Futuristic Burning Sails [OPEN]

[SniperComZero]

Olivia made sure to wipe her boots on the ground as she started to follow the rest of the team deeper into the belly of the station. Really she'd said it in jest that they were ass-ending an ONI black site, but the fact that any corpse that they came across was in ONI markings, she was starting to think that maybe she had been right all along. On one hand, good. She's at least pretty sure that no one else is gonna be here aside from ONI, but on the other hand, she felt a pit form in her stomach, dug by the knowledge that the Reavers would now be Public Asshole Number One, underlined ten times over for wiping out a blacksite.

...And she did spare a disparaging glance towards both Caiden and Lauren at their hopes that they'd love to fight a mech. With no backup. Just for the fun of it. She was, frankly, kinda regretting not jerry-rigging that shield generator to her mech. Would really come in handy if they had to whack a battlesuit.

"Poor fucks didn't know who they were fuckin' with, eh?"

"Yeah, well, I wager they know now-- and I'd bet money they're really gonna wanna fuck with us when they find out what happened." ...Olivia really had to wonder, why aren't they just stealing this thing and blowing the hell out of this place? If it's a black site... did their asshole contractor just wanna steal whatever's here for herself? But then, why--

She's going to be thinking around this in circles for a while yet.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Shelby nodded to Typhon and wandered along with the group as they pressed on, his attention bouncing between... everything. Sometimes he wiggled his arm again and made a sound akin to giggling, interested in the unfamiliar sensation of the pain, before he stared up at the lights with his sunglasses. Very bright! He kept his submachine gun slung over his shoulder, the barrel meandering towards the rooms they passed as he kept one hand firmly on it.


Once they stopped near the wall markings, Shelby drifted towards the wall and patted it, rubbing his hand over the markings besides Nil. "Woah." The walls were very cold, but also warm, and he couldn't help but take his hand away, put it back, and take it away again.

 

[Infab]

"Ma'am, if you don't mind I'd like to disengage and scout some of the rooms in detail. Maybe I can recover something of use."

She gestured towards Damien. "I could use the help from another operative."

Valk cocked an eyebrow, cutting a look between the two of them, before shrugging. "Go for it. Might find some nifty ONI shit lying around." she finally responded, before glancing back to the others. Mainly Olivia.

"Yeah, well, I wager they know now-- and I'd bet money they're really gonna wanna fuck with us when they find out what happened."

"They fuck with us, we'll fuck right back. Tit for tat. Simple." she stated. She soon looked back to the markings on the wall. "Alright. Eyes open. If it moves, shoot it. We clear this place out on the way to where they're keeping Nil's ship. If we run into a battlesuit, engage it and put it down quickly. Hit it hard and fast, because it'll be doing the same to us."

And as soon as Valk finished her statement, there was a burst of comms chatter over their radios. "We've encountered the battlesuit! I've got seven down! Holding position for now, but it looks like its making a beeline for the lower levels of the station! There's a squad of ONI shock troopers tailing it!" The assault team got hammered by it, it seemed. "Got it. Hang tight, we're gonna head down and take 'em out." responded Valk, before glancing back. "Time to go." she muttered, her bloody hand gripping her pistol tightly as she moved in the direction that the markings were indicating. The others quickly moved after, staying close and alert.

They opted to avoid the elevators, which if used would act as a big 'COME SHOOT ME' signal for whatever floor they stopped on, and soon found themselves climbing down maintenance ladders to the lower areas of the vessel. It would prove useful, they soon found themselves behind enemy lines. Emerging into the back areas of central processing. Long conveyor belts with scanners and other types of machinery sat silent, but it seemed there had been activity here recently. Weapon cleaning kits, used rations, some odd bits of gear and other tools. There were even sleeping bags here. ONI had decide to camp out.

"Too bad we couldn't catch them napping." remarked Caiden. Lauren chuckled. "A grenade in the sleeping bag would have been a helluva wake-up call."

 

[Viper Actual]

"We'll stay in touch," said Nathalie, nodding. She looked at Damien and cocked her head. As the others moved out the two of them lagged behind with Nathalie inspecting doors, signs and anything else that could hint at a treasure trove of information. "There has to be something else around here other than old rations, sleeping bags and empty shipping crates," she muttered out loud.

Upon approaching a maintenance hatch Nathalie paused and glanced at Damien with a smile. "Think we can bypass all the crap and strike gold right away or is that just wishful thinking on my end?"

 

[Breadman]

"If you find any of those little pyramids, save them for me." Amy told Natalie as she also poked her head into rooms to find any useful gear that might be left behind.

 

[K0mori]

Having reached the bottom of the ladders and entered into another walkway, Vixaya got the sense that there was no imminent threat of danger, momentarily. While the others joked and made plans, she swept through the abandoned ONI "camp," apparently uninterested in any of the equipment their foes were using, and instead proceeded to an alcove in the wall beyond containing the control boards for some of the machinery nearby. Next to both a cable tunnel access hatch and yet another ladder, there was a vending machine. Vixaya reached into her pocket and pulled out a credit chit, and set about buying herself a soda.

 

[Infab]

"There has to be something else around here other than old rations, sleeping bags and empty shipping crates," she muttered out loud.

Upon approaching a maintenance hatch Nathalie paused and glanced at Damien with a smile. "Think we can bypass all the crap and strike gold right away or is that just wishful thinking on my end?"

"Who knows?" he responded, popping the hatch open as they arrived. "We'll just have to snoop and see. Maybe we can locate the control room, or at least the central mainframe for the station and extract some data." He then climbed into the opening, grabbing onto a ladder and proceeding upwards.

Minutes later, after crawling through maintenance tunnels and up ladders, they emerged into a narrow intersection of four hallways. The lighting was rather dim here, and the hall was barely wide enough for two people to walk shoulder to shoulder down without getting stuck. But they did see markings on the walls informing them of their location. It was apparently a bypass passageway, leading to different parts of the command deck of the station. Climbing out of the tunnel had them facing north, which lead to administration quarters. East was the central control room. West was communications, and south was the central mainframe.

What they failed to notice, however, was a small camera fitted to the ceiling directly above them. About the size of a bottle cap, and watching their every move.

Damien looked about, before pointing in the direction of the control room. "Let's check there first. If we don't find anything, we can head back and check the administration quarters or the mainframe."

​

Meanwhile, the rest of the group emerged from processing into wide hallway. Boxes and crates were neatly arranged here and there, lining the walls or placed in stacks just so. Out of the way, and allowing for lifts to be used to pass through the hall. Markings directed them to the other rooms, color coded with long thick lines directing them in the proper directions. A red one was the one they needed to follow, marked specialized cargo storage.

As they walked, eager to get this over with, Lauren pointed out the obvious. "Its kinda quiet down here, you know? Where's all the shock troopers and the battlesuit?" she said, glancing back to her mother behind her. Valk motioned ahead of them. "Likely inside the storage room, defending Nil's ship. Its ONI. They're gonna defend their assets."

Caiden then spoke up. "...We should try and figure out a way to flank them. See if there's any alternate ways in." he said, pausing his stride and looking back to Valk. Valk nodded rapidly. "Alright. Check for other ways in. Maintenance hatches, side doors. Hell, if you have to, MAKE a second entrance. Some of you have compound explosives. We need to hit them from all angles."

Lauren grinned when her mother mentioned the explosives. She had brought a satchel full of them, which was hanging off her back now. "I'll make some holes for us. Hope you all brought ear plugs, because its gonna get loud."

The group soon continued on, eventually dividing up a little as they neared the large double sliding door leading into the storage room. It was painted an off white, standing out against the darker colors of the walls around it, and had red accents matching the line on the floor that had lead the group to it. Lauren, pulling the charges from her satchel, walked a ways down the hallway and began to make a large square on the wall with them. Caiden and Nil went with her, providing her a bit of backup. It didn't take her very long, simply sticking the charges into place before shoving a small brick like device into each and stepping well away from it. Detonator in hand.

Everyone got into place, weapons primed and ready. And soon enough, Valk gave the signal. Lauren flashed one last grin, and clicked the button at the end of her pen-shaped detonator. A loud THOOM sounded, echoing through the hallway quite loudly as the wall practically evaporated into a cloud of grey smoke and fire. At the same time, Valk hit the button on the wall next to the door. The door slid open a little slowly, revealing the contents of the storage room.

Sitting at the center of a large empty room was a floating black tetrahedron. Its sides were smooth, with no markings of any sort save for a strange green hue which seemed to occasionally pulse from inside the object. Its size was that of a small car, and it silently rotated. Spinning slowly on one of its tips. Valk and Lauren looked upon the 'ship', eyes widening a bit. "What the... fuck..." muttered Lauren, glancing back to Nil. Whom was grinning. "My ship!~" he exclaimed.

But they wouldn't get the chance to gawk for long, as soon they came under fire. They had been too preoccupied with the ship to see the stunned ONI shock troopers in the room getting back up. And from behind the tetrahedron, a battlesuit emerged.

 

[Frankafurter]

Once the fighting in the cargo bay was over, Katja took stock of her situation. While the others were regrouping and getting healed up as necessary, she took stock of what damage her mech had suffered. She sighed, the mech's armor systems held up for the most part, but it's clear the materials used then aren't as up to snuff as some of the materials used now as evidenced by the level of damage on the other two mechs. She climbs back into the cockpit momentarily and collects something from the integrated stowage compartment, a grenade launcher. Drav had pulled Katja aside and let her know there was some weapons recovered from the colony ship and offered her a pick of one of them. She gravitated towards one of the automatic launchers as it was one of the weapons she had been trained in the use of at the time. The gun was designed to fire various payloads and according to Drav, there was a fair range of munitions that were recovered for the launchers. From conventional high explosive rounds to more utilitarian rounds like stun grenades and even foam "baton" rounds meant for riot control. Obviously for this mission, Katja had opted for the high explosive rounds that were dual purpose and could be used to attack light vehicle armor. Drav had made some modifications to the recoil damper so that it'd be more palatable for Katja to fire given her stature and build, but she had only three magazines of 8 rounds a piece for it, the idea of carrying more mags or large capacity mags would have made the weight of lugging it around on top of her PDW unbearable to someone like her. She was fit but by no means was a heavyweight champ. After loading the first mag and racking the bolt, she slung it and took up her PDW again.

As she followed the crew through the halls, she couldn't help but wonder where the civilians actually were in all this. Others seemed to be thinking the same thing judging by the expressions some of them wore. She was quiet during all this, eventually following the main team when they split up and heading down into the special cargo bay. She stacks up at the door with the others, not wanting to be near Lauren and her mad bomber shennanigans. Despite Lauren's success in not blowing herself and the rest of the team up, Katja found it very difficult to hear anyone say anything after the wall got a new door remodeled into it. That was a problem, but not as much of a problem as seeing what was supposed to be Nil's ship and then the rather sudden appearance of a very large and menacing battlesuit to defend said ship. She thanks the heavens for the foresight in lugging the damn grenade launcher along with her and swaps to it. She finds some piece of cover that looks sturdy enough and takes aim at the battlesuit with the launcher, pacing her soon to be fired shots carefully in hopes that they all land on the intended target.

 

[Breadman]

"Oh fuck, he's big!" Amy activated her cloak and ran for cover. This was going to be a problem. That thing's armor looked strong enough to sustain a lot of punishment thrown its way and those guns didn't look like they were good for up close. Staying back was key. But there's always another problem. Those grunts surrounding it were going to harass them. She made a snap decision then to thin their numbers a bit.

 

[K0mori]

Standing back and waiting as the explosives were planted, Vixaya pulled the tab on her soda and nearly dropped it when the hiss of carbonation escaped it, having not expected it. Eyeing it suspiciously, she took an experimental sip before deciding that it was the same drink she had been served at Shadespear and downing the entire can in a few large gulps. Wiping her mouth on her sleeve, she took up her two weapons as she had done in the last battle, and waited until the path was opened into the next room.

Like the others, she was briefly distracted by the utterly alien craft which apparently belonged to Nil, until the first shots were fired by the shock troopers. At that moment, Vixaya's entire body bristled with reflex as she exploded into action. Instinctually, she began sprinting toward the shock troopers, using the ZVI to suppress them as she did. If she could get close enough, the behemoth lurking beyond might avoid attacking her out of fear of friendly fire, and would target the others instead.

 

[Viper Actual]

Crawling through the maintenance tunnels was tedious work but at the very least Damien had the courtesy of taking point. While not claustrophobic the tunnel dimensions were still not exactly optimal and the farther the two of them crawled the more Nat worked to control her breathing as she felt completely boxed in. Once she and Damien reached the hallways and while cramped they were at the very least more spacious than the crawlspaces.
On top of that there were clear symbols to indicate what's what- which was certainly an upgrade from the maintenance tunnels.

As Nat followed Damien out of the tunnel and into one of the main corridors she pondered what they would find. Sure, any piece of intel was usually worth quite a sum of credits when it came to a place like this but deep down Nathalie hoped that there would be something concrete related to Anora and her privateers. Something that could help the group as a whole.

"Let's check there first. If we don't find anything, we can head back and check the administration quarters or the mainframe."

Nathalie readied her weapon and nodded. "Lead the way," she said as her entire figure partially shimmered and vanished into thin air. Considering the minor damage to her suit it was the best she could do; cloaking parts of herself for a short duration could offer enough of an advantage if the two of them ended up stumbling into command staff.

Though I suppose the effect won't be the same against a crack team of ONI commandos...

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

There's nothing Typhon has on his person that's capable of penetrating the thick armor of the battlesuit. The most he can do is curse at it, and hope it doesn't notice him and tear him to shreds until one of the others blows it up. Complicating the situation even further is that it's not alone; it's got another squadron of ONI troopers with it, though at least Typhon's revolver is more than enough for them.

Doubly making sure the sights are zeroed in correctly, he spins the cylinder, takes aim, and fires.

 

[SniperComZero]

Olivia is, at least in her head right now, really fucking mad at her mech being beat to shit. Diving behind the opening of their impromptu arena, she didn't even really get a chance to see that ship before the ONI's honor squad got up and started pelting them. What she got a better look at, though, was the battlesuit that was barelling straight towards them. "Fuck me! That thing's a fucking riot breaker!" As such, she wasn't in any sort of position to peg its armor with the dinky little SMG that she was carrying. Her best bet was just trying to blast the infantry away so that anyone who could pen the mech, wouldn't have as much trouble doing so.

 

[joshuadim]

Vance continued to feel his arm become more and more responsive as the minutes passed while following the Reavers out of the hangar and further into the station. If Nathalie's words were anything to go by, he needed to be more careful. Sure, he had the ability to walk off literally having a whole limb shot off but even then it was still a taxing deal as his whole body felt sluggish as it continued to frantically repair the extreme levels of damage it had taken. Thankfully, it seemed as though Caiden properly reattached his arm in the correct orientation and angle which made things a bit better at least.

Coming across the alien craft was a rather odd experience for Vance as well. He was no stranger to seeing strange things in this strange time period but this was on another level. His thoughts would need to wait however as his train of mind was interrupted by the arrival of a very large battlesuit as well as more ONI goons. Vance quickly brought his ray-gun into his not-damage arm and fired at the closest ONI trooper before running into cover as best as he could.

 

[Infab]

Kalien Station - Specialized Cargo Storage - Mini-Boss Fight - TURN 1
Upyri Federation Office of Naval Intelligence
ONI Task Force 21 'Steelbreaker' - Shock Trooper Squad 6, GySgt. Bartolde Tieringer (Battlesuit Pilot)
(6 Shock Troopers HP = 3 each. Heavy Defense/CQC Battlesuit HP = 40. 20 Armor HP, 20 Marine Pilot HP.)

Special Buffs:
ONI Task Force 21 'Steelbreaker' - Shock Trooper Squad 6:
One Last Explosive Effort - ONI Shock Troopers carry several frag grenades. Upon their deaths, they will toss one last grenade in an attempt to kill hostiles. Roll is required to determine if the grenade toss proves fruitful. Grenade detonation does 5 DMG.
Heavy Hitters - Being a task force consisting of veteran Naval Troopers, they know how to cause some real damage. They do 3 DMG per attack instead of the standard 1 against infantry.

GySgt. Bartolde Tieringer:
I'm a Fuckin' Marine - Being an Upyri Marine, Bartolde is combat hardened. He will fight hard, and seems to be renewed with vigor upon successfully putting down a foe. When Bartolde incapacitates an enemy, he regains 3 points of HP. This only applies to the pilot's HP.
Close Quarters Clipper - The battlesuit's eight weapons are modified shotguns, and allows the battlesuit to target up to four foes. Each shoots canister shot, meant to shred infantry quickly and violently. The pellets leave nasty wounds, and require immediate attention to get out. When hit by the battlesuit's fire, players will suffer 1 DMG over time unless the wound is treated by the player or another player. Standard weapon damage is 3 DMG, but a high roll (8-10) will do 5 DMG.

Blackwell's Reavers:
Carnifex - Nil is a walking super weapon. Every five turns, is able to unleash a portion of his true power. Instantly kills foes, the number being determined by a d10 roll. Doesn't work on mini-bosses and above.
Deathproof - Caiden is a born survivor, and passes that trait on to his allies. If downed, players can roll to revive themselves without the need of medical assistance. If successful, player revives with half HP.

Special Debuffs:
ONI Task Force 21 'Steelbreaker' - Shock Trooper Squad 6:
Last Man Standing - No reinforcements will be provided for the ONI forces, and they cannot flee.

GySgt. Bartolde Tieringer:
Hit 'Em Hard, Hit 'Em Fast - Battlesuits are vulnerable to armor-piercing weapons, high caliber weapons, and explosive weapons. Armor piercing and high caliber weapons do 5 DMG to the pilot, but will not damage the armor. Explosives damage both the armor and the pilot equally. If the pilot is killed before the armor is destroyed, the battlesuit will shut down.
Temporary Shutdown - EMP weapons, like EMP grenades, will temporarily disable the battlesuit for a turn.

--- --- --- --- ---

Katja = 10. Does 5 DMG to Battlesuit & Pilot. Battlesuit HP = 15, Pilot HP = 15. Retaliation Roll = 10 - 2 (8, Enemy in Cover.) Retaliation successful. Does 5 DM to Katja. Katja HP = 3.
Amy = 8. Does 1 DMG to Shock Trooper #1. Shock Trooper #1 HP = 2. Retaliation Roll = 6. Retaliation Successful. Does 3 DMG to Amy. Amy HP = 7.
Vixaya = 7. Does 1 + 3 DMG (4, Elite Weapon) to Shock Trooper #2. Shock Trooper #2 eliminated. Shock Trooper #2 throws an Impact Grenade before dying (One Last Explosive Effort.) Chance to Hit = 8. Chance successful. Does 5 DMG to Vixaya. Vixaya HP = 5.
Typhon = 9. Does 1 + 2 DMG (3, Uncommon Weapon) to Shock Trooper #3. Shock Trooper #3 eliminated. Shock Trooper #3 throws Impact Grenade before dying (One Last Explosive Effort.) Chance to hit = 4. Chance failed. Misses Typhon.
Vance = 5. Does 1 DMG to Shock Trooper #4. Shock Trooper #4 HP = 2. Retaliation Roll = 2. Retaliation Failed.
Olivia = 7. Does 1 DMG to Shock Trooper #5. Shock Trooper #5 HP = 2. Retaliation Roll = 1. Retaliation Failed.
Shelby = 9. Does 1 DMG to Shock Trooper #6. Shock Trooper #6 HP = 2. Retaliation Roll = 4. Retaliation Failed.
Nil = 10. Does 1 DMG to Shock Trooper #1. Shock Trooper #1 HP = 1. Retaliation Roll = 2. Retaliation Failed.
Caiden = 7. Does 1 DMG to Shock Trooper #1. Shock Trooper #1 HP eliminated. Shock Trooper #1 throws Impact Grenade before dying. Chance to Hit = 8. Chance Successful. Does 5 DMG to Caiden. Caiden HP = 5.
Lauren uses a Satchel Charge! Chance to Hit = 9. Chance Successful. Does 5 DMG to both Battlesuit & Pilot. Battlesuit HP = 10, Pilot HP = 10. Retaliation Roll = 4. Retaliation Failed.
Valkyrie = 5. Does 1 DMG to Shock Trooper #4. Shock Trooper #4 HP = 1. Retaliation Roll = 3. Retaliation Failed.

---

Kalien Station - Specialized Cargo Storage - Mini-Boss Fight - TURN 1 (ENEMY)

Shock Trooper #4 = 8 - 2 (6, Enemy in Cover.) Does 3 DMG to Katja. Katja has been incapacitated.
Shock Trooper #5 = 5. Does 3 DMG to Caiden. Caiden HP = 2. Retaliation Roll = 7. Does 1 DMG to Shock Trooper #5. Shock Trooper #5 HP = 1.
Shock Trooper #6 uses an Impact Grenade! Chance to Hit = 1. Chance Failed. Misses Vixaya. Retaliation Roll = 5. Does 1 + 3 DMG (4, Elite Weapon) to Shock Trooper #6. Shock Trooper #6 eliminated. Shock Trooper #6 throws Impact Grenade before dying. Chance to Hit = 3. Chance Failed. Misses Vixaya.
Battlesuit = 5, 10, 9, 2. Misses Olivia. Does 3 DMG to Vance, Does 5 DMG to Lauren/Nil. Vance HP = 2. Lauren & Nil HP = 5. Retaliation Rolls = 5, 7, 3, 1. Does 2 DMG to Battlesuit. Battlesuit HP = 8.

​

The fighting kicked off quite violently, with Katja's grenade launcher firing off a shot which collided with the battlesuit's hardened hull. Damaging the armor a bit, and rattling the pilot inside. And the pilot made it know as to how much of an annoyance that was. "A fuckin' grenade launcher? You'd better have a lot more than that, bitch!" he spat, his voice filtered through the battlesuit's audio system and projected out towards the group. And a moment later, he would fire off a blast from two of his eight guns in her direction.

The pellets peppered the room's wall, some punching through and hitting Katja in the back. She groaned in pain, stumbling away from the wall. And right into a shock trooper's line of fire. His burst of automatic fire hit her legs, bringing her down and forcing her to face-plant hard into the metal floor. She was down for the count. At least for now.

Amy took up a position further back outside the room, firing a sniper round through the open doorway at one of the other shock troopers. The bullet caught the trooper in the shoulder, forcing him to recoil a bit before attempting to retaliate. His aim proved true, as a shot hit Amy in the same shoulder. Nil and Caiden took the chance, pumping their own shots into the trooper. The kinetic rounds ripped through the trooper, but didn't stop him from flinging an impact grenade at Caiden. The grenade struck Caiden in the chest, sending him sailing backwards and skipping across the floor.

He soon crawled his way back to his feet, groaning loudly. "Son of a BITCH!" he coughed out, clutching his chest. Most of the fragments had embedded in his chest plate, but the impact had damaged the plate quite badly. Black scorch marks covered most of his torso as well. He'd have to watch out for any more of those nasty little things. Before he could refocus, however, a burst of automatic fire hit him in his legs. He yelped in pain, dropping back down to one knee, before snapping his machine gun back up and firing off a burst of fire back at the aggressor. It connected, three shots hitting the trooper in his torso plating.

Vixaya moved quickly, firing off several shots in the direction of a shock trooper. All connected, punching several burning holes in the trooper's armor and bringing him down. As he lay dying, he drew out an impact grenade and flicked it in Vixaya's direction. It hit just a few feet from her, knocking her down to the floor for a moment. Bits of shrapnel were now embedded in her arm and side. Nothing life threatening, but still very painful. She would then see another trooper attempting to throw another at her to finish her off. She fired off several shots in his direction as he threw the grenade, forcing him to sling it past her. Her shots connected, killing the trooper, but not preventing him from throwing yet another before he collapsed. She dodged this grenade as well, diving forward away from the grenade as it hit the floor well behind her.

Typhon lined up his revolver, taking aim at one of the other troopers before firing off a shot. The round punched through the trooper's chest, and forcing him to drop to his knees. In a last ditch attempt to do some damage, he pitched an impact grenade at Typhon, which Typhon dodged by simply ducking back behind the room's outer wall. Vance, meanwhile, fired off his own shot at the trooper that had put Katja on the ground. It connected, burning the trooper's arm quite badly, and throwing his aim off as he tried to fire back at the running super soldier darting across the doorway opening. Valkyrie also fired on the same trooper, who missed her as well.

Olivia and Shelby synchronized their fire, hitting two of the troopers before ducking back behind the room's outer wall. And Lauren, whom still had some explosives left, would put them to good use. She armed a satchel charge, then slung it at the battlesuit as it neared. As soon as the charge hit it, she clicked the detonator, which caused An explosion which completely swallowed the battlesuit in a fireball.

It didn't destroy the suit, however, as when the fire and smoke cleared, the blackened suit was still marching towards her. "Nice idea with the satchel charge! Too bad IT DIDN'T KILL ME!" he barked, before opening fire on her. She was hit by a wad of canister shot, forcing her to spin about and hit the floor. Nil was next, caught by the pellets fired off from two of the eight barrels. Then, Vance was clipped by some pellets as he peeked out at the suit. The impact knocked him to the floor, forcing Olivia (who also peeked out) to quickly duck back into cover to dodge a shot aimed at her.

"I'm a fuckin Marine, people. Not some limp dicked Naval Trooper like those boys and girls you shot upstairs. You screw with me, you pay the fuckin' price." he rambled off, as his weapons reloaded. Ejecting spent canister shot shells and loading new ones into their chambers. The large metal casings clacked across the floor, rolling about before eventually coming to a stop.

Lauren and Nil both got up quickly, returning fire on the suit. Vance and Olivia fired back as well. Only the closer two, Lauren and Nil, would connect. But their shots simply dinked off the outer plating of the armor. Laughing could be heard, as the pilot readied himself to fight yet again.


Nathalie and Damien continued their quiet trek through the narrow halls of the upper portion of the Station, before eventually coming to a rather enclosed control room. It resembled the bridge of a vessel, with windows so that one could peer out into space at incoming ships. Computers and terminals were active, lights flashing and readouts being given in text and data form.

What wasn't here was signs of life. This place had been cleaned out. Nothing like what they had seen downstairs. No rations, sleeping bags. Not even a snuffed out cigarette. "Quiet and empty. I like it, but it also means something's up." whispered Damien over his comms, as he slinked through the narrow spaced between the computer terminals. It was quite dim here, as well. The only bright lights coming from the terminals and the occasional light here and there on the walls and ceiling.

But there was indeed someone else here. As he moved silently from shadow to shadow, along with Nathalie, three others moved as well. Cloaked just as she was, and closing in on both of them quite quickly.

 

[joshuadim]

Vance reeled from the new collection of grazes he received from the battlesuit's canister shot as it peppered members of the Reavers as well as the surrounding areas. He grunted as he quickly got back into cover and held his good arm to his new wounds. He muttered angrily under his breath before pulling out his lone thermobaric grenade and pulling the pin with his teeth. "YOU MIGHT BE A MARINE, BUT YOU'LL BE A CHARRED CORPSE IN A MOMENT! CHOKE ON THIS YOU BIG METAL BASTARD!" Vance yelled aloud before throwing the grenade straight towards the mech.

 

[Breadman]

Amy ducked behind cover as she got shot in the shoulder. The sniper noticed that Vance was preparing an explosive package for the mech and its buddies and decided to follow with her own. She took out the mines she was carrying and armed them. Next she tossed them in the direction of the enemy grunts, maybe with luck, she'd catch the mech as well.

 

[Frankafurter]

Katja lies on the ground, she's still clinging to consciousness, trying to will herself to get back up or else she's dead. She looks around herself and sees the blood on the floor and feels the agony in her back. She clutches at the ground trying to find something, anything, to grip onto so she can try and focus on that and help her stay conscious. Her fingers brush the grip of her Puukko knife, they clasp around it and grasp tightly, she focuses all her energy into it as she tries to stay awake, hazy fleeting memories tied to that knife flitting through her mind chaotically. She feels a deep anger welling within her and she attempts to sit herself back up against the wall she landed behind, hoping to eventually get back onto her feet.

 

[SniperComZero]

While Olivia could admire the tenacity that Vance was giving off, it just didn't have quite the bite to it that'd really piss off a marine. At least, a human one, anyway. But she figured, eh, upyri, human, close enough, right? And she was pretty sure that just one grenade wouldn't do much. "Yeah, you're so fuckin' cool beating up drug peddlers and junkies in your dick-compensation machine!" The irony, again, not lost on Olivia. "But I served three tours in the Expeditionary Fleet, fightin' insurgents who had actual teeth, you fuckin' blowhard!" She had kinda hoped the taunting would pull the attention away from everyone else around her.

Her hands swiped through vest pockets. Extra mags, repair tool-- repair tools? Olivia thought for a sec, but... Cascade's arm got sheared straight off. No way in hell would she get that fixed by herself in a timely manner. Hacking device... her hand clutched at it for a moment, in thought. She could try and get up to use the thing... nah, everyone's tossing explosives. No point putting herself in everyone's line of fire just to get her ass blown up. Eventually, Olivia's other hand just rested back on the grip of her SMG, ducking out to pop off a couple more shots into the marines.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Somewhere, deep in a psyche caught in the grip of a hardcore drug binge, Shelby was aware that things were very dire. He knew he was in danger - that they all were - and that the fighting could kill any of them at any second. Through the rattling of gunfire and screaming, he was pretty sure some of those screams were people hurt pretty bad. Maybe they were even dead now as he considered it. And of course, there was the mech, the large battlesuit that looked like a walking tank. Sometimes the Castilian security teams flaunted their heavy armor like that on the streets just to justify having one, and he'd even seen one repurposed for fireworks and laser lights - but this one certainly wasn't so friendly.

"L'océan... de mon coeur," he half-sung, half-mumbled to himself, bobbing his head as he fumbled with a flash grenade from his belt. There was an electric surge burning through his limbs, and he couldn't quite keep still. "Sentir la chaleur en moi... kiss me, baby... je t'appartiens!" As he reached his impromptu crescendo, he made a quick twirl and, with the momentum, launched the flash grenade past the wall covering him and right towards the hulking battlesuit and all the bad guys around it.

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

"I'm a fuckin Marine, people. Not some limp dicked Naval Trooper like those boys and girls you shot upstairs. You screw with me, you pay the fuckin' price."

"Oh, this one talks..." angrily grits Typhon from his teeth while he readies himself to pop out of cover. It'll be a mad dash to get to Katja from where he is, and it'll be a miracle if he isn't shot again, but she's one of the few that's capable of damaging the battlesuit. He'll have to be really quick. There's no time for the smaller doses either so he pulls out a syringe full of one of his stronger drug cocktails; ready to put her back on her feet.

He waits for an opening amid the gunfire, and sprints full speed towards her body.

 

[Viper Actual]

Nathalie narrowed her eyes as she and Damien entered the completely scrubbed control room. She glanced at him while holding her weapon in a low-ready position. "I don't like it. Something's off."
She cocked her head towards the various terminals. "It's too... empty. Like someone deliberately cleaned everything out- including potential evidence."

Despite her gut telling her not to Nathalie approached one of the terminals that was still online and attempted to brute-force her way into the system, hoping that there was something left to salvage as far as potential intel goes.

 

[K0mori]

Having charged in without dying, Vixaya was now beyond the line of troopers and close enough to the battlesuit that she could conceivably reach it and attack it with her cutter claws. She was hurt, though, and without giving much, if any thought, to the pain throbbing through one whole side of her body, she pulled a stimpack from one of her coat pockets, bit the cap off and spat it out, and jammed the needle into her neck. While this was not the normal injection site, it was the only part of her that was exposed at the moment, and within an instant its effects were washing over her nonetheless.

Now, she activated her claws causing their tips to glow menacingly red. But as she did, some of the Reavers were throwing explosives both at the mech as well as the troopers nearby her and, operating on a self-preservation instinct, she was forced to dive away toward safety again. Whatever survived this onslaught, whether machine or not, she would attack with the claws.

 

[Infab]

Kalien Station - Specialized Cargo Storage - Mini-Boss Fight - TURN 2
Vance uses a Thermobaric Grenade! Chance to Hit = 7. Chance Successful! Does 5 DMG to Battlesuit & Pilot. Battlesuit HP = 3, Pilot HP = 5. Vance has no Thermobaric Grenades remaining. Retaliation Roll = 2 - 1 (1, Enemy in Cover.) Retaliation Failed.
Amy uses Fragmentation Mines! Two mines have been deployed upon the battlefield!
Katja attempts to revive herself (Deathproof.) Coin Flip = Heads. Katja revives with half of her HP (5.)
Olivia = 5. Does 1 DMG to Shock Trooper #4. Shock Trooper #4 eliminated. Shock Trooper #4 throws Impact Grenade just before dying. Chance to Hit = 10 - 2 (8, Enemy in Cover.) Chance Successful. Does 5 DMG to Olivia. Olivia HP = 5.
Shelby uses a Flash Grenade! Chance to Hit = 3. Chance Failed. Shelby has one Flash Grenade remaining!
Typhon uses a First Aid Kit on Katja! Katja regains 3 HP. Katja HP = 8. Typhon has two First Aid Kits remaining.
Vixaya uses a common Pilot Stimpack! Vixaya's health, chance to hit, and damage output has been boosted for three turns! Vixaya HP = 8 (Stimulated.)
Vixaya = 7. Does 4 + 3 DMG (7, Elite Melee Weapon, Stimulated) directly to Pilot (Armor Piercing Weapon.) Pilot is eliminated. Battlesuit has been pacified.
Caiden = 6. Does 1 DMG to Shock Trooper #5. Shock Trooper #5 eliminated. Shock Trooper #5 throws Impact Grenade just before dying. Chance to Hit = 3. Chance Failed.
Nil = 3. Misses Shock Trooper #6. Retaliation Roll = 5. Retaliation Successful. Does 3 DMG to Nil. Nil HP = 2.
Lauren = 10. Does 1 DMG to Shock Trooper #6. Shock Trooper #6 HP = 1. Retaliation Roll = 6. Retaliation Successful. Does 3 DMG to Lauren. Lauren HP = 2.
Valkyrie = 6. Does 1 DMG to Shock Trooper #6. Shock Trooper #6 eliminated. Shock Trooper #6 throws Impact Grenade before dying. Chance to Hit = 2. Chance Failed.

​

The battle soon came to its violent finish, kicked off by Vance flinging a large canister shaped grenade towards the battlesuit. Thermobaric grenades were special in which they created often powerful explosions and were meant to eliminate hard targets and armor. The detonation of this grenade certainly didn't eliminate the battlesuit, but it did give it one hell of a rattling. The blast was quite loud, the explosion's blast wave knocking the shock troopers off balance and forcing everyone to dive to the ground. Taking cover where they could. After the smoke cleared, the badly damaged battlesuit fired on Vance yet again, but missed as the pellets hit the wall.

Amy took the chance shortly afterwards to arm and sling out a pair of fragmentation mines, in an effort to limit the maneuverability of the shock troopers and mechs. Meanwhile, Katja managed to stand herself up as Typhon arrived to patch her up. Everyone else, however, were still focused on the hostiles which were still standing. Olivia opened fire upon the shock troopers, hitting one and putting him down quickly. But that didn't stop him from pitching an impact grenade back at her before expiring. The grenade collided with the upper right part of her shoulder, forcing her to spin about and hit the floor quite violently when it detonated. But thankfully, she was still in one piece.

Shelby's flash grenade sailed through the air but the shock troopers and battlesuit were quick to avert their gaze from the device as it detonated. Vixaya, meanwhile, took the opportunity to use one of her stimpacks to help herself out in combat. As soon as the contents of the needle flowed into her veins, her senses became heightened. A rush of energy flowed through her, and she was ready to jump back into the action.

And she did, quickly darting towards the battlesuit. Claws ready to strike. As the battlesuit shifted back towards the group after Shelby's failed flash grenade attempt, Vixaya leaped towards it. Sinking the superheated razor sharp claws deep into battlesuit's hull. The claws cut through the armor like butter, and with each stab and slash, the pilot inside cried out in pain. She had driven them far enough inward to hit the pilot, soon killing him with her strikes. When she jumped away from the suit, it sat still. Silent. One less threat for the group to worry about.

Caiden would finish off another shock trooper, cutting the soldier down with machine gun fire and narrowly dodging the grenade pitched back at him. Nil, meanwhile, fired upon the final shock trooper and missed. And caught return fire, which hit Nil across his stomach. He simply grinned at his new wounds, black liquid oozing from the bullet holes. Lauren also fired on the same shock trooper, her shots connecting but also taking rounds which hit her in the thigh.

The final volley came from Valkyrie, her pistol fire hitting the trooper in the chest and putting him down. The grenade the trooper tossed back before dying was easy to dodge, as it was sent wide. Hitting the wall several meters away.

The room eventually grew quiet, as all the shock troopers now lay dead. The battlesuit was still, its pilot's blood oozing through the cuts and gashes in its hull. Nil's ship, sitting silently where it had been before. Spinning forever on a singular point. Nil glanced back to the others, as his wounds began to slowly shut. "That was fun!" he remarked, with a smile.

 

[Breadman]

Amy emerged from her cover after the last of the enemy squad fell down. With them dead there was no sense in keeping those mines there.

That was fun!

"Yeah...it was." She as she walked over to where the first mine fell "Type of fun that's enjoyed in short bursts with intervals in between." The mine disabled itself as she got near. Looks like the sensors were functional on these ones if they could pick up friendly signals.