster . The shell bounced harmlessly off the tank's front armour. The Dragoon Hiveling closest to him, saw the chance to advance on his exposed back.
"Morons." growled the tank, annoyed. "Leave the shooting to the maintenance bots."
Jack's eyes widened as the small stubby turrets all over the tank suddenly seemed to all swivel in his direction. "Craaaaaap" he howled throwing himself down, just as the Hiveling jumped.
Suddenly the catacombs were filled with the shrieks of Dragoon hivelings, a chaos of howls and hisses. No shots were heard, but the smell of ozone and burning flesh suddenly stood heavy around them. The hivelings lost interest in them, something bigger had attracted their attention. Jack crawled over to Simon, who was also lying prone on the ground. In one hand Simon had the packs of provisions, in other was the ammo pack he had landed on when diving to the ground. He clasped them hard, as if he was afraid to let go of them. The two men grabbed hold of each other by their arms.
"We have to get out of here!" howled Simon. "While we have the chance!"
"Over there!" Jack howled back and pointed. "If we get to the south tunnel we can make a run for it!" Get the supplies safely back. That was all that really mattered.
Simon nodded and the two began crawling across the rubble. The chaos of the room was all around them. The dragoon hivelings were running straight past them a few times, clearly they had bigger fish to fry. Or to be fried by. The two men sweated and groveled. The stench of burnt flesh became so intense they both threw up and had to wrap pieces of their shirts around their noses. Their legs and clothes were soon torn and bloody, but they dared not stand up and become targets in the war they had just stepped into.
They had only a few meters to go to the waiting empty passageway when suddenly silence fell in the chamber. Jack and Simon looked at each other. They had just crawled through a jumbled wall of concrete and metal supports. Carefully they lifted their heads and looked back.
The scene was covered in gore. Around the school bus was a circle of torn bodies, some still twitching, but most no more than puddles of bloody mush. The black spider stood where it had first appeared. It was also covered in blood, where hivelings had come close enough to splattered over it. The spider moved with eerie determination, stepping through the carnage and walked up to the rubble were the two paralyzed men were hiding.
"They didn't even have armour. Most satisfying" said the spider, looking directly at Simon and Jack. "Let me see a maintenance bot do that!
Was this world entirely real? The blood on her hands, the pain in her side, the wounds she felt seemed real. But there was no way technology like this existed. Did it? Kathryn wasn't one to keep up with human technology, there wasn't much of a point. S'long as it couldn't cause damage to her, she didn't care. Now she sat in this be-damned strange vehicle, with humans. Whether they be part mechanical, or completely mechanical. They were still human. Then why in good hell was she trying to help them? Her mind wanted to say she was helping them for Wolf's sake. And only for his sake. But there was a small part of her at the back of her mind that almost said in a sing-song voice that 'I don't think so'. She ignored it about as well as she could ignore a flea biting her skin just out of reach of her fangs and claws. Annoying little bug.
The trip was a quick one, if agonizing. Kat remained silent the entire time, not bothering to pay attention to her surroundings. As they got to the base however, the young werewolf got more and more edgy. She didn't like this idea. She didn't like it at all. She watched as they moved in past the defenses. It unnerved her how realistic that hologram was, though she wouldn't admit it. Her hand clenched tighter over the arm holding her wound as she stiffened. They went deeper, and deeper into the base. She didn't like this... didn't like it at all.
She looked around as they continued, trying to remember the route out of there, but by the time she got done glancing at every thing that caught her eye, she was hopelessly lost. There was no way she was going to be getting out of here unless someone showed her the way out. That didn't mean that she'd sit idly by and let these, humans, lock her up once more. No freakin' way. Not again. Not like back up on that ship.
Kat remained still as they came to a stop, though when Razu called for a medic the hair on the back of her neck rose up as she thought about the consequences of that. She knew Reign needed one, that was all well and fine, but the fact that she was bleeding everywhere wasn't good arguing material for them to leave her alone. The thought of a human touching her, stitching her up in their arcane way bothered her like nothing else. Kat looked away, down at Wolf, he was the one who needed the medic. Not her. She paid little to no mind as to what was going on around her, and didn't even look up as Senturo walked up to her. Here it came, the whole 'you can trust me nothing is going to happen to you speech.' Did these guys have a script or something? She listened, or, rather, half listened to him. Looking up at him with a slight growl. "So, just like back on that ship hmm?" Her voice was icy and cold. It was obvious she wasn't going to trust anyone. "I don't trust people until they earn my trust Robo-cop. So go to Mars." Slowly, she got up, ignoring his hand as she jumped down, slipping on her own blood, and tried to start to walk away.
"This is all a load of bull. You left a 'member' of your team out there to rot and most likely be killed. Hmph, some 'team'. A wolf pack protects even its omega member. So much for the 'superior' race." Kat turned but tripped, and one poor unlucky soldier got a chest full of oozing blood. Leaving a dripping and smeared hand-print there. She took a few steps forward before she looked up, only to find her way blocked.
"Shit."
The trip was a quick one, if agonizing. Kat remained silent the entire time, not bothering to pay attention to her surroundings. As they got to the base however, the young werewolf got more and more edgy. She didn't like this idea. She didn't like it at all. She watched as they moved in past the defenses. It unnerved her how realistic that hologram was, though she wouldn't admit it. Her hand clenched tighter over the arm holding her wound as she stiffened. They went deeper, and deeper into the base. She didn't like this... didn't like it at all.
She looked around as they continued, trying to remember the route out of there, but by the time she got done glancing at every thing that caught her eye, she was hopelessly lost. There was no way she was going to be getting out of here unless someone showed her the way out. That didn't mean that she'd sit idly by and let these, humans, lock her up once more. No freakin' way. Not again. Not like back up on that ship.
Kat remained still as they came to a stop, though when Razu called for a medic the hair on the back of her neck rose up as she thought about the consequences of that. She knew Reign needed one, that was all well and fine, but the fact that she was bleeding everywhere wasn't good arguing material for them to leave her alone. The thought of a human touching her, stitching her up in their arcane way bothered her like nothing else. Kat looked away, down at Wolf, he was the one who needed the medic. Not her. She paid little to no mind as to what was going on around her, and didn't even look up as Senturo walked up to her. Here it came, the whole 'you can trust me nothing is going to happen to you speech.' Did these guys have a script or something? She listened, or, rather, half listened to him. Looking up at him with a slight growl. "So, just like back on that ship hmm?" Her voice was icy and cold. It was obvious she wasn't going to trust anyone. "I don't trust people until they earn my trust Robo-cop. So go to Mars." Slowly, she got up, ignoring his hand as she jumped down, slipping on her own blood, and tried to start to walk away.
"This is all a load of bull. You left a 'member' of your team out there to rot and most likely be killed. Hmph, some 'team'. A wolf pack protects even its omega member. So much for the 'superior' race." Kat turned but tripped, and one poor unlucky soldier got a chest full of oozing blood. Leaving a dripping and smeared hand-print there. She took a few steps forward before she looked up, only to find her way blocked.
"Shit."
Last edited by Blue on Sat Sep 08, 2007 5:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
You never know what you can do, 'till you try.
Art and Silth © Me
(OoC:
Ic:
Both men seemed blank in their expressions.
Simon continued to cough up what was left of his lunch, stepping back from Jack who seemed to gaze at the mechanical menace that was Li-six with a new amazement, he grinned from under the cloth that covered his nose and mouth, jumping up from the rubble and pointing at Li-six,
"I told you she was no freaking Maintenance bot! I knew it! I knew this would be out lucky day!" Jack laughed out, pulling away the cloth from his mouth, taking little notice to the fact his legs were quite cut up and bleeding, and he was walking through, what remained of, the dead Hivelings,
"You?!" Simon coughed, appearing from behind the rubble and pillars, "You were the stupid bastard who brought us here!"
Jack laughed, walking up to Li-six, slapping his hands against one of her legs in celebration. He pulled his hand back and rubbed it a moment, reaching into one of the pockets on his jacket and pulling out a slimy cigar. He pulled it up to his lips, opening his mouth only to realize it was covered and dripping in the entrails of Hivelings, "Shit" he growled... Wiping it a few times against his chest before putting the end of it in his mouth, pulling up his flick lighter and lighting the end with a puff of smoke. He smiled, looking up and down Li-six, as if she were his new car. He puffed a cloud of smoke against her leg and nodded,
"You couldn't go another step without killing every single Hiveling for the next thousand miles now could you Bob?" he chuckled, "Your name's Bob right? I think I’ll call you Bob..."
"Oh here we go again..." Simon grumbled, wiping away the filth and blood from his clothes, "Lets just go, leave the droid alone..." He spoke looking down the sewer halls. Even though yes, he had heard the total destruction of every Hiveling close to them with each popping around them, he was still quite cautious, never could be too careful down here. Jack held the cigar in his lips and shook his head at Simon, stepping away from Li-six,
"No respect... no respect at all,” he grumbled, pulling the backpack tighter against his body. The supplies safe and secure, the lock fastened and no disgusting Hivelings surrounding them. He turned back to Li-six and nodded, a more serious tone to his voice now, "Look, thanks... It's not every day we see something like you down here... other then that one maintenance bot in the southern sewer networks" he eyed Li-six, noting the differences... one being the cannon, "My name is Jack Stakard, and this is Simon" he pointed towards Simon, the other man nodding his head,
"We were on our way back to camp when the bridge came down on us... Kinda blocked our path and found you instead" he breathed out another puff of smoke, looking to Li-six, "You can tag along if you haven't got anything else better to do" One could notice that however scared these men were before, when it came to act serious they did, but the way they reacted around Li-six, was as if they had been around an AI controlled tank like her before.
---
Senturo slipped his hand back, watching as once more Kat continued her stubbornness. He lowered his head softly, looking to the trail of blood, listening to the words about what happened to Siru. He almost showed signs of finally being frustrated, an artificial entity, made up of nothing but circuits and wire showing signs of a feeling. Sen gripped the side of the SWG and turned back to Kat watching as she tripped into one of the standard military marines. The man almost looked white as a ghost, raising his arms up as blood dripped from him,
"What the fuck?!" he groaned, not out of anger, but in fright.
Taz turned and looked to Kat, "Kid?" he spoke up in concern.
Senturo lifted the sniper cannon up in his arm and threw it into the back of the vehicle. Stepping back from the railing and making his way to the front area, the pilot dropping out, only then noticing that Senturo was making a move for the controls. He turned back, calling out, but before he got a chance to at least gain Senturo's attention, the engines groaned, the wheels almost screeching against the steel plated grounds. Taz dropped forward, as if getting ready to jump on the back, but he held back, watching as Razu called out,
"Senturo!" he yelled out... but nothing came to him, the SWG roaring down the hall Senturo pointing back directly to Taz,
"Look after the kid!" he called out, disappearing past the next security check point, the rumble of the engine echoing through the hall. Ravine turned his back to it, looking at Razu with a questioning tone in his voice,
"What the hell was that?" But there was silence as his answer, Razu turning back and looking to Kat, along with Taz. The Major slowly approached her, though standing well enough away before he spoke out, not looking to her wound,
"You're not going anywhere like that, Kat" he said to her softly, "Come on..."
"What about Senturo?... Crazy bastard is going on a suicide run!" Taz burst out, holding his gun up slightly, looking directly to Razu now,
"If he wants to pull some heroic bullshit then be it his way... I don't want any more losses today" Razu's voice seemed a little different, frustration fueling his words, "Do you understand that?" he growled, turning his back on them and moving towards the med bay... The area had gathered enough attention as it was, soldiers slowly gathering around the area, trying to have a glimpse of what was going on.
"Yes sir...", Taz sighed, approaching Kat slowly, "Come on... lets get you to the med bay... okay?"
*prods Blue* looks like ya were rping with Deege while writing this huh? XD)Ren looked away, down at Wolf, he was the one who needed the medic. Not her
Ic:
Both men seemed blank in their expressions.
Simon continued to cough up what was left of his lunch, stepping back from Jack who seemed to gaze at the mechanical menace that was Li-six with a new amazement, he grinned from under the cloth that covered his nose and mouth, jumping up from the rubble and pointing at Li-six,
"I told you she was no freaking Maintenance bot! I knew it! I knew this would be out lucky day!" Jack laughed out, pulling away the cloth from his mouth, taking little notice to the fact his legs were quite cut up and bleeding, and he was walking through, what remained of, the dead Hivelings,
"You?!" Simon coughed, appearing from behind the rubble and pillars, "You were the stupid bastard who brought us here!"
Jack laughed, walking up to Li-six, slapping his hands against one of her legs in celebration. He pulled his hand back and rubbed it a moment, reaching into one of the pockets on his jacket and pulling out a slimy cigar. He pulled it up to his lips, opening his mouth only to realize it was covered and dripping in the entrails of Hivelings, "Shit" he growled... Wiping it a few times against his chest before putting the end of it in his mouth, pulling up his flick lighter and lighting the end with a puff of smoke. He smiled, looking up and down Li-six, as if she were his new car. He puffed a cloud of smoke against her leg and nodded,
"You couldn't go another step without killing every single Hiveling for the next thousand miles now could you Bob?" he chuckled, "Your name's Bob right? I think I’ll call you Bob..."
"Oh here we go again..." Simon grumbled, wiping away the filth and blood from his clothes, "Lets just go, leave the droid alone..." He spoke looking down the sewer halls. Even though yes, he had heard the total destruction of every Hiveling close to them with each popping around them, he was still quite cautious, never could be too careful down here. Jack held the cigar in his lips and shook his head at Simon, stepping away from Li-six,
"No respect... no respect at all,” he grumbled, pulling the backpack tighter against his body. The supplies safe and secure, the lock fastened and no disgusting Hivelings surrounding them. He turned back to Li-six and nodded, a more serious tone to his voice now, "Look, thanks... It's not every day we see something like you down here... other then that one maintenance bot in the southern sewer networks" he eyed Li-six, noting the differences... one being the cannon, "My name is Jack Stakard, and this is Simon" he pointed towards Simon, the other man nodding his head,
"We were on our way back to camp when the bridge came down on us... Kinda blocked our path and found you instead" he breathed out another puff of smoke, looking to Li-six, "You can tag along if you haven't got anything else better to do" One could notice that however scared these men were before, when it came to act serious they did, but the way they reacted around Li-six, was as if they had been around an AI controlled tank like her before.
---
Senturo slipped his hand back, watching as once more Kat continued her stubbornness. He lowered his head softly, looking to the trail of blood, listening to the words about what happened to Siru. He almost showed signs of finally being frustrated, an artificial entity, made up of nothing but circuits and wire showing signs of a feeling. Sen gripped the side of the SWG and turned back to Kat watching as she tripped into one of the standard military marines. The man almost looked white as a ghost, raising his arms up as blood dripped from him,
"What the fuck?!" he groaned, not out of anger, but in fright.
Taz turned and looked to Kat, "Kid?" he spoke up in concern.
Senturo lifted the sniper cannon up in his arm and threw it into the back of the vehicle. Stepping back from the railing and making his way to the front area, the pilot dropping out, only then noticing that Senturo was making a move for the controls. He turned back, calling out, but before he got a chance to at least gain Senturo's attention, the engines groaned, the wheels almost screeching against the steel plated grounds. Taz dropped forward, as if getting ready to jump on the back, but he held back, watching as Razu called out,
"Senturo!" he yelled out... but nothing came to him, the SWG roaring down the hall Senturo pointing back directly to Taz,
"Look after the kid!" he called out, disappearing past the next security check point, the rumble of the engine echoing through the hall. Ravine turned his back to it, looking at Razu with a questioning tone in his voice,
"What the hell was that?" But there was silence as his answer, Razu turning back and looking to Kat, along with Taz. The Major slowly approached her, though standing well enough away before he spoke out, not looking to her wound,
"You're not going anywhere like that, Kat" he said to her softly, "Come on..."
"What about Senturo?... Crazy bastard is going on a suicide run!" Taz burst out, holding his gun up slightly, looking directly to Razu now,
"If he wants to pull some heroic bullshit then be it his way... I don't want any more losses today" Razu's voice seemed a little different, frustration fueling his words, "Do you understand that?" he growled, turning his back on them and moving towards the med bay... The area had gathered enough attention as it was, soldiers slowly gathering around the area, trying to have a glimpse of what was going on.
"Yes sir...", Taz sighed, approaching Kat slowly, "Come on... lets get you to the med bay... okay?"
~
She halted in her steps as Taz turned around, but before she could say a single, solitary, thing. Senturo had taken the strange vehicle from before and was leaving the base. Her eyes narrowed as that flea from the back of her mind really took a bite out of her. Was that the stirrings of guilt? In the back of her mind? Part of her imagined what would happen if Senturo died and she felt the sickening sense of vertigo. What was that about?! Was she going soft, caring for these humans and their... their toys?! She stood still, her hand wrapping back around her side as she winced, her legs shaking with the effort of keeping herself standing. She watched as he left, heard his words to take care of the 'kid'. Was that all she was to them? Did it really matter? Shaking her head slightly Kat took a deep steadying breath as she got dizzy.
Let's be honest. For all that she wanted (and her writer would love) for her to be an invincible, unstoppable, monster. Kathryn was in bad shape. She was getting to be anemic from the loss of blood, her face was a pale white and her pupils weren't dilating properly. Her hands shook even as she held them against her side, or on her arm. And even as Kat let herself go down onto one knee to steady herself, she was still shaking bad, her tuft of tail was limp behind her. She was tough willed, stubborn, and down right suicidal when it came to doing something she didn't want to do. And being examined by one of the human medics was one thing she didn't want to do... they may use needles... and Kat was deathly afraid of needles. She hated them. She had no idea why, but they scared her like nothin' else. Big bad werewolf, scared of a little needle.
She heard Razu speak, and looked his way slightly, pressing her hand harder against her side and slowing the bleeding. She should have been dead right at that point in time. The amount of blood she lost. If it weren't for her fast healing, she would be. That's why her wounds hadn't closed up, between the stress chemical and the fact that her healing ability was struggling with just making more blood to replace the blood that was lost. Until the wounds got closed up and the bleeding stopped, her body couldn't heal. She looked over at where Senturo had gone, and noticed the fact that the humans were getting too interested in what was going on. The hair on the back of her neck prickled slightly. Undue attention. And, what was worse, looking around, she was the only female to be seen. Oh, just great.
Slowly, she got back up onto two legs, only to stumble slightly. Shrugging off any offered help, she mumbled something sounding like an affirmative. Reaching where Wolf had evidently been placed, she wrapped her arm under his neck, and for once, grunted with the effort of trying to pick him up. Just barely able to do it as she stood there. Short female, holding a very large wolf-dog. One arm around his chest, the other under his belly, next to his back legs. She gritted her teeth as she looked to where Reign vanished. She took a step forward, slipping slightly in her own blood before she continued. Footprints were left behind, foot prints that had paw-pads rather then the normal print of a human foot. Her tail twitching and blood dripping down her side, slowing slightly as it finally started to clot, if only a little.
(Eh, Barbie feel free to do whatever, I=in blarg mood when writing this posteh, and yeah XD No I wasn't chattin' with Deege when writing that last post XD though thanks for pointing that out.)
Let's be honest. For all that she wanted (and her writer would love) for her to be an invincible, unstoppable, monster. Kathryn was in bad shape. She was getting to be anemic from the loss of blood, her face was a pale white and her pupils weren't dilating properly. Her hands shook even as she held them against her side, or on her arm. And even as Kat let herself go down onto one knee to steady herself, she was still shaking bad, her tuft of tail was limp behind her. She was tough willed, stubborn, and down right suicidal when it came to doing something she didn't want to do. And being examined by one of the human medics was one thing she didn't want to do... they may use needles... and Kat was deathly afraid of needles. She hated them. She had no idea why, but they scared her like nothin' else. Big bad werewolf, scared of a little needle.
She heard Razu speak, and looked his way slightly, pressing her hand harder against her side and slowing the bleeding. She should have been dead right at that point in time. The amount of blood she lost. If it weren't for her fast healing, she would be. That's why her wounds hadn't closed up, between the stress chemical and the fact that her healing ability was struggling with just making more blood to replace the blood that was lost. Until the wounds got closed up and the bleeding stopped, her body couldn't heal. She looked over at where Senturo had gone, and noticed the fact that the humans were getting too interested in what was going on. The hair on the back of her neck prickled slightly. Undue attention. And, what was worse, looking around, she was the only female to be seen. Oh, just great.
Slowly, she got back up onto two legs, only to stumble slightly. Shrugging off any offered help, she mumbled something sounding like an affirmative. Reaching where Wolf had evidently been placed, she wrapped her arm under his neck, and for once, grunted with the effort of trying to pick him up. Just barely able to do it as she stood there. Short female, holding a very large wolf-dog. One arm around his chest, the other under his belly, next to his back legs. She gritted her teeth as she looked to where Reign vanished. She took a step forward, slipping slightly in her own blood before she continued. Footprints were left behind, foot prints that had paw-pads rather then the normal print of a human foot. Her tail twitching and blood dripping down her side, slowing slightly as it finally started to clot, if only a little.
(Eh, Barbie feel free to do whatever, I=in blarg mood when writing this posteh, and yeah XD No I wasn't chattin' with Deege when writing that last post XD though thanks for pointing that out.)
Last edited by Blue on Wed Sep 12, 2007 8:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
You never know what you can do, 'till you try.
Art and Silth © Me
OOC: Introducing a new character below, so read on...
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A green eye lens detached from the front of the tank, looking down at the two civilians. "I am Think-tank unit Li-6 456" the machine said, cooly. "And next time you call me Bob, you should know, Jack, that my friend-or-foe system lists you as an "acceptable civilian casualty" ...
Jack puffed on his cigar, but got a strained tone to his voice: "... Right. I hear ya ... Li-6 45..."
"Just Li-six is acceptable. You are carrying supplies. Where were you taking them?"
Simon looked down at the bundles hanging over his back and partly clutched hard in his hands. "We, uh, are taking them back" he revealed, not adding much information.
Civilians. Couldn't live with them, couldn't live without 'em. "Is there a human base somewhere down here?" Li-six tried again, "a civilian rebel movement?"
"Well, I wouldn't really call it a base", Jack admitted. "More of a camp. We got hit pretty bad in the last weeks from hiveling strays, but we are rebels alright. How can you not be, when the whole world is coming down around us?"
Li-six stepped past the two, gazing down the southern passageway they had been crawling towards. Even if the snipers above had been killed when the highway structure collapsed, the likelyhood was high that her position was known. And the impacts that she'd heard before could just as well be incoming drop pods as well as remaining rubble falling. It would take them some time to excavate the tons of steel of concrete that were covering them, but they would find this cavity eventually and figure out she had survived the fall. These two would slow her down, she'd be better off alone. But if there was a civilian rebel movement she needed to know of it.
Simon glanced over at Jack, who said: " Look, we really have to get these supplies back..."
"I am going with you" Li-six decided. "You know the way, can we use this corridor?"
Jack nodded. "If we run up a bit and drop a few levels we can use the sewer network. It takes several hours to get back by foot though."
"Good. You can ride on me later. Now, you run down that corridor . I'll follow shortly."
"I wasn't planning on hanging around here for the sights ..." Simon muttered and started down the passage.
"What are you planning to do?" Jack asked, as he carefully put out his cigar and saved the moist remains away for a later time.
"I will cover our tracks."
Jack gave the tank a look, then traced the line of sight of her camera lenses up towards the roof of the cavern and the enormous masses of material that was weighting it down. His eyes widened, then he turned and ran as well.
Li-six walked back to the school bus. When the enemy dug down to this place, their primary goal would be to make sure she was destroyed. They would make whatever they could to keep this chamber intact so they could search it for traces of her.
At the back of Li-six, a small dispenser ejected a flat package, large as penny. Shaped charge. A miniscule piece of cheramic reactant powerful enough to blow a hole in a wall or blast open a small vault. She would have preferred carrying actual anti-tank mines, but that was not in her specs, she was not designed to be a tank killer, but a sabotur. Her manipulator arm -- that trunk-like construct that extended from her front like an elephant's nose -- placed the charge under a pile of rubble and primed it with a small sensor that scanned the surrounding area for enemy signatures.
Li-six knew that unless the enemy were complete morons, they would detect that one rather quickly. They would send down a probe and jam it with blanketing radiation. Fair enough. That one was just a ruse anyway. Carefully she opened the engine compartment of the crashed school bus and found the start engine. She ejected another charge and attached it to the electrical conduit. It was a gas-driven bus, and the hydrogen battery was still charged. The gases would confuse sensors. Finally she plugged a monowire into the start engine and stretched it across the chamber, all the way to the other side, where she tied it to the doorway. In this day and age, noone really used trip wires anymore, but just because it was so outdated it was also very effective since noone expected it. One feature of the monowire --except being so thin it was essentially only a chain of individual molecules strung together -- was that when it broke there was a build-up of charge across it. It was not big, but it was enough to give a small rush through the start motor, kick the hydrogen battery into action and -- blow the charge and the entire bus gas tank to kingdom come. That would collapse the chamber and the entire highway over whomever came down here. It was beautiful.
Satisfied on a job well done, Li-six set down her larvae tracks and charged down the passage after Simon and Jack.
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OOC: Getting another character in, to help you guys out 'over there' ... use her or not, as you want.
Samantha was tired. She had been tired for a long time, it felt like. Being a medical doctor in a time of war meant a never-ending work load. She carefully dropped the little stim pill under her tongue and downed it with a glass of chlorinated water. Still another six hours until her shift was out and she could collapse into her bed. Samantha was a thin, tall woman in her thirties, with brown eyes and features that placed her origins somewhere in the Imperial Brazilian region. Her brown skin was stretched over her cheek bones these days -- she was not really malnourished, but she had lost a lot of weight only in the last few months. Her black hair was tied together in a pony tail. She wore white doctor's garments. Someone had at one point tried to put in a flak jacket but she couldn't breathe in the thing, so she shunned the armour for greater flexibility. Like a flak jacket would help anyway if a Dragoon attacked her ...
A field medic looked in through the door. His "Incoming! Biological!" he called, pointing upwards to indicate it was an arrival in the east hall. She nodded and he ran off again. She didn't know his name, she knew very few names here at all. She had no time to learn them before they were called off again. Samantha touched her neck and the little communicator implant she had there right under her skin. "This is doctor Silveira. I'm leaving the infirmary and is going up to entry hall E if you need me."
Samantha forced herself not to run. She had learned that much by now. She had to conserve her strength. If she ran every time there was an emergency she might not have the strength to take on the next emergency. Or the next. Or the next. Being fully biological had its drawbacks. Apart from the standard communicator chip next to her vocal chords, doctor Samantha Silveira had no cybernetic implants at all.
Samantha had been the chief medical doctor at a state hospital before the war came to the city. It was ironic -- the military had a zillion cyber-technicians, but when it came to anything beyond immediate first aid -- they still needed a regular old-fashioned doctor. And those were in short supply these days, as her tired body was becoming critically aware of.
Samantha climbed the staircase up to the main access shaft, taking an emergency kit from a cart. She had been lucky in a way. By the time the strider forces -- or whatever they were -- took the side of the enemy, she had already been on the road for almost a year, travelling with ragtag military forces, being shipped by military command like some piece of merchandice from hospital compound to hospital compound where her skills were desperately needed. She had not been in the streets, but in this bunker surrounded by steel and whatever stuff they put into the walls of a place like this. She had gotten a chance few others had. She increased her pace.
The scene in the entry hall was not what she had expected. Just as the medic had said, there were new arrivals. Cybernetic marines -- human bodies merged with a combat chassis -- but nevertheless humans with blood and flesh and brain matter that had to be taken good care of, regardless of how many thousands of millenia now separated man from the apes. What set this scene aside was the creature that was just staggering away from the military vehicles.
Samantha stopped to stare for a few seconds. Noone's weapons were raised, so this thing was apparently not considered a threat. It seemed like the thing was talking to the newly arrived marines, even though the base soldiers were clearly spooked. As was she. Was it a warewolf from the movies? Sure looked like it. Some sort of mutant from the rad fields?
"Doctor! over here!" one of the soldier's called, cathing the sight of her tell-tale white coat. There were already a medic in place, and cybertechs, but they were swamped all over the base, all help was needed, everywhere. She put her legs back in motion. Routine. Access the wounded, prioritize. Go for the most wounded first. A marine was heavily wounded, he was just being helped off the ATV. Kneeling over the man she didn't need many seconds to judge his injuries. "This man needs surgery." she said into the face of the nearest marine. "I don't know who patched him up, but it's holding him steady for the moment. I'm putting you in charge of holding him steady, marine? He must not move until my staff gets here and ships him down to surgery. " The marine nodded, rather sheepishly. He might be a monster on the battlefield, but this was her domain. She touched her communicator and called for a surgery team on the double.
Samantha evaluated a few other biological wounds among the marines. Most were minor, her cyber-tech counterparts would have more to do than her. The ... wolf thing? was worst off. She looked over at one of the new marines, practically feeling her unsure look displayed all over her face. The marine bent over, grinning. "She's on our side, doc" the marine said, pointing a thumb over at the wolf creature. "Her name's Kat. Took one hell of a beating for us. One tough cookie to still be standing up like that."
Samantha gave him a raised eyebrow and carefully stepped up to the kneeling 'Kat'. She could see it was indeed a female, now that she came closer. "My name is Samantha" she said, not sure how to treat this situation. The thing had a tail. Were there a risk of getting bitten? "I'm a doctor. I would like to take a look at your wounds. May I touch you?"
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A green eye lens detached from the front of the tank, looking down at the two civilians. "I am Think-tank unit Li-6 456" the machine said, cooly. "And next time you call me Bob, you should know, Jack, that my friend-or-foe system lists you as an "acceptable civilian casualty" ...
Jack puffed on his cigar, but got a strained tone to his voice: "... Right. I hear ya ... Li-6 45..."
"Just Li-six is acceptable. You are carrying supplies. Where were you taking them?"
Simon looked down at the bundles hanging over his back and partly clutched hard in his hands. "We, uh, are taking them back" he revealed, not adding much information.
Civilians. Couldn't live with them, couldn't live without 'em. "Is there a human base somewhere down here?" Li-six tried again, "a civilian rebel movement?"
"Well, I wouldn't really call it a base", Jack admitted. "More of a camp. We got hit pretty bad in the last weeks from hiveling strays, but we are rebels alright. How can you not be, when the whole world is coming down around us?"
Li-six stepped past the two, gazing down the southern passageway they had been crawling towards. Even if the snipers above had been killed when the highway structure collapsed, the likelyhood was high that her position was known. And the impacts that she'd heard before could just as well be incoming drop pods as well as remaining rubble falling. It would take them some time to excavate the tons of steel of concrete that were covering them, but they would find this cavity eventually and figure out she had survived the fall. These two would slow her down, she'd be better off alone. But if there was a civilian rebel movement she needed to know of it.
Simon glanced over at Jack, who said: " Look, we really have to get these supplies back..."
"I am going with you" Li-six decided. "You know the way, can we use this corridor?"
Jack nodded. "If we run up a bit and drop a few levels we can use the sewer network. It takes several hours to get back by foot though."
"Good. You can ride on me later. Now, you run down that corridor . I'll follow shortly."
"I wasn't planning on hanging around here for the sights ..." Simon muttered and started down the passage.
"What are you planning to do?" Jack asked, as he carefully put out his cigar and saved the moist remains away for a later time.
"I will cover our tracks."
Jack gave the tank a look, then traced the line of sight of her camera lenses up towards the roof of the cavern and the enormous masses of material that was weighting it down. His eyes widened, then he turned and ran as well.
Li-six walked back to the school bus. When the enemy dug down to this place, their primary goal would be to make sure she was destroyed. They would make whatever they could to keep this chamber intact so they could search it for traces of her.
At the back of Li-six, a small dispenser ejected a flat package, large as penny. Shaped charge. A miniscule piece of cheramic reactant powerful enough to blow a hole in a wall or blast open a small vault. She would have preferred carrying actual anti-tank mines, but that was not in her specs, she was not designed to be a tank killer, but a sabotur. Her manipulator arm -- that trunk-like construct that extended from her front like an elephant's nose -- placed the charge under a pile of rubble and primed it with a small sensor that scanned the surrounding area for enemy signatures.
Li-six knew that unless the enemy were complete morons, they would detect that one rather quickly. They would send down a probe and jam it with blanketing radiation. Fair enough. That one was just a ruse anyway. Carefully she opened the engine compartment of the crashed school bus and found the start engine. She ejected another charge and attached it to the electrical conduit. It was a gas-driven bus, and the hydrogen battery was still charged. The gases would confuse sensors. Finally she plugged a monowire into the start engine and stretched it across the chamber, all the way to the other side, where she tied it to the doorway. In this day and age, noone really used trip wires anymore, but just because it was so outdated it was also very effective since noone expected it. One feature of the monowire --except being so thin it was essentially only a chain of individual molecules strung together -- was that when it broke there was a build-up of charge across it. It was not big, but it was enough to give a small rush through the start motor, kick the hydrogen battery into action and -- blow the charge and the entire bus gas tank to kingdom come. That would collapse the chamber and the entire highway over whomever came down here. It was beautiful.
Satisfied on a job well done, Li-six set down her larvae tracks and charged down the passage after Simon and Jack.
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OOC: Getting another character in, to help you guys out 'over there' ... use her or not, as you want.
Samantha was tired. She had been tired for a long time, it felt like. Being a medical doctor in a time of war meant a never-ending work load. She carefully dropped the little stim pill under her tongue and downed it with a glass of chlorinated water. Still another six hours until her shift was out and she could collapse into her bed. Samantha was a thin, tall woman in her thirties, with brown eyes and features that placed her origins somewhere in the Imperial Brazilian region. Her brown skin was stretched over her cheek bones these days -- she was not really malnourished, but she had lost a lot of weight only in the last few months. Her black hair was tied together in a pony tail. She wore white doctor's garments. Someone had at one point tried to put in a flak jacket but she couldn't breathe in the thing, so she shunned the armour for greater flexibility. Like a flak jacket would help anyway if a Dragoon attacked her ...
A field medic looked in through the door. His "Incoming! Biological!" he called, pointing upwards to indicate it was an arrival in the east hall. She nodded and he ran off again. She didn't know his name, she knew very few names here at all. She had no time to learn them before they were called off again. Samantha touched her neck and the little communicator implant she had there right under her skin. "This is doctor Silveira. I'm leaving the infirmary and is going up to entry hall E if you need me."
Samantha forced herself not to run. She had learned that much by now. She had to conserve her strength. If she ran every time there was an emergency she might not have the strength to take on the next emergency. Or the next. Or the next. Being fully biological had its drawbacks. Apart from the standard communicator chip next to her vocal chords, doctor Samantha Silveira had no cybernetic implants at all.
Samantha had been the chief medical doctor at a state hospital before the war came to the city. It was ironic -- the military had a zillion cyber-technicians, but when it came to anything beyond immediate first aid -- they still needed a regular old-fashioned doctor. And those were in short supply these days, as her tired body was becoming critically aware of.
Samantha climbed the staircase up to the main access shaft, taking an emergency kit from a cart. She had been lucky in a way. By the time the strider forces -- or whatever they were -- took the side of the enemy, she had already been on the road for almost a year, travelling with ragtag military forces, being shipped by military command like some piece of merchandice from hospital compound to hospital compound where her skills were desperately needed. She had not been in the streets, but in this bunker surrounded by steel and whatever stuff they put into the walls of a place like this. She had gotten a chance few others had. She increased her pace.
The scene in the entry hall was not what she had expected. Just as the medic had said, there were new arrivals. Cybernetic marines -- human bodies merged with a combat chassis -- but nevertheless humans with blood and flesh and brain matter that had to be taken good care of, regardless of how many thousands of millenia now separated man from the apes. What set this scene aside was the creature that was just staggering away from the military vehicles.
Samantha stopped to stare for a few seconds. Noone's weapons were raised, so this thing was apparently not considered a threat. It seemed like the thing was talking to the newly arrived marines, even though the base soldiers were clearly spooked. As was she. Was it a warewolf from the movies? Sure looked like it. Some sort of mutant from the rad fields?
"Doctor! over here!" one of the soldier's called, cathing the sight of her tell-tale white coat. There were already a medic in place, and cybertechs, but they were swamped all over the base, all help was needed, everywhere. She put her legs back in motion. Routine. Access the wounded, prioritize. Go for the most wounded first. A marine was heavily wounded, he was just being helped off the ATV. Kneeling over the man she didn't need many seconds to judge his injuries. "This man needs surgery." she said into the face of the nearest marine. "I don't know who patched him up, but it's holding him steady for the moment. I'm putting you in charge of holding him steady, marine? He must not move until my staff gets here and ships him down to surgery. " The marine nodded, rather sheepishly. He might be a monster on the battlefield, but this was her domain. She touched her communicator and called for a surgery team on the double.
Samantha evaluated a few other biological wounds among the marines. Most were minor, her cyber-tech counterparts would have more to do than her. The ... wolf thing? was worst off. She looked over at one of the new marines, practically feeling her unsure look displayed all over her face. The marine bent over, grinning. "She's on our side, doc" the marine said, pointing a thumb over at the wolf creature. "Her name's Kat. Took one hell of a beating for us. One tough cookie to still be standing up like that."
Samantha gave him a raised eyebrow and carefully stepped up to the kneeling 'Kat'. She could see it was indeed a female, now that she came closer. "My name is Samantha" she said, not sure how to treat this situation. The thing had a tail. Were there a risk of getting bitten? "I'm a doctor. I would like to take a look at your wounds. May I touch you?"
"Senturo, going out now is not a good idea, come back..." came the static voice of Razu over the commlink attached to the SWG. Senturo pulled against the driving stick slightly as he passed through the secure blast doors, moving into the main hall, "What do you expect to do? By now Strider Corp is going to have the city in their grip, going out there without a plan is suicide... We all know Siru is still out there... but-" Senturo leant forward, switching the main link off. He turned his head slightly, raising his free hand and snapping off his personal link, his locater signal suddenly going silent to the other marines. He leant forward, slipping more comfortably into the seat as he passed the main defense. He SWG snapped up, pushing against the main ramp that led up into the main hologram room. As he passed up he could hear the distant rumble of the other SWG moving in. He leant to a side, the SWG moving across, making plenty room for the other vehicle to pass through.
He looked across slightly, watching as the other SWG came through the hologram, it passed too quickly for him to get a good glimpse, he could see however, the commander standing, holding onto the rail, looking out and glancing straight towards Senturo. For a moment their eyes met... but it passed, Sen moving his SWG up and out of the Hologram. Senturo pressed his hand against the side of his helmet, the faded sunlight of the ending day making it hard for his senses to pick up. His vision flickered for a moment as the surroundings lightened to him, his automatic lighting sensors making their move.
The strider moved the stick to one side as he moved out of the hologram, watching as the side of the building shimmered back into place. He pressed forward, the vehicle moving quickly back up the road they had come... no other Striders in sight. The city almost seemed to have an eerie quietness to it, but there was still movement in the skies. The air littered with flaming ash from the battles that had taken place, explosions and the smoke blooms that had risen into the clouds from the fallen Sentry fortresses. He looked across the horizon, his eyes catching a glimpse of a much larger and closer cloud of dust raising from the ground... It seemed to be within the city itself rather then outside... So that ruled out the possibility of it being a downed fortress.
Senturo flicked the driving stick, looking back and taking a sharp turn. The six wheels seemed to buckle almost as he slid against the cracked tar road, the vehicle snapping up onto the sidewalk before snapping through the corner of a broken building. Smoke and gas moved around him as he sped down the alley way, moving towards the direction of the smoke... He knew he would have to leave the SWG a distance from the disturbance. Not having a gunner or someone to defend the thing would be a disadvantage, but he would have to deal with it. Senturo looked up slightly, the green glow from his helmet glimmering slightly. He would prove to Kat that no one gets left behind. The robot leant forward, almost as if trying to sigh... What was he doing...
Would this make him more human? Or something else?
---
"Piece of strider junk!" Growled Siru, holding back his arms, watching the computer system before him spark slightly. A blinking screen appeared before him, clearly showing he had over done its mount battery system. The Mech was not designed for long range movement itself, the mounts were for short range and dodging other mechs. He turned slightly, the mech swiftly moving along the highway. There were no cars, no vehicles that came in his way on the road, it moved around the entire city, connecting up into a main road system and some bridges far in the distance, where the smoke he was tracking was coming from. He shook his head lightly, moving the warning screen away and scanning for any more signs of his team. For someone who liked working on his own, who loved the thrill of close combat fighting and being a rogue, right about now he wished he had dropped in the regular zone as the others.
He turned again, moving down the highway. But then again, maybe the team had not made it at all, with rockets zoned in on the drop ship, what if they had been downed, and the smoke he was tracking now was their crash site. He shook his head finally, 'No need to start thinking about that crap until i see it for myself' he thought to himself, the scanner switching off for a moment, no friendly signals at all... nothing, not a movement. He pulled his hand free from the arm control, flicking the side port latch, a physical view screen sliding open. The cold wind pressed in and cooled the cockpit down as he took a glimpse to the city he was circling around.
There were a couple of random towers of smoke raising up, but nothing incomparable to the area he was moving to. The sky was darkened now, a deep ugly orange glow sunk over the city, the clouds giving off an eerie twilight. There were no ships in the air from his view, no drop ships moving in anymore... It looked like what needed to be landed had done so, the strider invasion was complete and moving... but it was all a matter of time before the net was brought back up. Siru snapped the view screen back into place, sliding his hand back into the warm arm control, looking back to the main monitor.
There had to be someone left at main command working on something to bring them back online... The fortresses were gateways, main links to the net that kept it online, but there was always a backup, 'right?' Siru pondered before his screen suddenly lit up,
"shit!" he growled, two enemy signals flickering onto his screen, closing in fast. His legs snapped back into full mode, the mounts switching off as the rollers broke from the bottoms of his feet. His met was jolted into action, its foot sensor pads ripping into the ground and tearing it open, spreading up dust as he came to a stop... The mounts would be out of order from now on. Siru pulled up his arm, his chain gun mount snapping into position, turning it and pointing straight down the highway.
A white flicker gleamed into existence towards the far end of the highway... followed by a second, moving in fast, smoke pouring out the other ends. His eyes widened slightly, knowing clearly they were not just vehicles... but mech's themselves. He suddenly moved his legs forward, snapping into action, the mech racing forward down the highway, right towards the incoming mechs. He breathed heavily, leaning in, letting the scanners slowly pick up their signal more, another flicker of sparks snapping across the side of his head from the overheating mech. He rushed towards them, finally the closest mech coming into sight. It held the same, a chain gun attachment, its mounts rolling it at a fast pace towards him... though in its other hand a glowing blade was placed, coming out its wrist, some sort of energy beam. Siru shook his head, looking to his free hand... there was an opening for his own blade but he had no idea how to activate it!
The marine twitched, the enemy mech moving over the next corner, speeding onto the straight right towards him. It was going to fast attack him, using its mounts speed and not stopping! Siru, pulled up his chain gun, still running. Fire erupted from the barrels of the weapon, walls of molten bullets slapping into the highway broke free. Though the inaccuracy of running and shooting, in the same as the enemy moving at a high rate... he had no chance of a hit. Siru continued fire as the two came closer, his other hand working at the inbuilt keyboard system,
"Come on, come on you piece of junk!" he growled in frustration, "How the hell are you supposed to activate the damn thing!" the two moved up close, he could almost feel the rush as the mech moved up towards him, moving its blade arm out ready to slice right through his mech's head piece. Siru shoved his hand forward, punching the keyboard, feeling a sudden shock burn his fingers, he pulled his hand back in pain. Though as he snapped his hand back, the blade broke free, a quick jolt of energy bursting out from the mech's hand. Within seconds it happened... His blade ran down into the road, dust snapping up as it lengthened right through the enemy's right leg mount. The white enemy mech tripped forward, its blade flicking right passed Siru as its body snapped violently into the road. With its fast speed, the front of the mech shattered like tissue paper the frail body of the mech dragging a few meters leaving a blood smear across the road.
Siru didn't even have time to laugh as the second mech ran right into his view screen, its blade flicking up and slicing right across his other arm. The marine pulled his arm back in pain, as his mech's chain gun arm dropped into the ground. He pulled his right arm back into the mount, feeling a sudden pull to his gut as he dropped backwards, his back smashing into the road... The enemy mech rose its foot, pressing it against his chest, its sensor pads snapping down slowly, Siru's cockpit suddenly getting tighter...
---
The cavern remained quiet only for a small while once Li-six had left the area...
Though the first noise that came to be was a small stone dropping from a side vent that was clogged with rubble and broken metal... The small pebble dropped down into the rubble that lay close to the downed bus. Another few moments passed before the small blackened pebble began to move, its outer later breaking open as a small beetle appeared, its form shaded almost, but definantly some form of AI. It rolled from its back and connected to the metal slab it had fallen upon, a small red light flickering on and off appeared on its back for a few seconds before it became void of life all at once... The broken down passage way had been infiltrated, a scanner blanket taking out any external detectors for the time being.
The vent suddenly shuddered, a winding screwing sound suddenly opening up, echoing through the passageways, within seconds, the four screws that were holding in the vent railing dropped down into the murky water below. A sleek black hand holding the railing tight as it slowly moved downwards, revealing number.2 of the Kamakaz unit. The black machine slowly lowered upside down into the passageway, its body being held up by some sort of suspension wire coming from its waist. The thing tilted its head, turning back and forth, scanning through the cavern.
Its red eye system blinked over the cold state of the dead Hivelings, sensing residue and heat that had only just passed moments before. It hung there for a few moments, scanning the room, a red light blinking in every place it zoomed and scanned thoroughly. It took its time however, the machine didn't seem like it was in any sort of rush to finding Li-six. The suspension wire finally snapped clean, rolling back into its waist as the humanoid machine dropped down into the rubble below, its feet just coming clean of the microfiber wire. Number.2 tilted its head back, turning and looking at the bus, zooming in on the burnt out shape that had been cut through the bus, the bent metal showing clearly what it needed to know. The thing crouched down, moving its three fingered hand across, bending the metal that covered the small charge Li-six had placed.
The machine was a problem solver, designed to see through traps, set up area, track targets and take them out. However smart they were it knew this trap was too easy. It pulled back slowly standing to its full height once more, turning back to the bus, and then down the southern tunnel they had escaped to... It pulled its head back an odd chuckling sound emitting from its relay, it was more like a mechanical cough. The unit moved forward, stepping over the microwire, but instead of placing the railing he still had firm in his other hand... he dropped it... The metal object dropping down and snapping the wire without a fuss. The machine flicked its head back, its emergency system flickering... but all too late.
With a short blast, smoke raising up from the starter engine of the bus it was all over. The engine snapped up in a nasty explosion, flame licking up the wall as the ceiling cracked and groaned. It didn't have time to strain before falling. Number.2 rose it's arms, in hope to protect itself, having no time, no space to leap to safety, even the ceiling a few meters up in front came crashing down... Stone snapped free and his form was crushed within seconds.
The same amount of time it took to send a flicker of the information back to Number.1 and Number.3. It only took them a moment, but both Kamikaz machines shot into action, rushing across the rubble, but instead of going down right away they moved south, moving across the ruined surface...
---
"Rebuild in the catacombs they said, rebuild the population they said" Simon growled, kicking a rock down the almost slanted downwards sewer tunnel, "More like bullshit if you ask me... what the hell is a handful of us going to do in a ruin like this... we can't stay in this city long... soon enough the big one's are gonna come back and see what happened to their kiddies... The crazy ass war up there is gonna pull down here... they are already looking for us! Why not just lay down our weapons, I'm sure Strider Corp will treat us as POV's and all... when the wars over we will get out and everything will go back to normal"
"Back... back to normal?!" Jack laughed, "when was it normal? Blasted Dragoon nests raising up from the grounds, military taking over every inch of the city like some dictatorship" Jack shook his head trudging through the murky water, "Putting down our weapons is only gonna get more of us killed"
"Better then rotting down here in this spew pit" Simon coughed, bringing his arm up to his mouth, "Speaking about such... smells like something died down here" As soon as he had finished his words, the ground shuddered, an explosion went off in the distance, dust falling down from the stone ceiling and down into the moving slushy water. Both humans turned, looking back down the long tunnel system, Jack scratching his head,
"Well she did say she'd cover her tracks" he chuckled lightly. Simon had already pulled up his old rifle, his hands shaking as he pointed it down the hall,
"You wouldn't think she blew herself up do you?" he said, stuttering almost in fear,
"Ble-Blew herself up?" Jack questioned, raising an eyebrow, "Are you draft? She's one of those Think-tank things, of course she's not going to blow herself up!" Jack waited a moment... silence... not even the sound of a think tank behind them, "Well... I'm sure she's not that damaged" Only more silence followed, the trickle of sewer water coming down the walls the only thing that they could pick up, "Maybe a screw loose or something?"
Their little silence was changed however, hearing to patter of footsteps behind them. Jack spun around, pulling up his revolver quickly, holding it out and pointing down the vacant tunnel... nothing, not even the murky water rippled. Simon brought his gun up slightly, moving across, both men knee deep in the dark water below. Jack turned his head, looking back down the hall, only silence once more, "Theres something not right here"
---
The bay was soon a bustle of noise and movement, another SWG slowly moving towards them, but it had to pass through the movement of the military making their pass through the base grounds. The medical bay was a mess of noises, people calling out over one another, wounded being handled around like children, but as carefully as anything. Taz and Kat still stood on the outside, Kat kneeling with Wolf, the medic, well, doctor kneeling to her side almost speaking directly to the kid. Taz knew her well enough now that trusting a doctor was going to be a little hard for Kat to swallow down, especially pulling that move with not allowing Senturo to even help her. Taz cleared his through slightly, a hint of cautiousness in his voice as he spoke out,
"I don't think your wounds are gonna heal over this time kid" his voice was serious for once in a lifetime, "The doctor here can help you out... I'll make sure they don't stick any tubes down your throat and do experiments on your claws hm?" he leant down, slowly pressing between her and the doctor Samantha, "'Scuse" he lowered his arms, plucking up wolf from Kat's bloody hands, lifting the canine up in his arms and slowly standing above the kid, slowly slipping out his hand... but unlike Senturo he didn't offer his hand to help her up, instead it was a closed fist, his gloves tattered and covered in his own blood, he waited for her to at least bump his hand like any one of his marine buddies would,
"Lets go get ourselves cleaned up... Can't go looking around like this with all the krill watchin' hm?" he spoke, giving a reassuring nod to the doctor.
He looked across slightly, watching as the other SWG came through the hologram, it passed too quickly for him to get a good glimpse, he could see however, the commander standing, holding onto the rail, looking out and glancing straight towards Senturo. For a moment their eyes met... but it passed, Sen moving his SWG up and out of the Hologram. Senturo pressed his hand against the side of his helmet, the faded sunlight of the ending day making it hard for his senses to pick up. His vision flickered for a moment as the surroundings lightened to him, his automatic lighting sensors making their move.
The strider moved the stick to one side as he moved out of the hologram, watching as the side of the building shimmered back into place. He pressed forward, the vehicle moving quickly back up the road they had come... no other Striders in sight. The city almost seemed to have an eerie quietness to it, but there was still movement in the skies. The air littered with flaming ash from the battles that had taken place, explosions and the smoke blooms that had risen into the clouds from the fallen Sentry fortresses. He looked across the horizon, his eyes catching a glimpse of a much larger and closer cloud of dust raising from the ground... It seemed to be within the city itself rather then outside... So that ruled out the possibility of it being a downed fortress.
Senturo flicked the driving stick, looking back and taking a sharp turn. The six wheels seemed to buckle almost as he slid against the cracked tar road, the vehicle snapping up onto the sidewalk before snapping through the corner of a broken building. Smoke and gas moved around him as he sped down the alley way, moving towards the direction of the smoke... He knew he would have to leave the SWG a distance from the disturbance. Not having a gunner or someone to defend the thing would be a disadvantage, but he would have to deal with it. Senturo looked up slightly, the green glow from his helmet glimmering slightly. He would prove to Kat that no one gets left behind. The robot leant forward, almost as if trying to sigh... What was he doing...
Would this make him more human? Or something else?
---
"Piece of strider junk!" Growled Siru, holding back his arms, watching the computer system before him spark slightly. A blinking screen appeared before him, clearly showing he had over done its mount battery system. The Mech was not designed for long range movement itself, the mounts were for short range and dodging other mechs. He turned slightly, the mech swiftly moving along the highway. There were no cars, no vehicles that came in his way on the road, it moved around the entire city, connecting up into a main road system and some bridges far in the distance, where the smoke he was tracking was coming from. He shook his head lightly, moving the warning screen away and scanning for any more signs of his team. For someone who liked working on his own, who loved the thrill of close combat fighting and being a rogue, right about now he wished he had dropped in the regular zone as the others.
He turned again, moving down the highway. But then again, maybe the team had not made it at all, with rockets zoned in on the drop ship, what if they had been downed, and the smoke he was tracking now was their crash site. He shook his head finally, 'No need to start thinking about that crap until i see it for myself' he thought to himself, the scanner switching off for a moment, no friendly signals at all... nothing, not a movement. He pulled his hand free from the arm control, flicking the side port latch, a physical view screen sliding open. The cold wind pressed in and cooled the cockpit down as he took a glimpse to the city he was circling around.
There were a couple of random towers of smoke raising up, but nothing incomparable to the area he was moving to. The sky was darkened now, a deep ugly orange glow sunk over the city, the clouds giving off an eerie twilight. There were no ships in the air from his view, no drop ships moving in anymore... It looked like what needed to be landed had done so, the strider invasion was complete and moving... but it was all a matter of time before the net was brought back up. Siru snapped the view screen back into place, sliding his hand back into the warm arm control, looking back to the main monitor.
There had to be someone left at main command working on something to bring them back online... The fortresses were gateways, main links to the net that kept it online, but there was always a backup, 'right?' Siru pondered before his screen suddenly lit up,
"shit!" he growled, two enemy signals flickering onto his screen, closing in fast. His legs snapped back into full mode, the mounts switching off as the rollers broke from the bottoms of his feet. His met was jolted into action, its foot sensor pads ripping into the ground and tearing it open, spreading up dust as he came to a stop... The mounts would be out of order from now on. Siru pulled up his arm, his chain gun mount snapping into position, turning it and pointing straight down the highway.
A white flicker gleamed into existence towards the far end of the highway... followed by a second, moving in fast, smoke pouring out the other ends. His eyes widened slightly, knowing clearly they were not just vehicles... but mech's themselves. He suddenly moved his legs forward, snapping into action, the mech racing forward down the highway, right towards the incoming mechs. He breathed heavily, leaning in, letting the scanners slowly pick up their signal more, another flicker of sparks snapping across the side of his head from the overheating mech. He rushed towards them, finally the closest mech coming into sight. It held the same, a chain gun attachment, its mounts rolling it at a fast pace towards him... though in its other hand a glowing blade was placed, coming out its wrist, some sort of energy beam. Siru shook his head, looking to his free hand... there was an opening for his own blade but he had no idea how to activate it!
The marine twitched, the enemy mech moving over the next corner, speeding onto the straight right towards him. It was going to fast attack him, using its mounts speed and not stopping! Siru, pulled up his chain gun, still running. Fire erupted from the barrels of the weapon, walls of molten bullets slapping into the highway broke free. Though the inaccuracy of running and shooting, in the same as the enemy moving at a high rate... he had no chance of a hit. Siru continued fire as the two came closer, his other hand working at the inbuilt keyboard system,
"Come on, come on you piece of junk!" he growled in frustration, "How the hell are you supposed to activate the damn thing!" the two moved up close, he could almost feel the rush as the mech moved up towards him, moving its blade arm out ready to slice right through his mech's head piece. Siru shoved his hand forward, punching the keyboard, feeling a sudden shock burn his fingers, he pulled his hand back in pain. Though as he snapped his hand back, the blade broke free, a quick jolt of energy bursting out from the mech's hand. Within seconds it happened... His blade ran down into the road, dust snapping up as it lengthened right through the enemy's right leg mount. The white enemy mech tripped forward, its blade flicking right passed Siru as its body snapped violently into the road. With its fast speed, the front of the mech shattered like tissue paper the frail body of the mech dragging a few meters leaving a blood smear across the road.
Siru didn't even have time to laugh as the second mech ran right into his view screen, its blade flicking up and slicing right across his other arm. The marine pulled his arm back in pain, as his mech's chain gun arm dropped into the ground. He pulled his right arm back into the mount, feeling a sudden pull to his gut as he dropped backwards, his back smashing into the road... The enemy mech rose its foot, pressing it against his chest, its sensor pads snapping down slowly, Siru's cockpit suddenly getting tighter...
---
The cavern remained quiet only for a small while once Li-six had left the area...
Though the first noise that came to be was a small stone dropping from a side vent that was clogged with rubble and broken metal... The small pebble dropped down into the rubble that lay close to the downed bus. Another few moments passed before the small blackened pebble began to move, its outer later breaking open as a small beetle appeared, its form shaded almost, but definantly some form of AI. It rolled from its back and connected to the metal slab it had fallen upon, a small red light flickering on and off appeared on its back for a few seconds before it became void of life all at once... The broken down passage way had been infiltrated, a scanner blanket taking out any external detectors for the time being.
The vent suddenly shuddered, a winding screwing sound suddenly opening up, echoing through the passageways, within seconds, the four screws that were holding in the vent railing dropped down into the murky water below. A sleek black hand holding the railing tight as it slowly moved downwards, revealing number.2 of the Kamakaz unit. The black machine slowly lowered upside down into the passageway, its body being held up by some sort of suspension wire coming from its waist. The thing tilted its head, turning back and forth, scanning through the cavern.
Its red eye system blinked over the cold state of the dead Hivelings, sensing residue and heat that had only just passed moments before. It hung there for a few moments, scanning the room, a red light blinking in every place it zoomed and scanned thoroughly. It took its time however, the machine didn't seem like it was in any sort of rush to finding Li-six. The suspension wire finally snapped clean, rolling back into its waist as the humanoid machine dropped down into the rubble below, its feet just coming clean of the microfiber wire. Number.2 tilted its head back, turning and looking at the bus, zooming in on the burnt out shape that had been cut through the bus, the bent metal showing clearly what it needed to know. The thing crouched down, moving its three fingered hand across, bending the metal that covered the small charge Li-six had placed.
The machine was a problem solver, designed to see through traps, set up area, track targets and take them out. However smart they were it knew this trap was too easy. It pulled back slowly standing to its full height once more, turning back to the bus, and then down the southern tunnel they had escaped to... It pulled its head back an odd chuckling sound emitting from its relay, it was more like a mechanical cough. The unit moved forward, stepping over the microwire, but instead of placing the railing he still had firm in his other hand... he dropped it... The metal object dropping down and snapping the wire without a fuss. The machine flicked its head back, its emergency system flickering... but all too late.
With a short blast, smoke raising up from the starter engine of the bus it was all over. The engine snapped up in a nasty explosion, flame licking up the wall as the ceiling cracked and groaned. It didn't have time to strain before falling. Number.2 rose it's arms, in hope to protect itself, having no time, no space to leap to safety, even the ceiling a few meters up in front came crashing down... Stone snapped free and his form was crushed within seconds.
The same amount of time it took to send a flicker of the information back to Number.1 and Number.3. It only took them a moment, but both Kamikaz machines shot into action, rushing across the rubble, but instead of going down right away they moved south, moving across the ruined surface...
---
"Rebuild in the catacombs they said, rebuild the population they said" Simon growled, kicking a rock down the almost slanted downwards sewer tunnel, "More like bullshit if you ask me... what the hell is a handful of us going to do in a ruin like this... we can't stay in this city long... soon enough the big one's are gonna come back and see what happened to their kiddies... The crazy ass war up there is gonna pull down here... they are already looking for us! Why not just lay down our weapons, I'm sure Strider Corp will treat us as POV's and all... when the wars over we will get out and everything will go back to normal"
"Back... back to normal?!" Jack laughed, "when was it normal? Blasted Dragoon nests raising up from the grounds, military taking over every inch of the city like some dictatorship" Jack shook his head trudging through the murky water, "Putting down our weapons is only gonna get more of us killed"
"Better then rotting down here in this spew pit" Simon coughed, bringing his arm up to his mouth, "Speaking about such... smells like something died down here" As soon as he had finished his words, the ground shuddered, an explosion went off in the distance, dust falling down from the stone ceiling and down into the moving slushy water. Both humans turned, looking back down the long tunnel system, Jack scratching his head,
"Well she did say she'd cover her tracks" he chuckled lightly. Simon had already pulled up his old rifle, his hands shaking as he pointed it down the hall,
"You wouldn't think she blew herself up do you?" he said, stuttering almost in fear,
"Ble-Blew herself up?" Jack questioned, raising an eyebrow, "Are you draft? She's one of those Think-tank things, of course she's not going to blow herself up!" Jack waited a moment... silence... not even the sound of a think tank behind them, "Well... I'm sure she's not that damaged" Only more silence followed, the trickle of sewer water coming down the walls the only thing that they could pick up, "Maybe a screw loose or something?"
Their little silence was changed however, hearing to patter of footsteps behind them. Jack spun around, pulling up his revolver quickly, holding it out and pointing down the vacant tunnel... nothing, not even the murky water rippled. Simon brought his gun up slightly, moving across, both men knee deep in the dark water below. Jack turned his head, looking back down the hall, only silence once more, "Theres something not right here"
---
The bay was soon a bustle of noise and movement, another SWG slowly moving towards them, but it had to pass through the movement of the military making their pass through the base grounds. The medical bay was a mess of noises, people calling out over one another, wounded being handled around like children, but as carefully as anything. Taz and Kat still stood on the outside, Kat kneeling with Wolf, the medic, well, doctor kneeling to her side almost speaking directly to the kid. Taz knew her well enough now that trusting a doctor was going to be a little hard for Kat to swallow down, especially pulling that move with not allowing Senturo to even help her. Taz cleared his through slightly, a hint of cautiousness in his voice as he spoke out,
"I don't think your wounds are gonna heal over this time kid" his voice was serious for once in a lifetime, "The doctor here can help you out... I'll make sure they don't stick any tubes down your throat and do experiments on your claws hm?" he leant down, slowly pressing between her and the doctor Samantha, "'Scuse" he lowered his arms, plucking up wolf from Kat's bloody hands, lifting the canine up in his arms and slowly standing above the kid, slowly slipping out his hand... but unlike Senturo he didn't offer his hand to help her up, instead it was a closed fist, his gloves tattered and covered in his own blood, he waited for her to at least bump his hand like any one of his marine buddies would,
"Lets go get ourselves cleaned up... Can't go looking around like this with all the krill watchin' hm?" he spoke, giving a reassuring nod to the doctor.
~
There was danger, and then there was danger. Just like there were enemies and there were enemies. All in all Kathryn didn't have much of a choice with any of it at the moment as she sat there. Oh she wanted to tell this 'doctor' off, she wanted to scare the crap out of her, but she didn't waste her energy on it. Kat was too worried about Wolf, she wanted that strange helmet off of him, she wanted him to be ok, she wanted him back. She couldn't do that alone though could she? Not without these morons' help. They might be humans, but right now she was just too far out of her league, but she didn't want this... doctor touching Wolf or her, it made her skin crawl to think about things. Senturo had said she had been infected with something, well duh. A lycan virus is rather obvious, or to Kat it was. Whatever else he might think she's infected by is a load of bull, wasn't it?
It was the boot-steps behind her that caused Kat to even look aware, she hadn't even looked up at the doctor yet, didn't want to. Gold mixed blue eyes looked up at Taz. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as he spoke. It wasn't so much the tubes and the claws she was entirely worried about, she'd rip into anyone who would try anything like that to her. Her eyes were slightly fuzzy though and she was still dripping blood pretty heavily. She needed rest and she needed some food, preferably meat, but she didn't give much of a damn for the moment. Her stomach was gnawing on itself and it wasn't the most pleasant of feelings.
Taz's words felt almost hollow in her ears, but the way she looked at it she had three choices: Deny their help at this point, fall unconscious and not be aware of what's going on. Them tranquilizing her and having the same problem, or her agreeing to their aid and hopefully being awake for it. All in all, she didn't have much of a choice if she wanted to avoid being locked up like some kind of animal again. Though I haven't given them a solid impression that I'm not, have I? But didn't she also consider herself not human? Kat shook her head, she was disoriented and couldn't make up her mind.
Her eyes looked up and narrowed as Taz bent down and took Wolf from her. The comforting warmth that came from Wolf's fur left her as he was taken from her arms. Kat clenched her hands, claws digging into her own skin, and looked up at the hand that Taz now offered her. Her eyes lowered slightly.
"You humans never do give up do you?" She asked as she slowly started to get up. For a moment she hesitated, before she finally reached up and grabbed ahold of Taz's hand, pulling herself up from the ground before looking down to the doctor. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. Though she accepted to take there help, it seemed, that didn't mean that she wasn't going to be protective of Wolf. She wanted to tell the doctor that she would kill her if she did anything to harm wolf, but as it stood it wouldn't do her or Wolf good for Kathryn to make threats. They were in the human's hands now and Kathryn couldn't fight against an entire army as much as she wished she could boast. Her eyes held a promise though, a promise that she wasn't a moron and she wouldn't allow anyone to do anything stupid as long as she could stop it.
Her hand had let go of Taz and she wrapped an arm around her front. Her breathing was still ragged and the wounds in her body were still sluggish with healing. Rest was what she needed. Rest and food. Her body would do the rest once she had those two things. "Wolf's the one that needs your help. Not me." She finally spoke to the doctor as Kat gripped her side her fist grabbing ahold of the blood soaked material of her sweat shirt. "Help him, then if you have to help me. Wolf comes first." She looked over at her companion, resting her eyes on him. Wolf was all that mattered, he was all that was left of her family. Without him, she was lost. And if she was lost, she might as well not continue.
Taking the initiative Kat moved forward on her own, passing the doctor by and not giving much of a damn if any of her blood dripped on the human. The lycan virus was more complicated then that, to transfer through blood or even saliva alone, not only that but she was in the wrong form to pass on the virus. Kat looked back to Taz and waited for him before walking towards the direction the other wounded were going.
Wolf first. He had to be the one cared for first. He couldn't heal like she could, and who knew what that mask was. Her mind thought of CJ and hoped that she wouldn't have to deal with him in her damaged state.
It was the boot-steps behind her that caused Kat to even look aware, she hadn't even looked up at the doctor yet, didn't want to. Gold mixed blue eyes looked up at Taz. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as he spoke. It wasn't so much the tubes and the claws she was entirely worried about, she'd rip into anyone who would try anything like that to her. Her eyes were slightly fuzzy though and she was still dripping blood pretty heavily. She needed rest and she needed some food, preferably meat, but she didn't give much of a damn for the moment. Her stomach was gnawing on itself and it wasn't the most pleasant of feelings.
Taz's words felt almost hollow in her ears, but the way she looked at it she had three choices: Deny their help at this point, fall unconscious and not be aware of what's going on. Them tranquilizing her and having the same problem, or her agreeing to their aid and hopefully being awake for it. All in all, she didn't have much of a choice if she wanted to avoid being locked up like some kind of animal again. Though I haven't given them a solid impression that I'm not, have I? But didn't she also consider herself not human? Kat shook her head, she was disoriented and couldn't make up her mind.
Her eyes looked up and narrowed as Taz bent down and took Wolf from her. The comforting warmth that came from Wolf's fur left her as he was taken from her arms. Kat clenched her hands, claws digging into her own skin, and looked up at the hand that Taz now offered her. Her eyes lowered slightly.
"You humans never do give up do you?" She asked as she slowly started to get up. For a moment she hesitated, before she finally reached up and grabbed ahold of Taz's hand, pulling herself up from the ground before looking down to the doctor. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. Though she accepted to take there help, it seemed, that didn't mean that she wasn't going to be protective of Wolf. She wanted to tell the doctor that she would kill her if she did anything to harm wolf, but as it stood it wouldn't do her or Wolf good for Kathryn to make threats. They were in the human's hands now and Kathryn couldn't fight against an entire army as much as she wished she could boast. Her eyes held a promise though, a promise that she wasn't a moron and she wouldn't allow anyone to do anything stupid as long as she could stop it.
Her hand had let go of Taz and she wrapped an arm around her front. Her breathing was still ragged and the wounds in her body were still sluggish with healing. Rest was what she needed. Rest and food. Her body would do the rest once she had those two things. "Wolf's the one that needs your help. Not me." She finally spoke to the doctor as Kat gripped her side her fist grabbing ahold of the blood soaked material of her sweat shirt. "Help him, then if you have to help me. Wolf comes first." She looked over at her companion, resting her eyes on him. Wolf was all that mattered, he was all that was left of her family. Without him, she was lost. And if she was lost, she might as well not continue.
Taking the initiative Kat moved forward on her own, passing the doctor by and not giving much of a damn if any of her blood dripped on the human. The lycan virus was more complicated then that, to transfer through blood or even saliva alone, not only that but she was in the wrong form to pass on the virus. Kat looked back to Taz and waited for him before walking towards the direction the other wounded were going.
Wolf first. He had to be the one cared for first. He couldn't heal like she could, and who knew what that mask was. Her mind thought of CJ and hoped that she wouldn't have to deal with him in her damaged state.
You never know what you can do, 'till you try.
Art and Silth © Me
Samantha shook her head, looking at the limp canine body in the arms of the marine as he and the ... werewolf -- for lack of a better word -- lead the way towards the large red cross signs indicating the infirmary. The she-wolf seemed more worried about the dog than over herself. Samantha had seen such behaviour before; back before the war, when normal things like car accidents could still happen and people in shock would beg her to tell them what happened to their pet cats rather than worry about their guts spilling out of their stomachs... the werewolf didn't seem to be in shock, but then Samantha couldn't tell how hurt she was at all until she let her look at her.
Stabilizing the remaining wounded on stretchers, the medics started filing away in the same direction as the rest, giving way for the techs to start taking care of the military vehicles and gear they had arrived in.
A damn dog. What was she -- a veterinarian? As Samantha gave some brief final instructions to her cyberdoc colleagues and continued towards the infirmaries, she found herself wondering if there even where any veterinarians anymore. Had that whole profession been wiped off the face of the Earth by now? The thought was absurdly amusing to her. She rubbed her temples. She was exhausted after so many hours of endless wounded. She was in no condition to ponder esoteric things like werewolves or extinction of vets. Tough luck, girl. Suck it up. Keep on going.
The infirmary opened up at the end of a corridor wide enough to carry three stretchers at a side (she knew this from experience). A wall of sound met them as the doors swung open. The place was huge: a refurbished shuttlecraft hangar. And wherever the eye could see stretched a veritable city slum of medial scenery. Row upon row of stretchers on tripods where mixed with towers of cringing hospital beds in many levels. And between them men and women in various states of hurt crouched or lay on mattresses where beds had run out. Here and there military tents served as central spots of food distribution, news hubs and surgical centers, both biological and cybernetic.
"Welcome to the backside of the human resistance" Samantha muttered dryly to Taz as she pushed past them and guided the group of newcomers down one of the many "streets" of this tent city of human hurt. Here and there were teams of unwounded soldiers, grouped together with the rest in the overcrowded base. "You who are not too badly wounded need to go talk to the quartermaster so you can get your gear and eventual cybernetic adjustments done she called out the group, loud enough for all but the unconscious ones to hear. " I don't need to tell you this, but take the gear of your wounded comrades and make sure to keep it safe, noone's going to do it for you. We are stretched thin as it is.
They stopped at a relatively empty spot somewhere towards the middle of the hangar. The medics and cyberdocs put down the stretchers and checked on their patients with rushed efficiency. A few of the marines sunk down on some scattered mattresses and started to unstrap their heavy armour with equally heavy sighs. A man in a green surgical gown shouted something from a nearby tent and Samantha waved back at him, giving a complicated hand signal. "Put down the ... dog over there." Samantha gestured to Taz. "And you," she added to Kat, "Sit down over there. We need room to move here." She hesitated, then touched the communication chip under the skin of her neck. "Sam here. Do we have any ... veterinarians on site? ... No, I haven't bought a poodle, smartass -- get off the line. Just answer ... we do? Well, I'll be damned, get him over here, we have a canine injury. Priority. Yes, you heard me. I'm in the infirmary, grid 45C." She shook her head again, looking at Kat. "Luck is with us. Seems one of the medics used to work as a vet before the war. He'll come help your friend. That's all I can do for him for now. Now, if you sit down and let me look at you ..."
OOC: Feel free to act out Samantha and the vet by all means.
-------------------------------
"Could the two of you stop blabbing?!" came an annoyed hiss from the darkness as Li-six suddenly swept up to them. Jack and Simon gasped. "Didn't know a tank could be that silent ..." Jack began. The think tank growled. "The one I took out back there was not alone. They will be tracking us by vibrations through the rubble. So could you two shut up already and climb up on me. Point the way."
Jack's mouth closed with an audible clack and the two men took hold of the side of the tank under stiff silence. The tank hummed like a cat and zoomed down the tunnel that was soon connecting to a sewer. In silent mode the tank was nowhere as fast as it could be, but nevertheless they moved at about a running man's pace. "You need to follow the water way once you get down this staircase. And ... we heard footsteps before" Simon whispered into Li-six's armour. A green camera lens angled momentarily against him, but she did not respond.
They continued in silence and soon in complete darkness. Their breathing, the low hum of Li-six' internally throttled engines and an occational splash of water was the only sound as they made their way through the sewer system. Supposedly the tank could still see by some other means, but the two humans were completely blind.
After what seemed like an eternity, Li-six stopped and a red front light lit up the surrounding area. They were traveling along the side of an underground sewage canal, clearly a part of a delivery system predating modern waste-disposal methods. The passage forked into three here.
On a nearby wall, Li-six displayed a few lines of text, in bright green letters. Which way?, the text said. Simon exchanged a glance with Jack and after looking around he recognized the juncture. Mutely he pointed towards the leftmost fork.
Just as they started moving again, a muffled detonation echoed down through the canals behind them. In the red light from Li-six headlight, the water rippled and small pieces of gravel fell from the tunnel roof.
Depth charges, Li-six displayed on the wall. We have avoided them but they know we are here. They are trying to pinpoint us by echolocation. A brief pause, then the text continued: This changes things. We must go separate ways. Not lead them to your camp. First, tell me how many you are. I will report to command. Maybe get back with help.
Jack silently showed the fingers of his hands in sequence in front of Li-six' lens. She counted to sixty. Sixty civilian survivors down here in the darkness. Li-six didn't really feel sorry for them per se, but it was among her secondary objectives to consider civilian resistance in the city. Brass would like to know, she figured. On the wall, she continued: You will go to your camp. I will go on my way, lead them off. Where do the right fork go?
Simon could not figure out how to say it in sign language, so instead he whispered: "There is an old processing plant. Outside."
Good. Off you go. And be silent. Jack and Simon numbly dropped off the tank and Li-six hummed off to the right taking the light and her reassuring presence with her. No words of thanks or goodbye were uttered. The time for such civilized things were long gone. The two men found each other in the dark and started out towards their own exit.
Li-six continued down the new tunnel as the next depth charge detonated above. Closer now. Unfortunately these tunnels were mostly made of stone. Her armoured chassis would stand out like a shining beacon once they came close enough to reflect the sonar ping off it. Indeed, maybe they could already see her and was keeping even paces with her above ground. Li-six didn't know and didn't have much choice but to continue.
She hadn't been close enough to actually get a visual on the thing that had dropped into her booby trap earlier, but from the servo sounds she had picked up from her bugs in the chamber it was no normal strider. Some sort of custom job. Expensive like hell, most probably. It baffled her somewhat that the enemy went to such measures to take out a single think tank. Such was her personality that she was flattered by it, but nevertheless it was a bit overkill. Sure she was deadly and one of the coolest units in the field (she thought), but not even Li-six's tactical routines were cocky enough to imagine she could have anything but a minor impact on this conflict.
Just strider efficiency then she concluded. Leave no pockets of resistance standing, no matter how small, or they'll come back and bite you later. Damn machines. Heh.
She reached another fork, but this time it was not hard to see which one to take -- only one had a water canal. Soon after she reached two rusted dam doors that she easily pushed aside to enter a square pool. This was clearly the remains of the old water treatment plant Simon had talked about. The pool -- or rather the sedimentation basin it had once been -- was empty, covered with brown dried residue now so old it not even smelled anymore. This place had been closed long before the war, replaced by some more modern way of purifying the waste from the vast city above.
Li-six climbed out of the basin and made it across a set of low metal walkways that connected a series of similar basins with a long concrete ramp. At the end of the ramp came white daylight. She was free!
She was just making her way up towards the promising daylight when she noticed the pressure. There was a slight over-pressure in the air, but there was no wind. It took her a full second to process what this must mean. She knew of only one thing that caused such an effect through a narrow opening like that. Inwardly swearing she dove for cover, away from the alluring exit. Still she didn't see anything out there, hardly any sound either. But it was there, she knew it with as much intuition as any machine could ever muster.
The over pressure came from the deadly silent turbines of a hovering gunship. Probably just out of sight above the entrance. A god damn anti-tank gunship.
CrapCrapCrapCrap her swearing routine blurted silently as she crouched in cover hoping the monster out there hadn't noticed her. Annoyed she re-wrote the routine to use some more obscene and fitting vocabulary.
Stabilizing the remaining wounded on stretchers, the medics started filing away in the same direction as the rest, giving way for the techs to start taking care of the military vehicles and gear they had arrived in.
A damn dog. What was she -- a veterinarian? As Samantha gave some brief final instructions to her cyberdoc colleagues and continued towards the infirmaries, she found herself wondering if there even where any veterinarians anymore. Had that whole profession been wiped off the face of the Earth by now? The thought was absurdly amusing to her. She rubbed her temples. She was exhausted after so many hours of endless wounded. She was in no condition to ponder esoteric things like werewolves or extinction of vets. Tough luck, girl. Suck it up. Keep on going.
The infirmary opened up at the end of a corridor wide enough to carry three stretchers at a side (she knew this from experience). A wall of sound met them as the doors swung open. The place was huge: a refurbished shuttlecraft hangar. And wherever the eye could see stretched a veritable city slum of medial scenery. Row upon row of stretchers on tripods where mixed with towers of cringing hospital beds in many levels. And between them men and women in various states of hurt crouched or lay on mattresses where beds had run out. Here and there military tents served as central spots of food distribution, news hubs and surgical centers, both biological and cybernetic.
"Welcome to the backside of the human resistance" Samantha muttered dryly to Taz as she pushed past them and guided the group of newcomers down one of the many "streets" of this tent city of human hurt. Here and there were teams of unwounded soldiers, grouped together with the rest in the overcrowded base. "You who are not too badly wounded need to go talk to the quartermaster so you can get your gear and eventual cybernetic adjustments done she called out the group, loud enough for all but the unconscious ones to hear. " I don't need to tell you this, but take the gear of your wounded comrades and make sure to keep it safe, noone's going to do it for you. We are stretched thin as it is.
They stopped at a relatively empty spot somewhere towards the middle of the hangar. The medics and cyberdocs put down the stretchers and checked on their patients with rushed efficiency. A few of the marines sunk down on some scattered mattresses and started to unstrap their heavy armour with equally heavy sighs. A man in a green surgical gown shouted something from a nearby tent and Samantha waved back at him, giving a complicated hand signal. "Put down the ... dog over there." Samantha gestured to Taz. "And you," she added to Kat, "Sit down over there. We need room to move here." She hesitated, then touched the communication chip under the skin of her neck. "Sam here. Do we have any ... veterinarians on site? ... No, I haven't bought a poodle, smartass -- get off the line. Just answer ... we do? Well, I'll be damned, get him over here, we have a canine injury. Priority. Yes, you heard me. I'm in the infirmary, grid 45C." She shook her head again, looking at Kat. "Luck is with us. Seems one of the medics used to work as a vet before the war. He'll come help your friend. That's all I can do for him for now. Now, if you sit down and let me look at you ..."
OOC: Feel free to act out Samantha and the vet by all means.
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"Could the two of you stop blabbing?!" came an annoyed hiss from the darkness as Li-six suddenly swept up to them. Jack and Simon gasped. "Didn't know a tank could be that silent ..." Jack began. The think tank growled. "The one I took out back there was not alone. They will be tracking us by vibrations through the rubble. So could you two shut up already and climb up on me. Point the way."
Jack's mouth closed with an audible clack and the two men took hold of the side of the tank under stiff silence. The tank hummed like a cat and zoomed down the tunnel that was soon connecting to a sewer. In silent mode the tank was nowhere as fast as it could be, but nevertheless they moved at about a running man's pace. "You need to follow the water way once you get down this staircase. And ... we heard footsteps before" Simon whispered into Li-six's armour. A green camera lens angled momentarily against him, but she did not respond.
They continued in silence and soon in complete darkness. Their breathing, the low hum of Li-six' internally throttled engines and an occational splash of water was the only sound as they made their way through the sewer system. Supposedly the tank could still see by some other means, but the two humans were completely blind.
After what seemed like an eternity, Li-six stopped and a red front light lit up the surrounding area. They were traveling along the side of an underground sewage canal, clearly a part of a delivery system predating modern waste-disposal methods. The passage forked into three here.
On a nearby wall, Li-six displayed a few lines of text, in bright green letters. Which way?, the text said. Simon exchanged a glance with Jack and after looking around he recognized the juncture. Mutely he pointed towards the leftmost fork.
Just as they started moving again, a muffled detonation echoed down through the canals behind them. In the red light from Li-six headlight, the water rippled and small pieces of gravel fell from the tunnel roof.
Depth charges, Li-six displayed on the wall. We have avoided them but they know we are here. They are trying to pinpoint us by echolocation. A brief pause, then the text continued: This changes things. We must go separate ways. Not lead them to your camp. First, tell me how many you are. I will report to command. Maybe get back with help.
Jack silently showed the fingers of his hands in sequence in front of Li-six' lens. She counted to sixty. Sixty civilian survivors down here in the darkness. Li-six didn't really feel sorry for them per se, but it was among her secondary objectives to consider civilian resistance in the city. Brass would like to know, she figured. On the wall, she continued: You will go to your camp. I will go on my way, lead them off. Where do the right fork go?
Simon could not figure out how to say it in sign language, so instead he whispered: "There is an old processing plant. Outside."
Good. Off you go. And be silent. Jack and Simon numbly dropped off the tank and Li-six hummed off to the right taking the light and her reassuring presence with her. No words of thanks or goodbye were uttered. The time for such civilized things were long gone. The two men found each other in the dark and started out towards their own exit.
Li-six continued down the new tunnel as the next depth charge detonated above. Closer now. Unfortunately these tunnels were mostly made of stone. Her armoured chassis would stand out like a shining beacon once they came close enough to reflect the sonar ping off it. Indeed, maybe they could already see her and was keeping even paces with her above ground. Li-six didn't know and didn't have much choice but to continue.
She hadn't been close enough to actually get a visual on the thing that had dropped into her booby trap earlier, but from the servo sounds she had picked up from her bugs in the chamber it was no normal strider. Some sort of custom job. Expensive like hell, most probably. It baffled her somewhat that the enemy went to such measures to take out a single think tank. Such was her personality that she was flattered by it, but nevertheless it was a bit overkill. Sure she was deadly and one of the coolest units in the field (she thought), but not even Li-six's tactical routines were cocky enough to imagine she could have anything but a minor impact on this conflict.
Just strider efficiency then she concluded. Leave no pockets of resistance standing, no matter how small, or they'll come back and bite you later. Damn machines. Heh.
She reached another fork, but this time it was not hard to see which one to take -- only one had a water canal. Soon after she reached two rusted dam doors that she easily pushed aside to enter a square pool. This was clearly the remains of the old water treatment plant Simon had talked about. The pool -- or rather the sedimentation basin it had once been -- was empty, covered with brown dried residue now so old it not even smelled anymore. This place had been closed long before the war, replaced by some more modern way of purifying the waste from the vast city above.
Li-six climbed out of the basin and made it across a set of low metal walkways that connected a series of similar basins with a long concrete ramp. At the end of the ramp came white daylight. She was free!
She was just making her way up towards the promising daylight when she noticed the pressure. There was a slight over-pressure in the air, but there was no wind. It took her a full second to process what this must mean. She knew of only one thing that caused such an effect through a narrow opening like that. Inwardly swearing she dove for cover, away from the alluring exit. Still she didn't see anything out there, hardly any sound either. But it was there, she knew it with as much intuition as any machine could ever muster.
The over pressure came from the deadly silent turbines of a hovering gunship. Probably just out of sight above the entrance. A god damn anti-tank gunship.
CrapCrapCrapCrap her swearing routine blurted silently as she crouched in cover hoping the monster out there hadn't noticed her. Annoyed she re-wrote the routine to use some more obscene and fitting vocabulary.