Futuristic Burning Sails [OPEN]

[Viper Actual]

Remaining silent as Aesha and Shelby continued the conversation, Nathalie chose to just follow the crowd without adding any additional comments. She had nothing more to say and, quite frankly, was more interested in the contract rather than politics.
Once the crowd started to make some headway Nat rolled her shoulders. Let's just hope that the money is good.

That's when she saw them. Soldiers armed to the teeth. No matching symbols or equipment to any known Frontier Militia units or security forces. Nathalie's HUD was flashing all kinds of warnings seconds before gunfire echoed throughout the sector.

As bodies dropped and people dove into cover Nathalie simply vanished into thin air as she cloaked herself.
Invisible to both the naked eye and most current-generation sensory equipment Nathalie was able to move around and harass targets at her own initiative.

To prove just that Nathalie stealthily moved past market stalls, people and other obstacles to enter a flanking position from where she could engage the two hostiles. Suppressed kinetic slug-rounds struck one of them in the knee, forcing the now-bleeding assailant to collapse and clutch his leg.

Nathalie was about to finish him off when two additional targets showed up from a service corridor. Taking a knee, Nathalie shimmered back into the physical world. Her sudden materialization surprised the two newcomers and both of them almost slipped while trying to stop mid-sprint and take aim at her.

Unfortunately for them they were too late and two headshots later the men fell to the ground, dead. Nathalie stood up and vanished into thin air yet again.

 

[Breadman]

[See you around big guy] Amy said as Roge walked off before she returned her attention to the Kanad [So...yeah, I think you're making a good choice with Valk's crew...] She was cut off by screams. Her head snapped towards their direction. Just in time to see civilians being gunned down by armed men and women. The insignias they wore were recognizable. Blood corps. Each of them was worth something to someone, but that didn't matter right now. The bastards we're in the middle of another atrocity for their cause. [Fuck! Go with the Reavers and keep together with them. It's your best shot of making it out of here alive. I'll try and get you cover.]

Amy weighed her options it became apparent that she had to do something as with each passing second more people were gunned down. The bounty hunter looked around in desperation to find a vantage point of some kind. What she wouldn't do for a jetpack right about now. She chased away the thought as she spotted one place in a nearby building. Hotel, top floor and facing the main street. Would give her good cover and she could see what was happening in the streets. The problem was getting there.

Between her and there were several shops and cafes each littered with carnage as the Blood corpse made it's way through them. She'd have to be careful. Going from cover to cover, she hoped her old Banshee armor wouldn't give up the ghost now. The cloak was still holding on, but the energy consumption was becoming an issue along with the wear and tear over the years. Then she heard it. A sadistic laugh coming from one of the Corps as he shot into a café. Inside people were panicked as he toyed with them. He strolled right in and aimed his shotgun towards a mother and her daughter and was ready to pull the trigger when several bullets ripped through his skull. Amy's cloak dropped, revealing her gripping a pistol as the barrel of her pistol was still smoking.

"You're not safe here. Keep your heads down and keep to the alleys." She pointed to the back of the café. "They're sweeping the streets right now, so take advantage of their blind spot to find somewhere safe." The civilians started to scatter as she knelled down to inspect her kill. Upiry alright. Had a dogtag for some reason. Might as well see if there was something to collect. Not much she could do with the shotgun, but he had ammo and grenades she could use.

The cloak was still holding on, but barely as she made it inside the hotel. The signs of carnage were everywhere as they already made a quick sweep in the area. She heard a distinct sound of a rifle echo from one of the top floors. Looks like she wasn't the only one who had the bright idea. Elevator power was cut, so she'd had to take the stairs. No other option. She hurried up the floors, stopping only to check and make sure nobody would notice her. The sound of heavy footsteps coming down made her freeze and aim upwards. As soon as the bastard showed enough of himself, she blew out his kneed. The corpseman lost his balance and fell down the stairs. He let out a scream as his body fell down collided with the steps one by one until stopping. Amy walked over and planted a bullet in his temple before taking another trophy for a turn-in later.

Eventually she made it upstairs where the sniper was located. Every few seconds she would hear another shot as she climbed up, only now she could hear him enjoying himself with each shot he took. Why did they never have a shortage of psychos? worked to her advantage. They're never professional. The other one she killed on the way up was likely his spotter and this jackoff didn't bother covering his back. Or so she thought as she stepped through the door and tripped the motion sensor. She let out a 'Shit!' as a high pitched sound alerted him to her presence. He was fast enough to roll out of the way of her shots and get in close with a knife. He was quick, but not really focused. She managed to catch his hand mid swing and kick him in the groin, forcing him to drop his weapon and step back. He tried charging her as retaliation and was about to slam her into the wall before she managed to halt it by planting her foot in time. Now she had him. Wrapping her arm around his neck, Amy put one foot after the other on the wall to gain some momentum and pushed. The resulting spin spiked his head firmly in the ground followed by a bone cracking. The trick she learned from Alex paid off.

She double tapped him just to be sure and took what she needed from him. He didn't protect his nest, but she knew better. It would only be a matter of time before they realized what was happening and would come after her. So she left a few surprises on the way in. A few spider mines and a claymore were the last of her supplies from a previous job, but would have to do. With that problem solved for now, she turned her attention to the window. Time to really get to work. She looked through the scope to pick her targets and started firing.

 

[K0mori]

The moment a gunshot sounded in their vicinity, the detached, ghostly expression on Vixaya's face was replaced by something different, something inhospitable to conversation and basic civility. Amy was still talking to her when she realized that the young kanad had been totally overtaken by some kind of vicious instinct. In one smooth motion, she opened the weapons case she had been carrying and discarded it, dumping out her ZVI onto the floor before jumping on top of it, rolling over and slamming her palm against the plasma cartridge, priming it for fire.

Kanads always looked a bit like sharks, but it had been a long time since Amy had seen one appear quite so soulless.

While the latter activated her cloak and dashed toward a suitable vantage point, Vixaya's legs carried her automatically as she broke into a sprint in the opposite direction. Weaving between the panicked crowd, the kanad bore her teeth and began to drool, until at last she emerged at point blank in front of one of the Blood Corps' hired killers. Her plasma SMG whirred into action at the pull of a trigger, screeching in hellish tones as it unleashed its attack, burrowing with molten power right into his chest and killing him. As he collapsed, Vixaya turned and leveled her gun on the next armored foe she saw, but at the same moment, a bystander came between them.

Regardless, she pulled the trigger, blasting through the body of an innocent to kill her foe. Smoke was rising from the ZVI as she plunged ahead, smashing her way through a window as the enemy shot at her, clipping her in the side and arm as well as blowing a hole in her backpack. She tumbled down behind the counter of a pawn shop, turning to lay flat on her back just in time to catch a third enemy as he leaped through the same window. She got off a shot, but it wasn't enough to stop him as he landed and readied a shotgun. With a fearless reflex, she kicked the barrel aside so that he fired into the back of the store, and before he could get it back down again, she shot him again in the gut, blowing a hole in his armor.

The man collapsed on top of her, his charred guts pouring out of the wound and covering her. She didn't move; all at once she was concealed by his corpse, and she waited and listened for more danger to approach, her gun pointed at the entryway as motionless as a statue.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Shelby heard the transmission come through on Aesha's band, something about Blood Corps. The name was vaguely familiar, but for some reason, he had a feeling that out here that wasn't the name to a neo-gothic dark synth group. When the first soldiers appeared and began firing into the scattering crowds of civilians, Shelby froze up, watching in shock. Even the corporate strike attack teams back home, where armored soldiers would appear from thin air and mount their quick strike incursions on an enemy corporation, would generally avoid mass casualties. Can't make money if the consumers were all dead. This was just madness, a scene from the holonews of some nameless terrorist attack somewhere in the galaxy. Then, remembering where he was, he realized this was one of those terrorist attacks, and he was in it.

In the sudden flurry of chaos, Shelby ended up a little distant from Aesha, which confused him since he was right behind her. How long had he been standing still? Strapping his live camera to the shoulder-strap of his backback, and hurling his duffel bag around his chest like some bulky piece of tubular armor, Shelby fumbled with his pistol as he pulled it out from the thigh-holster. He had shot guns plenty of times at the ranges - hell, even helped with advertisements, though the du Ponts weren't focused on weaponry - so he knew the basics. A lot of that seemed to empty from his mind as he jumped onto the floor flat by some artifical flora planters and benches. Safety, off. Magazine already loaded. Bullet in the chamber. These weren't regular security rounds - he had stolen high velocity penetrators since they had red stripes on them and made them look dangerous, so that was a plus when he later realized that.

He could see Aesha ahead, and his goal was to get back to her and keep close. All the shooting seemed quite surreal, and he felt kind of funny. Like he was dizzy, but also not. Right before he was about to get up and run, one of the terrorists was running perpendicular to his path, either running away or hunting, and he crouched only a few feet away as they fumbled with their rifle. A jam? Was it empty already? Shelby remained still and motionless, pistol clasped steadily in his hands as he felt strangely detached. Then the guy glanced over his shoulder and spotted him laying beside the fake plants and froze. Oh, shit.

Before Shelby knew it, he pulled the trigger, stumbling the crouched soldier, the body armor protecting at this angle. The man began to turn disturbingly fast with his rifle raised, and panicking, Shelby squeezed the trigger over and over and over again until the magazine was empty. Each round was a heavy hitter, transferring incredible force through the armor, but finally some either broke through or one got lucky. The man slumped sideways, motionless, and a rapidly expanding pool of red flowed around him. Killing someone - now that was a first. Everything sort of had the vague feeling of being a movie, that the guy was just an actor, but all the other bodies, explosions, and shooting brought him back to reality. Fumbling with his second - and last accessible magazine - Shelby reloaded the pistol and squirmed away, before hopping up and running to catch up with Aesha.

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

Alone and with a dying man on his back, Typhon sneaks through the commercial district as best as he can while also trying not to draw any attention to himself, or to Uric either. So far Uric's been kept stable by the stim shot, but Typhon has no idea how long that'll last; Uric's heart rate keeps fluctuating in what he can only assume is an attempt to keep beating even after taking a bullet. Periodically, he has to stop to let Uric catch his breath every now and then by setting him down behind a tipped over table, a knocked down shelf, or a bench that's been riddled full of holes and stained with blood. Though the Blood Corps is all around them, prowling through stalls, creeping through alleys, looking down from platforms above, shining their lights into closets, pointing their barrels through broken windows, and Typhon knows his affiliation with the Lions will not have them show mercy.

Still... this is all so strange. Why would the Blood Corps target this place? This isn't a pirate station, even if quite a few of its visitors are pirates. This station certainly doesn't have any ties with the Federation either beyond maybe a few Upyri among the ranks of the Frontier Militia, but even then that's one hell of a stretch. And bothering Typhon more is that carrying a wounded man by his side and trying to evade an entire station on the hunt for him reminds him of that horrible mission back on the Wharf decades ago. The irony of finding himself in the same spot again isn't lost on him, and it ensures the grimace on his face is kept.

Eventually they slip away into a more residential district; not too far off from the hangars now. Seems like the Blood Corps have already cleared this area out. There's no one else alive here except squads of soldiers here and there on the streets; mopping up anyone that escaped them during the first wave. Typhon curses under his breath; getting past them is going to be very difficult. He gestures at Uric to keep quiet as he sets him down and tries looking around for a way he can creep past them. Unfortunately, everywhere he looks, there's a Blood Corps soldier or two. There's a maintenance hatch down the street which he hopes connects to the hangar, but there's an entire squad standing guard around it.

Suddenly, something from the corner of his eye catches his attention. Hiding within an abandoned truck is a family also trying to reach the hangars and escape. He narrows his eyes in annoyance at them, though they don't seem to notice him leering at them. Looking back at the squad around the hatch and back at the family, and idea slithers into his head. He picks up a can off the floor and tosses it at the truck. It rattles as it hits the truck's frame, startling the family hiding inside and successfully catching the attention of several soldiers around.

"[I got movement!]" shouts a trooper, raising his gun towards the truck. "[Possible contact!]" His squadmates form up on him. Typhon's lure still hasn't caught on that he was the one that alerted them, and he creeps away with Uric by him as the soldiers move away from the door.

"[IN HERE!]" he hears a trooper shout.

"NO! NO-"

Typhon doesn't look back at the sound of gunfire as he slithers down the maintenance hatch, disappearing inside.

 

[SniperComZero]

With hardly anything better to do, Olivia was following along in the crowd that Aesha had decided to bring along. It would be great, she thought, free tour, she can just load up her mech, but oh no. Of course something has to go wrong.

The first shots rang out amongst the crowd-- two beside Olivia dropped. Her hand found itself on the back of a third, pushing them to the ground whilst her other reached for the SMG on her back. "GET DOWN, GET DOWN!" The bullethose unclasped itself from Olivia's backpack, its first target the one behind them that Nathalie, that spook fuck, had decided to not mess with as she disappeared from the group. Never fucking trust an OID, even if they're ex.

Either way, that had left them distracted, and gave Olivia the leeway to dump a burst of rounds into their side, putting them down to the floor, writhing painfully as crimson pooled around them. A soft exhale left her lips. Who the fuck were these guys? Blood Corps wasn't a name that Olivia had heard of, but they were, judging by the armor, and how quickly that the colony was imploding into chaos around them, some kind of really, really well funded terrorist group, or just a straight up paramilitary. Common pirate assholes don't just make an attack like this in the blink of an eye.

...Or both. Could be both.

Another couple rounds were fired off downrange towards the last trooper, putting them out of their misery before Olivia's head turned towards the rest of the crowd. "Anyone with a gun oughta be up front and behind. Box formation around anyone unarmed." She strolled through the crowd with the cold, confident gait of someone who's done this a little too often for their own good, as her hand pressed against the back of a shivering Upyri with his PDW to the back of the line, pointing down the street. "Anyone who doesn't have a gun, keep to cover, we should be able to salvage what we can off'a these civvie-slaughtering assholes." Her boot stepped over one of the bodies, still breathing. "Nothing we can do for the dead, we're best making a fighting retreat to the hangar unless you wanna end up bleeding out in a spinning space tomb." Looked like the road was quiet for the moment, but with more than just a few soldiers down and the sounds of gunfire? That wasn't gonna last very long.

Never figured she'd be on the other side of some good old fashioned guerrilla warfare like this.

 

[Doomevil]

As the chaos around the colony occurred, Roge could see Belka taking pot shots at a few soldiers near an alley between two stores. The Kercan crunched down on the last part of his sandwich and performed suppressive fire against the Blood Corps until he was forced to reload. He knelt down and growled, spotting Belka plant a concentrated round against a soldier's chest. Roge circled around while he had the surprise, attempting to flank them. Soon as their numbers dwindled, Roge and Belka landed hits one by one, until none stood. The Kercan shook his head tiredly, scanning their corners and ran to the alley. Belka gave a quick nod, breathing through her nostrils.

"You got blood on you," The young merc pointed out as Roge looked down to see red stuff dripping on his collarbone. He sniffed the "blood" but couldn't afford to lick it at the moment. Meanwhile Belka took a peek around the corner, Roge narrowed his eyes, seeing the Reavers far ahead. "Safe fucking place, Roge. Got any brand new ideas besides Stars and Stripes?" She had to ask while the fighting became louder.

"It was a good idea until Blood Corps had to ruin it! How the heck am I supposed to think they would attack VOC?" He gritted his teeth, shifting an index finger north of them. "We'll catch up with the Blackwells, find a ship to hitch back to safety, then we'll figure out where to go from there." Roge explained. Both mercs saw a Gorakon marching with a minigun, fending off any trespassers or thieves wandering into his gun shop. Belka ejected a magazine from her pistol, slamming a new one in the weapon and nodded. "You ever had this happen before?" She questioned.

"Not in a long time, crim." Roge muttered, gesturing for his partner to move so they can catch up with the Reavers.

 

[DG-117]

Kalashi quickly made her way through the busy marketplace, trying to stay out of sight and out of mind. She hated the noise of these places, all the faces, and voices, the bewildered stares. It all frustrated her to no end.

Thus she quickly pulled up her camo cloak, loosely draping it around her metal body to hide from their prying eyes. Only her protruding mask could be seen under the grey hood while she left the cloak in a deactivated state.

Still, she did go to some of the vendors and browse for a few select wares, doing little more than watching the crowds and people going through the place. Her ears and eyes open for anything interesting in a backwater station like this.

While gathering some parts and ammunition for her OBN Magnum from a marchet carrying old Kommeckh surplus, she overhead a few green mercs talking about joining with the Blackwell Reavers down at one of the hangers. They were holding a recruitment drive or something for some new blood.

*Blackwell Reavers?* She thought to herself while buying an old and rusted Batakya ammo can that was dated back to just after the Kanad-Sanghvi War.

*Tough bastards...Dumb bastards. Hope none of those assholes see me. Especially after that gig with Odysseus years back where she and Vicc lead an assault straight into the backdoor of a Battle Cruiser, they managed snagged from one of the most outer Halcyon squadrons. Blue Hair bitch blew it up rather than letting them take it back, crazy shit.* Kalashi pondered as she loaded up her bandolier with squash-head and tungsten slugs; while old squash-heads can't do much against armor, its strong punch can knock a charging khergian straight back onto their ass. Tungsten slugs were a common aftermarket supplement to real, Batakya armor-piercing slugs. Good enough for most targets out here more or less.

Still, as Kalashi finished her dealings here, she saw that they had been getting the attention of a lot of desperate idiots looking for some quick cash in raiding trade ships. Frontier Militia must be letting anyone get a seat on this shitty station.

Nonetheless, as Kalashi had managed to find the Frontier barracks down past the market square. She saw what seemed to about half a squad keeping watch, the rest were seen playing guards or chatting with the locals.

What a messy bunch, filled with juvenile colonials and bitter old men. They were as negligent in their soldiery as they were unprincipled in basic personal hygiene. Still, they paid decently and worked through the B.C.B. Was something to do while waiting for fo a better bounty to open up for her to take. Growing tired of wasting time tracking down petty smugglers.

*Maybe one of that Valk bitch's kids could fetch her a nice payday...* Kalashi thought to herself, rubbing her chin for a few seconds as she entered the Frontier Rep's office. *Nah, it wasn't worth it... At least not for now...*

Kalashi walked into the office, the guards knowing that she was apart of the section hunting down slaver asshole held up in an old mining station.

Fucker had a small legion of old robots reprogrammed to serve as his protectors. Was easy getting past them and leading the Frontier section straight to the inner caves of the rig, was a tense fight getting close before that damn bastard took the coward way out with a shotgun rather than seeing the nose waiting for him back here.

Nonetheless, Kalashi found an elderly officer at the desk of the collection office. His office was filled with smoke and had two ashtrays already filled to the brim with cheap cigarettes. He had a lanky and withered appearance to him, his clothes a bit too big for his frame.

"Here for my contact," Kalashi said bluntly to him, staring him down with an aggravated look in her eyes.

He rubbed his buzzed head for a second, tapping a lit cigarette in his hand before he looked back with a tired look on his shriveled-up face.

"Sorry but the bounty dead... Can't give you shit." He stated before leaning back in his worn leather chair.

"What?" Kalashi frustratedly replied, "The Contact said that I would be getting at least half if he was dead!?"

"Yeah... But the contact... the Ummm." The rep said before a look of confusion overcame his face. His eyes bouncing back and forth as muffled gunfire can be heard outside.

Kalashi quickly steps back from him, drawing her Magnum and listening closely.

Suddenly, the office wall behind the Rep blasted apart. Kalashi quickly dashing to the back of the room as most of the office was consumed by a fireball. Kalashi backing herself against the blast.

Kalashi was able to evade it mostly, only getting a few scorch marks on her arms. After the fire cleared, she found that most of the office was destroyed, charred black with the Rep being nothing more than a smoking corpse.

Kalashi, quickly activated her cloak and carefully looked out to find dozens of armored figures massacring guards and civvies alike. Luckily, Kalashi's cloak was able to conceal her presence from their visor scans.

"Damn..." Kalashi quietly muttered to herself as she watches these freaks outside. She was swiftly able to figure out that by their marking and armor, that these were Blood Corps Troops. Bloodthirsty bastards that took delight in killing anything with a pulse.

"Shit..." Kalashi again said under her breath as slowly crawled back under the cover of the half-destroyed building.

But before she next moves, she opened the remains of the desk. Slowly pushing the blackened body of the rep out of her way. Quite happy by the fact that Credit Chips were fireproof.

 

[joshuadim]

Time passed and Vance managed to both rescue people from the carnage ensuing in the station as well as ferry them towards the security station for temporary shelter, including a whole group of civilians that had been lined up against a wall for preparation to be executed by a kill squad. They would have lost their lives had Vance not quickly intervened and dealt with the bastards in short order. He even found Ms. Jing hiding under the counter of her noodle shop, although with a busted knee and unable to walk through this chaos Vance would have to carry her all the way to the station. In total, nearly three dozen people managed to make their way to the security offices for refuge thanks to Vance's efforts but as he returned another issue had cropped up.

The entrance had been barricaded by this point as best as possible through use of whatever materials the remaining security personnel of this station had on hand and was constantly manned by a few of the personnel while the rest were either tending to the wounded, the civilians, or trying their best to do other tasks such as getting communications back online. As Vance approached the comms office he noted the visible frustration on the woman he had talked to earlier as she trained in vain to raise any signal of their situation to anyone else. No signals were being sent out from this station and Vance simply shook his head. "No luck I assume?" he asked as he stood in the doorway.

"None." she replied, dropping her headset onto the table and rubbing her temples in frustration. "I just don't know what's wrong with our systems! I sent Officer Gasgin to investigate the lines in the basement and see what can be done but... I dunno."

"We'll figure it out, we have to." Vance replied in an attempt to boost confidence, before chuckling. "I don't think I caught your name earlier-"

"Officer Katherine Sun, and... you are?"

"A concerned citizen." Vance joked, which brought out a sly scoff from her in response.

"Smooth, but seriously. I'd like to know the name of the man who saved mine and my fellow officers lives at least."

"The name's Vance-"

Before he could get his full introduction out however Gasgin, a Humyri, returned from the basement with a grim look on his face. "Kat, the lines were cut downstairs. We can't send any transmissions." The revelation was quite a shock to Katherine as she simply slumped back in her seat. "...how? How did they...? Did they have people working from the inside?" Glasgin simply shook his head as he wiped some sweat off his brow and looked between her and Vance for a few moments. "We barely have any communications left except for listening and even then that's not gonna do us a whole lotta good." he then spoke with concern, "What do we do?"

"If we can't send anything then maybe we can listen in to something... anything." Vance asked to which Katherine responded by nodding. "Yeah... alright I'll get on that and see if I can dig up anything. But there's a lot of jarbling through comms, it's likely they're being interfered with or jammed outright."

"You look out for that, I'll take a look around and see what needs help with around here." Vance then spoke before leaving the room for Katherine and Glasgin to focus before heading to where Vella and Dan were. The infirmary was filled with a few civilians that were being tended to as best as they could be in this situation, although Vella wasn't in any serious condition and simply had some gauze wrapped around her ankle and given some painkillers to help with the pain. "How're you two holding up?" Vance asked with some concern, Vella only looked down while Dan shook his head. "As best as we could be... I just... who would do something like this? All those people... dead." Dan's voice spoke up although quivering with both anger and fear.

"I have no idea, but we're working on getting you and everyone else here out alive." Vance said, trying to comfort the two of them as he looked around and saw the others he had rescued in varying stages of shock, grief, or panic. The realization then hit him: they couldn't stay here much longer. Things were only getting worse outside and it wouldn't be long before this whole station came under siege yet again. It made his words seemingly become hollow as a result, but he had to cling on to that hope that he could at least save those that were in front of him. He was determined to not let those bastards outside win.

Within a few minutes he called for a meeting with the security personnel within one of the ransacked offices on the second floor to discuss their next course of action. "Katherine, anything on comms?" Vance asked first, but only received a resounding no in response. "There's nothing. I don't hear even any evacuation orders being sent on local channels. They're dead quiet."

"Then our situation is simple, if we stay here we die. We likely won't be able to hold out another siege even with the weapons and ammo we had gathered. What are our options?"

Glasgin quickly spoke up: "W-we... we could try the hangars. Get a ride out of here but-"

"But there are ships outside blasting survivors attempting to flee the colony. They're intent on killing as many people as they can." an Ayr officer spoke up, looking about. "If we leave, we will also likely die."

"But we will have at least a chance to get those people out." Vance replied quickly, pointing to the door behind him. "These people are depending on all of us. We can't fail them, not now. We need to get them to safety away from this colony."

"And what if we can't?" another officer from the back asked, fear laced in his voice. That fear was seen in the eyes of everyone else in that room and Vance knew it. He had seen it many times with the soldiers he had fought and bled alongside back in his time. And yet Vance would not let fear win the day as he took a deep breath.

"Then we will have died trying our best." Vance replied sternly, looking to the others. "It's times like these where we need to set aside our fears and to march into the abyss knowing full well we look at Death in the face. These are desperate times, and I know that you are afraid. But I want you to know that I'm not. I'm not afraid to die today because what we need to do here now is necessary. It may seem impossible or insurmountable... our enemies may appear to be endless but in the end that doesn't matter. Because there is no one else but ourselves to rely upon here." Vance placed his hands on the table and moved his gaze to every man and woman that stood with him there. "I believe that any individual who had the right heart, and is consumed with a single purpose can win a war. Give that man a group who shares that conviction, and you can change destiny itself." He then looked upwards with confidence and to every single person who was listening: "And so I ask you, will you stand with me? To do not what we can... but what we must."

---

Now energized and with their spirits lifted, the officers moved around gathering equipment and weapons to prepare for a breakthrough to get to the hangars. They had a plan and they were gonna do their damndest to see it through. As Vance left the office he noticed that Dan was leaning on the wall next to the doorway and chuckled. "I don't suppose you could use an extra pair of hands?" he asked, which made Vance shake his head. "Dan, I can't ask you to-"

"It ain't gonna stand by and watch. I spent a few years with the Militia, so I can help even if I am a bit rusty. Besides, you're gonna need all hands on deck for this."

Vance couldn't argue with Dan as he was right on that front, and so he resigned his objections: "Alright, gear up then. Y'all are gonna head out soon, I'll head out earlier and clear the way for everyone to get to the hangars. From there, we'll secure a ship... or some other ride and pray we have a pilot good enough to avoid being shot down. It's a long shot but... it's the only shot we got."

Dan himself was nervous but gave a nod as he headed to collect gear and a weapon to use as Vance headed outside. Picking up an assault rifle for himself and brandishing his ray gun into his other hand as he marched out to face the chaos headfirst.

 

[Infab]

The fighting continued across the colony, gunfire increasing and casualties mounting on all three sides of the station. And soon enough, ships started to leave from VOC-1's hangar in attempts to escape the chaos. What awaited them was their doom. The incoming Blood Corps ships had moved about the colony, arranging themselves so that they could shoot and destroy any ships attempting to leave. This was well organized. Planned out to the end. An orchestrated slaughter, with Anora Cortus as its maestro.

As the boosters on the colony had been activated, the colony slowly began to shift and move. It was now adrift, slowly floating through orbit above Vileas. To where was anyone's guess, but it wasn't good if the Blood Corps were at the helm. Shattered vessels floated by the colony's massive glass windows, debris and corpses of the ships' crew bouncing off the glass and hull as they drifted. Only further inciting fear and horror inside the colony.

Inside, Blood Corps troops continued to seemingly appear out of nowhere across the colony. Determined to exterminate as many as they could. Some had resorted to a classic Blood Corps tactic to further instill fear: using their teeth as weapons. Rushing civilians and ripping their throats out with their teeth, or feeding on fallen victims by biting into them and drinking their blood. Anora had popularized it among her troops, and it was coming into use here.

Aesha snatched up a rifle off the corpse of one of the fallen Blood Corps troops, looking to the civilians as well as Olivia and Shelby (whom had lagged behind a bit but managed to dispatch someone herself.) "All of you, get to a hangar! Find a ship and get the hell out of here!" she shouted to the civilians, whom quickly scattered. Rushing towards the large elevator heading up to the hangar bays. She looked to the Reavers that were still with them, and motioned towards the elevator as well. "Get to the Mordred and get it prepped for take-off! Kill any Blood Corps motherfucker you see!"

The Reavers gave her a nod before turning about and chasing after the civilians, drawing their weapons as they ran. Aesha checked her rifle, glancing to Olivia and the others. "Alright. We're going hunting. We need to round the bosses and the new recruits. You see a Blood Corps goon, you put them down." she said, glancing back to Shelby after speaking. "Stick close, Shelby. This is going to get nasty. Shoot to kill."

And with that, she jogged back down the hallway they had come up, heading back towards the exit to the commercial district. Glancing back behind her on the way to make sure they were following. But as she turned back around, she saw an armored man rounding the corner just a few meters from her. She picked up the pace, before dropping and baseball sliding alongside him. As she slid by, she fired off a burst into his chest from the rifle, the gauss rounds ripping through the plating and splattering blood all over the wall.

As she sat up, two more Blood Corps members appeared near the exit to the Commercial District. Alerted by the gunfire. She took aim as she sat there, shouldering her rifle and firing off a few bursts. A pair of shots eliminated the first easily, one shot tearing through his throat before the second made his head pop like a balloon. The other was hit in the stomach, doubling over before another shot hit him in the leg. Knocking it out from under him and forcing him to land on his face. Once she was up, she kept moving. Pausing only briefly to grab a few more magazines from the fallen Blood Corps troops.

​

Lauren's screams of rage echoed through the square as she rushed the Blood Corps soldiers, her revolver sounding off as she fired upon them. Most of her shots missed, really, as she was blind firing at this point. Still, it forced the troopers to seek cover before they could fire back. And soon enough, she was upon them. Drawing a blade from the back of her waistband, as she slipped the revolver back into its holster, she tackled one of the troopers and violently stabbed him repeatedly in his exposed side before driving the blade of the long serrated blade through his throat. One of his allies nearby tried to react, swinging his rifle around, but his knee folded beneath him before he could squeeze off a shot. Damien had moved in quickly, flanking around behind the trooper, and fired off a burst of SMG fire into his leg. As he fell over onto the ground, Damien rushed over and delivered a quick curb stomp by hopping into the air and stomping as hard as he could as he arrived at the trooper. His skull made an audible crack, as his helmet clacked against the ground. To make sure he was dead, however, Damien fired off another SMG burst straight into the goon's head.

Valk wasn't far behind, a determined look upon her face as she rushed towards another of the troopers whom had ducked behind a low concrete wall to reload. As she rounded the wall, he panicked and attempted to point his rifle towards her. As he squeezed the trigger, she slapped the rifle to the side with her right hand, forcing the shots to go wide. And then, she drove her cybernetic hand straight into his gut. The force of the impact knocked the wind out the soldier, but what came next lifted him off the ground. A loud POW sounded off, as a ball of plasma burst from her cybernetic arm and ripped through his abdomen. Erasing the lower half of his spine as it burst out of his back. He landed on his face, lifeless, and a loud PING followed as the plasma cartridge ejected itself from Valkyrie's shoulder. She quickly slapped a new one in, as hot gas vented from the vents on the back of her shoulder, and soon her arm returned to normal. Ready for another hit.

Anora, arms folded and observing from where she had stood before, simply smiled. But after seeing Lauren tearing through another soldier, she spoke up. "You're focusing on the smaller threats when you should be more focused on me, Lauren." she stated loudly. Lauren's head snapped up, as she paused her stabbing of a now dead Blood Corps trooper. Suddenly, she sprang off the body, knife twirling about in her hand as she sprinted straight for Anora. Her face adorned in a mixture of the blood of her father, fallen Blood Corps troopers, and a crazed but rage filled expression.

Anora didn't move. She wasn't scared of this girl. Why would she be? She was a pirate. An untrained, unprofessional, greed-filled and petty criminal. She was also just a human, a far lesser form of life compared to the likes of her. As Lauren came near, the smile on Anora's face faded.

And then she moved.

Lauren lunged at her, knife point spearheading her attack. And Anora countered. She slipped to the side with rapid speed, grabbing onto Lauren's arm and giving it a sharp twist. The blade was released, flipping through the air and clinking off the ground. And as Lauren let out a yelp, the pain shooting up her arm, Anora's free fist collided with her face. Lauren's head recoiled, blood spurting from her nose. Anora released her wrist, allowing Lauren to stumble backwards, be taking a step forward and driving her boot straight into Lauren's pelvis. Lauren's lower half flipped out from under her, and soon she found herself landing flat on her chest. Hard.

"Think before you act, Lauren. I'm far greater than any opponent you have ever encountered." stated Anora, looking down at Lauren as she tried to get up. Then, she shifted her attention to Damien. He had just finished off another of the troopers, and was now rushing her. "Ah, and the older brother comes to the rescue. How quaint." said Anora, motioning with a hand to keep approaching.

And he did, rushing in with his weapon up. He fired off two bursts from his SMG, which Anora easily avoided. And as he closed the distance, she moved in to strike offensively. She grabbed his SMG, ripping it from his hand and slinging it aside before delivering three rapid blows to his chest like a boxer. A fourth was then slung, a hook which knocked Damien sideways. And as soon as he moved, she took a diagonal step next to him before driving her boot into the side of his knee. There was a loud crack, and Damien cried out in pain as he fell to the ground. His knee had been shattered entirely.

As he clutched at his knee, sitting up sightly, he was quickly knocked back down as Anora stepped over and planted her boot in his face. His head snapped back, bouncing off the ground and stunning him.

She straightened up, glancing to Lauren, whom was slowly getting back up. "There comes a point, Lauren, where you should simply stay down. And this is one of those times." she said, slowly walking back over to the blue-haired girl as she eventually straightened up. A loud "FUCK YOU." burst forth from Lauren's mouth, and soon she rushed Anora again. Anora's expression grew more serious. "Alright. I'll make you stay down."

Valk quickly darted across the square, hopping over Blood Corps troopers as she moved, and eventually slid next to Damien. His eyes looked wild, as he attempted to shake off the effects of the kick to the head. His knee, however, was messed up pretty badly. Everything below it was cocked slightly sideways. "Stay here. You're in no condition to do anything." said Valkyrie, as she brought up her arm. A holoscreen appeared from her wrist, and soon she spoke. "This is Valkyrie. Damien's down in the square at the end of Bridgeton Street. Any Reavers nearby, get your asses over here. NOW." she spoke as calmly as she could. This was starting to overwhelm her, but she had to keep focused.

She looked up, looking for Anora and Lauren, and witnessed Anora deliver a brutal kick to the side of Lauren's head. Lauren dropped like a rock, crumpling to the ground. "LAUREN!" she shouted, before rushing Anora herself. Her cybernetic arm shifted, her plasma cannon deploying and preparing to fire as soon as she could hit Anora. But Anora shifted about, her cold eyes locking onto Valkyrie's own.

"Let's see how you fare, Valencia."

​

More troopers appeared in the streets, searching for stragglers and checking inside shops and hiding spots. They mainly stuck the the sides of the shops, clearly showing that some of them were better trained that others, likely older members of the group. They seemed to use standard breaching and clearing tactics, sometimes tossing flashbangs or grenades into buildings before rushing in with guns up and ready.

Several squads found themselves on the move towards both Amy as well as Vixaya's positions, armed and ready for heavy combat. And grew more alert when they started seeing the bodies of their fellow troopers scattered about. "[Fan out! Stay alert! If you see movement, open fire!]" shouted one of the troopers near Amy, blood staining the lower part of his face and most of the upper part of his armor. Apparently a platoon leader.

On Vixaya's end, as she lay inside the building next to the corpse of a fallen Blood Corps trooper, she could make out movement outside. Five troopers had slowly entered the building across the street, their rifles tracing various portions of the room. Ready to open up as soon as they saw something. One began to inspect corpses, putting a single shot into the head of any victims they encountered. And soon, five more appeared at the entrance to the store she was in. They were sweeping, it seemed. Urban combat tactics, though on a more genocidal level. And then, she noticed something gleam in the doorway. One of the troopers had drawn a grenade. A flashbang, but he had yet to pull the pin.

Further down towards where Roge and Belka were, they found themselves watching more Blood Corps squads rushing towards the gunshop where the Gorakon was. They would witness, a few moments later, a cluster of thermobaric grenades being slung into the gunshop, which detonated with thunderous booms. And immediately afterwards, a trooper stepped out and fired off a rocket into the building. Apparently these guys really wanted everyone dead. Once it was quiet enough, the troopers moved in, closing the distance between them and Roge and Belka.

 

[Breadman]

The shots started to ring out one after the other as Amy started to pick off Blood corps that were away from their friends. It was only a matter of time now and the clock was ticking. She fired another shot that send a helmet flying with a streak of blood, brain and bone trailing behind it. The Reavers were on the move and she tried to give them some support by picking off their attackers. Then something caught her attention.

[Fan out! Stay alert! If you see movement, open fire!]

She heard the commands being barked through the coms. Looks like encryption wasn't on their minds. She couldn't understand what exactly was said, but it did sound like it was coming from the streets below. Amy looked around and saw the squads approaching down the streets. This was bad. Some of them seemed to be going in another direction entirely into the nearby building to make another sweep. There was a very real chance that there were more civilians in there at their mercy. Koronova was going to have to make a call and make it fast.

Amy trailed the scope down the street until she saw what looked like the man in charge. Blood running down his armor almost like a pattern. He moved his arm to motion and the com picked up another command. Looks like she was right. She took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. The bullet ripped right through his neck and send him stumbling back as he reached for his throat in disbelief before collapsing in a heap. His men were in a shock for a few seconds, giving her a good time to take another one out by placing a shot right through his jaw. They scattered to find cover as soon as they figured out what was happening. The com lit up with a variety of screams and cursing followed by what sounded like organizing. The chain of command was being restored, but there was no obvious leader now. She risked a shot by aiming towards a group of corpsmen hiding behind a car. It was pure luck that the bullet hit a grenade that exploded all three of them and made the cover useless, forcing her to lift her head and raise an eyebrow at her handiwork. Should try the lottery if she makes it.

She may have had their interest, but now he had their attention as they rallied and opened fire. It didn't take long for them to figure our from where she was taking them out and started to pelt her position with suppressive fire while others moved in. She took another shot or two before going behind cover. No time to see if they connected. She had to prepare for the guests coming up the stairs.

 

[joshuadim]

Further up the street from the security offices, a Blood Corps officer looked about as he men continued their work in clearing the residences they were at. Their killcounts were wracking up as audible gunshots could be heard from inside along with the screams and pleading of their victims. Soon enough however, the screams would stop and the troops returned to street level to await further orders. "[Have these blocks been cleared?]" the Blood Corps captain asked one of his subordinates who gave a nod. "[Yes sir, no more signs of life in this area. But Fireteams 7, 9, and 10 have gone dark at the security block.]"

"[Then we head there and clean up the rabble they failed to remove. The Commander will not tolerate any failure.]"

As he motioned for his men to move out, he then noticed a lone figure standing on the street in the distance and was walking towards them. He was armed, and it was evident he wasn't one of theirs. Without much hesitation and with a genuine disinterest the captain simply flicked a finger towards him: "[Kill hi-]" he began to speak before a bullet ripped through his throat and he was sent to the ground clutching at his throat in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. Almost immediately afterwards, his troops began firing at will at the now rapidly advancing super-soldier who gave out his own battle cry.

​

"COME ON YOU MURDUROUS BASTARDS!" Vance yelled out as he vaulted over a burnt out vehicle while firing his ray gun, hitting another trooper dead in the chest and sending him crumpling with a burnt hole in his chest. Keeping in tune with his momentum he jumped atop another car and leapt towards another two of the troopers, gunning them down before he landed next to their bodies. Vance felt himself take a hit on his shoulder from one of the nearby troopers, but he simply shrugged off the pain as he dropped the trooper just as quickly with an accurate headshot splattering his brains across the pavement.

["This is Squad 3! Taking enemy fire! Need backup on our position-"] one of the Blood Corps troopers managed to send out over his comms before being kicked directly into a wall with a force strong enough to crack it which sent him slumping dead to the ground as Vance quickly moved to finish the remaining troopers off before advancing forward. Knowing full well that reinforcements were on the way, the troopers chose to stand their ground in order to buy time for their comrades to get there. But they wouldn't be able to deal with the man who was tearing them apart at the seams as Vance simply pushed forward with anger plastered on his face as he fired the remaining rounds in his assault rifle to pin them down long enough for Vance to flank a trio taking cover behind some rubble and quickly dispatched them with his ray gun before throwing his empty AR at the last remaining trooper.

The hit stunned him long enough for Vance to get in close, grab him by the neck and begin relentlessly punching the trooper's face in with a fast series of strikes that not only shattered their helmet but also caved their face in entirely into a bloody pulp. Once that was dealt with, he simply dropped the body and continued pushing forwards, gritting his teeth as he felt pain surge from his shoulder and abdomen. He had been hit twice, but he could take it because he had to. Besides, he had dealt with worse in the past. As he continued pushing down the street he spotted reinforcements rushing towards him and he reading himself for a continued struggle.

---

Following Vance's trail, the security officers led the survivors he had gathered as an escort detail as they slowly moved along the rubble and blood soaked streets to get to the hangars. Dan himself was carrying a rifle as he stayed on guard on the group's flank to see if there were any enemies trying to get to them, but his and other's attention were taken by the scenes Vance had left behind as he cleared the way for them as best as he could. What few survivors there were they were groaning in pain on the ground with broken limbs and bones or were outright unconscious. "Damn Vance... that's hardcore even for me." Dan muttered as he continued following the group.

The atmosphere was filled with tension as every security officer was on guard to any potential danger that might come there way. Every small noise managed to make a few of them even jump in surprise, but their spirits remained firm as they continued to lead the civilians under their watch to safety and following Vance's path in the meantime. By this point they had managed to make it from the residential sector to the commercial sector and the scenery changed from destroyed houses to destroy businesses with glass, products, and bodies lining the streets now. everywhere. "Oh fuck... they hit everywhere..." one of the security officer commented aloud as they examined the bloodshed that had transpired. Nobody in this area had been spared, and the brutality shown by the attackers was in full display.

By this point, the elevator to the hangars wasn't far and as they approached they saw Vance standing around a few bodies of the attackers that had been posted to guard the elevator tunnel entrance in order to prevent people from attempting an escape. He was covered in blood, most of it wasn't his but the wounds he had sustained earlier weren't getting any better from exerting himself this much. He was panting heavily as he looked over to the group he had helped bring here. "Take the... elevators... down to the hangars." he spoke in between breaths, "Find a place to hold out... I'll bring more survivors where I can..."

As Vance began to walk towards a path to the rest of the commercial district, he stumbled a bit and gripped his side where he had taken a gunshot wound. "Whoa now, you're in no condition to keep going doing whatever it is you were doing." Dan spoke aloud, rushing to his friend's side with concern on his face. Vance only chuckled in response: "I'll be fine... I've been in worse situations than this." he simply said with a confident smile, "Now go. Go!" he yelled before moving ahead, leaving the security officers to ferry people into the elevator and head down to the hangars. As they arrived down there, they quickly moved into a loading bay that had been abandoned by its previous owners in the chaos that had ensued and began forming a perimeter using leftover crates, cargo boxes, and whatever else they could to make a barricade while holding the civilians deeper inside for shelter. It was hastily made but it was better than leaving the entire front out exposed to enemy fire. Dan stayed at the front, gun at the ready atop a crate for support as he waited with abated breath for any potential danger that might come their way. If there's a god out there watching... please let us get out of here alive. he simply thought to himself as he primed it to fire in preparation for the worst.

---

As Vance moved further into the elevator tunnel, he noticed a few figures that had managed to hold out their own as seen by the bodies laid out around them. He approached them with a hand waved up high. "Friendly! I'm here to help!" he yelled with confidence in order to not get shot by them, but as he approached closer he managed to make out their appearances which appeared to be a orange haired Upyri, a red-haired woman, a younger lady in a dress and-

Vance's heart nearly skipped a beat out of shock as he saw someone he hadn't seen in years. "Nat?"

 

[Viper Actual]

As Aesha pushed up and continued to engage any Blood Corp goons as they appeared so did Nathalie, shimmering in and out of her cloaked mode. Focusing mostly on any hostile in a flanking position, anyone with a keen eye would soon notice the shadowy figure appearing out of thin air to eliminate the threats before disappearing yet again. At this point Nathalie didn't care about the contract but if the previously overheard conversations between Aesha and the Reaver brass was anything to go by then- hopefully- Nathalie could secure a seat for herself just by keeping Aesha alive.

Fuck the contract at this point- we need to get out of here. I need to get out of here.

Shimmering into existence next to Aesha, Nathalie gave the pilot a curt nod as she switched magazine on her silenced weapon. "I hope there's more to this plan just run and gun. Numbers are not exactly on our side."
Then, a figure came strolling down the street towards them. He identified himself as a friendly and looked fr- Nathalie froze.

"Nat?"

Pressurized air was hastily ventilated as Nathalie's hood was pulled down and her mask lifted, revealing her face.

She could barely believe her eyes, something which was clearly shown by the surprised look on her face and stiff posture. "Vance?"
Glancing at the others she raised a hand. "Don't fire- he's on our side."

 

[Infab]

Aesha and the trio following her emerged out into the end of the tunnel, stepping out onto Bridgeton Street. From there, it was a straight shot through part of the Commercial District to the circular square near the center. As she paused for a moment, Aesha glanced down to her holoband. Just in time to hear her boss's voice crackle through it. "This is Valkyrie. Damien's down in the square at the end of Bridgeton Street. Any Reavers nearby, get your asses over here. NOW." Shit. This was getting worse by the minute. "Fuck, we gotta double-time it." she muttered. Six blocks. Six city blocks they had to run in order to get to the square. "Hope you guys are in good enough shape, because we're gonna have to run about five hundred meters to get to where the bosses are." she said, glancing back to those with her. But then she heard a voice that made her rapidly turn about.

"Friendly! I'm here to help!"

Aesha's rifle snapped up, taking aim at the man that appeared behind the group. He wasn't clad in body armor like the Blood Corps, so that was a good start. Aesha slowly lowered her rifle, and then she heard him react to Nathalie's presence. And she responded in kind, removing her mask and hood. Both of them were human, it seemed. And this new guy was named Vance.

"Don't fire- he's on our side."

"Good news, then. We need the help." said Aesha, glancing to Nathalie before looking back to Vance. "You two know one another?" she asked, before snapping her head in the direction of an explosion down the street. They couldn't stick around here too long. They had to get to the square. "I'm Aesha Drach. The other one over there is Olivia, and the girl in the dress is Shelby. We're with Blackwell's Reavers."

​

As several troops remained outside the complex Amy had climbed up, unleashing hell upon the windows with their rifles and automatic weapons, a squad of troops rushed into the entrances of the building to begin their ascent to her position. Six soldiers scoured the rooms and climbed the staircases, stepping over the corpse the fallen Blood Corps corpsman that Amy had eliminated as they moved. Amy could hear them coming, between the bursts of automatic fire peppering the windows nearby. And soon, she heard a detonation. But it didn't seem to have affected the soldiers below. There wasn't any shouting. In fact, from what she could hear through the comms of the dead sniper nearby, they were actually being careful. Actively checking for traps.

Her spider mines might prove ineffective if they were careful enough. She had to plan quickly, because it sounded as though they had reached the floor just beneath her. As she glanced over, she noticed there were a pair of grenades attached to the belt of the sniper. Neither were fragmentation grenades, but one was a smoke grenade. The other was a strange one, resembling a pyramid in shape. The markings on it were Upyri, of course, which left little to tell what it actually did. The rifle that the sniper had been using was what appeared to be an anti-material rifle as well. Meant to shoot through cover and objects to hit targets, or eliminate lightly armored vehicles. In addition to the scope mounted to the top, it featured canted sights on the side which allowed for close quarters use.

​

As Typhon descended into the hatch and made his way down a long ladder, he found himself in a dimly lit shaft which traveled in several directions. The low hum of electrical equipment was scattered about, and in the dim light, he could spot what appeared to be a small lift sitting on a long track. Remembering the direction of the elevator tunnel, the lift seemed to travel down the maintenance shaft all the way to the elevator tunnel. Uric groaned on his back, shifting slightly as he tried to grasp at his chest. The stim was starting to wear off. "...Y-You're with...with Val, right? A R-Reaver?" he whispered. He went quiet for a moment, before whispering again. "...I w-want you to tell her...her and our kids...t-that I'm sorry. For e-everything....and t-that I love them."

He groaned and coughed, before whispering a bit more. "...I-I'm not going to m-make it...to the M-Mordred. The...T-The power supply t...to my heart was h-hit. Please...P-Please tell them...what I said."

​

A few systems away...


It took a few minutes to thaw the individual inside the cryopod out, and she was quickly disconnected from the tube and pulled out onto a portable stretcher. Easel watched over her, much like a hawk, as the Reavers worked to secure her to the stretcher and get a monitor on her vitals. So far her vitals were clear. Pulse was good, breathing too. She wasn't crashing, which was common with those coming out of extended cryogenic stasis. "Drop her, and I will rip your spines from your bodies. Then, I'll put them back in upside down. Do you understand?" she stated to pair of Reavers working on her. They hesitated, but nodded rapidly in response.

Carefully, they made their way down from the shelf, back down to the ground floor. And then, they moved back into the medical bay. Easel followed quietly behind, her movements as graceful as they had been before. "Zadra, this is Easel. We have secured the survivor. Her vitals are stable. We are returning with her to the Guillotine, where I will monitor her until I am comfortable with bringing her out of her coma." she stated. Zadra's response came through the comms in her helmet. "Understood. I've arrived at the cargo bay. Going to take a look around here before I move on to the engine room. Drav? What's your status?"

Drav's voice sounded off next through the comms. "Drav found Armory. Door stuck. Break door now." she said. Then, there was a muffled boom through the comms, which also echoed through the ship. Then, there was total silence for a full minute. "Drav inside Armory."

 

[joshuadim]

"Yeah, we worked together for some time." Vance quickly replied before an explosion cut him off and he quickly looked towards the general direction of where it had originated, "Who are these assholes that are attacking? Why are they gunning down innocents?" he asked before clutching at the wound on his side in pain. "Nevermind that... we need to get people out of here. I sent a large group down to the hangars to prepare for evacuation but with those ships blasting anyone trying to flee they're only going to stay there for the time being and hold out."

He had no idea who the Blackwell Reavers were but they weren't shooting at him so that was a good sign of things. "Nice to meet y'all. What's the situation apart from everything being fubar? Any other survivors in the area we can try to evac?" he asked, focused on the task at hand as he observed the situation unfolding.

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

"...I-I'm not going to m-make it...to the M-Mordred. The...T-The power supply t...to my heart was h-hit. Please...P-Please tell them...what I said."

Indeed, Uric was telling the truth as Typhon could see his heart beat slower and slower as power from it fades away. Making it all the way to the Mordred without another stimpack on hand is going to be very difficult. "Do not speak like that, Mr. Corbett. You will make it.” Typhon lies, not sure of what to do other than keep trying to press onward to the ship. However, he does try to hoist Uric over his back so he wouldn't have to stumble next to him anymore, though the weight of his body causes Typhon's knees to buckle and his legs to shake; his strength just isn't there anymore so he'll have to be careful to not drop him. "Only a bit further now... just think of tomorrow, Mr. Corbett." he says, shuffling towards the lift and pressing a button on it; taking the both of them downward.

Eventually the lift stops, and something else also emerges within the elevator tunnel. The maintenance hatch by its doors open up with a pressurized hiss and a puff of cold smoke. The highly emaciated face of Typhon peeks out of the clouds and looks around checking for any Blood Corps in the area. Thankfully, there aren't any here, only a group of panicking civilians also rushing towards the elevator itself. The doors close behind Typhon as he hits the button labeled 'Hangars' on its controls, not bothering to check if any other civilians are also desperately trying to board; his patients take priority, always. With the elevator finally moving, he lightly puts Uric down against a wall and kneels next to him. "Mr. Corbett," he asks with a hand on his shoulder. "Are you still here?"

 

[K0mori]

From where she lay, Vixaya was able to see both the entrance of the pawn shop as well as the broken window she had entered through. Maintaining her complete stillness, she took stock of the situation, instincts slowly replaced by a more rational mindset. Pain was beginning to throb in her extremities, especially in the places she had been hit by enemy fire, but she had been in these situations before- wounded, pinned down by Kosok forces in urban environments... it was all familiar. And she knew that if she was going to escape alive, she would need to head deeper into the building, rather than out into the street. She couldn't possibly kill them all before they got her, not just because she would lose the element of surprise too quickly, but also because the plasma cartridge in her ZVI was running low.

She had another problem. Her eyes had a subtle glow about them, which made it far more difficult to hide, especially in the dark. However, she did have a solution for this- lenses surgically implanted inside of her skull, which incased her eyes beneath the lids, served the same purposes as the masks prior generations of kanads had worn. With a set of rapid blinks, the smartglass darkened like sunglasses, obscuring her vivid irises. Perhaps it would also help against the flashbang one of the enemies was carrying. She waited there, watching them as they slowly swept the room.

Even with a rational mind, Vixaya did not have time to contemplate who the enemy was, or why they were attacking. One of them drew closer. She stopped breathing and waited for his approach. Closer... closer...

He leaned over the counter and was shot in the face by her plasma SMG.

"Contact!" one of the others yelled, while Vixaya, again slipping into a state of mindless instinct, grabbed onto the gun the newly-dead soldier had been carrying and pulled it down behind the counter she was using as cover. The strap tugged on the dead man's body, and as the flashbang landed close by, Vixaya jerked the corpse all the way down so that it landed on top of the grenade. While loud, the muffled flashbang wasn't enough to deafen her, and as the others closed in, she unloaded on the backside of the counter using the dead man's weapon, cutting the others down at their knees. Snatching up her ZVI again, she stood and jumped over the counter, kicking one man in the head as she ran to the back of the store and through its fire exit.

She scanned up and down the back alley she entered, seeing an access hatch to the utility tunnels beneath the street. Dead bodies already lay scattered around, so it was likely that the Blood Corps had already been here and prevented some of the innocent bystanders from escaping, before moving on themselves, leaving it unguarded. Vixaya sprinted to the tunnel entrance and slid to the edge, grabbing hold of the ladder and quickly lowering herself down to safety. As she did, she brightened her lenses and began to think again. What was happening here was some sort of terrifying atrocity. She needed to find those pirates again; she needed help to escape this place, and that help needed to be well-armed.

 

[Breadman]

There was very little time to prepare as the Blood corps troops made it up the stairs. The claymore charges were a lost cause, but the spider mines were different. Amy tapped her holoband a few times and the mines disarmed while still functioning.

"Hold up." a gruff voice was heard coming up the stairs. The guests were already at the door and she didn't have any party favors. Not many of them at least. The little pyramid looked like it could be thrown or slid on the floor, so there was that at least. The anti-material rifle was her best bet of taking them out, she just needed to hit them. She turned over one of the tables in the room and hid behind it. Wouldn't do much good in a firefight, but it was something. BOOM! Another one of her traps goes off without doing any damage. Amy grabbed the smoke grenade and tossed it through the door. It bounced off the wall and landed right in the middle of the hallway. A thick layer of smoke started to fill the air. "In there!" "Where?" "The room to the right, open door." "There's 3 of them, jackass!" Good, they were the squabbling kind. Amy activated the pyramid and tossed it next out the door, might as well see what that does.

"Oh my." A smile crept on her face as her visor suddenly lit up with a host of new information as the pyramid did it's job. Suddenly she could see where they were through the walls. As soon as they were in the gadget's sight, they were marked for her convenience somehow. Was this ONI tech? How did they get their hands on it? questions for a different time. All six of them were checking the rooms as they walked through the smoke. One of them was already ready to peek through her door. He didn't have time to yell. The sound of the rifle was deafening enough to draw their attention anyway as it turned his head into red mist. "THERE!" the second one yelled as he ran down the hallway. Landing a shot on him was harder, but not impossible as she aimed for center mass. The bullet penetrated the wall with ease and send him flying into the next one. His corpse made a thud as the others switched tactics and started unloading into the room through the walls.

Amy ducked to make it harder for them to hit her. Four left, two visible, one in the neighboring room and one in another room. His position wasn't in the pyramid's line of sight, so he was unknown. The two in the hallway moved closer and lined up as one stopped firing for a second. Just what she needed. Another shot from the rifle rang out and pierced the wall and went straight through the shoulder of the first and into the chest of the other. One was dead, the other was screaming as he bled out from a new stump where his arm used to be. The shooting from the other room stopped either to reload or for the shooter to get a hold of himself after what happened. Amy didn't waste time and moved to a different spot in the room, one harder to pelt with bullets. Another tap on her band and the mines started to move about around the walls.

It was quiet for a few seconds as the other two seemingly stopped. The pyramid wasn't picking them up, but she knew they were there. Then there was a creak and a foot was picked up by the pyramid. Amy took a shot and the round did it's work. The corpsman fell face first as his foot was blown clean off. "THERE! SHOOT THATH THING!" Another shot was heard and her advantage was now gone. Amy took another shot and heard the man gurgle as the impact penetrated his body and slid it on the floor. One more left.

He rushed down the hallway in an attempt to get to her, but she was quick enough to tap her holoband again. The signature sound of the mine's beeping echoed on in the hallway as both latched on to his back. "OH YOU BICH!" was all he could muster before his upper half ceased to exist from the explosion.

Amy crept out the door, rifle still pointed forwards. Looks like she took care of the squad they send after her, but surely more were on the way. She needed to get out of there. The cloak had enough charge for her to make a run for it, but she would have to dodge anymore combat if she wanted to make it. Safest way was likely through the tunnels. Hopefully Valk's men had the same idea.

 

[Viper Actual]

Nathalie simply nodded towards Aesha as she approached Vance.

"Yeah, we worked together for some time."

"That's an understatement," said Nathalie while chuckling. She nodded towards Vance and smiled briefly. "Damm good to see you, Vance. If we get out of here in one piece I reckon it's time for that drink I owe you- not to mention catching up in general."

She paused and nodded towards Aesha and the others. "Limited number of survivors by the look and sound of things. We barely managed to react in time to the tangos that were in our imminent proximity. Granted, we're armed to the teeth." Nathalie paused again and glanced towards Shelby. "At least most of us are."
Grabbing hold of her mask, Nat pulled it down over her face and pulled up her hood to once again mask her identity. "Tangos are Blood Corps. Renegade Upyri marines and whatnot, now turned into a rogue faction within the quadrant. Extremely hostile."

Then, as further explosions rocked the station, Nathalie glanced down the street briefly. "We should move. No point in sticking around here."

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Shelby would have preferred running towards the exit and not away from it, but from the sounds of it the big boss was in trouble, and Aesha wasn't going to run away from that. He couldn't imagine himself saving his manager, Joey Giuseppi, for any reason at all. The mere thought of him made his neck go tense as the unfamiliar sensation of rushing adrenaline, fear, and confusion surged around his body. Somehow, Shelby managed to keep standing and keep moving, and he kept his hold firm on his pistol.

They were joined by a big and bloodied fellow named Vance, and Shelby muttered a quick hello. He felt more alert than he had ever been, but at the same time, he really wanted to lay down for a nap. It was like the opposite sensation of the drugs. Barely aware, barely thinking, but unable to ever stop moving. What a day this is turning out to be.

He frowned at Nat's glance his way as he looked down at his pistol. Sure, it wasn't a big loud assault rifle, but it had still killed someone. Taking the chance to fish out the rest of his ammo, Shelby knelt and rummaged through his backpack, taking out a couple more small magazines he had never actually thought he would use. He still couldn't quite believe he was in the middle of a real fight. Tucked away at the bottom of the pack in a little box was his ticket to salvation right now, but he ignored it, pretending it didn't even exist. Not right now. He couldn't. But... later, now, that was a different story.

 

[Infab]

Aesha nodded rapidly, before pointing to a grate nearby on the ground. "We can use the maintenance shafts and metro tunnels to avoid most of them. Shafts and tunnels run all over the place under the district, so we likely can find a straight shot to the square from here. If the others are smart, they'll duck into the tunnels too. We can link up with them, and make a run for it."

She jogged over to the grate, and began unlatching its simple locking mechanism before tugging on it. The metal grate shifted to and fro, before eventually popping out and open. Inside, a ladder descending down into a maintenance shaft. "We're in business. Let's go." she said, slipping down onto the ladder. The others followed as quickly as they could, each climbing down onto the ladder and down into the shaft.

​

As Vixaya climbed down into the maintenance tunnel where she was, she found herself in near pitch blackness. But there was sound. Lots of sound. Metal creaking, droplets of water, buzzing of electricity... gunfire and explosions. As above, now so below, it seemed. As she moved through the maintenance shaft towards the fighting, she popped open a hatch to find that she had emerged into a metro system. Namely a metro tunnel with a crashed and burning train car several meters down the track away from her. It looked to have been the target of a rocket propelled grenade, the victims that had been aboard now charred black and smoldering. As she darted across the track and climbed up onto the platform across from her, she then saw the origin of the gunfire and explosions. Numerous security guards, Frontier Militia troops, and even civilians were fighting at the top of the stairwell nearby, trying to hold off the incoming mass of Blood Corps troopers. Assault rifles, machine guns, shotguns, rockets, grenades... all were in intense use.

It looked as though those that didn't make it to the hangars yet had retreated underground, persued by their attackers. And the fighting was now coming towards Vixaya as she stood on the lower platform. Suddenly, nearby, Amy popped out of a hatch herself in the tunnel on the opposite side of the platform. They locked eyes for a moment, but an RPG launched from upstairs took out a chunk of the ceiling above them. Peppering both with small bits of debris. The chaos was spilling down the stairs now.

Near the end of the platform, a short ways down from Amy and Vixaya, another maintenance hatch would pop open. Out of it emerged Aesha, Nathalie, Olivia, Shelby, and Vance. Aesha looked about, and spotted Vixaya almost immediately. Hard not to, with the red coat she was wearing. "[VIXAYA!]" she called out to her. But then her eyes travelled towards the staircase, and up them. And then she saw the hellacious fighting coming towards them. Her eyes widened. "Oh fuck." she muttered aloud, before snapping her rifle up and firing off a burst at a Blood Corps trooper that came tumbling down the stairs to the platform. This was a VERY bad place to be.

​

"Mr. Corbett," he asks with a hand on his shoulder. "Are you still here?"

Uric didn't respond. He didn't move either. His eyes closed, his body limp. Uric Corbett had been right in his estimate, as he had died long before they reached the Mordred. The Reavers on the elevator with the civilians took notice of Typhon and Uric, moving over quickly to where they were. "We'll carry him back, boss. Its the least we can do. It'll free you up to handle our wounded." said the young Human. The other, an Upyri, nodded in agreement. "We gotta get to the Mordred and get it fired up for when they bring the big bosses back."

 

[Breadman]

Amy rushed through the streets and past the shops evading the Blood corps as much as she could. They were too busy conducting their sweep to notice her, which allowed her to reach the tunnels. She made her way through them and eventually make it to the metro. Looking around, the first thing she noticed was the carnage and then...was that the Kanaad from earlier? Vixaya.

Before she could do anything, the fighting started to spill over to their location as an RPG explosion rocked them. Amy brushed off some of the debris that fell on her before she heard someone call to Vixaya. Look like the pirates made it after all and had some additions since the last time she saw them. The bounty hunter picked up the pace to get closer

"Friendly! We met earlier while you were still recruiting."

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

No words are spoken by Typhon for Uric, though he does grunt in mild frustration that having to evade all those armed soldiers was for nothing. Patients dying on him isn't anything new, especially not in this part of space, but it's still as souring and not a very good look for him either. He gently closes Uric's eyes and steps back. Taking a deep breath, he stands up and tries thinking of just what he'll tell Valk, and more importantly, how he'll tell it to her without her spacing him for his failure to keep him alive.

"Oh, I am absolutely going to be blamed for this, aren't I..." he mumbles to himself.

"We'll carry him back, boss. Its the least we can do. It'll free you up to handle our wounded."

"We gotta get to the Mordred and get it fired up for when they bring the big bosses back."

Typhon points a stern finger while glancing at the both of them. "You are both my witnesses to the Captain that I tried, yes?" he snaps. "She's not going to take this very well." He gestures at Uric, sighing as he shakes his head. "I also need to stop by the Mordred too for my equipment. I don't feel like using my tie as a tourniquet."

The elevator comes to a bumpy halt at the hangar floor. The doors are almost forced open and the horrified and frightened civilians spew outside, and the two Reavers follow with Uric's limp body in their hands. Though as Typhon steps out, he nearly trips over a left behind suitcase full of clothes and other worthless belongings. He curses to himself as he leaves the hallway and into the hangar proper. The people in the elevator with him aren't the only ones desperate to leave it seems. There's crowds of people all swarming what available ships there are left. They're offering money, food, whatever trinkets and family heirlooms they were able to escape with to the crew of these ships in the hopes that they'd take them with them; it didn't matter whether they were militia, civilian, or pirate. The screams of pleas and begging irritate Typhon's nerves as he jogs around and dodges boxes, left behind luggage, and people still on the floor after having been trampled over to find the Mordred somewhere here. He comes across it finally after running through mobs of scared people trying to make it off the colony, and he can see some of the Reavers in the cargo hold anxiously pushing back despairing civilians; trying to hold fast in the middle of all this chaos. Looks like he's not going in that way; lest he be trampled underneath. Fortunately, there's another way in: a hatch on the side of the ship the technicians use whenever they need to repair something.

The climb upward was hell on his elbows and knees, but he manages to pull himself through inside. Though the moment his old body sets foot inside the Mordred, a pair of rifles poke their barrels at him. The two Reavers, thinking it was a crafty hitchhiker, lower their guns on seeing who it actually is.

"Doc! Christ, you scared the shit out of us!" says one, offering a hand to help him out of the hatch. "What the hell's going on out there!?"

"Blood Corps." Typhon dryly responds after being helped inside. "Imbeciles probably think this is a pirate station."

"Fuck... And where are the others!? Where the hell's the boss?! Didn't she come with you?!" stresses the other Reaver.

"No." Typhon shakes his head. "She stayed above. Don't ask me why."

"Well shit! We gotta get her, doc!"

"No." Typhon responds, lifting a finger. "I'll go. There's wounded I need to tend to as well. Stay here, guard the ship, and get the engines ready. I doubt Valkyrie will want to stay here until those Nazi vampires are done with this station."

The two nod in confirmation, and Typhon departs for the med-bay to collect his equipment. There's Reavers running about the ship, scrambling to their positions, and occasionally Typhon is stopped by one of them as they ask him what the situation is and if the others that left the ship are ok. Eventually he tires of answering them and begins waving them off. Finally, he opens the doors to the med-bay. Strangely, there's no one inside of it in spite of all the fighting happening above them. His boxes are here at least, and he wastes no time in opening them up and collecting everything he needs. He slips on a powered vest over his jacket, and takes with him his helmet, his submachine gun, a few smoke grenades, and a rucksack full of all sorts of medical and surgical equipment such as stimpacks, needles, scalpels, bandages, sterilizers, swabs, just in case he has to actually perform surgery out there too. One last touch is made though: blue electrical tape around his arm to identify him as a friendly to the Reavers.

Tooled up and prepared, he emerges from the med-bay and flips the selector switch on his SMG.

Still ignoring any bothersome questions, and definitely ignoring the pleading crowd of people rushing the ships in the hangar, Typhon makes his way back to the elevator tunnel. He's not bothering to use that again, just in case the power's the next thing to go. So, it's back into the hatch and enduring the rapid climb upward. At least there's a ladder next to the lift there. The lift takes him all the way up, and again he peeks out of the hatch to make sure the coast is clear. It's eerily quiet now, with only the soft crackling of fires burning here and there making any sort of noise among all the dead bodies, bullet holes, and scorch marks. Typhon doesn't bother scanning them; it's clear that the Blood Corps were very thorough in this area. Though the sound of gunfire can also be heard if he listens hard enough, and it gradually gets louder and louder the further he travels until it sounds like it's all happening beneath him. It's probably the metro tunnels, he figures. Finding another maintenance hatch, he slides into it as it's still probably safer than being out in the open in the streets. The gunfire and explosions get louder still the deeper he goes until it almost sounds like the battle is taking place right next to him. Opening one last hatch, one marked 'METRO TUNNEL B-5', he readies his gun as he crawls out and slowly creeps around the dark metro tunnel; using his scanner to find any life signals in the area.

If they're Reavers, he'll try to provide support. If they're anyone else, they'll just have to make do by themselves.

Fortunately, at least one of them is. Aesha's vitals appear on his feed and she seems to be just around the corner. Though there's others he can't recognize around her, some of which aren't Upyri either. There's several humans, and even a Kanad too. Probably defenseless civilians that latched onto her with how magnetic she seems to be. He says nothing as he turns the corner and almost into the light, but instead he flashes his helmet's visor-slits to let her know he's there.

 

[SniperComZero]

There was a slow, short pause, as Olivia looked between Aesha, and the crowd of prospectives that she figured would, if nothing else, shield anyone competent to the hangar. On one hand, fresh blood's always good to keep the gears turning. On the other, if the boss gets herself whacked, it's not like the military. She's not gonna get any pay whatsoever. That, and her ticket off this deathtrap's gonna likely be shredded all up.

"...Motherfucker."

- - - - -​

Aside from a frustrated sigh, and a finger squeezing just a little too close to blasting someone who was gonna help them, Olivia had remarkably little to say to the surprise addition to their party. From one spook to another, they're all the same. If he and that Nat chick know each other, then there's no way in hell that their relations're gonna be anything more than frosty.

What she did have remarkably much to say about, however, was the situation that the group had opened themselves up to. Right down the hall from another massive firefight. An RPG over head sending concrete dust and a shockwave hard enough that it rattled her teeth. "God-- dammit, did you wanna bring us out in any worse of a fucking position?" The snappy pilot's voice whipped over to her as-of-current 'superior', as she herself took cover on the corner of the door, witnessing Aesha drop a volley of shots into the battle line. And, probably give their position away. Her torso snapped outward, SMG plinking rounds downrange into the head of one of the terrorists, sending them hurdling down the steps like a ragdoll. "Do we need to go up here, or what?"

Something out of the corner of her eye-- "Check your sixes!" Flashing lights down a dark corridor were never a good sign.

 

[joshuadim]

As the group descended downwards to the shaft below, they found themselves in a continued pitched battle between Blood Corps and what remained of FM and Security forces on the colony as firefights echoed down the halls. The explosion from the RPG was a bit too close for comfort as Vance quickly shielded his face with his arms and only let them down after the debris subsided. "Shit! That was too close for comfort." he spoke aloud as he primed his ray gun yet again for combat. "Looks like we gotta push our way through. I can take point, see if we can find an opening or not to get ourselves the hell outta here."