| More or less, the Mission is to land on the planet via Drop-Pod (as it is too dangerous for a Drop-Ship to make two trips), find out what our probe knows, and return to the Primo Victoria with its data via Drop-Ship Team 1 Members: 1.) CMD Jasper Lovecraft 2.) LTC Heia Amsel 3.) W/O Lucille Lazaro 4.) W/O Gunn Heinzman 5.) W/O Caithe Sylvari 6.) |
AngelicXIJun 30, 2013 10:07 AM
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| IN THE VIRGO BAY... "You know... I always hated these things" said Lovecraft strapping himself in to the man size pod. The pod itself was an amazing feat of engineering, capable of dropping a unit anywhere on the planet in their Suit (everything from EVA to GHA) and with their Weapons (you name it... they have it). "Why?" said Nurse "Are you getting claustrophobic?" "No" said Lovecraft "Because there's a 5% of one of my men dieing in atmosphere on the way down... its a 900 mile drop remember?" "So... your not afraid for yourself?" asked Nurse "Machines don't need to be afraid" he said bluntly, he then called out to his men "Sound off Ladies and Traps! Are ya'll ready for this? This is why we call the First Division Helljumpers, so you best be ready!" |
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| Heia stared blankly at Jasper. "The first division isn't the only one required to make jumps like this." she states, voice monotone as she fits her suit on better, suddenly glad for her agility allowing her to move with ease even in space. The fall didn't make her turn green at the thought; you get used to the feeling of falling when you're in the Fourth. Ending up in unusual positions (much like a bat) and being one with walls and shadows is perfectly normal - part of the job description. "Status report, Engel." "I detect light limping in your left leg; you might want to support yourself more on the right. And I must warn you again, lay low with kinetics. I don't want your brain to freeze suddenly and to have to watch you die from the inside." "Roger. Remember to put the files of my teammates on priority. I want to be informed ASAP of them once I jump." "Odd time to be reading." |
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| "Warrant officer Caithe Sylvari reporting for duty!" Caithe said, now fully equipped. She then mumbled, "There are reasons why I'm not in First Division... Status Glyph?" "Your glucose levels are still low but steadily rising, you should be able to use limited amounts of Kinesis during your mission," Glyph replied. "Alright, well a little is better than nothing. For this mission, prioritize gathering information and ECCM, we're practically going in blind, which is never a good thing..." "As you wish, K." |
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| "I hate this..." Heia mumbled, to no one in particular. She growled lightly. As Caithe joined them, she smiled slightly. "You know you don't have to announce your identity at all times, right, Miss Sylvari?" the Aerie's tone was bemused. "Heia, I transferred the data you have asked for to your visor for easier scrolling. I set it to your normal pace and auto-scrolling. It's not too much information, to be honest..." "Thank you, Engel. Dose me in with some calming medicine, would you? I'm feeling jibbery and that's bad." The AI laughed. |
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| "Good, then you won't mind the bump" said Lovecraft over the com-link. The Commnader's pod door swung shut. Lovecraft sat there in his specialized GMA Suit that integrated with his Modded Arms which allowed freeform transformations between his hands, SMGs, and blades. Over the intercom, the Ship's AI "Victoria" spoke "5 minutes to Drop... please enter your Virgos and fasten your selves in..." |
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| (i'll post tomorrow got to get up earlier for work) |
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| Caithe shrugged in response to Heia's comment. "Well, when the Commander tells people to sound off, underlings like me are suppose to sound off. The first time was just to try and be sociable though." Soon afterward, the ship's AI told them to get their drop pods and Caithe gave a casual salute to Heia before getting into her own drop pod. |
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| Heia chuckles, saluting back casually with a one-handed wave. Her all-black rather light suit is easy enough to move with; she steps into her assigned drop-pod, asking Engel to review the level of dopamine in her blood. Before she can get an answer, however, the Virgo Bay opens and all soldiers are released and falling freely. |
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| "I always hated this part..." said Lovecraft feeling his stomach up in his throat as they free falled... and then directed themselves towards the planet's surface. 900 miles of atmosphere was between the pods and their destination, an atmosphere 3 times as thick as Earth's... it was NOT going to be a pleasant ride. Lovecraft was feeling the vibartions and internal heat incrase slightl as his pod entered the atmosphere. If just one crack or fissure appeared on the ceramic/titanium hull of his pod... he'd die. "Don't clench up like that... its bad for your health" said Nurse "So is this shit!" said Lovecraft feeling the g-force from the descent. |
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| "I'm so glad that Chlorokin can't throw up..." Caithe said as she got jostled from hitting a patch of turbulence. "Glyph, how's our approach vector?" "Adjust the pod 2.5 degrees south by southwest and we will land within a mile of the projected LZ, unless we hit more turbulence," Glyph replied. Caithe activated the pod's built-in micro-thrusters and corrected her trajectory. "Also, make sure to adjust my suit's gravitational tolerance to higher levels so I don't get crushed when I hit the ground, or whatver it is we're suppose to land on." "I predicted this and have already made the adjustments ahead of time." "Thanks, Glyph, this is why I love having you around." "I am glad to be around you as well, K." |
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| "Damn this all to hell." Heia muttered. She whipped a cable out of her suit, plugging it in an opening near her right wrist. "Engel, I'm going to load you into the system. I'm going in blind and I just-" "Don't fret, Ey. Calm down. Aeries with fear of heights are unheard of!" "I know. I'm sorry. But it's been a long time since I made such a jump. It's...still as bloodily annoying as ever. And I do not have a fear of heights." The AI merely chuckled, as his owner relaxed. The gravity of this new planet was surely incredibly strong. He worried briefly if Heia's hollow bones would be affected by the pressure pulling her down. The woman scrolled through the reports she was given, musing over interesting information. |
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| "Commander, less than 1 minute until impact!" said Nurse, indicating they were almost through the atmosphere. "About time... any idea one what the surface is made of?" said the Commander sounding strained from the drop. "The Pod is scanning... sir! We have a problem, its sand! The planet is a desert!" said Nurse sounding concerned for the first time. "Oh Shit!" said the Commander, he switched on the intercom and said "All units brace for a messy impact! We got sand!" For anyone who isn't familiar with backyard physics, when you drop something into sand or some other soft earth... it leaves a hell of a crater. Now imagine that in the form of a Pod going almost a 1000 miles per hour in an atmosphere 900 miles thick with reverse thrusters and chutes that can only reduce their speed so much. This was going to be messy. "Impact!" said Nurse as the Commander felt his pod make contact with the sand, it skip a few times, slammed through a dune and finally settling in a self made crater almost a 100 meters deep... and then buried another 50 meters underground. "Owww... I HATE sand" said the Commander, upside down but still strapped in place in his pod. |
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| "Heia. We have a little problem..." "Hm?" Just as Engel was about to give a status report, Jesper's voice boomed through the intercom. The AI hissed what sounded like a curse. Ey's face turned pale. "Heia...Heia...Ey! Breathe in, breathe out. Close your eyes and count backwards from fifty. Let me handle this, alright?" he commented, voice filled with a sheen of concern. The lieutenant nodded, shaken. Engel tightened the straps that kept Heia in place, making sure the impact wouldn't break her bones. He begun a countdown, and as he reached zero, the pod hit the sandy ground. It ricocheted, bumping back up and leaving a crater, and spiraled through the air before coming towards the ground, touching it and leaving a fifty meter trail through the sand as is slid on the surface. It finally stopped in a horizontal position, the front of the pod directed upwards. He opened the exit and unbuckled Heia, asking her if she feels fine. "I feel the need to vomit. Other than that, nothing is broken..." the Aerie muttered weakly in response, climbing out. |
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| "Sand shouldn't matter too much, right Glyph?" Caithe asked after Jasper's announcement while putting all the tools in the drop pod's arsenal to use to decrease her momentum. "The sand should lessen the damage to the hull and at this current trajectory, we should not have to worry about being buried in sand," Glyph replied. "Well, that's always a plus." Several long seconds passed before the pod impacted into the sandy ground which was just a direct dive straight into the ground. The impact shockwave alone flattened several of the surrounding dunes and kicked up tons and tons of loose sand. Caithe waited until the sound of sand landing on her pod disappeared before she got out of her pod. As the cooling glass that formed from the impact crunched under her boots as she got out of her pod, Caithhe looked up and wished she could whistle. "Man, that's one helluva climb," she said as she stared up to the edge of her crater. "You have 237 meters go until you reach the edge of the crater, K. This is purely vertical meters and does not take into account the curvature of the landscape." "Well, looks like I have some climb on my hands since I really can't use my Kinesis... While I'm doing that, track down our squadmates, mark their positions on the map, and broadcast the data on a secure channel. I'd be helpful to know where everybody is." "As you wish, K." |
Newmn84Jul 5, 2013 10:42 AM
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| "Uhhh... status report" said Lovecraft, shaking his head trying to get his bearings. "You're alive, your pod did its job, and your Mods saved your life... I'd give that landing an 8 out of 10" said Nurse in all seriousness. "Great, humor from an AI..." said Lovecraft unsnapping his his fastenings in his pod and realizing he was upside down a little too late. Painfully he righted himself back up in a half crouch position in his pod. His right arm switched into its short enegry blade form, and he began carving a hole in the bottom of his pod. As soon as the hole was complete, sand began pouring in by the pound and he had to make a mad scramble out of the pod in order to prevent himself from 'drowning' in the sand. He makes it to the surface, and lies down on his back in the middle of the creator with his body now completely swallowed by sand... and apparently glass due to the super heating of the hull of the pod. He lies there breathing as Nurse says "I'm picking up on the beacon of one of the nearest pods... you should probably pick your lazy ass up and get moving 'Commander'" Lovecraft groans and forces his way to his feet... and staggers his way towards the nearest pod. |
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| Heia staggered, struggling to stand up. The gravitation felt intense; moreso than the one she was used to. As her palms touched the ground when her legs finally gave in, her head was involuntarily filled with lightning-quick flashes of the past. All were filled with bloodshed; the nearly white sand was painted a rich, sickening crimson. The Aerie cringed, quickly gasping and retreating her hands. Note to self: Don't desire to know, or your head will be filled with things you'd rather not see. She struggled to stand up, giving a short wave as she saw Commander Lovecraft approaching. |
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| "Lieutenant, I don't remember giving you permission to rest!" said Lovecraft through the intercom half joking, he offered his hand and said "Have your AI reroute power to support your legs. The planet's gravity is almost too high for most organics to stand on, especially an Aerie like yourself... your kind tends to be a bit fragile, so be careful" Speaking to himself aloud, in order to include the Lieutenant of his chatter with Nurse he said "Nurse, how far from the other pods? Set waypoints to there location and to the location of where the probe supposedly landed" "Setting waypoints now... your in luck Jasper, all the pods are enroute to the probe" said Nurse "Excellent, the less time spent on this planet. The better off we all are." said the Commander |
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| Heia pouted, although she doubted he could see it. "Sorry," she mumbles healf-heartedly, accepting his extended hand and involuntarily using his arm for support. "The fall made me dizzy...and I had a random sprout of rather gruesome things that happened on Eurus in the past invade my brain. I'm, shamefully, a bit..." she trailed off, inhaling, "Shaken." "Engel, please do enhance my suit's footing. I don't want to make a fool out of myself further." "Or crack a bone...give me a second, Ey." She soon feels somewhat lighter and less pressed. She breathes, this time normally. The dizziness has yet to pass, however. |
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| "You've been on Eurus before? All the intel I have is that its got one of highest known recrods for thick atmosphere... as I am sure you noticed *points towards pod* and has a pretty dense planet with unnaturally high concentrations of raw carbon, where it isn't sand you got either the rare thick landscapes of solid diamond, or some in between state of soft charcoal... which would have been the ideal landing site" said Lovecraft already on the march to the nearest pod to their immediate location. |
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| "No, no I haven't. I'm a kinetic, though. And all of my abilities have a wild streak of personality...which means that they randomly react to my desires. When I touched the ground earlier, my psychometry reacted accordingly to my wish of knowing more about the planet. It filled my head with this planet's past." Heia explains, quietly trailing at Jaspers side and following his steps. "I didn't have time to understand now the cause or causes of the seeming wars that were displayed, or note the inhabitants' appearance. But once we're back on Primo Victoria, I will be able to decrypt this data and add it to the report." |
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| "Right... kinetics... freaky stuff" said Lovecraft giving a weird shudder and shaking his head. Nurse said "You can use kinetics to you know" "Not because I wanted to" growled Lovecraft They kept moving towards the other pods... |
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| Heia's lips quirked into a sad, wistful smile. "I personally like to think of them as a double-edged sword. Both a gift and a curse. It depends on how you look at them, though." she shrugged her shoulders. The Aerie closes her eyes, walking blindly - there is no wall she could walk in, afterall -, remembering her own childhood. How the gifted ones were to be made into killing machines...how their blessing was to make them into monsters. What a gift, indeed. |
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| "That's just you... you were born with those, I didn't have choice when I had my implants stuffed into my cranium" said Lovecraft "Doctors had to Jasper, you can't really grow back partially consumed brain tissue... what should they have done instead?' said Nurse aloud "Let the boy known as Jasper die, and not let forge the Machine" said Commander Lovecraft "And cut the chatter Nurse... especially in regards to THAT" |
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| Heia sympathetically patted Jasper's shoulder, gently. She didn't really know what else to make in regards to that information. Surely, she did research her commander first, but him knowing what she knew - even if it was all just medical record information - must be uncomfortable for him. I wouldn't like knowing someone knows what I've been through...much less a colleague. That made her feel a bit guilty. "I didn't have much of a say in mine, either. I was just..." she haves a sigh, voice quiet. "Just an orphan thrown in a hell she didn't ask for." Engel decides to make himself known, piping up to continue for her. "Ms. Amsel was a madman's experiment. Her kinetic abilities where enhanced artificially, without her consent or wish." "They weren't used to save my life, though. And you shouldn't hate yours, either. Bad or good...many would sell their soul for a second chance." |
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| "Second chance... if I had penny for every time I heard that" growled Lovecraft, stomping up the dune seeing a big ass crater of glass from a pod passing through it. "Every psychiatrist I ever met said 'Survivor's Guilt', I'm known to 'politely' correct them and say that its called 'Survivor's Duty'. Out of an entire colony, less than a handful survived the invasion... hundreds other people, good people, died and a brat survived. I prefer to look at it this way" He turns towards Heia and has his hand transform into an SMG and say "I was brought back for one reason, justice. Jasper died and was reborn as a Machine, a disposable tool created for the sole purpose of saving the galaxy one person at a time... and if die in the line of duty and they cannot 'repaired'. Then I best have died knowing I saved as many people as I could" He turned his hand back into a hand and started marching again with his back towards Heia. |
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| Caithe finally managed to crawl out of her drop pod's crater and collapsed onto her hands and knees several meters from the crater's lip, breathing heavily. "That... took a lot more out of me than I originally anticipated..." she gasped. "K, you should now be able to use Kinesis moderately," Glyph chimed in. "Good... to know..." she replied, still breathing hard. She took a couple of extra breaths before continuing the conversation. "Have you located the rest of our squad?" "I have successfully located two members, Commander Lovecraft and Lieutenant Commander Amsel. They are approximately 1.8 kilometers 37 degrees south southeast from your current position while the approximated landing zone of the Allaince probe is 3.2 kilometers directly north of your current position. Shall I open up a secure channel with them?" "Please do. Anything else?" "Yes. While doing a preliminary scan of the area, I have gathered data on everything within a 10 kilometer radius except for the approximated landing area of the Alliance probe. I suspect some sort of jamming or other electromagnetic wave disruption or concealment technology." "Thanks Glyph, I'll notify the others," Caithe said before switching over to the squad's secure channel. "Attention squad: this is Caithe. My AI has detected something that suggests some kind of jamming around the probe's LZ. Transmitting the data now. I'd advise that we proceed with caution since we have no idea what we're dealing with. I'll scout ahead to just outside the probe's LZ to see what's up. Over." |
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| "This is Lovecraft, copy that Warrant Officer. Our ETA is 30 minutes, from your position... see what you can do about finding any of the others, that atmosphere scattered us like chicken feed" said Lovecraft over the intercom to Caithe. He addressed Heia saying "You ready to kick it up a notch Lieutenant?" |
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| Heia shrugged, testing her legs with mini-jumps. "Status report, Engel." "All of your vitals are perfectly normal. You should be fine even if you do use some kinesis - but remember, moderation. Would you like me to adjust your suit as per usual for lighter movement?" "Please do so." She tested her footing again a minute later. She felt lighter, her body seemingly rejecting gravitational forces to an extent. Nodding to herself, Heia sped up to Lovecraft. She had half a mind to give him an earful - screw a colony, she's one of ten survivors of almost 300.000 bloody experiments - but she kept her trap shut. If people didn't want to view life optimistically, it wasn't her business to tell them otherwise. It wasn't like she didn't think of it sometimes. "How many chances of losing it are there?" she mumbled to Engel. "If you're overworking, you will most likely go berserk." |
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| As soon as Caithe said "over" she was already on the move, swiftly moving closer to the probe's LZ. It took her roughly 30 minutes before she reached a point close enough to actually see the LZ but stopped just before reaching the peak of her current dune. "Get ready to analyze some visual data, Glyph," Caithe said as she crawled over the peak and peeked over. She could vaguely make out shapes in the distance but she wasn't too sure what they were yet. "Glyph, zoom in on the location so I can get a better look." "As you wish, K," Glyph replied. "Okaaaaayyyy.... Stop," Caithe said. What she saw were three lightly armored land vehicles surrounding the probe and a bunch of humanoid figures running about while others inspected the probe. "Gotta take a closer look... Glyph, is it okay if I use astral projection?" "It should pose no danger as long as you do not exceed more than a few minutes." "That's more than enough time," she replied and then scooted back behind the peak to get to a safer spot before she projected herself. Caithe had always thought the process of projecting herself was a bit strange, being disconnected from your body but still somehow connected, but, as her mind flew over to the LZ, it felt oddly relaxing. Putting all that aside she started a head count on the bipedal units and managed to locate the source of the jamming before heading back to her body. Upon reentering her body, she sat up and shook her head and limbs a bit to regain the feeling in them before addressing her squad. "Attention squad: this is Caithe. There are three lightly armored recon vehicles armed with machine guns surrounding the probe as well as 15 armed units of unknown designation in the surrounding area, assumed to be hostile. I have also located the sources of the jamming which appear to be three portable jamming towers located in a triangular position around the probe, if we take those out, the interference should stop. I'm heading back now and will rendevous with you soon." |
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| "There shouldn't be anybody from the Alliance out here... do you recognize the vehicle? The model? Is it a mecha? What race are they? I need details!" said Lovecraft over the intercom, all professional now planning out a strategy... Meanwhile Nurse as she overheard the conversation was already initiating diagnostics, simulations, and tests over his body and mind... making sure his Mods were combat ready without interfering with him or his movements. |
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| Heia was oddly quiet. "Engel. Develop the data I have collected accidentally when I climbed out of my pod." she instructed, kneeling on the ground. The Aerie retracts the gloves that cover her palms, placing the now unbound flesh on the sand material, inhaling deeply. She mutters something intelligible, eyes wide open, as she activates her psychometry. She sees it all again; how the planet looked before the wars - a beautiful crystal land with odd-looking inhabitants. They looked as if they were made of glass, and the quiet woman wondered for a second how did they live? And then Hell broke loose the first time. A civil war. One party requested outside help. The help betrayed them; conquered the planet. Blood. Lots of blood. Crystal being mined until the planet's riches were decimated. Sand. Slaves. Attempted revolution. Blood. She sharply retreated her hands, breaking the link. She saw enough of the invading tech to be able to recognize it, shall the pattern match what they will meet. "Engel, develop this data as well." she coughed, covering her hands again. "I'm going to take care of the jamming towers once we reach and clear the area, Commander." "All data has been developed. I'm trying to match both the race and the tech with things that have been witnessed or said throughout history...but it will take a while. As for a status report, your vitals are in order. You can use telekinesis easily, but don't overdo it. Should be enough to wreck a mess, though." |
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| As Caithe approached Heia and Jasper, Glyph chimed in. "This is Warrant Officer Caithe Sylvari's AI, Glyph reporting," Glyph said over the comms. "The vehicles do not match known Alliance models, however, they are non-mechanized and seem to use some kind of hovering technology. They should not pose much of a threat so long as we do not allow the foot units to operate the machine gun turret. Analysis of the foot units remains inconclusive as they are all fully outfitted with light armor or are wearing EVA suits which conceals their true identities. However, based on the condition of their weapons and armor and markings on the side of their vehicles, it is likely that they are either pirates or mercenaries. Transmitting visual and map data to all squad members now." "Commander, the hostiles are surrounded by several large sand dunes but attacking them head-on would probably be suicide," Caithe said. "If we can knock out those jamming towers, I can probably hack into one of their vehicles and turn it against them. I can also use Kinesis if need be but I'm not equipped for a long-range battle like this. But, in the end, it's your call, Commander." |
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| "Hmm..." said Commander, "Lieutenant circle around the far side of that dune and rendezvous with the Warrant Officer. See what you two can do about those towers, while I'll... 'politely' introduce myself to our new friends and provide a distraction for you both. If possible I'll see what can do about 'borrowing' one of their vehicles" said Lovecraft "Everyone good with that?" he asked for the first time "You never cease to amaze me with your desire to kill things" said Nurse drily |
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| Heia promptly ran past Lovecraft, her feet so light and quick that she moved almost in a blur. She was soon met with the sight of Caithe. She formally saluted the Chlorokin, before approaching her. "We should move; I'm going to station and take down the towers as soon as they are in my range of sight. If someone spots me, I'd like you to cover me." She sheepishly said, scratching the side of her helmet. |
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| "Yessir!" Caithe responded to her commander's question. As Heia approached her, Caithe responded with a salute of her own. "Roger that, ma'am. I suggest we hide behind the peaks of the dunes and each strike different towers simultaneously with our Kinesis as soon as the commander provides a diversion. Afterwards, I'll cover you as you make your move on the third tower and then remotely hack into one of the vehicles once all the towers are down. Or, would you like me to purely provide support for you and the commander?" |
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| Lovecraft grinned silently as he got confirmation from both ladies, but he was all serious again when he looked at the party of pirates assembled before him. He asked his AI "So, how should I do it this time? Good Guy? Or mean old Bad Guy?" "Good Guy has always been my favorite" said Nurse sounding distracted as she continued to monitor his CAPPS and other Mods at cellular level. Lovecraft grinned as he confidently approached the party, he was less than 20 feet from them when the imbeciles actually noticed him and shrieked to one and other and pointed their guns at him. "Morning fellas, nice day isn't it?" said Lovecraft sounding casual. The pirate's rifles began light up as they prepared to fire, to which Lovecraft replied "Guess not" and from behind his back we whipped out a small grenade and threw it into the middle of the party. They all looked at it and less than a second later they all dived in different directions, but when the bomb exploded... it was a simple smoke bomb. But this bomb had an interesting side effect, the resulting explosion whipped up the surrounding sand into a much large smokescreen of sorts. Nurse said "Cool trick... accident or planned?" Lovecraft said "Yes" indicating neither answer as he activated his heat vision on his face visor and engaged the enemy. |
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| "Provide support, please. It would work faster if we have a split focus." Heia instructed after a moment's thought, moving to get in action. As Jasper caused the explosion, Heia immediately got to action. She focused on the tower's outlines, her hands extending forward. She closed her eyes, inhaling. When she opened them again, she directed her focus on the first tower. With a hand's swipe, the tower crashed to the side. The second was launched into the air and thrown behind; the Aerie's breath hitched as she focused on the third. "Caithe, when I crumble this last one, I want you and your AI to hack as many of their units as possible. Shut them down, virus them or reprogram them - your choice. If I still can, I'll aid you." she instructed, never turning her head to look at the officer. The third tower slammed into itself and then into the ground, compressed to a mere mass of metal. |
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| Luckily, Jasper had created such an effective distraction that towers went down without a hitch and Caithe didn't really have to do much other than watch Heia's back. As the final tower collapsed on itself, Glyph focused on hacking one vehicle and sent a lock-down program to another while Caithe focused on hacking another the final one. "Standardized security systems found in everyday markets? Pffft. This'll be a piece of cake," Caithe said as she set to work. "K, I have gained control of a vehicle," Glyph reported. "Great, identify targets as friend or foe and then open fire on all hostiles. Avoid damaging the vehicles if possible." "Roger that. Targets identified; opening fire now." If the pirates seemed disorganized before, pure chaos ensued in their ranks as most of them got ripped to shreds by the first salvo of heavy machine gun fire. Those who didn't get wiped out in the first salvo scattered like cockroaches out from under a moved fridge, going every which way and running away in pure panic. Soon afterward, Caithe gained control of her own vehicle and picked off a few more stragglers with controlled bursts of her vehicle's turret. Those remaining after all the machine gun fire were taken care of by Caithe's squad. |
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| Lovecraft with his helmet visor on thermal imaging, swiftly navigated the dust cloud as the machine gun fire rained down in to the crowd of pirates. Whenever a pirate attempted to hide or crawl away the plasma rounds from the vehicles, were equally swiftly dealt with by Lovecraft's CQC training and retractable Plasma Blades. He had a habit of smashing face plates on helmets... and watching them scream as they inahled toxic air and perish painfully in the sand. After the dust cloud began to settle, and Lovecraft curb stomped the face of the last pirate and returned his visor to its 'normal' setting. Did the party begin to identify the race that these pirates... "Oh shit..." said Lovecraft |
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| Heia swiftly stepped next to a corpse, her speed as alert as ever, and pulled off the man's helmet. She silently cursed. "Race identified...Human." she reported grimly, speaking over the intercom. Fishy. Very, very fishy. She retreated her gloves again, settling her index and middle fingers on the man's still-warm temples. She closed her eyes, focusing on analyzing his memory. The information she was hunting for was the reason the space pirates were present here. "They are - were - part of a mixed-race mercenary group that operates on generally small affairs on the Alliance's black market. An unidentified employer has hired them and provided them the technology to start excavating various crystals from various small planets - like Eurus. I cannot identify the employer, not even discern gender, as according to this man's memory, no one ever saw him or her - not even their leader...For all we know, our mystery person might even be a hermaphrodite." she informs shortly after. |
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| "Hmm... I think I found a clue, catch!" said Lovecraft tossing something. It was 3 to 6 inches long, slimy, had razor teeth on one end, and fortunately was very much dead. "These pirate's brains were infested with Wyurms, it might have something to do with that guy's memory problem. While I was busting in face shields and curb stomping skulls... I noticed a lack of brain matter in A LOT of these guys" said Lovecraft. "Wyurms sentient yet nasty little fuckers who have munchies for brains and 'mind control' any poor bastard they come to infect. Once they finish off a brain, they ditch the body for a new one... knew guy in my unit once who got one back during the Colonization Wars in the jungles of Aegiale" said Lovecraft shuddering a little at the end. |
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| Heia pursed her lips together thinly. "It would explain why no one knew the face of this mystery employer...and why they were doing anything but excavations and exploit of the soil's riches." she replied to Jasper, analyzing the Wyurms exemplary in her hand with a child's curiosity. "I'd like to see this burn..." she mumbled, before picking something out of the dead man's suit and throwing it to Lovecraft. "That's the type of crystal they were supposed to exploit. Very durable, isn't it?" the Aerie comments, pulling out a similar unpolished chunk of bronze crystal and carefully tucking it into an evidence bag. She put the dead parasite in a box for a similar purpose. Rising up again, she begun to overlook everything, using her visor to zoom in and memorize. Snapshots to be added to the report were never useless. |
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| "Hmmm" said Lovecraft "If I didn't know any better I'd say it is a funny colored diamond based upon the planet's naturally high diamond levels... but the faceting and growth patterns suggest otherwise" "But" he said "I'm no Geologist... I just found rocks cool as a kid" as he tosses it towards Warrant Officer Caithe who was near one of her hacked vehicles. "The model of these vehicles... they are not ASC standard issue" said Lovecraft curiously. |
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| Caithe tip-toed over a few corpses to meet with her squadmates and said: "Glyph backtracked the location of their base of operations here using the vehicles' travel data. Unfortunately, there's no actual data on the base layout or how well it's defended in the vehicle logs, only where it's located." "Due to the fact that our primary mission objective states that we are to recover the data gathered by the probe, there is no need to engage in unnecessary hostilities," Glyph chimed in over the comms. "Therefore, the most logical course of action is to ignore the mercenary group's base of operations, recover the probe's data, and request evac." "Right, we don't need to involve ourselves with anything other than our mission objective. All we need to do is rip out the probe's memory unit, request evac, and set the probe to blow when we leave. There's too much we don't know about that base to make eliminating it worth the risk of getting involved." |
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| "Hmmm... speaking as your CO, extracting the probe data and requesting evac would the be the most logical plan as it is our primary objective on this planet" said Lovecraft being all serious. "But!" said Lovecraft "The purpose behind the A-Project is to gather as much intel and to map out our galaxy as much as possible... I dare say raiding a few pirates of their star maps and intel qualifies as such, wouldn't you agree Lieutenant Heia? W/O Caithe?" |
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| Heia pursed her lips so thinly they were going white. She growled in frustration without thinking, the sound easily passable for a wolf's. "I don't like this." she responded. "At all." her voice was quiet. "The rock is an unknown to the Alliance species. The way its' composition is made is very similar to diamonds, crystals, and oddly enough, amber. Don't ask me from where would the last one come..." Engel piped up for everyone to hear. He then cleared his metaphorical throat, "I must side with Ms. Amsel, however. Something is incredibly unlikeable about this situation." Heia nods her agreement to Lovecraft. "I want to research them more. Maybe if we inspect their base of operations with both psychometry and by infiltrating their data, we can discover a small percent of what's going on." she mutters, addressing all and no one at the same time. "One thing I know for sure - no one puts brain eaters in mercenary heads for some petty, durable-looking crystals only." |
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| "Alright," Caithe finally said, letting put a sigh of defeat. She was clearly outnumbered and outranked which usually meant that she didn't have much say in the matter. "If we're going to do this we should at least do some recon before going in. As for how we actually get inside, we can use the vehicles for the good ole human strategy, the Trojan Horse. Tends to work every time, even with non-humans. "As for these crystals," she continued as she inspected the one she had caught out of the air a bit earlier. "They'd be pretty valuable if they were refined and polished. But, if they really do have amber in them, I'd be careful around it; amber usually comes from living things and there's often a chance that there's living things stuck inside it, microscopic or otherwise. I wonder if they'll let me take a few home..." "I have completed an analysis of the vehicles," Glyph said over the comms. "They appear to be made out of various parts from various vehicles, both civillian and military. While the individual parts are relatively old, the vehicle appears to have been assembled fairly recently and their designs are consistent with each other suggesting that they were assembled at once rather than undergoing a lengthy process of modification." |
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| "I'd be more worried about where does the amber come from, rather than what could be in-" Heia begun, stopping abruptly. She promptly smacked her own head. "Of course. Does cryostasis slow my brain..." she sighed. "I can scan these crystals separately later and find out more about the amber - assuming there is some.If there was anything on this planet before, the dating of the stone could perhaps give me a glimpse of these times." she explained quietly. As Glyph gave his report, the woman nodded absently. "Everything is simply odd." Engel voiced for his owner. The woman sighed. "I agree, but we are not backing down." she muttered. "I propose we go with the Trojan Horse idea. They will most likely run a scan for live entities inside the vehicles, so we can enter easily by posing as their own men. But how do we get in without devastating everything and killing everyone? We need data as intact as possible - living people that can provide information or solidify theories are even more valuable. Granted, at the end we'll have to blow it all up, but..." |
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| "Trojan Horse? I like this plan... I'll drive" said Lovecraft approvingly He walked over towards one of the tank-like trucks and took a peek into the back... he pulled his head back out and said "Quick question kids, would you prefer to ride in the back? Or..." He pulls something box like out with a digital readout on the front... a bomb. One of what seems like dozens stored in the cargo area, probably for excavating. "Or I can arm the dozen or so of these and we can make this Trojan Horse have some kick?" |
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