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Futuristic ℋ℮їґṧ: SIGMA (Sci-Fi/Powers/Interstellar Warfare RP)

(Sorry for the lateness in my post. Was just recovering after finals week and returning home for winter break. Will get something out tonight, hopefully. Latest by tomorrow)
 
(Sorry for the late post. Was kinda lazy with winter break being a thing)

DM

Pulkownik Saegner paced around in his office, continuously checking the status of his Mortus Troopers and Smiercs deployed to contain the Retribution threat. The problem was that Retribution was too efficient of a fighter, ending each soldier's life before any useful information could even be fully transmitted. The security cameras are also non-functional, as they keep on showing looped footage or s1mply did not work.

He knew that his position as the commander of this outpost would be in peril if he couldn't take the threat down before alerting the main facilities. Saegner knew very well what failure means as a Smierc, and he cannot bear to see himself at the other end of the judgement table.

The Smierc security forces start to dwindle down to a handful, with some even running away in terror at the combined might of the New Union forces and Retribution. The ones wanting to stand their ground find their faces bashed in by the end of a HoloRifle butt stock, as Captain Morrison finishes off the last Smierc grunt.


Adrian

That should be the last of the Smierc grunts for now. There will be others coming though, and almost certainly guaranteed to be Mortus Troopers. Trying to deal with the Smierc's own power-users is always an exercise of futility, as it leads to valuable time and men being wasted just to stay breathing.

In the meantime, I tell Fireteam Nexus to stand down and away from our unlikely ally ( Chak Chak ), the brutal tank of an alien who seemed to hold a grudge against the Smierc. Not that I am surprised, considering the extent of the Smierc Collective's conquest (for goodness sake, they were the ones who crushed Old Earth and cut off contact with the Sigma Sector).

Despite the risks, I decided to make the first move.

"Who are you? Can you understand me? What is your purpose here?"

Noa had suggested to use the Smierc translation function for communications efforts. Figured that the Smierc language would be more widespread than the official human languages of the New Union, such as English.
 
Ashley Miller

I breathe a sigh of relief and lower my rifle, the barrel faintly glowing from how fast I was able to cycle the bolt. I position myself a few feet behind Adrian tries to talk to the other alien, whom Tex identifies as extinct.
"Check again, you're wrong."
I mutter, just to get the same response, maybe a bit sassier. Hard to tell with her. I sling my rifle onto my shoulder and rest my hand on my handgun.
"They aren't a machine, Captain Morrison, asking their purpose is like asking a drone what it does."
I look at the alien through my visor.
"So what brings you here, fella?" I ask, throwing in a little Oocorian charm.

Perambulation Perambulation
 
(Finals are over for me. Yay!)
Raijin
The grunts that came in were quickly shot down by the Fireteams present, and after that, it didn't seem like there were going to be anymore reinforcements. Now... it's time to turn his attention to the large four-armed creature that stood near him. Raijin's sword was back on his hip, but he let his right hand rest on the handle just in case.

"Who are you? Can you understand me? What is your purpose here?" When Morrison began to speak with the four armed creature, Raijin was surprised. He was a hostile, but then again, he never actively targeted any Sabre Corp troopers, only himself. Good choice using the Smierc language translation. With all the hostility it showed the Smierc and how it's species isn't part of the the New Union, it must have been part of the Collective. But, dang, translators never get any better do they?

A voice Raijin recognized as Miller told off Morrison and tried her hand at speaking with the large creature.

Let's try my hand at this. Raijin took his hand off his sword and approached the large alien, Adaptive RCS at the ready in case anything went wrong. He put to use his mostly flawless Smierc that he learned in college, "I apologize for opening fire on you. We would like to know why you are attacking the Smierc. Perhaps we can assist each other."
 
J

The Smierc have retreated. Good. That leaves just the big guy now. Just the big guy. Oh great.

The guy is standing down at the moment, staring at us, half-menacingly, half-curious, I really don't know. Can't really tell what his expressions are, especially when I can't see his actual face, just his body movements. I stop pointing my gun at him, just to show good intention, but I still have it ready in my hands, just in case he wasn't neutral after all. I do hope he is neutral though.

It was an intense few seconds, until Morrison spoke up. He spoke in the Smierc language, which to me, wasn't really a good idea. After all, the Smierc guards spoke... well, Smierc, and they got their asses kicked. But it sounds to me like he's negotiating with the big fellow, peace talks and stuff.

But I can't forget; we've got a mission to carry out. Morrison and Ashley can hopefully talk this guy into not beating us into red paste, while I'll take my Fireteam and move forward. The Smierc don't take lightly to their forces being driven off the field. I move my left hand in a circular motion, and everyone nods, following my lead as we continued further into the cargo docks.
 
(Sorry, wild family Christmas had me going from friday til today, shoulda got a post up before, or at least mentioned it, my bad.)
 
Ilik/Retribution

Ilik stood wary and cautious as the Smierc cleared out and left him alone with the unknown element. Keeping two eyes on them, the massive alien moved to where his spear had lodged through the guts of an adversary and into the wall. Sheathing his daggers, Ilik grabbed his spear firmly and jerked it from it's temporary home. Rounding on the group, Ilik stared them down and spoke to him, oddly using Smierc, though it was easy to tell it wasn't their own language.

It was more broken than his own usage of it.

Ilik's mouth chittered momentarily, making various clicking noises as he spoke to himself in his own tongue, "Their words, their weapons. Primitive even in their advancement, as if they know not who they are or what they wish to be as a people."

"I am Retribution. I am here for retribution. My goal is simple, Smierc die by the thousands at my hands. If you wish to see the false empire fall, you would do well to stand out of my pa-"

Stopping as another spoke up, Ilik's eyes narrowed beneath his chitin armour as he came to realise the weapon that had feebly attempted to fry him through his armour was wielded by not the Smierc but this man. Leaning down to get a better look at the fool, Ilik cocked his head as he too used the translator to ask one question he'd only just answered, and admit to having shot him.

"Idiots in all races clearly."

Turning back to the original speaker, Ilik continued, "You would do well to stand out of my path, I was saying. This is not the end of their advancement. The Smierc will return soon. I am too big a bounty for them to not come for. I am both the bait and the trap, perfect in form, lethal in function."

Ilik's shoulder's shifted suddenly, his stomach pulling as his lungs filled and his mouth cracked into a vicious grin beneath his mask as a coarse, gravelly bark of a laugh pulled from his lips and filtered through his mask. The laugh echoed through the cargo room momentarily before Ilik regarded the leader of the 'not-Smierc' again.

"You can join me, whatever you are, if you would so chose to. It has been a long time since I have hunted alongside others, even if some of said hunters are notably..." Ilik took this moment to turn his head pointedly at the one with the electric device before continuing, "Inept."
 
Raslan

I make my way towards the reported location of the intruders. On the way, I've been trying to contact the troopers defending that sector, but so far all my hails have gone unanswered, so that forces me to operate under the impression that they've been wiped out. If that's the case, we might be facing a coordinated attack, for to be fair, even poorly-equipped grunts can make up with their number (which, by the way, should outnumber basic infiltration squads) and put up a fight. That, or these "humans" possess some power I haven't heard of. Or this is a different enemy. The Collective creates enemies almost continuously on its relentless expansion, after all.

I can't say I'm not nervous, or scared. I am nervous AND scared. A warrior will do well reminding himself of fear if he wishes to survive a thousand battles. Some might put fear with the weak. To my experience, fear for those behind the front is what drives a warrior towards his enemies, while, as ironic as it might sound, fear keeps a mind sane in hellish slaughters. Soldiers of subjugated worlds are easy to replace: For every one of us fallen, 10 are conscripted - or so they say. I don't have anyway to certify these words, but keeping the conscription rate as low as possible might be the best I could do.

On our way, we passed a dozen or so Smierc troops, seemingly running away from some threat. My sensors indicate nothing ahead, at least up until the cargo hold, so we press forward, albeit a bit reluctantly, with our rifles raised slightly higher. As we passed them, some of them stopped, pointing and slightly cheering at our presence, and soon enough, all of them were following us, armed to the teeth. Seems we've regathered the survivors of the guard detachment in the cargo hold.

Six did her best showing me around, but in the end every hallway and intersection looks practically the same to me, so I have to rely on my suit's sensors and navigation system. Quite an embarrassing fact to admit, seeing that I'm supposed to be stationed here as garrison. Anyway, closing in on those intruders now, get back to it.

We stop at a turn before the hallway leading straight to the reported loading dock to check on equipment. Prepping my Szabla, I found my eyes scanning my squad. There is Emer, a fellow Prossnakan. She's a young one, straight out of the war-forges, actually. I will have to keep an eye on that one. Oh, Six is with us now, apparently, and I appreciate that, we are desperate for any more help we could get now, as the remainder of the dock's security force is most likely decimated and we're up against an unknown number of hostiles. Though we just met, she gives me the impression that she could handle herself. I mean, being able to hold off the Pułkownik means she's really something!

Aside from those two, there are 4 other, but two of them pique my interest. One of them being some sort of robotic. Most Mortus Troopers are organics trained from birth, so this is strange. Well, aside from the training, we also receive extensive augmentations, the 'creature' might just be heavily implanted cybernetic parts. And by heavily, I mean I doubt there is even any fleshy bits of "it" left. All of its four arms are armed with Strajks, with two more mounted on 2 thinner mechanical arms raising from its shoulders.

The other one stands out from us all, as he does not wear the helm as part of his battle armour. His appearance indicates that he is of Molluscoid-type species. "Tintenfisch", they are called back on Prossnak, "tinten" meaning ink. A nickname due to their similarity to an aquatic creature native to my home-world. Though I don't know if they too eject some sort of slimy, black liquid. The alien readies his Toporek with fiery eyes and flexing tentacles that extend from around his mouth, littered with spikes. He always looks this angry, apparently. Hot-tempered squid, huh. Other than them, there are two more in my squad, both clad in standard SKANDIAs. I give them all a reassuring nod, before we slowly make our way down the hallway towards the loading dock. We meet a corner at the end of the hallway. An intersection. And the intruders are right down the next hallway, according to my sensors. I even pick up some sort of signals, must be their communication.

Eight of us Mortus Troopers, plus twelve regular Smierc, against a hostile force strong enough to wipe out the majority of the security detachment in this section. Blast, I'm out of my mind, but too late to turn back now. I hand-gesture the squad to take preferred positions for the fight. After they've prepared themselves, I dash out from the corner and fired my Szabla rifle at the aliens from my hip, before getting behind a cargo container adjacent to my previous cover, before the rest of my squad opened fire, providing ample support for the regulars to move out. I don't know if I hit anyone. I don't care at this moment.



 
DM

"Status report, now",
asked Pulkownik Saegner to his assistant.
"Initial containment team has been wiped out sir... Entarya and his group is heading down there now."
"The newcomer? Great..."

What Saegner was worried about was Entarya's already rogue nature being a threat to his own rank in the Smierc Collective. It's all but guaranteed that Entarya would end up getting him ripped of his title. Can't have that be a risk...

"We'll let Entarya take care of the intrusion force. After that, make sure our detachment of Smiercs silence him."
"Are you sure about that sir...?"
"I'm not about to lose all of my progress in the Smierc military after one bad day. Relay the orders on a secure channel."
"Yes sir."



Adrian

I see that this alien ( Chak Chak ) is another one of the rogues I've heard about from New Union intel. Not surprisingly, the Smiercs made many enemies throughout their history, with their constant usage of genocide and other horrible acts. Retribution was it? That's an interesting translated name.

"While we do share the same purpose of standing against the Smiercs, I'm afraid my troops cannot stay here for long. We are here to obtain crucial intel and destroy manufacturing facilities here..."

Hesitating a bit, I put my rifle away on its sling and reached out towards Retribution with my hand.

"However, we could use all the help we can. Would you help us in our mission? We have a common enemy, after all... In our culture, we shake our hands as agreement."

Before I could gain a potential new ally, I am alerted to incoming fire from the cargo bay and hallway connection. My IRESS activated in time as I boosted to a safe position among some of the fallen debris.

"Fireteam Nexus, we need to get those cargo transport coordinates before we get out of here. We're holding down the line here! Cover that chokepoint!"

With a moment of focus, I utilized my own telekinesis powers and activated a Mass Tornado, sending a spiral of nearby debris to provide both cover and keep the enemy troops at bay. With that done, I set up a position and fired a couple of shots from my HoloRifle.

( Trappy Trappy LoneSniper87 LoneSniper87 BubbleButt BubbleButt Kabboom Kabboom QizPizza QizPizza )
 
J

And as we moved forward at a brisk pace, actively searching out for any threats while simultaneously praying that none actually appear, we made contact. Or rather, we were the "contact". A few Smierc crystals crackle through our formation, luckily missing all of us, sending us seeking cover. What level of stupid do you have to be to set up a perfect ambush on an exposed Fireteam, yet miss all your shots?

I dart my eyes forward, to spot a dozen Smierc regular troops pouring out of a hallway approximately 10 meters ahead of us, plus... 5 or 6 Mortus Troopers. Damn. Should've expected that, what with the "Retribution" guy being here and all. Looks like a particularly special-looking Mortus Trooper sprinted across open ground while firing full auto at us. That's why we didn't get hit. Whew. And judging by his special looks, I'm guessing he's the leader or something. The rest of the Mortus Troopers have normal-looking SKANDIA armour compared to this guy, what with his boxy helm and big lance.

A few holo-bolts hurl themselves at the newfound threat, as Morrison used his abilities to throw debris at the newfound threats, sending them into cover, though I could've sworn I saw a few pieces of debris slow completely and fall to the ground as they almost reached a Mortus Trooper. That's either Gravity Manipulation or Telekinesis. One of the two.

But still, this is a chance I can't give up. With their heads down, we can push up relatively unopposed. So we did. I led the assault, running and gunning with my LMG. Really, I won't be hitting anything, but it's the thought that counts. Soon enough, we were upon them. As we closed the distance, only an arm's reach from the damn Mortus Troopers, a regular peeks out for a sneaky shot. Unlucky for him, he was in Parkins' way, and I could just see the guy getting knocked at least an entire meter backwards, like a duck against a football quarterback.

At the same time, Davo has hatched a little plan. Of course, like all of his plans, it's not sophisticated at all. He pulls out his sticky explosives, arms them, and hurls it into the hallway where most of the Mortus troopers are still holed up in. But the explosives suddenly changed course drastically, going back to where they came from, narrowly clipping Dav's head, and exploding on contact with a container instead, sending its cargo outwards and down onto the already tight corridors inbetween the cargo, essentially blocking our path out. It'll take our other forces a bit longer to push through, especially with the regulars firing downrange. All the more reason for us to absolutely wreck this stupid Mortus detachment.

We close the gap, and go in for the kill. As the leader guy peeks out for another round of gunfire, Parkins engages, and straight-up just clubs him in the face with the butt of his rifle, while I drop my LMG completely (a bit reckless on my end), and begin summoning the green flame that's been itching to let loose on my left hand, preparing to roast this entire Mortus team. As I land on my feet, and turn to my side to engage, I suddenly hesitated, mostly because of that... thing. The thing that looks... surprisingly normal, in Smierc terms, but what bugged me was its... cybernetic augmentations. Jesus, how many arms does a soldier need? And what's that, a foot?

And before I knew it, I was on the ground, with a slightly numbing pain on my face.
 
Ashley Miller

In one moment, we were talking with an alien that is 'extinct', the next, we were getting shot at.
"Contact, 2°clock!"
Someone shouted as a round whizzes by my head. I stand still fof a moment in shock before I spring back into action, running and sliding toward a piece of debris I was using as cover. I temporarily ditch my sniper to my sling and pick up some ar, Remington engraved on the side. I peek up, judging to my best ability with the iron sihts and squeeze off suppressing bursts, feeling the kick slam into my shoulder.

I heard a thud and see Parkins bash the head of some poor sap in, and see J get attacked by one of the Mortus, signaled by another thud. I turn my attention to them and push forward, firing to the best of my ability, but still most of my shots going wide due to sheer inability. I slide down next to some containers, trying to listen for anyone lurking nearby.
 
Raslan

Despite having the element of surprise as our initial advantage, the somewhat hastily conducted assault gave the aliens time to utilise the cargo loads as cover and mount a counter-assault. After I blasted a few crystals down the corridor from my Szabla fired from the hip, other Mortus troopers and Smierc regulars start sending careful volleys at the hostiles as well. However, our hail of energy crystals is cut short as a number of debris are hurled at our position by an unknown force. The sudden attack caught us off-guard, but Emer quickly used her ability of gravitational manipulation on the debris, bringing some of them to a halt and saving a few regulars in the process. Smart girl.

Back to the fight. As the debris storm begins to die down, I turn to my squad and the regulars.

"Keep pressing pressure on them! Fire your guns, use your explosives!" - I yelled, before lobbing one of those Berserker sticky bombs at the intruders' cover. The regulars follow suit, those without explosives peek out from their cover to blast energy crystals.

"Keep it up! They won't be able to strike if we keep them pinne-"
- I paused abruptly, as I notice something in the corner of my eyes. Shadows dashing between cargo containers through hails of energy crystals. I could barely see them through the smoke and dust of the previous debris storm and explosives setting off. Blast. Who are these lunatics?!

Whoever they are, these aliens got the attention of others as well. But before I had time to digest the sudden situational change, a sudden burst of fire from the charging enemies sends most of my squad to cover, except from Emer, who again, saves us from incoming explosives. The molluscoid quickly pulls her down just in time to avoid enemy suppressive fire. I am unsure if it was a calculated move on her part, but Emer did us all a favour. The explosives she sent back blew several containers off their places, creating obstacles between the charging aliens and their allies behind.

One of the regulars at the front spotted them not long after I did, and attempts to spray down the daredevils. Unlucky for the man, before he could squeeze the trigger, one of the charging aliens knocks him way back, before landing onto some cargo loads. I witnessed it all from my cover. Right, we have a chance here. If we can effectively finish off these daring fools here and now, we can round up the rest of them later. Dealing with them separately in small groups, I'll take it.

As they close in, I get out from cover with my rifle up. The alien is within arm's reach, and it's holding its weapon like a blunt weapon, with its hands around the barrel. Swift brute force, it smacks me vertically in the head, up from the chin, just as I squeeze the trigger, sending at least 5 energy crystals up the ceiling. Such strength could've easily cracked my skull, if it wasn't for the helm. The alien then held up its weapon in an attempt to blast my abdomen while I was stunned. Oh I certainly was stunned, but unfortunately for it, not anymore. I grab and hold its barrel to the right with my left arm as I go in for a head-butt which visibly cracked its visor, staggering it.

On the side, I notice my comrades have engaged the aliens as well. The cyborg was right in the path of one of them, who seems like he manifested flame out of thin air with his hands. Before the alien could charge up any attack, Emer charged up from behind the cyborg and knocked the alien to the ground with a side kick at his face.

Then something happens. I start feeling . . . a tingling feeling . . . throughout my body. And the feeling only gets stronger, like a million needles piercing into my flesh, holding me in place like a puppet. And it appears I'm not the only one suffering from this, as other Mortus troopers and some regulars start showing symptoms as well. Most noticeably that molluscoid man, his tentacles are flexing hard and he looks even . . . angrier. We could hardly move, and the alien in front of me is recovering from the head-butt, with its hand reaching for the knife by its leg. At that moment, I notice one of the aliens who charged at us is lagging behind his comrades. There's something about it, its stance . . . .? Somehow, I get the feeling it is behind this tingling numbness that's holding us in place. Out of pure guesswork, I raise the Szabla with just my right hand after much struggling, and blast a single crystal at it. My doubt is answered immediately, as we are seemingly released from the numbness. In my case, just in time, as the alien was rising up with its knife out, ready to jam it into my neck. My shield extended from my left arm and I raised it to deflect the alien's strike, before dropping my rifle and flinging out the Techlance. The lance lets off a small blast as it knocks the alien at least a meter back with a horizontal swing.


As the alien (which seemed to possess fire manipulating powers) was taken down by Emer, it managed to release a small spurt of flame. While we were held in place, this spurt of flame quickly shifted and took form, resembling a shield of sorts, attached to another alien's right arm, which it uses promptly to bash Emer helplessly into the wall. But now that we are released, my comrades have started picking up the pace. The cyborg, with all his 6 arms armed with Strajks unloads energy crystals onto the alien, forcing it to back off away from Emer and find cover with crystals tickling violently off its protective barrier.

"The enemy's assault have been repelled with no significant losses!" - I yelled at the regular troops, as Emer recovers from the attack. "Press on! Take the advantage and snuff out their pathetic resistance!"

I ready my Techlance and quickly move up to finish off these aliens who have foolishly charged us, followed by the rest of my squad. Hailstorms of shiny, reflective energy crystals are unleashed as we close what little gap there is left between us and the enemy.
 
Raijin
When the Smierc entered the area, Raijin was towards the front. Crystal bolts hailed down on the Sabre Corps forces, forcing most of Fireteam Comet to dive for cover. However, Raijin stood his ground, with the KAISYS Gamma easily shrugging off crystal bolts. A quick scan revealed a force of 12 grunts and 8 Mortus Troopers. 8 Mortus troopers? Whatever's here better be really important if 8 of them are deployed to a single garrison.

Morrison threw debris as interference, but it seemed that one of the Mortus was a Silentian that could manipulate gravity, preventing the debris from causing any damage. Raijin switched his DES-T back to Tesla mode and swept it like it flamethrower in front of himself and his allies like he previously did. This create a makeshift shield that detonated both holo bolts and crystal bolts before they could hit him. However, as a volley of grenades from our side was sent back, the debris from the explosion smacked into the DES-T, disabling it.

Raijin drew his suppressed revolver out and began to take shots. The bio-field the Mortus Troopers resisted most of the damage, but the pistol was only a distraction so that Raijin could load his holo-mortar. Firing mortar in such an enclosed space would be extremely dangerous, but with himself in the front, there should be minimal damage to the soldiers behind him. As he prepared to fire, J and several other troops rushed toward the enemy, only to be repelled. Dang it, J! I can't fire my mortar with you up there. Well.. it's not like I was supposed to fire it in close quarters to begin with.

Once J's charge was beaten back, the rest of the Mortus troopers began a charge. Raijin decided to take the charge to them. He sheathed his pistol and drew Blue Streak out. His Adaptive RCS was set to maximum speed as he pushed off. In the blink of an eye, Raijin crashed into a Mortus trooper, instantly knocking him out as they rammed them into a wall at the end of the corridor with a force of over 200,000 Newtons and while the surging electricity tore the bio-field to shreds. Raijin made a return trip, this time using his sword to aim for the leader. As he approached, he hit a field of gravity, slowing him down significantly, but it wasn't enough to overcome the RCS. Raijin's sword swung at the leader, but the gravity field slowed Raijin down enough for the leader to block with his lance.

As Raijin prepared for a melee, he began to cough up blood into his helmet. Crap. I overdid it with the RCS. Raijin began to feel the effects of flying at 380 mph, suddenly stopping, changing directions, re-accelerating to 380 mph and then suffering a sudden loss in velocity. The suit held up, but even with the upgrades Raijin installed, this kind of activity would quickly kill him if he continued.
 
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Ashley Miller

Shit, this wasn't goig to end well. J was on the ground we were being pushed back, and some of us started dropping. I sling my sniper to my back and get ready to produce a shield, a large purple rectangle forming in front of me. I use my free hand and pick up a Remington rifle off of some poor dead sap and walk forward.
"Omaha, on me!"
I shout, and a few came up who were close to aid me. The now group of four I lead poked barrels through or around my shield and started firing at the Mortus who were alive, and I fired supressingly with the ar in my hand until it clicked 20 rounds later with maybe one Smierc dead. I tossed it to the ground, I was close enough. My squad reached a series of debris and containers and I fire my shield off into the Mortus, hopefull hitting one with it. I grab J and quickly try to drag him to safety. Crystal bolts ding off my armor and one embeds into my thigh, but I manage to get him somewhere safer.
"You owe me..."
I mutter to him, even if he couldn't hear me. But now 5 or so of us were pushed up greatly and seperated from the main force, this could end badly. I draw my knife and sidearm and just wait. Wait and pray. Pray that I don't miss, that I didn't do this for nothing. That I made it out of this alive.
 
J

My head hurts. It really hurts. Oh gosh, it really hurts. I can still feel pain, which means I'm still alive, but I think, at this point, I'd prefer it if I had lost consciousness or died. Anything to shake this goddamn ringing in my head. I can feel there's something... off with my face. Oh shit, my nose! The fuckers broke my nose! My visor's dented inwards, and it's holding my nose in an irregular shape.

I open my helmet, taking a while to do so, because of that brutal concussion I took from the damn Mortus Trooper. Who the hell even does that? I open my eyes, and was scared for a second because I couldn't see anything, but then the vision faded back into me. With my hands, I cracked my nose back into formation, flexing violently due to the pain. Funny, that. I've been shot, stabbed, hit full-force by a fragmentation grenade, flung out of space, concussed, probably electrocuted at some point, choked to near-death in the near-absolute zero cold vacuum of space, and this is what hurts me the most. A broken nose. No matter, I've got shit to do.

I look back to my Fireteam, still in hand-to-hand combat with the stupid Mortus squad. Danny's powers... the uh.... what did he call it? I'm pretty sure I remember it... Something something Bio-electric... Bio-electric Storm! Yes, that one. He told me that a while ago. Said he emits a bio-electric pulse of sorts that paralyzes biological organisms, but he needs a lot of concentration and a medium, air, to conduct the pulse through. That explains why in the previous ops, he couldn't pull that off. He had to constantly shift his concentration so he couldn't use it, and well, in our last op, we were in space a lot. Can't conduct electricity through a vacuum.

Of course, he can't use it right now, because some Mortus Trooper, with a suit similar to the leading Mortus Trooper, although slimmed down for mobility, is giving him and Carlie a run for their money. It appears that's the one with gravity manipulation powers. I glance around the battlefield. Parkins just got smacked in the face by the Mortus Trooper squad leader, it seems. The thing's got a shield on its left arm and a lance of sorts on its right. The robotic monstrosity is engaging John and Parkins, while Davo is engaging some... squid-faced Mortus Trooper, with a lot of flexibility to boot, since it just bent backwards 90 degrees to dodge Davo's right hook, snapping back upright in the span of a second and knocking Davo back with a punch.

John used his Firewarping ability, I think. It's like a shittier version of my powers. He can't create fire, but he can use it. Bend it to his will, shape it, but he can't change its properties, and definitive shapes like the shield he threw at the robotic thing to throw off its aim, take extra concentration on his end, and can't be maintained as long as my Claymores. Parkins takes the time to close the gap with the cyborg, using his intact human arm to make contact with one of its robotic appendages, ripping it off with ease. Ferric Twisting, he calls it. He can manipulate metallic objects if he makes direct contact to it, which explains why his prosthetic limbs move with an elegance and agility impossible to replicate without powers.

Raijin, the electric guy has moved up, dashing at imaginable speeds, smacking into a Mortus trooper, sending him splat against a wall at... I don't know how fast, but I think it's fast enough to knock a guy out for at least an hour or so. I don't know if it's my eyes or not, but I think I saw a split second of movement from the body instantly after impact, but that can't be. Miller has moved up, alongside her Fireteam, and she's dragged me to relative safety. Appreciate the effort, but my passive healing ability, no matter how painful it may be, would still have gotten me back up to my feet. I think. I haven't tested the limit of the Fire Adeptus ability, and I don't want to know right now.

The Mortus Troop leader, the one with the lance, closes the gap quickly with one of my men, and with one quick thrust, depletes almost all of John's IRESS, making the man react in pain. The squid guy has taken advantage of John's dissipated IRESS, and is strangling him with his damn tentacles, while the gravity trooper is using its powers to pin Danny against the wall, choking his throat specifically. They're in danger. Real danger. I can't let my men die while I just sit around and watch with a broken nose. Bullshit. To hell with that.

I stand up quickly, ignoring Miller, and begin charging head-on, summoning my Fire Claymore on my right hand, accidentally searing off the gauntlet and gloves with the red hot sword, but I couldn't give less of a damn about that right now. The gravity trooper caught a glance of my charge, and tried to duck, but to no avail, as I slice the thing in the abdomen, taking away its Bio-Field, and throwing it into a semi-spin to the ground from the blunt force, dropping Danny to the ground, grasping for air. Carlieson takes the initiative immediately, and pulls out his sidearm and tackling the thing after I whizzed past.

I hopped up, summoning a green Fire Claymore with my left hand, its energy overflowing outwards, leaving a trail of green flame on the ground behind me, as I jumped up and tried to stab the squid thing directly in the face. It took notice, however, and used its flexibility to its advantage, dodging upwards, letting go of John in the process, and using the wall behind it as a counter-force, and hops onto my back, pushing off of me, whilst turning around with its sidearm drawn, trying to punish me for my anger. The thing was in for a surprise, however, as I turned quickly, and hurled my right arm Claymore directly at it, hitting its arm, cutting its pistol in half, while what's left of its Bio-Field absorbs the sword, giving it a little extra unwanted kinetic boost into the ceiling, giving it a hell of a smack.

John quickly made himself scarce, by dodging out of the way of the lance trooper's second stab, which would've definitely pierced his armor and killed him. Thankfully, the lance was now headed my way. I swing my green Claymore around, slashing it from the side, parrying it. We're fighting each other now. I've been looking forward to this. Time to settle this. This box-helmeted alien's going down.

It took no time in recovering, and swung the Techlance around for a diagonal thrust from its left side, which I deflect with an upwards cut from my Claymore. It followed up with a full-body shield bash directed at me, but I spin to the side, pushing my foot with extra force, summoning another Fire Claymore on my right in the process. I slash horizontally along its shield arm with my green Claymore, dissipating its Bio-Field almost completely. It swung its shield around to block my right Claymore's stab though, following through with another frontal stab from the lance. I'm forced on the defensive, as it gives me stab after stab after stab, leaving little room for me to dodge or attack.

"Pathetic alien!" I heard it cry out, with a cocky voice, in its stupid Smierc language. A hideous language. Filthy, shit-sounding language. I deflect its final stab with a two-sword cut, deflecting its lance to the right. Using my right-hand Claymore to hold the lance to the side, I swung my green Claymore horizontally, to decapitate Boxhead over here, but it acted in time, raising its shield, making my Claymore ricochet off it, taking a few fragments of materiel off of the top. "Fucking die!" I yelled back in its language, as it pushed forward with its inertia, and swung around, holding its shield sideways, head-high. I hold both my swords up to take the hit, and sure enough, the shield glanced off me, cracking the integrity of my right-hand Claymore, collapsing it to just flames. As Boxhead moved back into formation, time slowed down for me as I looked around.

Davo was properly angry now, and he's tag-teaming with Parkins to take down Squiddy and Robot, using his superior speed to try and match Squiddy's flexibility in a lightning-fast exchange of punches and kicks, before deflecting one of Robot's metallic appendages, preventing it from hitting Parkins, who, in turn, breaks said appendage with his ability. Parkins has sustained extensive damage, especially to his prosthetic arm, but he can still go on. Same goes for Davo, he's proper pissed now. Just like me. Over on Carlieson and Danny's side, they're handling the gravity trooper quite well. It never quite recovered from my initial strike, and its powers also need to cool-down, it seems. Carlieson is using his sniper training and his passive ability, Deadshot, which allows him to hit almost all the shot he takes, to put some close-range harassing fire on the thing with his pistol, but the thing took cover behind Danny, putting him in a stranglehold and effectively using him as a shield. Luckily, his IRESS took all of Carlieson's shots, and that allowed the thing to pull out Danny's sidearm and pull off a few shots, breaking Carlieson's fragile IRESS and putting a holo-bolt in his right shoulder, making him fall down and scream in pain. Danny took the time for a right elbow directly into the thing's abdomen, making it release him, for him to grab his knife and resume business.

As for John, he's right here with me, as he absorbed the flame from my broken Claymore, after taking a breather, and shaping it into a spear, the simplest shape to form, and using it to stab Boxhead, forcing it to let go of its lance for a while, but the thing is still attached. Probably to its gauntlet. It then enters a state of rage of sorts, and uses its ability, releasing a mist of poisonous and corrosive fumes, as John's armored gloves begin to fizzle and crack, making him withdraw. I respond with anger, letting out a cone of fire from my right hand directly at the thing, my intense heat seemingly repelling the damn creature, as it ceases releasing fumes and brings up its shield.

John grabs a breather, absorbing more flames and trying his best to concentrate it into a more effective shape, while I get carried away and wield my remaining green Claymore with both hands, and begin mindlessly smacking its shield. It appears I kinda fucked up at this part, as it charges up its lance, and turns out, the thing isn't just a lance; it stabs me, and then pulls a trigger somewhere, firing a plasma weapon of sorts directly into my chest, throwing me backwards a meter or two, with all my IRESS depleted, and my chest armor piece ruined, fizzling at high temperatures, and my personal 'shroud' of Focus Crystals scattered all over the floor.

"You are weak, pathetic alien. Accept your fate and die!" The creature says as it walked up to me, intent on finishing me off with its lance. John intervened, with a jumping attack, and a sword made out of fire in hand, striking the thing directly in the head, sending a line of burning hot metal down its box-helmet. It wasn't enough to do any actual damage to the creature. In fact, it angered the thing. It swung back, deflecting his next slash with a sideways strike from its lance, and smacking John in the head with its shield, sending the man leaning against the wall. It then retracted its lance, and seemed to summon a glob of poison substance in its hand, and pressed it against John's neck as he tried to go for a punch, choking him by the neck, lifting him well above the ground. The poison works quickly, its corrosive properties making quick work of the neck armor, and I could just hear the sickening fizzle and crack of the armor piece as John gasps for air in vain.

A piece of debris, seemingly another appendage from Robot, was thrown at Boxhead at high speeds, directly at the arm it's using to choke John. The thing yelped in pain, as the throw did considerable damage to its arm, almost breaking it. I look to the source, as John dropped to the ground and started removing his helmet, in an attempt to get the poison off him before it does any more damage. Davo had thrown it, freshly torn off from Robot, before turning back for a punch directly at Squid's face, dazing it. Boxhead angrily charged up another glob of poison, hurling it with considerable force at Davo. I summon a Claymore from my right arm, sticking it up straight, and the flat of the blade takes the poison glob, burning the concentrated substance off completely, cutting the weakly formed Claymore in two, but that was enough.

It summoned its lance again, and tried to stab me in the chest, putting me down for good. Too bad for it, I re-absorbed John's flames with my passive ability, and that left me with enough energy for 10 seconds of continuous flames. I summon fire with my left hand, glowing hot green, and give it all I've got, rushing a torrent of green flame directly at the thing, which has cowered behind its shield. For the first seconds, I thought it was gonna hold together, but then its shield started to crack and melt from the heat. The thing begins to move backwards, seemingly affected by the heat I'm putting on the shield.

I then felt... a slimy feeling around my neck. Damn Squid has switched its target to me, strangling me, snapping my concentration and ending my torrent of fire. Boxhead recovers and arms its lance for the killing blow, perfectly set up by its Squid comrade. What a fitting way to die, huh? Trapped because I was too carried away to pay attention. Now I'll die with a front-row seat. What a way to die...

I was being too dramatic, though, it seems. Parkins and Davo to the rescue, targeting Boxhead rather than Squid. Just as the lance reared and begun to rush forward towards my chest, a prosthetic leg made out of tough alloys kicked it off its path, scratching my left arm. Boxhead had just enough time to look up to a sharpened fist that resembled an iron battering ram more than a fist, smashing into its helmet at full force. Davo's damn Spear-hands ability took a piece of its helm off, revealing a slightly pale shade of skin and a bright, piercing yellow eye staring at its enemies with unrelenting hatred. It swung its heavily damaged shield over, just in time to deflect Davo's follow-up spear-hand strike, and then swinging its lance around to poke Parkins' prosthetic arm, directly in the bicep as he was rearing up a punch, stopping it.

I had my own problems, however, as the Squid pulls out my own sidearm, a Strajk, and begins struggling with me, trying to point it at my head. Simultaneously, its face-tentacles begin tightening their grip on my neck, making breathing a whole lot harder. I loosened the grip manually with an elbow to its "abdomen", whilst my right hand tries to wrestle my gun back from its slimy right appendage. In its confusion and pain, it squeezes the trigger, sending rounds upward towards the hallway ceiling in bursts of 3 or 4, and with a pull to the left, I wrest the gun back from it. The trigger and grip is slimy as fuck, but I don't care. Time to blow this thing's brains out and...

I catch a glimpse of the robotic thing. All I could say is, Dav and Parkins really did a number on it. Both of its robotic legs are damaged beyond their functioning capability, with the right leg torn off and shoved into its robotic backside, somehow. It still had 3 arm appendages remaining, however, all armed with Strajks at the ends. It's targeting someone, someone posing a threat to its comrades. Someone like... me.

I point my Strajk at it, and release the last of the magazine into it, managing to damage its targeting optics somehow. The thing begins firing wildly, one going vertically along my forearm, and another piercing my left knee. Painful as all hell. I kinda miss the IRESS now, for what it's worth. The rounds also hit Squiddy, as its muscles flexed violently, but I don't know where it got hit. I heard John yell "Fire in the hole!" And the next thing I know was, I'm deaf.

The grenade went off near the robotic monstrosity, and for a second there, I thought it was gone for good. As its motors begun whirring loudly, however, I knew I had thought wrong. We had all been affected by the blast in close quarters, mostly due to fragmentation and the shockwave. Fragmentation was taken care off by our armor, but the shockwave all knocked us off balance in one way or another. Shakily, I got up to my feet, and prepared for... whatever's next, I guess.
 
Ilik/Retribution

As things went from confused right back into the hectic dissonance of war and Ilik found himself home once more he watched as the opening rounds barreled down the hall and towards the new aliens.Originally he had intended on attempting this 'shaking of appendages' if only out of a courtesy to the smaller, squishier allies, but instead he reached his arm out and felt a crystal shatter on the back of his hand, his palm just to the side of the new allies leader's head.

Opting to survey things and see how these new comers acted when they weren't dancing around whether he was friend or foe he let them move in. The first thing he noticed right off the bat, however, was many seemed to be wildcards. Plans made amongst smaller groups, but without telling the bigger groups, notable when a container crate smashed into likely where he himself would have been had he charged forward.

Now that there was a barrier, and that he wasn't immediately being fired upon, Ilik turned to his allies and did his best to piece together what he could of their language that he'd heard, though it came out between stuttered clicks of his jaw and mandibles, "Do job yours, not with I not along leave."

Slamming two fists to his chest as he pulled his spear forth, Ilik ran towards the nearest container and climbed upon it, calling out a challenge to the Smierc to send their best out so that they may face him and die with what little honor the Smierc had to offer.

Perhaps that would at least give these not-Smierc time to remove themselves from his war path.

Six

Having followed Raslan's troops in to the fray, for the most part at least, Six made a point to stick to the ceiling as shit began to monumentally hit the fan. Bolts and bullets flew to and fro and container crates fell. The humans did their crazy stunts and Raslan's men seemed to be both pushing forward and holding off the humans well enough so that was good.

No, what caught Six's attention the most was when a massive, four armed, hulking brute wrapped in chitin leaped upon a fallen container crate and issued a challenge to us, the Smierc. This must have been that Retribution character. He seemed angry. Letting herself drop from the ceiling on the far end of the crate from the monstrosity, she pulled her hilt out and formed a long, crystalline katana with it before speaking to the one that was Retribution.

"Well hello there. I'm Six. You sure do seem to have an issue with the Smierc, kind of a shame. I suppose you're going to have to be my first fight then, let's go!"

Before she could do a thing the mildly bemused, but not so amused, Retribution lifted the girl and tossed her the way of the rest of the fight without a second glance, his eyes seemingly fixed on Raslan. That was no longer her concern though. Six let her blade collapse and replaced the hilt at her waist before she touched down. Upon hitting the floor she rolled twice before kicking out and managing to come to a stop on her feet, her tail aiding in keeping her balanced even as she landed right after a hell of an explosion.

Taking a moment to look at the people around her struggling to re-orient themselves Six noticed that the huge guy had landed over by Raslan, but that came in second fiddle as someone near here seemed to begin to gather their wits about them. He had a face similar to her own, was clearly of the species Six had been modeled after to infiltrate, though his nose looked like it had taken the brunt of any damage he'd received. Shrugging her shoulders, she felt armor plates begin to slid into place, protecting her whole torso from immediate damage as the armor got ready to do it's job.

Reaching down again, she pulled her sheath out and prepared herself for combat as she tried again, "Right, so, I'm Six, and this is my first true battle! Dagger, sword, or longsword?"


Kabboom Kabboom
Trappy Trappy
 
Raslan

Well this was a feisty start. The foolish aliens who were cut from their allies appear to be far more spirited than I expected of them, as just after we had beaten them back, they immediately rose out from cover and charged at us again. Their effort had been impressive, especially the one who summons flame from its hands. I can see pure hatred and sheer determination in its angered attacks.

I brought about the shield attached to my left arm to block its slashes, but the surface of the shield misses the scorching blade in its left hand by just an inch. As a result, my Bio-Field soaks up most of the damage from the green flame, and shatters completely after the attack. Not good. Don't get the wrong idea, I have full confidence in my armour. But without the Bio-Field, as heavily plated as it is, the armour can only take so much punishment. And I'm not willing to risk it now. At least not yet. The fight appears to be nowhere near its conclusion.

Enough taking hits. I decide to bring the offensive to the fire-wielding alien after blocking off a stab from the blade on its right hand, delivering decisive and swift thrusts with the Techlance aimed at its torso. Stab after stab, guided by the Tachyon-based targeting sensor, I force the raging creature into a more defensive stance while shoving using my shield to leave it as little room for a counterattack as possible.

"Pathetic alien!" - I taunted it. Ironically, with a missed thrust, the alien isn't slow to utilise the opportunity to completely deflect the Techlance to the far right. Holding the lance in place with its right sword, with no hesitation, the creature follows up with a horizontal slash in an attempt to decapitate me. An impressive demonstration of martial arts! For the first time, I hold a strange admiration for a xeno opponent. But my admiration won't save it, nor will its bold maneuvers. The flaming blade comes to a halt and ricochetted back as I raise my shield-arm up the side to block it. "Fucking die!" The enraged creature cussed from the top of its lungs. I understand it, as the humans' language had been decrypted by the Collective soon after first contact. The one who's dying is the alien itself. I charged forward with my inertia, holding my shield up sideways before spinning to the left to smack the lights out of this pitiful creature. However, it manages to hold up its right sword just in time, and my attack cracks up the weapon, as it dissipates into pure flame.

I could've easily finished off the human then, if it wasn't for one of its comrades who rushed to the rescue. It absorbs the lingering flame from the collapsed sword and forges it into a weapon of its own. After successfully analysing and pinpointing its target, I shift my body to dodge a sudden frontal poke. The fire spear misses my torso, but it lands onto a weak spot of the right gauntlet and manages to pierce into the spear. Intense heat causes the thing to malfunction, with the Techlance stuck in place momentarily, and my HUD shows superficial damage to the lance's energy discharge emitter. Not a hard fix though. Right now, I definitely have more at hands.

The newcomer closes in, presumably for another poke. I intend to use my ability on it, and so I wait for it to close the distance as much as possible. And just when that happens, I drop the shield and target the vents forward to release a dense mist of corrosive fume, damaging the alien's armour right on contact, forcing it to withdraw. The other alien seems to have taken notice of this, and it acts quick. A torrent of flame erupts from its right hand and engulfs the front of my suit. The suit is designed to take far more punishment, but exposed vents can only withstand so much intense heat. I decide not to take chances and pull back, raising my shield to cover my vitals from the fire. The human then enters a stage of anger, it seems, senselessly smacking my shield with the green sword. As the alien does this, it unintentionally exposes its front. The Techlance's tip opens up sideways, revealing the energy discharge emitter of the plasma cannon, and I position it directly under the shield, right up the alien's chest. A blinding flash sends the thing backwards by a metre or two, a fizzling burn visible on its torso. A blast up close should've blown the creature to smithereens, I can only assume such a malfunction is due to the emitter being damaged earlier.

"You are weak, pathetic alien. Accept your fate and die!"

I walk up to the creature lying flat on the ground, its armour battered. One strike and it's smashed meat. But the opportunity was denied from me, as its partner is now back in the fight. The xeno wields a weapon resembling that of its comrade, and with a jumping attack, it gives me a long burn down my helm. But the slash was nowhere near damaging. The alien also seems significantly less skilled than the other fire-wielding one: after its surprise attack, its moves become easily predictable. I deflect its second slash with a sideways swing, then send it leaning on a wall with a shield smack in its head, its fire sword "breaking" into pieces. It's not giving up yet, however, as the alien immediately rises up to me with just its bare hands. Spirited prey is still prey. I retract the lance, and with a glob of poison in my hand, I manage to grab the creature by its neck as it was charging up at me with whatever strength it's got left, lifting it high up above the ground. The poison quickly digs into the plating and cracks, while I slowly tighten my grip on the helpless fool. I imagine I could snap its neck right there. The poison aided by the force I'm applying to the frail thing might just be enough to decapitate it, but I got carried away in enjoying its struggle, and allowed its comrades time to come for the rescue.

As the creature desperately gasp for air in my hand, I suddenly feel a sharp, cold stroke of pain on my forearm. My eyes turn to meet a piece of debris, struck deep into the arm, shattering a part of the armour plating. I throw the alien onto the ground as damage warnings pop up all over my HUD. I look up to find the culprit. Another human. I assume it was engaging the cyborg when it noticed me choking the life out of its friend. Blast. It hurts. I can really feel the debris in my arm. But the pain was short-lived. The wound then feels cold, a sensual effect of the drugs automatically injected by the suit to temporarily keep me from feeling pain and suffer serious infections, which certainly helps with injuries in a fight. I summon another glob of poison in my hand and hurl it at the new attacker as hard as I could. The poison flies with an incredible force until it is intercepted by the previous fire-wielding alien, its flaming weapon risen from the ground with smoke still fizzling from the plasma blast on its armour.

I fling out the lance again, intending to put the human down for good this time. But it suddenly blast me with an enduring torrent of flame that eventually forces me to back down and hold up my shield in defence. The intense heat was actually going past my shield's limit, when the molluscoid man creeps up on the alien, taking it from behind and lining up a perfect chance for me to strike it down. Just as the lance drives towards the human's chest, a leg appears out of nowhere and kicks it to the side. Staggered by the sudden attack, I look up only to see an alien driving its hand straight up my helm with such immense force that a whole chunk of the helm is carved off. The HUD goes absolutely mental at this point and it's starting to give me a headache. But I'm not allowed to take a break. Leaving the molluscoid to deal with the fire-wielding alien, I take up on both of the creature's comrades. I swing the shield sideways, deflecting the human's second strike with his hand, while poking my lance just in the right spot and time to stop the other human's attack. I then smash one of them to the side with a horizontal swing with the lance, and just as I turn to the other, it dives behind come cargo load. By the time I come to realise what might be happening, my exposed eye squints in panic, and there's a deafening blast.

My armour successfully shrugs off the fragmentation, but I can feel the effects of the shock wave all over my body. Some Smierc regulars take advantage of the grenade blast to move up and apply suppressive fire to assist us Mortus Troopers. I then hear a loud thud, and I look up to see someone, or something had landed just ahead of me. The ferocious creature stands nearly twice my size, and it sure looks angry. Zap. It crosses my mind: Is this the "Retribution" they've been talking about?

"Couldn't have picked a better time, could you?" - I muttered between heavy breaths.

Some Smierc regulars immediately fall back, while others switch targets and focus their fire on the giant xeno, but they too are backing away from the creature. I regain my ground, shields up and prepare the lance for the new threat.
 

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