A New Day

One more enemy down, not much more than a pile of scrap metal on the floor. Shykrad saw the binding aura who had kept the others together fade away, the remains only showing the lifeless signs of what they were supposed to be. Did they even have ancestors? Probably. Someone had built the first of them at some point, laying the foundation for the treachery that had hit the alliance right to the core. Did they protect them just like those of the Garudanian people did? Apparently not. He hissed a word of thanks in his mothertongue before turning towards the others. "Superior height only means you have to duck your head more often", he noted in direction of the Scottish chatterbox, then pointed in direction of the room ahead. "We have no time to waste", he noted, readying his gun and moving forward, prepared to shoot at whatever Yoshi had managed to run into - or to catch up to him if his aura and shadowy shape already were nowhere to be seen.
 
Orran


"Aye," he agreed with amusement, "you might be right about that Slick," he looked at Shykrad with no malice in his voice or his words, "but then, I can reach things on the top shelf." He winked at the Garundin then addressed the captain. "So, do we go rescue the damsel in distress?"
 
Evangeline 


The door was fully secure and her 'treasure' well protected behind her own body. Stress began venting out as the statistical odds of her team taking care of the intruders became more and more likely. Her grimace recedes into her resting image of neutrality. "Inner lab is still secure Sharon.." 
 
Sharon's reply is crisp, but you can hear her exerting herself as she runs at top speed. "Good.  Stand fast; we are on our way, with Shogun taking point.  If you have any surprises built into the area, use them now to keep the Haydonites distracted."
 
Efemena "Hera"


Efe sweeps her rifle to the door she leapt through. The training never fails: plug the holes. Right now the hole is their rear and it’s ready to be flanked. Efe hadn’t thought about it. Thought is too slow in combat. Instead her body simply played back the movements it had practiced and executed so many times before. The team is fluid and she would keep rearguard until the situation requires a change.


Efe thumbs the comm. “This is Hera: clear behind, in overwatch.”
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Racing through the ship, the group from Hydra squadron gets to the outer office of Dr. Crowley's rooms.  Shogun has already begun to engage two of the three Haydonite units, but the third one is being confronted with a slim oriental man wearing a lightweight jumpsuit.  Most of Hydra recognizes him as Jade Tiger, the wizard that has come from the alternate dimension where the group landed in their version of Japan.  Efe and Orran only know him by his reputation, that he is some kind of teacher to Sharon and Yoshi's children.  He is standing still as the Infiltrator is busy throwing bolts of plasma energy at him, but he is making no effort to dodge; far from it.  He is blocking the shots with his bare hand, as he shouts at it in rapid fire Japanese. 
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Shogun was moving fast, the time between thought and action measured in fractions of nanoseconds. He was past the first obstruction, the Infiltrator sentry, and the second, the hole in the doorway. He was dimly aware of the conversation of his squadmates, as they talked amongst themselves. Their words were almost irrelevant as his focus became needle-sharp. He saw two more of the foes, these Haydonites who'd sought once more to bring harm to his squad, his family, and he was having none of it. Excalibur throbbed lustily in his hands, it's eager blade almost dragging him behind it in it's quest to cut and slice and destroy.


Shogun shifted his stance, even as the Haydonites had their attention drawn away by the arrival of the mage, Jade Tiger. The venerable scholar was already exerting his power, deflecting searing plasma with his bare hands. It occurred to Shogun that, one day, his daughter might also be able to do such feats, but the thought was a scant ripple on the pool of his concentration, a perturbance that was swiftly stilled.


"Meiyo no ken. Watashi no ikari o teikyō!"*, he roared as he rushed into combat, sweeping the rune-encrusted blade in a figure-eight formation between the two unengaged Haydonites, looking to catch them both in his flurry of attacks.


*Honorable sword. Deliver my wrath!"
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The blade slices deep into the armor of the first Infiltrator, and it slows your swing on the second one just enough for that one to dodge out of the way. The two Haydonites in front of Shogun both raise their arms and fire at him twin bolts of plasma energy, while the third continues to attack Tiger. Shogun can either try a dodge or a parry, your choice.
 
Shogun's natural instincts screamed at him to dodge aside to avoid the deadly plasma roaring at him, but his mind was rigidly in control. The Haydonites are off-balance right now. They are fighting two humans, one bearing an archaic weapon, the other no weapons at all, and both of them are damaging them. Their hive mind must be trying hard to comprehend the reasoning for these feats. Let's give it something more to puzzle over. With that, the captain braced his feet and shifted his grip on the sword to move into a traditional katana stance. As the bolts of plasma reached him, he deflected them, one into the floor, the other into the ceiling.
 
Finally, Shogun came into sight - a shadowy shade, wileding his sword with supreme precision, even deflecting the foes' shots. However, his seemingly self-confident presence was not the only one filling the room, as another man stood with him against three Haydonites. An aura known, yet still unfamiliar - the teacher was different from most others on the ship, especially now that he called the powers resting inside of his human body. Next to him, the Haydonites seemed simply inferior, as if it was only a matter of time until they would fall against the power of the two already fighting the intruders. However, time was nothing they could waste for now - every second gone could cost lifes, every moment of delay could result in a disaster. Ancestors, grant us the strength to break through - so that we can reach those depending on our assistance. Jumping forward, Shykrad pointed his gun at the closest of the mechanical figures, joining the shower of unknown, strange-sounding words of the others in his mother tongue: "You won't hold us back." For a short moment, a thought came into his mind - the insight that for another Garudanian, his intervening would have looked as if a frail candle stood next to the burning heat of a forest fire. But it didn't matter. There was none other of his kind present, it was all on him to make a difference. On him, and the ancestors. Their whisper was in his ears, distant and yet close enough to give him a feeling of assurance. "Be gone", he hissed, knowing that their assistance would, in the worst case, at least compensate his unfamiliarity with his weapon.
 
The strong enchantments on Shogun's blade make it able to deflect the plasma blasts with no damage to the weapon itself.  Even as Team Hydra stands and fights, you can hear the sounds of multiple Cyclones racing to join in the fray to save the secrets of Dr. Crowley's lab.  Between the valiant efforts of the squad and the 'special' upgrades put in place by the mad doctor, it has delayed the Haydonites just enough to let the cavalry show up to make a stand.


Just as the three Super Cyclones round the corner and raise up their weapons, the Haydoites disappear with a sudden 'poof' of displaced air, suggesting that they are not just invisible, but have teleported out.  The troops that have just arrived begin to systematically sweep the area, just in case the enemy is still there, somewhere.


Sharon calls out, "Spooky!  We are clear out here; are you secure?  What's your status?"
 
Efe


Efe swears under her breath. Not fast enough. The Haydoites are playing them again, she decides. The REF is just a toy to them. Until they'd be able to show real force, the fighting would continue this way: on Haydoite terms. "Where" and "when" would be a serious advantage that couldn't be ignored..


Efe makes a mental note to bring this up to Shogun and the rest. Some one needed to see that this is merely the beginning.
 
Evangeline 


Rushing to her desk, pointer finger unravels into a plug of sorts. Inserting it into into the corresponding jack, her free hand hovers over a now revealed red button. A failsafe for this sort of thing. The lights of her lab, all lined with a solidified chaff, smoke, and loaded with emitters to broadcast unfiltered data-net viruses. Upon plugging in, she transfers into 'offline' status incapable of receiving internal transmission. All she had to do was press and half the technical networks on the ship would implode... 


[COLOR= rgb(152, 157, 160)]"Spooky!  We are clear out here; are you secure?  What's your status?"[/COLOR]


Thank you god.....Evangeline withdraws her hand and the button sinks away. Her finger seals back up as she disarms the lockdown in her office and peaks around the corner. 


"Status secure, Fully capable with minimal injuries to core lab elements! Is everyone alright? Do I need to fire up my combat chassis?" 
 
Shogun scowls as the Haydonites engaged their teleportation technology and disappeared. He carefully ran a gloved hand along the side of Excalibur's edge, simultaneously checking the keenness and clearing it of any detritus from his attacks. We really need to get our hands on that teleportation technology. The ability to teleport troops and equipment inside enemy emplacements would make fighting the Invid far easier. They had revealed this ability when they had kidnapped Hydra squad from their mecha and deposited them on a hostile world. But a question sparked in his mind. If they knew which section Evangeline was in, why not teleport straight there and minimise the chance of being intercepted?


"Marines, secure that downed Haydonite, if it's still there. I want it dismantled and every part inspected five minutes ago.", he barked, sheathing his blade.


Sharon's voice in the comms and Evangeline's response brought him back to Yoshi and he released a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding.


"Hydra squad, report status."
 
From one moment to the next, they were gone - leaving a lost battle before the cavalry could tear them apart. Not the conclusion to the fight Shykrad had expected, but good enough for now. Shouldering his weapon, the Garudanian had a careful look around, but everything to be seen was familiar, or at least not of Haydonitian nature. Next time, both the alliance and in particular the doctor herself would be prepared for their arrival. And especially the last part would give them a headache if they were capable of having one - seeing that they already had identified her as the threat to go after.


Thinking of her, it didn't take long for the doors to unlock after Sharon's call - a good sign. He really didn't want to know what her measures would have been if the door wouldn't have been enough to keep the attackers outside. She was a double-edged sword, really. On one hand, her achievements spoke for themselves - she was a symbol for what mankind was able to accomplish, giving hope to even overcome the Invids at some point. On the other hand, her whole aura seemed to tell the story of what mankind was capable of if it left its moral obligations behind. And that part seemed dangerous indeed. We got 'rescued' once, and it brought even more harm. That won't happen to us again. Another disappointment, and there will be none of us left to keep fighting.


"Hydra squad, report status." The voice of his squad leader disrupted his thoughts. In a positive way, of course. He'd lead the squad to free Garuda way before mankind could change its mind. They would either be free at that point - or this whole undertaking was meant to fail, and none of this mattered anyway. "Only Orran took a scratch there - think we all will be fine." There was no disturbance he could spot, and the ancestors probably would have told him if someone was close to dying. "The children are safe, I hope?", he asked Jade, his voice a bit distant as his mind dealt with the flood of impressions that formerly had been normality for him. First the children, then potential other fights on board. The whole aftermath, meetings, change of plans, new things to consider. A single failed attack, and yet people will die because of it. My people.
 
Orran


He whistled in appreciation for the excellent swordsmanship his captain displayed. That was a man who knew how to use a blade. Between him and the old man, who was slinging magic around like it ain't no thing, he had to admit that anything he'd do would be fairly superfluous. And so he watched and waited. 


Until the craven bastards turned tail and just disappeared. "Well fuck me, bloody bastards can't take a fair fight."


He looked about his squad even as Sharon gave this Dr. Crowley the all clear.  "Hydra squad, report status." The order was given automatically, instinctively but Orran could hear the breathless exaltation of a man coming down from a fight.


The Garudin spoke first, "Only Orran took a scratch there - think we all will be fine."


"Ah hell," the young Zentraedi shrugged, "it's not like my arm's about to fall of. All's well Cap."
 
Efemena "Hera"


Efe breathes deep. The adrenaline is beginning to ease. She works to regulate her body and control coming off the high.


Her brain free to focus on more than combat, she turns the battle over in her mind. Shogun. He and his sword are legends in the fleet. She thinks back through his movements. Calm. Precise. Savage. He is everything she had heard and more.


She turns to Shogun. "Sir, should we move the Doctor to a different location?" The fighting is done, but if the Haydonites were to strike again, they'd at least have warning with their target, the Doctor, in a different location. Efe is not to take unnecessary risks.
 
Several hours have now passed since the attack on the ship, and all indications show that the main target for the Haydonite strike was Dr. Crowley's work.  Everything else they were doing on the ship was just a smoke screen to distract you from their true objective.  Admiral Kerensky comes down from the command deck to personally oversee the clean-up and talk to the members of Hydra that responded to the attack.  The short Russian woman is mad that her flagship was attacked, but is laser focused on one important fact: The Haydonites obviously believe that Dr. Crowley has some important data stored away in her files that they don't want to be seen by the outside world.  Considering this fact, she turns to Evangeline.  "Doctor, you have a new priority mission on your hands.  If the bastard Haydonites want this data recovered or destroyed, there has to be a reason.  Find it.  Sift through every nugget of data you have on these people and find out what they are after.  This is your new top priority, and you are free to requisition as much main computer time and support staff to get it done as you need.  Next, we were in the middle of Fold Space when we were attacked.  Up until this afternoon, I would have thought it was impossible to do that, but once more we are proven wrong.  How did they find us, and just as important, how can we stop further attacks while our fighter wings are inside the ship for transport?  Get me these answers, doctor, and you can write yourself a blank check for the future under my command.  Do you get me?  In the meantime, I will have Cyclones stationed at your lab 24/7 to make sure that any further attacks will not be able to get to you so easily.  I apologize for any inconvenience  the guards may cause, but I have the safety of tens of thousands under my command to worry about.  Now, is there anything you need right now to get started?"


@Teh Frixz @Captain Hesperus @WlfSamurai @The Rose and Phoenix @Silanon
 
Orran


It was time to relax, time to breathe, and, put simply, a time to live- now that the fighting was all done. And Orran had intended on doing just that. All he had to do was find someone else who wanted to relax, breathe, and live... and if he was lucky that person would be female and willing. He smiled as he sent out some texts to several of his, ah, friends. 


Conversation died away as soon as Admiral Kerensky arrived in the lab. Orran stood with a casual slowness and saluted the admiral as she walked in and went directly to the doctor. She absently returned the salutes directed at her and went immediately to Crowley. He took the time to look at the small woman and decided that The Bard was right- though she small, she was mighty. He also wondered if her husband was military, and if so, what his rank was. And then he wondered about couples who were in the same 'business' but where was one was higher on the ladder than the other. How did one separate the superior officer from the spouse? Did it bleed into the home life? Did the superior officer still try and give orders at home, expecting them to be obeyed as if they were at work?


He sent another text and put his phone into his pocket. The Haydonite attack was directed straight at Dr. Crowley. Now wasn't that interesting? 


He continued to watch the admiral and decided that a military relationship could probably only work so long as the two people in the relationship were equals. He then realized that the Yoshi and Sharon were, technically, not equals as Yoshi was the captain and Sharon was not. He frowned then pulled his phone out again and replied to a text. Maybe it could work- so long as the two people were on some sort of equal footing. Of course, he didn't know what their home life was like, but he was willing to bet that they were equals there too.


Maybe the admiral's husband, if he were in the military, has found equal footing with his wife. Or maybe it's the admiral who has found equal footing with her husband. Or maybe they don't care. Or maybe she's not married.


Or maybe, he thought, it's none of your damned business laddie.


His phone buzzed again as another text came through. He smiled at it and decided that he might not have to relax, breathe, and live alone tonight after all.
 
Shykrad Lykri


A simple push on his apparatus, and the world grew hazy in front of his eyes. As the Garudan reached out for the wall to find hold, he staggered sideways, barely managing to stay on his feet. It was always like that - and in the ecstasy of the Hin, he forgot about it every single time. Feeling that close to the miserable place he called home, seeing things noone else perceived and hearing the whispers of the spirits - all of this made him feel almost invulnerable. And now that all of it was gone within a heartbeat, it felt as if a hammer had struck him right on the forehead, making him easy prey for all those out there hunting down his kind. At least this time, he was safe - allies all around him, and he had waited long enough to make sure the Haydonites didn't plan another attack. Not that they could be safe as long as they teleported in out of nowhere - but at some point, Shykrads stocks on air would run short, and he better did not take the risk to let all of this happen at some random point in time. Being vulnerable means leaving the squad as an easy target as well - and by the ancestors, we just saw how close we were to seeing a desaster happening.


As he breathed rapidly through his respirator, the colors slowly found their way back into his world, miserable replacements for what now was nothing more than a distant echo in his mind. Slowly overcoming the dizziness of his senses, he noted that the Admiral had made her way down here, clearly focused on the doctor. Good thing - she's the key, although we don't know the reason. Exactly that seemed to be her concern as well, judging by the few scraps of conversation his mind could handle. Now leaning against the cold wall behind him, he slowly slid downwards, until at last he sat on the floor, silently mustering those around. Here I am - a disoriented picture of misery, far away from a homeworld that needs my help. Alone among friends, left behind even by the spirits. It took another few minutes until at last, a predatory smile reached his lips. It was only a silent whisper in the distance, too faint to understand the words, and easy to miss after the thundering clearity of the hours past. But it was there, like a promise for the future. We're part of the Hin, and we'll never leave it behind - Myrvins words. I wish the old shaman was here - and I wish I'd be more than a frail shadow of him, now that it is on me to finish his task. Supporting himself on the gun that had proven useful enough in his agile paws, he tried to stand up - all his movements seemed slow and unprecise, but there was no tme for weakness while others were suffering. "Ancestors, guide me. Show me the path that brings us peace, after centuries of servitude."
 
Sharon sees the disoriented Garudan sitting on the floor and goes over to sit next to you.  In a soft voice, she says, "Hey, you ok?  Just take a few deep breaths and come back to us.  Everything is fine."  She smiles at Shykrad, hoping to reassure him in his confused state.


Before coming fully out of the Hin, Shykrad suddenly gets a vision, a startling image of a far away planet, a machine world filled with inhuman forms scuttling about.  Deep into the core of the world your vision takes you, until you come to a computer mind of a scale that is boggling to behold.  Hundreds of miles across, it is a horrific sight as tens of thousands of Haydonite servitors maintain the massive thing.  As you look at it, you can feel waves of pure hatred for you coming from it, along with the desire to end not only you, but every species associated with the UEEF.  Not to subjugate, but extermination.  There is no other option to this world-computer.  It must destroy all of you.


Finally, the vision fades, returning you to the here and now.  But the shiver up your spine tells you that this is not going to be the last time you see this horrible place.
 
A vision - frighteningly clear, as if he had been right there, a negligible mind next to the hate-filled heart of the Haydonites. Guarded and cared for by its mechanical legions, far out of reach for those it was willing to hunt down at any cost. A short insight like a promise: Never would there be peace until either the UEEF and all those protected by the fleets were annihilated, or the evil's core itself was destroyed. Shivering in fear, the Garudan tried to close his eyes, but couldn't escape the impressions - until at last, his mind left the Hin, disordered by both the usual procedure and the nightmare he had passed through on his way between perceived invulnerability and sudden desperation. A distant voice called out for him, but it felt like centuries until he finally could understand the lies. Only now did he feel the pain in his palms where his claws had cut into his skin - as the distant whispering of the ancestors welcomed him back, Shykrad turned to Sharon, fear and panic in his eyes. "Nothing is fine. They are waiting for us, watching our steps. Never will we succeed, all of our struggles will be fruitless. Even if we free Garuda, it will only be another planet for them to destroy." He took a deep breath, dropped his gaze to muster the floor between his angled, shaky legs. "I've seen the core, as if I was right there. There will be no negotiations - one by one will we fall, until at last, there's nothing left to kill for them." Why, ancestors? Never did you grant me a vision before, only now do you show me the inevitable - what shall I find in these images, other than pure hopelessness?
 
Yoshi saluted as the Admiral entered, then went about his business as she talked with Evangeline. He moved purposefully around the lab's antechamber, moving between his pilots.


"Orran, well fought. Your recklessness threw the Haydonites off-guard, but be careful. I doubt similar tactics will work as effectively in future. Efe, thank you for your offer of outflanking the boarders. Normally it would have been a good idea, but they knew where they needed to be and were almost there already. I'll welcome your tactical insights in future. Sharon, thank you for keeping comms with Evangeline. You were invaluable in keeping her appraised of our situation. Shykrad, you fought exceptionally against a foe you've unlikely to have engaged in single combat before. You are a credit to your people."


He stopped then, and listened to Shykrad's words, his portents of the 'evil core' of the Haydonites.


"How much did you see? Can you remember much detail? Would you be able to tell us everything you saw so we can keep a record of it?"
 
Orran


He watched silently as Sharon walked over to the Garundin. The smallest of them was shaken up about something. He was wondering when he could hie off and go entertain the lady who was willing to be entertained for the night.


At least, he was until Shykrad began to talk of a foe that wanted nothing more than every living man, woman, and child of the UEEF destroyed. "Well, fuck me, that's a nasty vision, mate."


He sauntered over to where Shykrad was sitting and dropped down to sit beside him. The tall, red Zentraedi and the small Garundin sat next to each other. In times past they would have been at each other's throats had they been in the same room. Zentraedi had done to Shykrad's people what controlled and enslaved Zentraedi have always done: burned and pillaged until the world was an empty husk of what it was once. Personally, he remembered what Earth was like before his own kind destroyed half the planet. 


But it would seem as if no one was safe from this evil computer thing. He looked up at the captain spoke. "How much did you see? Can you remember much detail? Would you be able to tell us everything you saw so we can keep a record of it?"


"Aye, all the information one has on the enemy is always helpful."
 
Dr.Crowley 


Seeming remarkably impassive, Crowley stands still and quiet as usual as her minds operate far more than her body. Sifting through both her biologic and organic memory banks to pull up data analyzing programs of all sorts, she smiles a bit before finally coughing to alert others of her need to speak. 


"I have an idea of what it might be that is bringing our Haydonite friends in like bait. Several actually. There is myself, a being that has integrated with Haydonite thought networks. My latest attempt into creating a 'new' species of humanity with technology independent of Haydonite prowess. They possibly don't like us. Or of course, but this is unlikely, there is something they are after that I do not know I have. There are odd signs pointing towards each possibility, I am unsure which it could be though." 


An idea kicks off in her head, traveling right to storage for later review. "I wouldn't be opposed to finding this location though, in order to infiltrate it..."  
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top