Rage of the Polygems (IC)

[Inferi]

Seeing the lieutenant garbed in scavenged DS armor did not surprise Chaos in the least. The habit of ISPC officers, and even regular soldiers, taking and using DS armor or armor from other groups they had fought against was not uncommon. Why shouldn’t they, after all, when the quality was usually better? She had given enough recommendations to the DS command about armor construction to know that the armor worn by the DS soldiers had been one of the better suits available to the typical soldier at that point in time. Her job had been to make the soldiers the best that they could be, and having the proper armor was a small part of that. In the years before the defeat, her recommendations had caused a great many soldiers to be refitted, although in the end it hadn’t saved them. Even the best armor wouldn’t save the one wearing it from defeat, as she had quite clearly illustrated at the fall of DS several years before.

The other machine was already eroding Chaos’ confidence in it, as it seemed to carry several qualities that organic beings did that she was not fond of. Why did they always feel that it was necessary to state obvious facts? Of course they had landed, or they wouldn’t be standing on the floor of a hangar inside the station they had come to investigate. If one of them was unable to tell that, then they didn’t have the mental capacity to be on this mission in the first place and should probably just be ejected back into space before they did something that endangered the team. Also, in a situation like this, where there was no need to make split-second decisions, waiting for the order of the commanding officer was what any good soldier would do. No need to say that out loud, either.

Unlike what Scarlet was thinking, there was plenty of time for background checking by Chaos right now, although the attempt was still turning up nothing solid. The acrobatic display had given her a bit of information, namely that Scarlet was not an ordinary soldier. Even most augmented soldiers would not be able to accomplish such a feat with that amount of precision, let alone survive the end result. Although many might not believe it, Chaos had run similar situations in the DS simulator, and nobody had ever accomplished a result like what had happened. This revelation narrowed down what she was looking for slightly, as she was now looking for someone or something that could create a soldier like Scarlet, but that still left far too many that she had no way of narrowing down. The look she was given in response to her own stare said little, but it let her know that Scarlet was fully aware that she knew something was off. An irrelevant piece of information currently, as they both knew that they would need to rely on the skills of the other to complete their objective…although the objective of the other soldier might not be the same as that of the AI.

The fact that they were separated from the rest of the team was more welcome to Chaos than it might be to everyone else. The size of their team had been great enough that they likely would have split up anyways, so having it happen at the start would allow them to cover more ground. Everyone here should be able to handle themselves, and she had no worried about the survival of this group. Out of everyone, it seemed that she had ended up with a few of the better soldiers, or at least with one of the best besides herself and an engineer that could repair her if anything serious happened.

The lack of power here and in the med bay that they made their way to was unsurprising with the current condition that the station was in. It was disappointing, as computer consoles would no doubt give them information as to what had happened here, but a PDA that Scarlet picked up shortly after entry might hold answers as well. Remaining near the door, Chaos kept an eye on the PDA as Scarlet examined it, recording any information that it held in her mind while she stood guard. She didn’t need medical supplies, and she wasn’t escorting anyone that did, so if someone needed them it would make sense that they would get the supplies themselves.

[Grape Me]

The blast had caused quite some damage to Aaron's vehicle, to the point where the cockpit wouldn't open. "What do you mean the hatch won't release?" "The damage sustained from the beam must have jammed it into place. I can't open it through the systems." "Guess I'll just have to do it the old fashion way." Clutching his slightly wounded arm, Aaron began to kick the cockpit door for a full minute. Finally, it managed to pop open with one last hard kick. He took ARK out of the system before jumping out of the Prevical and meeting up with his all ready squad mates. Seems like everybody was ok.

They were searching the, what appears to be, medical bay up ahead. He takes a look around, messy... and the lack of power was disturbing. "ARK, see if you can get a reading on where the rest of the group is." "I'll try." He then turned over to Derek who was searching the boxes. "Yo, I banged up my arm a bit back there. Some cuts from the glass but not too serious. Can ya fix it up?"

[Zender_Solarheart]

Alpha Hangar

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Upon examining the PDA, Scarlet quickly finds a personal text log, presumably of the device’s owner.

<Personal Log. Corporal Cann N. Faudder>
I...did what I had to...right? The Sarge...my whole fireteam...they were all one with those...things. I could see the crystals...sticking out of their skin...and then, I...I...I did them a favor...yes...yes...I didn’t kill them, I...euthanized them...yeah...euthanized...

Hm? I heard something from that closet over there. A survivor, maybe? Umm...hello? OH FUC
<end log>

…judging by the style of writing, Corporal Faudder was likely using voice-recognition software to type up the log. From the looks of things, he likely didn’t survive whatever encounter he got into near the end, either.

As for the others, Chaos might be able to spot something through the medical station’s windows, near the remains of the Percivals in the hangar bay…but she can’t quite make out what it is without taking a closer look. At the same time, Aigis can see something strange outside as well, though up against the left-hand wall, far away from what Chaos is looking at. Dare ye investigate?

Bravo Hangar

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

(In order to save time, let's just assume Derek did his job correctly, answered "yes" to Aaron, and patched him up with some basic supplies found in the medical bay.)

Upon having finished his scavenging, Derek found:
+1 Medpack spray (Derek's current Medpack count: 3.)
+1 Stiletto-issue Shock Pistol. (see weapon details below.)
+2 basic first aid supply kits. 1 was used to patch up Aaron, so Derek now has 1. Standard supply kits cannot be used during combat, and can only heal minor damage, but do not require a Medkit to use.

Well, not half bad at all. Derek even found a weapon amongst the cache. However, he may need it soon enough, as Strudel points out to the hangar bay, and asks: "Uhhh, guys...who's that?" Upon further inspection, you all discover it's...

"WEEEEEEEEE!!"

...Vamoose...flying a Stealth Entry Pod (check the data entry below) straight into the hangar. Actually, "flying" is the wrong word; it's more like he's playing pattycake with the controls and praying it doesn't get him killed. Sure enough, the pod slams nose-first into the right-hand wall from where you're looking, though Vamoose himself tumbles out looking little more than a bit dizzy. "I'm okay! Also, why are there gold stars in here? Did someone ace their math test?"

"Y'know...sometimes I wonder how that dude can outlast so much." Strudel comments, then heads out to check on the guy. He has a point, though; what Vamoose lacks in brains, he's been known to make up for in sheer survivability. Whether this is a blessing or a curse is a bit more subjective, though...

Oh well. Might as well regroup outside, since Strudel already hopped out there in his hot pink armor, eh?

Weapon Details: Stiletto Shock Pistol.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The Platinum Stiletto Shock Pistol is a weapon that fires Electrical energy blasts, which can be set to either Stun or Kill power levels. When in Kill mode, the pistol is capable of a charged shot that can briefly immobilize mechanical targets and short out powered armor systems, though at a much higher cost to the energy supply.

Power: 2.
Accuracy: 3.
Rate of fire: 4.
Range: 3.
Ammo Supply: 20 uncharged shots. Charged shots will use 5 energy points in one blast. Once empty, the gun will be discarded.

Data Log: Stealth Entry Pod

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The Stealth Entry Pod is utilized when approach by conventional military craft of any sort is simply too dangerous. The pod is made to look like a typical escape pod, built for a single-man crew, and is outfitted with optic camouflage and an on-board ECM system to evade visual and radar detection. The pods are usually landed using a set of kinetic repulsion units, in order to avoid the heat signature an actual set of engines would give off.

Charlie Hangar

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

(Jayjaycaps has failed to post in time. Moved to Inactive list. However, Jon is now healed, as a bit of mercy; let's just imagine Chris got the patchwork done before he got "Inactivated," eh?)

Upon checking the computer terminal, Amber finds two local files, but without direct access to the network, those are all she can access. The files are as follows:
1. A diagram of a crystalline...thing...shaped like a serpent with two spider-like legs near the front. The diagram has a crap-ton of biological mumbo-jumbo written on it which you can't make out, save for a few choice terms: "brain stem," "fusion," and "control."

2. A lengthy document containing another diagram, this time showing a human body with that same crystal-serpent-thing, positioned in back near the base of the neck. Once again, the text in said document is mostly high-level science-talk, well beyond your pay-grade or present education.

As for Jon, he'll need to be careful with how much stress his injured leg gets, but for now, he's not in any mortal danger. The pain seems to be subsiding as well, as he can now speak clearly. "Well, that was painful." he comments in a tone more casual than one might expect from one that received the injury he just did, then looks out through the window and sighs. "Not the way I'd prefer revisiting this place...but still, it's a bit nostalgic..." Ah, that's right. Jon was once a Major in the Platinum Stilettos, but left after some trouble with a guy named "Chapel." He never speaks of the details, though.

After Amber's done checking the terminal, Jon tries to contact the rest of the team...but gets nothing but static. If it was his own systems malfunctioning, though, he would've gotten a beep or sheer silence; the fact that what he gets is static means...

"Dammit...someone's jamming the comms in here."

That's not good. If comms are being jammed on Valhalla, then the enemy force must've set something up to do so...which would likely mean they have a sizable force around to guard assets like that jammer. A force trained to deal with soldiers of Stiletto calibur, no less. Needless to say, turning it off would require far more tactical coordination than what you and him alone can muster. "Guess we'll have to reach 'em the old-fashioned way..." Jon remarks coolly, then stands up, being sure to adjust his weight onto his uninjured leg.

Time to go, little missy...

[daxtinator396]

Amber quickly scans through all the information on the screen with wide eyes,"Holy duck shit..." she breathed and saw it all. Hot damn.. that is some weird stuff. What was all this weird words! Can't those egg heads speak proper English. She shook her head and tried to make sense of it,"What the hell is going on here... brain stem and fusion? LT get over here. Something is up... why would they have these documents in a med bay unless they either made it or they had a case of... whatever that is." She said with a frown and nervously looked around. Was that thing around?

[napsii]

The text log was an interesting clue. Written staccato and bleeding nervousness, it was clear that it had been recorded with a voice recognition program. Studying the minds of warriors in combat had been an exhausting part of Scarlet's training in Midgard, the NHD's headquarters and their counterpart to the Stilettos' own Valhalla. The greatest insights into some of history's most famous battles came from the last thoughts of soldiers lucky enough to have recorded their last rites. In this log, Scarlet saw terror. Judging from his rank, she guessed the writer had been a rookie, unprepared for fighting whatever had claimed his comrades. Again, the question of who was dangled in front of her. The remark about crystals was concerning. At first, she'd thought the crystal formations plaguing the warship that had shot them down were mineral deposits -- a simple build-up of inorganics arising from poor maintenance -- but that had been already been difficult to swallow. She couldn't believe this was mere coincidence, either; it was doubtful that the man who had slain his allies could have been mistaken. When the most worldly answer seemed impossible, one had to redefine their expectations. As far out as it seemed, Scarlet was starting to become certain they were dealing with no conventional force. No rank-and-file army had ever upset the Stilettos so horribly... but maybe she had overestimated them. Pondering the corporal's fate, she set the PDA down. A strange ship and a single account was flimsy proof for such a grand theory, and she knew her superiors would want more.

Leaving the PDA as it had been, she eyed the room again. If there was a fight, there was enough mess to account for one, and the corporal and what she imagined was his attacker were nowhere to be seen. She ignored the observant Chaos as she turned around. AI's were analytic by design, so the android had probably read the log over her shoulder. Idly, she considered the presence of a WMD, like a biological or chemical agent, if only because they were the unknowns of military technology. Conventional force would be hard-pressed to win against the Stilettos under these conditions, but the universe's indiscriminate weapons were up in the air, and a determined party could build one easily given the proper resources; even the NHD had a store of nuclear weapons. It certainly filled the logical gaps. The sudden and overwhelming loss of contact with Valhalla, the mention of the strange crystals. But they still needed to explore the rest of the station -- haste could kill. Finding it strange the others hadn't tried to reach them on the radio, Scarlet pressed a finger to her ear and her radio whined to life. Open static clouded her ear and she knew it was being jammed. It was another troubling development. Valhalla was protected by extensive electronic countermeasures, and one would need powerful hardware to overwhelm it. While it also meant that she was cut off from the NHD, she knew they would have accounted for this. Clicking the radio off, she noted something had caught the androids' eyes. Compulsively, she looked between where they stared. Remembering the corporal's sudden separation from his PDA, she suddenly felt suspicious. Her right hand inched up her side, toward the hilt of Askra, and stopped.

"Communications are being jammed." she mentioned quietly, figuring the text log wasn't worth explaining. She looked to Chaos and nodded her head subtly toward where she had been staring, implying a question. A machine as elite as this wouldn't be absentminded, so to Scarlet, it was simple prudence.

[Inferi]

It didn’t take more than a second of glancing at the PDA for Chaos to understand that it was the last thing whoever had owned it had written. What it said, though, brought up several questions, as did the fact that, although it was obvious the individual that had written it was dead, there was no body anywhere in the room. Not that she could see, at least, and if she couldn’t see it then it was likely the body wasn’t there. If it wasn’t there, then whoever, or whatever, had killed him had removed the body from this location. While not the most unusual thing when the situation with the station itself was like this, it did bring up the question of why. Judging from his log, whatever had attacked the station was related to the ship that had attacked them outside. That was assuming the crystalline growths that he spoke of were connected to the ship, and Chaos’ situational analysis indicated that there was a more likely chance of this being the case than it not being the case. It also seemed to indicate that whatever was happening was something more than just a simple case of a station being attacked. The crystals seemed like some form of bioweapon, or, if not that, a form of life that she did not have listed in her databases. The second was far more serious than the first, as everything in the equation was an unknown, and she got a feeling that they would be finding out everything that there was to be found out before they were able to make it off the station.

Scarlet’s remark about communications being jammed reached the AI, and it took a millisecond to verify this. She had already suspected it, but had not checked it herself due to the lack of a need to. If the other groups had problems, they would have contacted them, and if they couldn’t, there was nothing that they could do about it. As long as communication between the immediate group was available, through close proximity if necessary, then the essentials were there. Such a jamming was one of the first steps in taking over a station like this, but the fact that it was still up was a bit curious. Theories were wildly formulating in her mind, one of the more outlandish being that the race the crystals related to, or maybe even the crystals themselves, were the source of the jamming. This assumed that there was another race here, and it wasn’t just an elaborate scientific attack. It would make sense logically, but there was no data to really back this up. Regardless of the reason, the fact that it was still up indicated, to her at least, that the invaders were still present here.

Situational analysis continued to compile as she noticed what appeared to be something moving out by the wreckage of the Percivals. To her average visual settings, whatever was there was not readily visible, and so Chaos began switching between settings to see if she could see it more clearly. She activated every function she had: regular zoom, infrared, basic x-ray, and nearly every other type of visual modification that was available, including a few that were outside the ability of a human to use. If something was out there, she should be able to see what it looked like and what it was doing. She wanted to accomplish this without leaving the room, too, because it could just be the prelude to an ambush. Walking out into an ambush of something that she didn’t have identified was one of the least favorable scenarios that she could come up with for this.

As she tried to see what was out there, Chaos put Discord back and withdrew Havoc, although she was ready to switch back at a moment’s notice. It seemed a better idea to have a ranged weapon ready right now, and until something charged them it was the more logical choice. The ammunition chambers rotated, setting it on firing a normal grenade as she brought it up to a ready-to-fire position. No sense in using the nuclear grenades yet.

In her secondary vision, the regular setting, she noticed Scarlet’s gesture and figured that, tactically speaking, it would be best to let the team know what the situation was. Without taking the majority of her attention off the hangar, she told them, “There is an unknown entity in the hangar. I am attempting to identify it.” She would assume it to be hostile until there was evidence otherwise, but shooting at it right off seemed like a bad idea when she didn’t know what it was.

[Noosie]

Whatever drugs that Vamoose guy was on, she wanted some of them. And there was no way he wasn't high on at least one chemical or another, not with the amount of enthusiasm he was showing after near death and a failure to land. That, or he was even more broken than she was. But the happy ones usually were, in this business. Speaking of business, Chare's eyes drift across the medic's scavenged loot. Doctory stuff, probably important but that was what joker-boy was here for. The gun, however, was less easy to dismiss offhand for the murky-minded merc.

"Take it from him. It's yours, must be. Why else would you've found it?"

Ignoring the even less sane than usual advice of one of her seemingly multiplying voices, Blodegesa speaks to Derek without leaving her stealth.

"Looks good. Stun gun seems handy for a scout, if you don't mind my taking it."

[MiscChaos]

Pretty sweet haul, if Derek did say so himself. Not bad at all. Quickly throwing the new medical supplies in his pack, he takes a look at the Shock Pistol, considering his options. Well, like Chare said, it would be a lot more useful in the hands of someone who could disappear and get a surprise shot off of an enemy. When he thinks of her equipment, his memory tells him that most of it is Heat based, like Lyndsy and having two people packing heat seems redundant. Still, in his hands, he'd have something besides the needle gun in the case of Lyndsy overheating. But that's a problem Chare has too since she only has the heat rifle. Her other weapons are close quarters if he remembers right. The positives of handing it over are seeming to outweight the negatives.

"So long as you don't hit me or something." He says jokingly, tossing the Shock Pistol in the direction he heard her voice come from. Not long after, he's shocked to his core by crashing. Not long after, his face is rocked to its core by palming. "I would've killed that boy if he'd die." Derek mutters to himself, though he is impressed by the sheer amount of medical "accidents" Vamoose has survived under Derek's "care". Now if only surgically implanting a brain was a viable option... Deciding that there's nothing left for him in here, he moves outside with Strudel and the idiot, though he has no idea why he'd want to go anywhere near that train wreck of a pair.

[Zender_Solarheart]

Alpha Group (Aigis, Chaos, Scarlet, and Zan)

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

At first, the unknown target of Chaos's scanning seems oblivious to the group's presence. Upon switching to infrared mode, she can identify its shape: the overall shape is much like that of a Velociraptor from Earth's prehistoric times. The "Age of the Dinosaurs," as many know it. The details, however, imply the unknown is a mechanoid; its silhouette is far too boxy and jagged to be an actual raptor, and a spear-like spike can be made out on the end of its "tail." In addition, the unit appears to lack any visible arms, and has two wedge-shaped protrusions on its head. Perhaps it's a Stiletto security drone that survived the attack here?

Once Chaos switches to X-Ray vision, however, the raptor-shaped unit turns to look right at her, and points its tail-spike right at her. A monotone, robotic voice then calls out to the med-bay:

"Attention, unknown personnel. You are trespassing on Platinum Stiletto territory. Identify yourselves. You have ten seconds each to comply."

Whoa. This raptor means business. Don't fool him into thinking you're the enemy...

Bravo Group (Aaron (Inactive), Chare, Derek, Strudel, and Vamoose)

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

After trading his Shock Pistol to Chare and stepping out into the hangar bay, Derek catches an ear-full of intel via Strudel and Vamoose's chatter:

"So, let me get this straight. You saw...crystals...growing out of a window...where again?"
"Uhh, yeah, y'see, it wasn't a window, now that you say it. It was...more of a box."
"A...box?"
"Yeah, a biiiig box. The box had an antenna on one side...maybe it's a big crystal radio, or something?"

Wow...Vamoose actually said something...useful...without any really stupid remar-
"Course, all the way out here, they'd need a radio that big to catch the stations. I like that one with all the pop songs. WLOL, or whatever it was."

...nevermind.

Regardless, that "big crystal radio" is probably a jamming device. It would certainly explain why any attempt to contact the other groups is met with static. Looks like you folks have an objective...and thanks to a little more brain-picking from Strudel, he seems to know which way to go, considering he's motioning for the others to follow him.

Charlie Group (Amber, Chris (Inactive), and Jon)

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

After reviewing the information Amber stumbled upon, Jon furrows his brow with worry. "That's a good question. Even if the Stilettos started using bio-weapons, I know some guys who would get the project canned real fast..." The Lt. Col. has a point; the Platinum Stilettos pride themselves on winning battles with sheer tactics and skill, so resorting to something as vile as...whatever that data is...would be out of their league. Maybe someone was experimenting without approval and got found out, and it's for records?

Either way, it's time to get moving, so...

Location: Access Lobby C.

One of the four main Access Lobby areas greets Amber and Jon as they step through the large hangar bay blast doors. On a more normal visit, this place would have plenty of security officers manning the various scanning stations, always on-guard to make sure nothing - and no one - gets past without a proper check and approval. As shown by the damage outside, those officers kinda mucked up on their job, but they're no longer around to explain that; the whole place is eerily silent, and vacant of any life except for the two ISPC operatives. A slight blue glow can be seen through the cracks in a door to the left, however, and Jon picks up on it almost immediately. "Odd..." he murmurs, then motions for Amber to hold position while he gets a closer look. He's no simpleton, however; in case the glow is a trap, he uses the zoom feature on his armor's visor to peek through the cracks, instead of just trotting up to it like a dim-witted horror film victim. "Whoa...you should see this..." he whispers to her over comms, then links her into a feed from his own visor...

What Amber sees isn't too appealing. There's a large rectangular machine inside far past the door, with a big antenna on top of it, and blue, glowing crystal formations along its four side corners. To make things even weirder, there are seven guards keeping watch around it, wearing what looks similar to standardized Stiletto armor...but each one has a crystalline object on their right arm, as if it's fused to them. Unfortunately, from Jon's little viewpoint, the exact shape of those objects can't be determined.

Aside from the glow-seeping door, there are three other ways into the room: a high-up walkway on the left, which can be reached by ladder; a small conveyor passage along the right-hand wall, which would normally be moving luggage for decontamination protocols, but is big enough for the average human to crawl through; and a short, open ventilation tunnel above the main door, which can be reached by jumping from the left-hand walkway. Jon motions for Amber to enter stealthily from above while he sneaks in from the conveyor passage to investigate. The tactics are pretty familiar here: no shots fired unless discovered, or if the situation demands immediate action. Besides, with her armor's mix of Blitzer and Stealth-based attributes, Amber should be able to move in quietly, and the high ground works great for her weaponry, assuming it needs to be used in there. Whether she enters from the walkway, or holds a cover-fire position from the vent, however, is up to her.

[MiscChaos]

"Huh. Vamoose was useful for more than a medical showpiece. Keep an eye out for flying pigs." Derek says, borrowing a rather archaic saying. Everyone knows that flying pigs are a reality now. Or at least everyone at the base. It's not even that hard to surgically attach a jetpack to a pig. Getting it to stop before going splat on a wall on the other hand... Well, it's not like anyone objected to having pork chops and frankfurters for a while. Still, he's got things to do now, so might as well get to it. He thanks his lucky stars that Strudel got the info out of Vamoose since he REALLY would rather not have to try to interrogate such a... unique specimen. At least not without his surgical bone saw nearby. "Lead the way." he says as he follows Strudel.

[daxtinator396]

Amber paled lightly at his answer... then if they weren't making it then... they had cases. That was horrifying to realize. Those things were fucking creepy! If one got ahold of her she wanted to be shot between.the eyes... no mind control for her thank you. She embarrasses herself enough on her own without creepy rock bugs taking control. She shivered and followed along to the next area that looked positively wrecked... somebody fucked up bad. She looked around with her tail swishing absently as her ears swiveled about looking for sound of... anything. She heard nothing. Then the LT chimed in and she watched as the video feed popped up on her visor. The hell... not good. They were here... she could see the little crystal bumps through their armor and they just... stood there around the machine. Not good. Time to fuck up their day. She looked about her surroundings for her angle of attack. Then her eyes darting around she saw it. A walkway above her that could be used to reach a vent that would go over the room. Perfect for stealth approach and then she could explode their world. She pushed some buttons on her wristgaurd and she began to fade from view," Going stealth LT." Was her only warning as she swiftly climbed the ladder like the cat she was. Then she started to look around around as she tried to judge the gap for her jump.Seeing that it looked like a jump she could make she makes the leap and holds out her claws to catch on the lip of the open vent and then oh so carefully pulls herself up and oh so carefully and quietly makes her way down the vent to look for an opening to make her move and see it from another perspective perhaps. A grenade still looked like her best bet.

[Zender_Solarheart]

(Due to inactivity on posts, and since Inferi's the only active one left in Alpha, I will be taking a few story-telling liberties to explain their silence. If either Inferi or Alcatraz wish to jump back in, just make a post from where this leaves off.)

<NEW ARRIVAL: Crimson Squad>

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Having lost contact with the original team, the Kusanagi has assigned you as a reinforcement team for them. You will land in hangar bay Charlie, as that is the last known location of Lt. Col. Jonathan Edge, rendezvous with the survivors, and render assistance as needed. Your approach will be via Stealth Entry Pods, as approaching in the easily-spotted Percival fighters would be suicide, given the circumstances.

...at least, that's what the briefing said. They didn't expect the enemy to have such advanced scanning equipment, and pinpoint your pods mid-approach for a missile strike. While you managed to outsmart those missiles, they proved to only be a diversion, as an unseen anti-vehicular sniper blew open your engines, and sent you spiraling into different hangars, much like the first group. It's never as easy as it seems, huh?

(NOTE: Check below for who goes to what hangar. Or you can check the OOC's first post.)

Alpha (new arrivals: Solascen and Aliisza.)

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

As Solascen and Aliisza's pods skid to a halt in the hangar bays and they climb out from the remains, they can pick up only 2 of the 3 personnel confirmed to have been in this hangar. Chaos is in the far-left corner, unconscious, but her vital tracker shows she's still alive and relatively healthy overall. Zandile Freivolt - the 2nd confirmed survivor - is on one knee, battered a bit, but he'll live if no further injuries are dealt. The third survivor, however - Scarlet White - is nowhere to be seen, and her vital tracker registers a morbid "Unknown" status. The apparent cause of this commotion is still in the room: a raptor-like patrol drone, with what appears to be a bayonet-equipped cannon mounted on its tail. More notably, a small crystal object is embedded in its back, and the usual red glow from its visual scanner is instead a deep purple color. It then speaks: "Suitable female candidates identified. Initiating subdue-and-capture protocol."

Well, that's no good.

Rising to his feet slowly, Zan raises his Plasma Shotgun up, ready to defend the both of you...but considering he's been whupped rather badly already, you can't rely on him alone to protect you...

/========\
WARNING!
\========/

(Battle BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KDqMgHzOQc)

VS Patraptor MK 3.
HP: 500/500.
Primary Weapon: Photonic Tail-Cannon.
Secondary Weapon: Heat Bayonet.

<Team Stats>
Solascen and Aliisza are at optimal status.

<Zandile>
HP: 124/200.
EN: 80/100.
Status: Moderately battered, but not in any mortal danger.

<Chaos>
HP: 188/200.
EN: 100/100.
Status: Unconscious. Is unable to act until Inferni posts. (bit of a deus-ex-machina, but if it works...)

Bravo (new arrivals: Kal and Tanara.)

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

With Strudel and Vamoose leading the way, Derek is led out of the hangar...just as two more Stealth Entry Pods skid in, though they manage to avoid the destructive fate of Vamoose's. As the emergency canopy ejection kicks in, and the occupants stumble out, everyone can immediately identify them as Kal and Tanara. After necessary introductions are made, the group gets moving again, into...

Location: Bravo Arrival Lobby.

The Arrival Lobby for Bravo Hangar, apparently, was used largely as vehicular cargo storage prior to the attack. Lots of supply crates the size of dump trucks litter the area, with a number of busted-up Cobra APCs (read data entry below) littered around. Most of them are totaled or otherwise inadvisable for use, but Strudel picks a more viable one out of the bunch pretty fast. "We'll get there a lot faster in one of these bad boys. Who's up for the turret?" Considering the vehicular transit passage off to the right, cutting down on time with a Cobra seems feasible.

Data Entry: Cobra light APC

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

(Couldn't find a pic that worked for this one. Imagine something like a Warthog from Halo, but with anti-gravity hover-engines instead of wheels)
The LAGHV "Cobra" is the Stiletto standard for speedy, light-weight APC vehicles. It has 1 driver and 4 passenger seats - 1 in front on the right, the remaining 3 in back - as well as a single man-operable turret in back. What type of turret it sports is modular; some carry your typical 50-caliber machine gun, while others utilize a proton-spewing Gatling Blaster, or a 4-tube Plasma Missile rack. The one group Bravo found is outfitted with a 50-cal.

Charlie (New Arrival: Cordevo.)

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Upon closer examination, the device inside the room turns out to not be the jammer; in fact, its configuration seems more akin to a simple transmitter than anything else. The five guards around it also don't seem very...lively. "Zombified" would be more appropriate, considering how they slowly trudge around, leaning to their right side, as if the weapons are actually too heavy for them to adequately handle.

While examining the room, Amber and Jon spot two new faces stepping into it, across a catwalk on the far side: a brunette woman in smooth power-armor painted bright green, and an elderly-looking man with a rather...gaudy set of jagged, pitch black armor equipped. The scale-like shape to the woman's armor plating, as well as the emblem on the left shoulder, identify her as one of the Dragon's Fangs...but the old man's identity can't be guessed with a mere visual observation.

"And zee newcomers? What do you think of zem?"
"Hmph. The ISPC are no slouches, to be sure...but their presence here won't mean much if we prepare ourselves. Besides, two of my own teammates were once part of them. We have the power of knowledge on our side."
"I presume you want a raise for zis turn of events, oui?"
"Thanks, but that won't be necessary. The chance to stomp our competitors flat is all the bonus we need."
"Zen I shall leave zis matter to vous, Jade. Do with zee interlopers as you wish."

Looking at the two, Jon quietly chimes in on your short-wave comms, which thankfully still work: "That girl in green is Jade Enix, a high-level commander in the Fangs. She must be the leader of the group present here. The Frenchman is a mystery, but if I had to guess, I'd say he's the Doctorrrr...eh...oh crap...ah..." Oh shit, is he going to..?

"AAACHOO!!"

...and Murphy's Law strikes again...

"Honh? Speak of zee devil." The French old geezer - apparently the "Doctor" - doesn't miss a single beat, and motions for Jade and the five mooks to attack...and yet, Jade just stands there and smirks. "Don't waste your resources, Doctor. I have a better idea..." Putting two fingers together, Jade whistles through them, and...

(BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUzaybvfLiU)

...a wild Death Machine of FUBAR appears through the left-hand wall!...no seriously, take a look. That's right. You have a Fangs-owned Komodo Assault War-Mech (check data-file below) aiming right at you. This thing is built to make hot chili out of any personnel who think their anti-vehicular weapons are oh so hot. It's packed to the brim with weapons made for tearing through bunkers and pedestrians of all sizes and armaments, covered in heat-resistant armor, and outfitted with shields capable of withstanding 7 EMP Grenade blasts at the same time. Needless to say, the weapons you guys in group Charlie are carrying won't do jack shit to it. There's only one thing to do now, and Jon broadcasts it over short-wave to the entirety of Charlie group:

"RUN!!"

Data Entry: Komodo War-Mech

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The AWM-40 "Komodo" is a heavily-armored assault war-mech, designed for insertion into hot-spots teeming with anti-vehicular on-foot personnel. Its armor is heavily resistant to heat, ballistics, and explosives, while its energy shielding is enough to shrug off up to 7 simultaneous EMP Grenade detonations, making most man-portable weapons useless against it. This heavy shielding is meant to compensate for certain weak points in its armor plating, such as the knee-joints in its legs. The only tactically feasible way to defeat this vehicle and survive is with an assault vehicle of your own.

Primary Weapons: 2 arm-mounted Neutron Displacer cannons, and 1 center-mounted Gatling Blaster cannon.
Secondary weapons: 1 shoulder-mounted 6-tube Missile Launcher, 1 15-cartridge ECM dispenser, and 1 shoulder-mounted Heavy Rail Cannon.

[MiscChaos]

Derek greets the next set of Stealth Pods with little more than a raised eyebrow. Vamoose is already here, so it's not like anyone MORE incompetent can show up, right? The duo is ejected and Derek recognizes them as Storm Troopers... there seem to be a helluva lot of those around. Well, at the very least, the female-to-male ratio is now soundly in the right direction: away from sausagefest city.

"You girls feeling alright? What're you doing here? Please don't tell me you're like the genius over there." He says, pointing to Vamoose he has says the word genius and putting air quotes around it. "Anyways, we can walk and talk. There's a radio tower we need to de-crystal if we wanna communicate with everyone else." When Strudel finds the one good Cobra out of the piles of crap around here, he corrects himself. "OK, we can RIDE and talk. I call turret!" he shouts, jumping on it. All that dakka right at his fingertips! It's enough that he actually stashes Lyndsy in his coat so he can fully utilize the dakka in his hands. "Please don't get jealous, Lyndsy. Just wanna talk to your bigger sister is all." he mutters on an almost inaudible level.

[Argonaut]

Chris hobbled along the corridor, a bloody fire ax in one hand and one of his SMGs in the other hand. The other SMG was clipped to his thigh. Covered in dirt, dust, and blood (none of which was his own), Chris mumbled to himself as he walked. "Getting too old for this shit, man. What ever happened to the hippocratic oath? Isn't there some rule saying their not allowed to shoot at me? I think it was in the Geneva Convention..." Breathing deeply, Chris stopped outside a large metal door, taking his backpack off to take a break. Leaning over, hands on his knees to support himself, Chris contemplated his position. Separated from the rest of his team, Chris had fought his way through Valhalla, trying to find his squad. Waves of grunts, legions of soldiers, and enough bullets dodge to make Keanu Reeves proud. With no such luck finding any friendlies, Chris had begun to give up. Sitting down beside his bag, Chris clipped his SMG while inspecting his ax. "Well, Surgeon, we've had a good, long run. But it appears this might be out last operation..." Gazing at his reflection in the bloody blade, Chris mouthed a silent prayer, when he was suddenly interrupted by a huge crash in the room just behind the door her was beside.

"Well, fuck that shit." Chris mused, hearing the wall being torn down in the opposing room. Setting himself up and getting comfortable, Chris spoke to his ax as he sheathed it. "Fuck this. Fuck this. Fuck this. I'm done with this shit. Fuck this." Closing his eyes, Chris sat against the wall, covered in blood and dirt, and played dead. Not the most heroic act he's ever done, but at least he'd have an excuse not to fight whatever the fuck made that noise.

[dragonmaster121989]

With a little bit of an uneasy landing Tanara comes stumbling out of her drop pod the second it opens. Hearing what Derek Had to say about Vamoose got a light chuckle from Tanara before she responded " I'm fine... Thanks for asking though, and on the subject of my IQ I think your good. ". listening to the mission update while walking through the APC scrap yard Tanara finds herself looking over the vehicles for parts she can use with her rifle soul reaper. By the time she realizes whats going on with the APC gun seat it's already to late to grab it, so she takes the next available seat there is. " Well you said you wanted to ride and talk so what do ya wanna know? "

[Goryokaku]

Kal had stumbled out of the stealth drop pod, though she said enough to introduce herself she stayed quiet from then on, she didn't need to really say much the others were carrying a conversation well enough on there own. She did watch them pile into the APC nobody seemed willing to get ok into the drivers seat and Kal wasn't much of a driver but getting them moving seemed to be the best idea, she got into the drivers seat and started the vehicle up, she looked at the tower Derek had mentioned they needed to Decrystal, and started them moving, she kept them at a fast but steady pace relying on her fellow stealth trooper to spot hostiles whilst whilst the medic Derek seemed ready to go homicidal with a turret.

[Taria]

Solascen beaks out of her pod with a heavy kick as the lid flies into the air and then lands with a thud. A heavily armored suits climbs out of the, her identity revealed only when he visor slips upwards and she takes a look around. "Right into the action, huh?" He astute femininen eyes take in the target before she turns her attention to Aliisza to help her out of her pod. "Check out the strange crystal thing in its back, Alii. Do you think you can shoot it?" Solascen's visor slides back down before she engages into combat to protect her face and she moves to stand beside Zan. "Need an assist?" She asks Zan mirthfully as she lifts her heavy gauntlets towards the rampaging beast, spreaders at the ready.

[daxtinator396]

Amber poised with grenade in hand over the vent over looking the room that she was about to seriously ruin. Then of course complications arose. Damn complications. Can't a girl just blow shit up and be happy? No apparently not. Its always "wait a moment" or "that is flammable". No shit its flammable she wants to blow shit up! She listened to the LT over the radio and cursed inwardly as he sneezed and brought hell on them,"YOU PEICE OF SHIT. THE ONE FUCKING TIME YOU TALK WITH YOUR HELMET OPEN." So she pulled the pin counted to 2 and dropped the grenade in front of the strange transmitter and ran like hell. No way in hell she was going to tussel with that asshole in the mech. Couldn't they just let things be for once. As she ran towards Jon she cried out on the Short wave,"If we make it out of this I'm going to nail that helmet abit amdnbeat you senseless with a frying pan." She growled it out in anger still not believing he had done that.

[MiscChaos]

"That's good to hear. One Vamoose is too much already." He says with a slight chuckle. "So, I guess question #1 would be what got you sent here? I wasn't expecting reinforcements or nothing."

[dragonmaster121989]

" I guess you could say I joined up a little too late for the mission briefing... truth is I showed up about 1 hour after you guys left " Tanara lightly sighs then continues with her story. " story of my life always just a little too late... every time there is some fighting to do I'm not there in time to help... I plan to fix that this time around "