Futuristic Starpath X: For All Mankind

[joshuadim]

These fuckers are insane. was the thought that ran through Mazurek's mind as he heard the voice over the PA speak ill of his dead. Life was of little value in the Upyri war machine, given what the commander of the Honor Guard voiced, and it made the Corporal all the more disgusted towards them in his first on-the-ground encounter with one of them. He remained in cover, pushing another button on his plasma gun that in turn opened vents to allow for rapid cooling. Mazurek didn't know what the operational limit of such a weapon was in the first place, let alone its capacity, but he wasn't taking any chances if there was a possibility of him losing a hand from overheating. And neither was he willing to be the test dummy in a live combat zone.

Once Darwin finished his taunting, the fighting renewed again and Mazurek poked his head out briefly to get a quickly glance at the layout of the second floor. There were still workers in Upyri hands, which made him grit his teeth. The mission hadn't changed, even with some big-shot asshole calling the shots and throwing fighting words around; the Corporal dashed out of cover, inviting a burst of gunfire that peppered the area near him as he slid towards another pillar. Unfortunately for the soldier that tried to kill Mazurek, he had given away his position and thus left him open to a counterattack.

The corporal leaned out of cover for a moment and fired three plasma bolts in rapid successions, the first two tearing through the Upyri's cover before the third collided with his head. Flesh melted almost instantly from the blast, leaving the soldier gurgling on his own liquifying face as he collapsed onto the ground before dying just as quickly. However, Mazurek's new position left him dangerously extended as gunfire riddled the area around him in an attempt to flush him out of his narrow safety. "Fuck! Krawczyk, give me some help here!" Mazurek shouted loudly as he shifted in place to avoid the edges of the pillar that crumbled from the continuous barrage of enemy fire.

 

[K0mori]

Zetter's movement up the stairs and Caine's decision to follow had inadvertently split the efforts of the Patrol. Oberto, already incensed after the broadcasted execution of a civilian, was ready to confront Darwin immediately, and so was most of Squad 10 after the death of their comrade, McFarlane. Krawczyk hadn't lost sight of her goal, however, and remained steadfastly focused on rescuing the remaining plant workers, as did about half of Squad 9.

Mazurek began the assault, catching the LMG operator with a blast of plasma from his Kosok pistol, which inflicted an absolutely horrific death upon the man before the Corporal came under fire from the other two guardsmen on the floor.

"Fuck! Krawczyk, give me some help here!" Mazurek shouted loudly as he shifted in place to avoid the edges of the pillar that crumbled from the continuous barrage of enemy fire.

The Sergeant sprung into action, letting out a furious scream as she hammered the enemy position with bullets. The two guardsmen ducked behind cover, and she wasn't willing to try to shoot behind the control panels and risk harming the innocents, so most of her rifle rounds would merely impact the concrete and metal of the wall behind them. Right behind, Atlas' heavy footfalls thumped on the walkways, although the fishman held his fire and waited for the proper opportunity.

"Find safety, Krawczyk," he said, placing one hand on her shoulder to alert her of his approach. She ducked out of the way to get behind a pillar, and in the brief gap in the suppressing fire, the upyri reappeared, only to be met with a precision shot to each of their heads. One was only a ricochet of the guardsman's helmet, and Krawczyk finished the job with her pistol. The two hostages scrambled out of cover on their hands and knees, eventually being directed by Mazurek towards the stairway leading them down to safety. The Corporal yelled at them to get through the fence, knowing that allied forces were close by.

Now that the second floor had been cleared of hostiles and civilians, Krawczyk motioned for those who stayed below to regroup on the stairwell in the middle of the southern side of the structure. The rest of the Patrol had already begun to fight its way up the northeastern stairs, but were encountering heavy resistance. Zetter of course led this renewed charge, and took a couple of glancing hits as he pushed up the stairs. Caine and Novy, although under heavy fire, managed to push through with him without taking any bullets, but right behind them, Pvt Bongani took a bullet to the neck and fell backwards into Oberto and Chou.

The third floor was more crowded with pipes and other obstacles than the second. Unbeknownst to Patrol 2, there were no more human workers being held captive by the enemy. All that remained were five elite guardsmen, including Darwin. Despite Novy scoring direct hits on two of these men, their armor took almost all of the impact without even moving them.

Then, frighteningly, all of the lights in the structure went out, leaving nothing but the flashlights' glow on the human's rifles, and the muzzle flashes of the ongoing battle. "That's it, come on up," Krawczyk could hear as she reached the top floor and found herself looking at the concrete wall of the control room. Shining her flashlight up at it, she found a small rectangular opening near the top of the wall, too small to infiltrate through. On the other side, doubtlessly, was the enemy commander.

"We have you surrounded, motherfucker!" the Sargeant called out, grabbing a grenade and pulling the pin.

"Really...? Try it," Darwin warned.

​

Krawczyk didn't hesitate, throwing the grenade up toward the opening in the wall, only for the device to be struck immediately by a bullet from Darwin's pistol. The grenade, having been designed not to arm until several seconds after being thrown as a safety measure against accidental self-fragging, was rendered disarmed by this action as the pieces of the weapon separated and tumbled separately off the walkway and down to the lower floors.

"What the fuck?" Krawczyk said quietly.

Darwin laughed. "I'm coming out to hunt, now, little rabbit."

Outside, the guardsmen amplified their resistance in the dark. Cpl Chou was struck by a bullet and fell wounded back down the stairs, blocking the way for several others and leaving Oberto, Novy, Caine, and Zetter pinned down at the top of the stairs. They were trapped at the far northeast of the building while the rest of Patrol 2 struggled to decide whether to follow them up, or to take a different set of stairs to the second floor.

 

[Breadman]

"He's pinned down with half his squad now." Mordecai commented as he continued to broadcast his feed to the rest of the Vulture squad.

"Has a knack for doing that." his commander responded with frustration. She was quiet for a few more seconds before speaking again. "Can you extrapolate data from the feed?"

"Like I did for Loren earlier? Yes."

"Can you send it through other channels than ours?"

"It would be simple." The cyborg was wondering what his commander was planning. "Just tell me where to send it."

"Follow my lead." She switched channels from their secure line to their broader forces until narrowing it down to the El'uth channels "This is Sol Vulture Commander Saintclair broadcasting to our allies in the field. Our squad's sniper has been made and is currently unable to give proper cover to the soldiers inside the building, but our technician is able to triangulate enemy positions based off of a camera feed from inside. If we send you the data, can you assist? Over." It was unorthodox, but it had a far better shot at helping evening the odds than the squad just standing there wondering what to do. Mordecai began preparing the data to be send over as soon as their alien allies gave their answer.

 

[Infab]

"This is Sol Vulture Commander Saintclair broadcasting to our allies in the field. Our squad's sniper has been made and is currently unable to give proper cover to the soldiers inside the building, but our technician is able to triangulate enemy positions based off of a camera feed from inside. If we send you the data, can you assist? Over."

It wasn't long before a response came through. "This is Ja'thal, Forward Scout of Clan Xi'Tak. We are able to assist, and wish to deliver swift retribution. Preparing to recieve data on the following encrypted frequency, over." they stated. A string of numbers followed, signifying where to transmit the data.

On the El'uth end, as Ja'thal recieved the data Mordecai began to transmit and put it into a datapad, Ki'mun shifted a bit and slid her sniper rifle aside. "Switching to heavy ordinance." she whispered to her comrade. A moment later, she shifted around to lying on her back as she reached over and pulled a far larger rifle close. It was the anti-vehicular rifle that the pair had brought with them, used to eliminate reinforced positions like bunkers or APCs. Sometimes even light tanks. It would be more than enough to punch through the wall of the structure their foes were currently hiding in. However, it was a single shot bolt action rifle. One foot-and-a-half long cartridge could be placed into the weapon at a time.

She set it up, the butt of the rifle resting in her lap as she leaned forward and pulled the bolt back. From a small satchel next to her, she drew one cartridge. The pointed tip of the large bullet was painted green, with a small ring of grey around the point signifying that it was would pierce the building's wall. The green paint, however, meant that it would detonate once it went through. Upon detonation, the bullet would fragment and send shrapnel at high speed in various directions. Particularly useful for anti-personnel matters. Perhaps that would eliminate a few of the Upyri on the other side.

She slid the cartridge into place, before shoving the bolt back forwards. Then, she sat back and pulled the rifle into her shoulder. The bipod sat between her legs, and her cheek laid on the rest on the stock of the weapon. The scope gave her a clear view of the side of the structure, and soon, Ja'thal was giving her directions on where to aim. She shifted ever so slightly, moving the rifle's barrel to where it needed to be, then said "Ready." as she reached her target. "Three... two... one... Firing."

The rifle made a thunderous crack, the recoil of the shot rocking the El'uth woman and sliding her backwards a few inches on her rear.

--- --- ---
​

Oberto's group heard the shot even inside the building. Whatever the hell it was also briefly scared the hell out of the men under Darwin's command as well, as one of their own suddenly and quite violently exploded into a mess of blood and chunks of flesh. The shot had pierced the concrete, sure. However, it didn't detonate in the room. Instead, it pierced into an upyri soldier's side and detonated inside his chest cavity. The blast ripped him apart, and sent fragments of bone and shrapnel into the area around him. Some bits hit another Upyri soldier nearby, embedding into his arm and parts of his armor. He was fine enough to continue fighting, however. Darwin, sadly, was far enough away in the room to avoid it.

"The El'uth broke out the big gun. Excellent." muttered Adam. The brief shock and pause gave them a moment to act.

"Should we rush them and try to end this? Or pull back and regroup with the others? I can't see shit in here, and Chou needs help." said Sam, looking to Oberto.

 

[joshuadim]

After dealing with the second floor's enemies, Mazurek bounded up the steps with Krawczyk to join the rest of Squad 9 and vented his weapon again. Hot air momentarily blasted against the top edge of his hand before quickly dissipating thanks to the internal cooling, and with a soft whirr it signaled its readiness for action. And just in time as well as the lights were killed by Darwin's hand, leaving them in the literal dark. The Corporal managed to scramble into cover as more gunfire broke out, with shrapnel and bits of concrete peppering him as he tried to orient himself on where to open fire. They were at an inherent disadvantage in this situation, and Mazurek's mind raced as he kept in relative safety of a small barrier that was being chipped away.

A sudden explosion of concrete quickly changed the scenario as the El'uth sniper obliterated one of the Honor Guard into a fine mist with a crack shot. The Corporal didn't have the moment to sing praises as he shot out of cover, using the chaos of the moment to his advantage, and fired at the enemy with a three shot burst. The first went wide, impacting concrete at the far end of the room and melting it on contact. The second hit one of the Honor Guard's legs, forcing him to collapse as he desperately swatted at the straps of his armor before it began to eat into his flesh. He rolled into cover after tossing his leg padding away, barely managing to scuttle out of the way of Mazurek's third shot.

The corporal cursed himself silently for failing to deal with his target and quickly ducked back into cover to vent his weapon again. His current positioning didn't allow for the best angles of attack, which left Mazurek wondering what his next course of action was. He wondered if there was a way to flank the enemy, but his train of thought stopped when he saw how exposed Kang put herself in the heat of the moment. She was firing back with her pistol, but had dangerously positioned herself; Mazurek saw this and quickly dashed over to her, running at quickly as he could before tackling her.

He felt a thud hit his body armor before colliding with the floor, a wave of dull pain radiating from his backside that he ignored for the time being as he helped Kang into cover again. He figured that his armor took the brunt of the impact and that he was fine, and in turn checked up on his compatriot. "You alright?" he asked as enemy fire sailed above them. "Not hit?"

 

[K0mori]

"Should we rush them and try to end this? Or pull back and regroup with the others? I can't see shit in here, and Chou needs help." said Sam, looking to Oberto.

Oberto looked back over his shoulder, but couldn't see his comrades for all the flashlights pointed back in his direction. "Acheson!" he called out.

"Bongani's bleeding out, sir!" the Squad 10 medic replied, desperately.

Oberto clapped Caine on the shoulder. "Get down there and help Chou," he ordered with a fierce nod. Doing as he was told, Caine turned and quickly lowered himself down the first few steps until he met up with the Corporal, who was clutching a bloody patch of her chest where the bullet had struck her. Palencia had stepped over his wounded comrades so that he was now near the top of the stairs with Caine.

"I've got you, hombre!" he assured the medic as he pushed forward to provide cover.

He felt a thud hit his body armor before colliding with the floor, a wave of dull pain radiating from his backside that he ignored for the time being as he helped Kang into cover again. He figured that his armor took the brunt of the impact and that he was fine, and in turn checked up on his compatriot. "You alright?" he asked as enemy fire sailed above them. "Not hit?"

On the south side of the third floor, Mazurek had taken a bullet meant for Kang. While her position might have been a dangerous one, it succeeded in revealing another one of the enemies who had taken to the southwest corner of the structure in order to trap Squad 9 on two sides. She nodded to Mazurek, her teeth clenched and eyes wide with fear. While Krawczyk focused on the east side, Atlas looked west, both of them suppressing the enemy for the moment as they searched for a path to advance.

Outside, a dull rumbling intensified from somewhere within the spaceport. The enemy was beginning to take off and retreat from the planet. Unsurprisingly, they had waited until the exact moment the Kosok units had breached the terminals and were now beginning to fight on the landing pads against the few Honor Guards who stayed behind, covering the retreat. Among those vehicles, however, was a small dropship which was unsuitable for spaceflight. It neared the fuel plant where the Patrol was engaged and hovered there for a moment, before a massive flood light poured out from the bird's belly and left everyone awash in white.

"GET DOWN!" Oberto screamed, and within an instant, bullets from a machine turret began to sweep the northeast stairwell. Caine ducked down over top of Chou and felt a heavy strike against the armor on his back, deflecting somewhere else into the structure. Another bullet caught Palencia in the leg, and he cried out in agony as he fell forward onto his stomach, but he didn't lose his grip on his gun, and soon was firing at the silhouette of a guardsman at the southeast corner who was caught in two overlapping cones of fire himself. Either Palencia or Krawczyk would cut the upyri down as he struggled to find effective cover with his leg already wounded by Mazurek.

Acheson had rolled out of the way from his seated position and pressed himself against the wall, and he was miraculously unhit. Likewise, Hilmarrson had found a safe position on the second floor to deal with his earlier wound and had escaped a quick death. Bongani, however, was struck multiple times by the ship's cannon and had his chest cavity blown open. By that point, he had lost so much blood from his neck wound that he didn't appear to react; he was likely already dead.

The dropship then moved, relocating itself to directly above the structure before descending near the south side of the building. It seemed to hesitate for a moment as the gunner within watched the targets diverge; Krawczyk was running to the right, toward the southeast corner that she and Palencia had cleared, while Atlas moved the opposite direction, taking point ahead of Mazurek and Kang. This second movement eventually drew the gunship's attention, and as the light around Atlas glowed brighter and brighter, the fishman could sense that he was about to be killed.

Instead, blinded by the flood of light, he crashed through a safety rail and fell from the catwalk, landing on top of one of the chemical mixing tanks and denting it just as the machinegun ripped through the building, nearly hitting one of the upyri's own. "Watch your fuckin' fire!" the guardsman yelled, apparently into his comm unit. Unsurprisingly, the dropship stopped shooting immediately, once again moving to a position above the building.

Atlas, now at a unique angle, lined up the scope on his rifle, and squeezed the trigger several times in a row, blowing holes in that same upyri who had gotten lucky just moments before. The south side of the building was now clear, but there were still two guardsmen at the northwest corner of the building, and Darwin inside of his thick concrete walls- or so the Patrol knew. Zetter pushed forward, moving from the northeast corner to the middle of the north side, firing on the enemy position, but hit nothing but air as he hustled toward cover.

The door on his left, the one which led to the control room, was closed shut. He immediately put two and two together: Darwin must have access to the roof, where he alone planned to escape via the dropship.

 

[Infab]

Another round was loaded into the chamber of the anti-vehicular rifle, and the pair of El'uth prepared to line up another shot on the next Upyri that was still standing inside the structure. However, the sound of an aerial unit made them pause. A dropship, closing in on the structure fast. Soon enough, they heard the sound of the ship's machine guns opening up, then just as quickly going quiet again. They needed to act fast.

The rifle's bipod only allowed for the weapon to fire on targets across or down at an angle from the shooter, so they would need to improvise to hit a dropship. Ki'mun looked to Ja'thal, then pointed to the barrel before making a motion with her thumb upwards. The weapon needed to be elevated. Ja'thal got to work, setting his rifle down before moving over and crouching next to the weapon. He lifted the heavy barrel up, resting it on his right shoulder as Ki'mun adjusted to a kneeling position behind him. Ja'thal then stood, raising the barrel's rifle up to a position where they could hit their aerial target. Now they played the waiting game.

Thankfully, they didn't have to wait too long. The dropship soon came into view, and Ki'mun took quick aim at the cockpit. The ship was moving too much to get a solid bead on the pilot, so she would have to guess the shot. Eventually, she settled on it and squeezed the trigger. Another thunderous crack, and both Ja'thal and Ki'mun fell backwards onto their rears from the pressure and recoil.

Across from them, the dropship drifted into the shot. However, they didn't hit the pilot. Instead, the bullet ripped through the cockput and blew a hole through the co-pilot's chest. The round continued through the ship, tearing through the wall at the back of the cockpit and zipping through the dropship's personnel bay before punching through the door that would open for troopers to enter or exit. Behind the ship, the round finally detonated, creating a puff of black smoke and sending shrapnel into the air in random directions. The pilot reacted as expected, shouting a string of curses before moving the dropship back behind the refinery.

Ki'mun cursed herself, as she ejected the spent cartridge from the rifle. The upyri invaders must pay.

--- --- --- ---
​

Adam took the moment to reload the revolver, flicking the cylinder out and dumping the spent rounds with a slap of the ejector rod. He needed to intercept Darwin, wherever the coward was. Going through the door would be asking to get shot, but it might have been the only way to catch up to him while the others were occupied with the two remaining guardsman to the northwest. He grunted in frustration, as he slipped fresh rounds into the empty cylinder. Once they were loaded, he tossed the empty speedloader aside and flicked the revolver closed.

Well, fuck it. I'm a dead man anyway.

He rushed over to the door, fired a point-blank shot into the door's lock, and gave the door a brutal straight kick to knock it inwards. Time for the hunter to become the hunted.

Meanwhile, Sam tended to Chou as best as he could before moving towards Palencia and their wounded leg. Everyone was likely going to need patching up before this was over. If they all didn't get blown to Hell, that is.

 

[joshuadim]

When Kang gave her affirmation, Mazurek nodded and quickly got back up on his feet as the fighting continued to rage. He took a moment to look at his ammo count, which the display showed as now being disconcertingly low. He silently cursed at himself for not using his weapon more efficiently, realizing he would need to not only choose his shots more carefully but also have to scrounge for more materials... if he survived, that is. Peeking out from cover quickly to get a view of the evolving fight, Mazurek decided to make sure he could get a good shot rather than wasting ammo. As a result he shouted out to the others: "MOVING POSITION! COVER ME!"

Mazurek promptly sprinted out of cover, his concentration laser-focused on finding a proper way to flank the enemy however he could find it. The corporal then noticed their Upyri "guest" pushing ahead by bursting through a door, meaning that attention would be further drawn away from him. And so, Mazurek took the opportunity to round a corner on the third floor and advance to find a good flanking shot on the enemy.

 

[Breadman]

"Honor guard are pulling back, Vultures are in pursuit." Saintclaire announced on the radio before looking to her team. "Man inside or not, we have a job to do. Kill every upiry soldier you see."

"What's the plan?" Mordecai adjusted the holos on his wrist.

"Cid is in front, and we're going to support him."

"Loren here." The familiar raspy voice could be heard over their comms "Have a new vantage point."

"Just in time. You see the dropship?"

"Our new friends scared him enough to make him hide behind the refinery." The sniper sounded annoyed at the development "However." A series of shots rang out "I knew where their snipers were."

"If you see an opening, take the shot." The Vulture commander motioned for her team to move. The time to lay low was over. While the upiry were focusing on the kosoks making their push, the human commandos will hit them in the rear. "New objective-Make them bleed."
---
Inside the refinery Boyan hurried behind his squad. Whatever help they were getting was helping them break through at a rapid pace. Enough to make the Honor guard crumble quickly. unfortunately that came with a degree of overconfidence. The staircase proved to be the biggest obstacle as they were being pinned down. That's when the casualties would start to mount. Moving from the bottom of the staircase, he would take shots when he could at the Honor guard in order to force them back into cover.

By the time Boyan reached the the others, Sam was already helping Palencia. Seeing how the medic was busy, he started dragging Chou to safety.

 

[K0mori]

Krawczyk, by this point, had rounded the corner on the east side of the building and took note of the Patrol's mounting casualties. McFarlane and Bongani were dead; Chou and Palencia were badly wounded. Even with her flashlight, Krawczyk stumbled in the darkness and nearly tripped over Oberto, who had only just lifted himself back up out of the cover he had taken from the enemy dropship. Others were trying to gather themselves up; Hilmarrson was still pressing forward, Atlas was still in the fight despite the fall he had taken, and Mazurek was leading Kang on an end-around trying to flank the remaining two guardsmen from the southwest.

"Iga, you hurt!?" Oberto called out in shock when he realized his counterpart had reached him.

Krawczyk steadied him as they began to move west in the wake of Zetter, who had already charged ahead. "I'm fine. How bad is it?" she said, motioning to the northeast stairwell.

"We got raked by the fuckin' dropship," Oberto angrily responded. Soon, the two of them, along with Hilmarrson, had taken up position as far west as they could manage before the enemy's suppressive fire brought them to a halt. They traded shots, growing more and more frustrated at their lack of progress until...

There was a loud bang from directly above the structure's roof, where the dropship had begun to idle. For only a moment, the humans wondered if the craft had landed, before they noticed the streaks of flame and metal falling toward the earth on the north side of the building. The El'uth snipers had landed a shot on Darwin's getaway vehicle. Moments later, the dropship came into view again, its floodlight sort of limply hanging over the end of the ship's nose without focusing on anything. "Holy fuck," Krawczyk said. "They got the gunner!"

Even the two guardsmen stopped firing for the briefest moment as they took note of the wounded craft. Their gazes would doubtlessly linger beyond that, as the large warships that had been parked on the landing pads were now taking direct fire from both human and Kosok ground-based weaponry. The ships responded in kind, but it was an unnerving sight to see such large, lumbering machines taking on so much damage, with so many aboard, before they had even begun to ascend to orbit. In this moment of distraction, both Mazurek and Zetter made their moves: the former moved from the northwest corner of the control room to the far west of the facility, while the latter stepped up to the door preventing their entry and fired a single round into the lock.

A civilian thing, it didn't put up with the punishment. With a kick, the door came free of the frame, splintering into long vertical strands of pressboard in the process. The control room was brightly-lit inside, unlike the rest of the plant, and Zetter's eyes were immediately drawn to the body of the plant supervisor which was crouched into a ball in the far corner of the room. It appeared as if Darwin had approached the man while he was cowering and executed him with a pistol round, and while the victim's head was obscured from view, Zetter could imagine the wound that would cause the spray of blood against the drywall inside the control room.

He shook it off. There was an open panel - the type that looked like it shouldn't be left open - and inside was a set of breakers which had been toggled to the "off" position. He grabbed them and pulled, and while not all would return to the "on" position, most did, and instantly the flood lighting throughout the plant activated, lighting the scene of carnage once again.

"OH FU-" one of the guardsmen said as he turned to his right and realized that Mazurek had closed the gap, and with a burst of plasma, the upyri was brought down into a hideously gory fireball. For his trouble, Mazurek took a direct shot from the second guardsman that punctured a lung, and the next thing he knew, he was lying flat on his back. The Kosok pistol fell from his hand as he clutched at himself; the plasma cartridge inside finally empty. In an instant, a trio of rifles sounded off from the middle of the north side, as the two sergeants and Hilmarrson pinned the lone Honor Guardsman to the wall.

With Novy hauling Chou to safety on the lower floor along with Acheson, an impromptu triage station was forming. Palencia was soon limping down the stairs to join it while Caine moved up to the third floor. "Caine!" Krawczyk called out, "Mazurek needs you, move!" she demanded. Likewise, Kang appeared from cover and reached Mazurek a moment later, using her own basic knowledge of first aid to help stop the bleeding by applying pressure.

Krawczyk looked through the open door and saw Zetter getting ready to climb the ladder to the roof.

"Iga, wait!" Oberto called to her. "We need to find the bomb and defuse it!"

She shook her head emphatically in response. "Darwin being stuck on this building is the only thing keeping them from blowing it up," she spat. "We have to go topside, now!"

A voice came on over the comm: "Friends, I can see the bomb."

It was Atlas. From his position, lying on the machinery and pipes half a floor below, he had spotted the hidden explosive device on the underside of the steel structure which underpinned the entire building. He had spoken as if he had just noticed it, but the truth was, he was already halfway through disarming it.

 

[Infab]

"Caine!" Krawczyk called out, "Mazurek needs you, move!" she demanded.

"Fuck, where is he!?" he shouted, before taking note of Kang moving out of cover and over towards a downed soldier in the northwestern corner of the floor. Bingo. He grabbed what medical supplies he had left, rushing over through the building until he slid up next to Kang on his knees. Mazurek's damaged armor was off, and Kang was already trying to stop the bleeding. Good.

First inspection: gunshot wound to the chest. Right side. Possible punctured lung. Shallow breathing, gasping confirms this.

Drawing some gauze from his kit, he began to help Kang clear away the blood. Then, he drew out tape and strips of plastic wrapping from some MREs that he had kept. He quickly made sure they were clean, before holding an appropriate sized one out to Kang. "Hold this on the wound." he said, "I have to tape it down, and we need a good seal."

Once she did as he had asked, he tore some strips off the roll of duct tape and began to tape down the plastic. Three of the four sides needed to be secured, and the fourth side could be left open. That would allow air to escape from the wound, but not enter it.

"Roll him on his side." was Sam's next request. They needed to check for an exit wound. Kang pushed on Mazurek, moving him painfully onto his side, and they soon saw it. "Nice large exit wound. Alright, sit him up. We clean the exit wound, and do the same. Plastic over the wound, but we seal all the sides. He'll be good, I think, till we can get him to a field doctor or a better equipped medic."

Sam helped Kang lay Mazurek back onto his back, before pulling him up into a seated position. The blood was cleaned off from the exit wound, using more gauze, and soon enough another patch of plastic was being taped securely over the wound.

Sam hoped the lung hadn't collapsed. They'd be in big trouble, as he didn't have a tube to suck the air out of the wound and reinflate the lung.

"HEY, NEED SOMEONE TO HELP GET MAZUREK DOWNSTAIRS! HE'S BEEN LUNG SHOT." soon shouted Sam, looking to any of the others on the floor with them. Afterwards, he looked to Kang again. "Take your time with him. Ease him down, and make sure he stays sitting upright. DO NOT lay him down flat."

Once he made sure Kang understood, Sam snatched his rifle back up. "I gotta go make sure Sarge doesn't get herself killed." he soon muttered, quickly moving towards the control room after Adam and Krawczyk.

 

[Breadman]

Boyan set Chu down as quick as he could without making things worse for the man. The lower floor was beginning to look like a medic's tent and it wasn't like it was going to slow down. He was about halfway up the stairs when he heard the shouting.

HEY, NEED SOMEONE TO HELP GET MAZUREK DOWNSTAIRS! HE'S BEEN LUNG SHOT.

Boyan cursed under his breath as he picked up speed to get to his comrades. He continued to cuss as he got a good view of how badly the damage to Mazurek looked. With Sam departing to help the sarge, he was faced with a choice, go one up after him or stay here and help Mazurek. He looked at the injured man and the already extensive field work that was done to him in order to make sure he wouldn't die on the spot. He wanted to stay and help, but at the same time he knew they couldn't let the target get away from them.

"Hey!" Boyan waved to Hilmarrson and the other two. "Get over here quick and help the wounded." He looked down to Mazurek one more time. "I'll make sure to put a bullet in him for you." He didn't wait for a response. Instead he turned and ran after where Sam went to the control room. They had to get this fucker now.
----
The Vultures moved along the chain link fence that had encircled the base, eventually crossing through the abandoned checkpoint that served as an entrance. The combined Kosok and human forces were pushing their way through and taking all the attention towards them. This gave the commando team a rare opportunity to simply walk right in. Mordecai used his bionic eye to scan the area as they crossed through and began to encounter pieces of resistance here and there. They have been preparing to abandon this place for a while now and it was just now becoming clear.

"Left." He called out as he spotted a soldier round the corner. Almost instantly Jacob snapped and ventilated the man.

"There's too many ships taking off." Saintclair spoke as they pushed further in, nearing the launch pads. "Clip that one's wings." She marked their next target. The Vultures would live up to their name as they descended on the distracted crew and guards. Sid's bionic armor would prove to be the perfect vanguard. It proved its worth before by taking a concentrated fire from a tank's machine gun and even an indirect blast. What hope would these suckheads have? The man let out a sadistic laugh as the bullets bounced off and he got near a couple of guards with his shotgun in hand.

Mordecai and Jacob moved behind him, taking the opportunity to secure their flanks. While Mordecai's eye processed the battlefield information and fed him the location of their enemy, Jacob had other plans. The enhanced strength in his biotic legs allowed him to move quicker than the enemy could react. darting from cover to cover. With his teammate giving him covering fire, the commandos pushed further and further towards the gunship that had yet to take off.

The pilot had no doubt spotted them at this point as its gun had began to move in their direction. The problem was that he could only see three men. The co-pilot called out to get his attention as a pair of boots had slammed on top of the canopy. A pair of blades began to punch through the glass and rip it open, forcing them to scream in panic and reach for their sidearms. Too late. The Vulture commander wasted no time to cut into them both. She next climbed inside the dropship, pressing a few buttons to roll the ramp up and lock it and, next she moved to the entrance to the personnel bay. She slid the door open and rolled a pair of grenades inside before quickly closing it back up. She quickly climbed back out through the cockpit. The grenades were on a detonator, giving her enough time to flee and to listen to the chorus of fear from the soldiers inside.

The dropship went up in a fireball soon after. Saintclair took a second to admire her work, next looking to the larger warships that had yet to take off. That trick wouldn't work on them, so they would need to improvise. Maybe the main force had something for them.

 

[joshuadim]

The moment had passed by so suddenly that Mazurek didn't even realize what had happened, all he knew was that he was on the ground now and that the others were frantically keeping pressure applied onto his chest. A haze began to settle on his mind like a heavy blanket as the chaos nearby seemed to be drowned out by a growing void of emptiness. The corporal realized then that he was likely going into shock as he tried to shift in place to try to help the effort in not dying, though it was counterproductive as Kang shouted at him to stay still. It was then that he felt blood coagulate at the back of his throat, a pressure growing like a clogged pipe in an old sink.

It wanted to burst, but Mazurek managed to swallow it down and keep himself from erupting like a volcano. "Not... too bad..." he the managed to get out in between laboured breaths, trying to ease Kang's worry as she kept watch over him. "I'll... live..."

It was an outward reassurance as well as a promise, as Mazurek still had work to do. He couldn't die now, not when he had come so far to get here; so long as a single Upyri remained in human space, his job wasn't done. A single bullet wasn't going to be the end of him, not if he had anything to say about it.

 

[K0mori]

Afterwards, he looked to Kang again. "Take your time with him. Ease him down, and make sure he stays sitting upright. DO NOT lay him down flat."

Once he made sure Kang understood, Sam snatched his rifle back up. "I gotta go make sure Sarge doesn't get herself killed." he soon muttered, quickly moving towards the control room after Adam and Krawczyk.

Kang nodded. "Got it!" she said, sizing up the nearest stairwell. Meanwhile, Novy had climbed to the top floor and sought to get her some help.

"Hey!" Boyan waved to Hilmarrson and the other two. "Get over here quick and help the wounded." He looked down to Mazurek one more time. "I'll make sure to put a bullet in him for you." He didn't wait for a response. Instead he turned and ran after where Sam went to the control room. They had to get this fucker now.

There wasn't any time to argue with Novy over his lack of authority to order Hilmarrson or anyone else around. Oberto simply flagged Hilmarrson and told him to grab Mazurek: "Go!" Immediately, Hilmarrson set off, meeting up with Kang at about the same moment Acheson popped up from the nearest stairwell to get a look at the injured Corporal. Together, the trio of Kang, Hilmarrson, and Acheson moved Mazurek down the flights of stairs to where the other wounded were laying stabilized. Although they would need further attention, and soon, it was becoming clear that the human and ursataari units were finally approaching the fence line.

As they sat Mazurek down with his back against some of the machinery, Atlas was hard at work roughly twenty feet above, carefully removing the safeguards and dead-man switches which governed the bomb's trigger. Although no one had given him permission to do this and risk the lives of his squad mates, no one had told him he couldn't, and as far as the fishman was concerned, disarming the blackbloods was paramount.

Zetter was the first up the ladder, followed by Krawczyk, Oberto, Novy, and Caine.

Emerging onto the dark and uneven rooftop, the quintet quickly swept what they could see with flashlights, but they couldn't see Darwin. "Fan out... Slowly!" Krawczyk ordered, and the five of them gradually moved away from the hatch, but before they could get far, the roar of the engines from the dropship could be heard again. As it began to surface on the east side of the building, Oberto spoke up.

"Scratch that! Go toward the dropship!"

It was a simple idea: the dropship would have to hover somewhere close to where Darwin was in order to pick him up. They hurriedly moved closer, until shots began to ring out between Patrol 2 and a pair of door gunners in the side of the dropship. Soon, even Darwin made his presence known, firing a large magnum at the humans. "Hah hah! You made it!" Darwin yelled with a sharp laugh. "...Just goes to show the roots of our development."

More shots were traded. Bullets ricocheted off of metal pipes and ventilation ducts.

"You might have stopped us if you hadn't stopped your own evolution!" he continued to taunt.

"The fuck are you talking about!?" Oberto barked back at him.

Before Darwin could answer, another blast from the El'uth sniper rifle pierced the dropship and it began to list in the air. The two door gunners made a dive for the rooftop and landed nearby the enemy captain as the dropship fell out of control to the ground, gradually becoming engulfed in a fireball before impacting another building. Undeterred, Darwin endeavored to answer. "Same as it always was, soldier: survival of the fittest! The xenos are on your side because it makes humanity weaker- a upyri future means unity-" he yelled, firing a bullet that impacted inches from Oberto's head, "-sovereignty-" he added, firing another which clipped Krawczyk in the hip, "-and progress!"

Krawczyk hit the floor in pain, hiding her body in the cover of the ductwork. "How are you still running your fucking mouth when you just lost your escape route!?" she screamed.

"The upyri have won by being," the captain answered. "If I die or not, if we're subjugated by xeno filth or remain free... It doesn't matter! It never fucking mattered! We were in the right!" he answered fanatically. "But I won't die... As long as I'm breathing, there's another dropship coming for me. And you- you're going to die on a pile of burning scrap metal without a plan, with that MAGGOT TRAITOR."

"Atlas! How's the defusal coming? Over." Krawczyk suddenly called out.

"...The bomb is defused, leader Krawczyk."

The sergeant laughed. "HA! Think again, Captain."

In the distance, another dropship began to make the perilous flight from the hangar bay of an ascending starship. The trio of cornered upyri continued to hold their ground, but soon, one of the door gunners was shot in the face by Caine and dropped dead. The other upyri ran out of bullets in his sidearm, his only weapon since he haphazardly abandoned his craft, and charged out with his knife. He would only to be mowed down by Novy's rifle.

"I'm not falling for it!" Darwin screamed, sounding as if he were throwing a tantrum. "You're lying... You- You don't even know where the bomb is planted!"

Oberto pressed on. "You're damned right we don't. We've got a xeno in our unit and he sure as hell does, though!"

"FUCK YOU!" Darwin exploded, stepping out into the open for the first time with his gun outstretched, right into Zetter's path.

 

[Infab]

Adam reacted the moment he got the opening. Flanking from the left, he rushed forwards two steps and put as much of his momentum as he could into a sharp kick aimed at Darwin's thigh. His shin collided with the back of Darwin's thigh, their colliding armors clacking loudly into the air. The impact even hurt Adam, as he groaned loudly. He'd be feeling that the rest of the night.

"[MAGGOT TRAITOR ADAM ZETTER, REPORTING FOR MY FUCKING EXECUTION.]"

Adam spat the words so loudly and violently that they almost echoed across the rooftop as loudly as the armor collision had. "[SHOW US ALL HOW A TRUE KER BORN UPYRI IS SUPPOSED TO DO THINGS. I SEE THAT KER MARKING ON YOUR COLLAR! YOU IMPERIAL FUCKS ARE THE SUPPOSED TO THE BEST OF US ALL, RIGHT?!]"

Adam's elbow then smashed into the side of Darwin's head, stunning him just long enough for Adam to point the revolver he was still carrying at the weapon in Darwin's hand. A gunshot sounded, as a .44 magnum round collided with the weapon Darwin was still clutching tightly. The impact snapped it out of his hand, almost mangling the Upyri's fingers from the intense shock. Adam then tossed his own revolver aside. Hand-to-hand.

He was going to beat this asshole to death.

"[ACTUALLY, FUCK THAT! THE OUTER COLONIES WERE ALWAYS BETTER. NYX SENDS ITS REGARDS, MOTHERFUCKER.]"

He reached out and grabbed the collar of Darwin's suit with his off hand, before delivering three brutal punches to Darwin's face. The rage blazing in Adam's eyes seemed to burn even hotter with each punch. As he shoved him away, he spoke again. "Did you ever fucking stop to think that WE may be the bad guys?! Imperial doctrine has us invading worlds AND ENSLAVING THEM. If we couldn't do that, WE KILLED THEM ALL."

"WE WERE A GENETIC FUCK-UP MADE OUT OF FEAR, NOT AN EVOLUTIONARY STEP."

Adam then rushed and tackled Darwin, hitting him like a spear and sending both of them to the roof's surface. From there, their fist fighting only increased drastically.

Meanwhile, Sam quickly moved out of cover and rushed to Krawczyk's side. "Sarge!" he said, sliding next to her. "Are you hit?"

 

[K0mori]

As he shoved him away, he spoke again. "Did you ever fucking stop to think that WE may be the bad guys?! Imperial doctrine has us invading worlds AND ENSLAVING THEM. If we couldn't do that, WE KILLED THEM ALL."

"WE WERE A GENETIC FUCK-UP MADE OUT OF FEAR, NOT AN EVOLUTIONARY STEP."

Darwin's initial shock from Zetter's assault left him speechless as the upyri defector tried to pummel him into submission, but it was only momentary; the Captain was concentrating on a way to turn the tables. After getting speared to the ground by Zetter's body, Darwin cracked his helmetless opponent in the jaw before striking him in the side with his knee. Although Zetter was briefly knocked off of him, he regained his bearings and launched himself back onto the attack, and the two tumbled over while trading blocked punches. It wasn't long, however, before Darwin landed another punishing blow to Zetter's face which broke his nose.

"Your flaws: your insecurity, your shame, your guilt - they belong to YOU, not US!" Darwin shouted as he drilled Zetter with another hook to the cheekbone. "There's no laws in space but the LAW OF THE JUNGLE-" he spat, punctuating it with another strike that sent blood flying from Zetter's lip. "IS THAT HOW NYX IS GOING TO SURVIVE? JUST LET THE ANIMALS INTO YOUR HOMES?" Another strike knocked out a tooth. "KER WAS TAMING THE JUNGLE, FOR THE FUTURE OF OUR CHILDREN AND OUR KIND."

Darwin, having gained full advantage over Zetter, now reared back with a clenched fist, intending to send it crashing into the traitor's throat before a pair of rifle bullets slammed into the armor on his back. He let out a sharp yelp, and immediately lost his grip on Zetter, who, despite being dazed from the beating, still found the strength and survival instinct necessary to seize the opportunity. He hooked a backhanded strike against Darwin's neck, throwing the Captain aside and catching sight of Oberto, who had stepped out of cover to deliver the needed intervention.

At that moment, illuminated by the muzzle flash of Oberto's rifle, Zetter witnessed a puff of red from the side of Oberto's head, and instantly he crumpled to the floor, dead.

Caine, whom had just been waved off by Krawczyk after the latter had taken a glancing blow from Darwin a moment earlier, was just about to turn around and join in the shooting when he witnessed Sgt. Oberto's death. It had happened so suddenly that Krawczyk didn't even know, and was instead limping to take up position to return fire on the Upyri door gunners. Novy didn't see it either; he was joining Krawczyk for the final push, and together they cut down the first of the two door gunners who had escaped the crashing Upyri dropship.

A thunderous impact shocked them all; an orbital strike from a Kosok dreadnaught pierced the body of one of the fully-loaded upyri cruisers which had just taken off from the port. Its burning hulk fell into the sea nearby, raining fire and debris upon the water.

 

[Breadman]

Even with all their screaming and shouting, Boyan found it easy to ignore what Darwin and Zetter were talking about, instead focusing on the remaining upiry support. He followed closely after Krawczyk to push on their cornered enemy. As soon as the gunner was in his sights, he fired. The bullets ripped through the enemy soldier forcing him to drop dead on the floor. That was one, but where was the other?

Boyan looked around trying to find their prey. As he scanned the room, he saw another body. Was that? No, that's not the sergeant was it? He let out an "Ob-" when the impact from above shook them all. He looked up and saw the flaming wreckage make itself downwards. He quickly snapped back to where he was and moved behind cover. If he could waste time looking up, so could they.

"Give up already!" He sneered "You got nothing left." He was was trying to draw them out. If he could get the last one to give up where he was, they could end it now. If Darwin responded, he'd have to show some restraint to where he was shooting. As much as he didn't want to, they needed him alive more than dead.

 

[Infab]

Adam was stunned for a moment, after witnessing Oberto take a direct shot to the head from one of the remaining upyri soldiers. He should have stayed in cover. He didn't have to save him. Oberto would have probably lived on. Adam's line of thinking was quickly halted, however, by the thunderous detonation of an upyri cruiser that had just managed to take off. His attention snapped about, just in time to see the fading particles descending from orbit above. One of the Kosok's ships had managed to put an orbital shot straight through it. Everyone aboard was likely dead.

More upyri casualties for an insane war.

He noticed Sam rushing towards Oberto's body, so he refocused his attention on the wounded and stunned Darwin. "Nyx will survive. Hemera too, and all the other colonies. We'll do what we must to survive." muttered Adam, as he stood. He moved towards the captain, coughing a few times and spitting out a mass of black blood onto the roof. Broken nose. Lost a tooth. Real nice. I should be dead, instead of Oberto.

His attention quickly shifted to where he had tossed the revolver. It was still there, lying on the steel plates that made up the roof of the complex. He moved over towards it, eventually picking it up. As he straightened up, he noticed that the last upyri door gunner was moving between cover to try and gain an advantage on the others. Fucker's trying to be sneaky.

As the gunner arrived at his cover, one of the large air conditioning units that was mounted to the roof, he peeked his head over the unit to try and spot the others. The moment his head came up, a .44 Magnum round ripped through his skull. Another one down.

"Just you and me now, Darwin. A loyalist and a traitor." he called out, turning back around to face the captain. "Do you want to die here too? I can arrange that, unless you want to swan dive off this roof."

Meanwhile, Sam had finally reached Oberto's body. Head wound. Gunshot. Not breathing, no pulse. FUCK. Sam simply sat next to Oberto's body, clutching his rifle in hand. "SARGE! OBERTO'S DOWN!" he called out, before looking in Adam's direction. At this point, he hoped Adam killed that fuck. If he didn't, then it was likely Krawczyk would for revenge.

Hell, who knows? They both might kill him together.

 

[K0mori]

"Give up already!" He sneered "You got nothing left." He was was trying to draw them out. If he could get the last one to give up where he was, they could end it now. If Darwin responded, he'd have to show some restraint to where he was shooting. As much as he didn't want to, they needed him alive more than dead.

As the gunner arrived at his cover, one of the large air conditioning units that was mounted to the roof, he peeked his head over the unit to try and spot the others. The moment his head came up, a .44 Magnum round ripped through his skull. Another one down.

"Just you and me now, Darwin. A loyalist and a traitor." he called out, turning back around to face the captain. "Do you want to die here too? I can arrange that, unless you want to swan dive off this roof."

Darwin had crawled just a few feet across the top of the building, his labored breathing just audible above the background noise of warfare. One of Oberto's bullets had found a path through his armor and had buried itself deep in his torso. He wouldn't last much longer.

The patter of guns was like rain, the roar of Kosok starfighters like the wind, and flashes of light, and distant booms, from heavy bombardment across the city were the lightning and thunder which completed the scene. He was fishing for something in his pocket, and once he had wrapped his hand around it, he wordlessly gripped it in his hand, his clenched fist shaking in the air as he pressed the trigger several times, but nothing came of it. Finally, he dropped the detonator onto the rooftop.

"We'll survive... Just like you..." Darwin struggled to say. "Servants... to the weak... like we were before."

Meanwhile, Sam had finally reached Oberto's body. Head wound. Gunshot. Not breathing, no pulse. FUCK. Sam simply sat next to Oberto's body, clutching his rifle in hand. "SARGE! OBERTO'S DOWN!" he called out, before looking in Adam's direction. At this point, he hoped Adam killed that fuck. If he didn't, then it was likely Krawczyk would for revenge.

Hell, who knows? They both might kill him together.

Krawczyk, realizing that the building was finally secure, turned now to see what Caine was shouting about and went pale when she saw him hunched over Oberto, whose stillness and awkward position suggested the worst. Even in the dark of night, she could recognize the sheen of light reflecting off the man's blood. She reluctantly approached, eventually taking a knee and nearly collapsing from the wound at her hip, and put her hand onto Oberto's chest. When she saw the wound and felt that he wasn't breathing, she closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Cesare," she said quietly, so that only Caine would hear her. He had heard Oberto call the Sergeant by her first name several times during the operation, suggesting the two had been friends for a while, but this was the first time he had heard Krawczyk call Oberto by his given name. It was too dark to tell whether she might be crying, but Caine knew from her tone that he had never known the Sergeant like this.

This moment of vulnerability passed by in the blink of an eye, because quickly, Krawczyk pounded her fist on the rooftop and rocketed back to her feet, staggering from the pain but nonetheless determined to bring herself face to face with the enemy commander.

Darwin looked up as she approached.

"You..." he said. "Are you... proud of..."

Krawczyk struck him in the side of his head with her pistol, silencing him, but he remained propped up by his arms long enough that she struck him several more times until he collapsed down to his elbows, and then down to the floor with his helmet on sideways. The repeated blows had knocked him unconscious. Wordlessly, Krawczyk twisted and ripped the helmet off his head, revealing a man in his early 30s with blond hair.

Having expended much of her rage in the moment, Krawczyk nonetheless towered over the dying man with her pistol drawn, and Zetter remained silent out of concern that she might take out the remainder on him. Instead, she glanced back to Caine. "...Patch him up. We'll hand him over to the Kosoks," she said, darkly, her voice cracking with the exertion of maintaining her composure.

---


​

The remainder of the two squads which had reunited at the base of the fuel plant structure received the news of Sgt. Oberto's death long before Krawczyk, Caine, Novy, and Zetter returned from the rooftop with the wounded enemy Captain. Caine had done as he was told and had stabilized the man before Zetter, being the strongest of the group, did the majority of the heavy lifting to drag the Honor Guardsman down from the rooftop. By that point, the fighting around and over the spaceport had subsided to a degree, as the upyri evacuation was complete; few of the vessels had successfully broken through the blockade the Kosoks had placed on the planet, and many of the remaining soldiers had begun to surrender as their pockets were fully surrounded.

As a result, a surreal mixture of celebration and grief fell over the victors and survivors alike. Patrol 2, when finally reassembled, now only contained 10 soldiers and two prisoners, and it took time for them to finally fall into the procession of human and allied units which were assembling on the wide, empty landing pads of the Achenar Gateway. Large stockpiles of goods and resources that the upyri had failed to load before their extraction were left behind in the hangars, although not every building proved to be a treasure trove. Another unit would soon discover the remains of dozens of fuel plant workers whom had been executed by the Honor Guard in the closing hours of the evacuation. It seemed that they didn't want any skilled workers to remain and provide fuel to the enemy, should their plan to destroy the fuel plant fail.

By around 1AM, Mazurek and Chou were able to rejoin the others as they began to set up a camp for themselves.

Lt. Das radioed the group around that time to ascertain the events which had played out the prior evening into the night. He learned that Sgt. Oberto had been no less aggressive than Krawczyk had been in the pursuit of rescuing civilians and the liberation of the Achenar Gateway, and with good reason: between the mass executions and the plot to sabotage the fuel plant, the Honor Guard needed to be stopped, and Cesare Oberto had paid the ultimate price along with Brian McFarlane and Okuhle Bongani. It was too early to know, but the selfless actions of Patrol 2 would later earn them a citation directly from the highest levels of UFS leadership, both civilian and military, and even a mention by the Kosok Black Fleet's High Command in their daily minutes for February 5th, 2232.

But at that moment, 1:15AM, February 4th, Lt. Das could only give them a solemn sign-off, congratulating them on their gallantry and wishing them a safe and peaceful sleep for the night. The battle had not been won yet, although the Gateway's capture was a key sign that the alliance would prevail. What was left of Patrol 2 was gathered around a campfire on one of the concrete pads nearby a hangar, not far from where the Kosok unit commanded by Sgt. Naghan had set up their own camp for the night, with their tank at the center of it. Other xeno units had also set up their own positions around dozens of small fires, burning whatever flammable scrap was handy to keep their bedrolls warm.

Despite their exhaustion, the day's action and trauma made everyone a bit uneasy and made sleep more elusive than desirable. Despite this, Krawczyk had assured Das that they would not proceed on their mission objectives until the entire unit had been able to rest. Chou, and Hilmarsson had gone to their bedrolls immediately and fell asleep, while Palencia stayed up a while, quietly staring into the fire, and Acheson kept watch over Darwin, who was being held inside the hangar away from everyone while his condition improved.

Kang stood outside, leaning on a light pole and watching the Kosoks talk to each other, wishing she could join in their conversations. Krawczyk slowly paced around, watching the other units move about. She never ordered Zetter to be restrained, instead, allowing the man to move about freely as if he were a member of her unit. It was almost as if she were ignoring his existence by this point.

Things were quiet for the moment.

 

[joshuadim]

Having been brought to a well enough condition to walk around, Mazurek did so in the liberated Achenar Gateway; though he was visibly without his body armour as bandages wrapped around his torso that were visible under his standard issue shirt. This was the second time in a single day that he had nearly greeted death at the black gates, and had somehow managed to escape its grasp. Though he put that more on the miracles of contemporary medicine rather than some arbitrary measurement of will, even thought he did want to live through all this. He had a duty to see this through to the end, after all.

Limping over to where Kang was, Mazurek took a position nearby as he fiddled with the plasma weapon she had given him. "Think I could get some extra batteries for this?" the corporal asked her, "Should I ask for double A or triple A batteries for this one?" He tried to keep the mood light, though it was obvious that the weight of losing Oberto and others weighed heavy on everyone's minds. Mazurek patted the gun a few more times and shifted uncomfortably before speaking up again: "How're you holding up?"

 

[Infab]

...You survived the day.

...You shouldn't have. Now someone else is dead in your place.

Adam sat alone on a steel barrel that had been carted over to be used as a chair near Patrol 2's encampment. He was lost in thought, staring down at the ground at various bits of rock and dust that marked the paved landing pads of the Achenar Gateway. He made sure to remain near Patrol 2, in the event someone confused him for an escaped prisoner. He was still very much a prisoner, but given slightly more freedom it seemed.

He had thought that Krawczyk would have had him cuffed again. She hadn't said a word. In fact, it seemed like she was ignoring him outright again. At this point, he didn't care. He had proven that he wanted to help. Several times over. He would have proven it again, had he managed to kill Darwin. Instead, she wanted to hand him over to the Kosoks.

Adam hoped the Kosoks tortured him to death. The bastard deserved it.

He eventually reached up and touched his mouth. The bleeding had finally stopped from his missing tooth. He had to set his nose earlier, and the blood had finally pouring from it as well. Sam or one of the other medics would probably be around shortly to check on him. Maybe. He looked down, at the armor he still wore.

...I don't want to wear this anymore.

A moment later, he began to shed the armor. Remove the gauntlets. Unhook the torso and pull it off. Remove the boots, greaves, and cuisses. Eventually, Adam was sitting on the barrel again, but in just the dark grey bodysuit that upyri soldiers were usually issued to wear under their gear. His armor sat scattered about around him, and he simply clutched a tiny portion of it in his hands: a portion of the pin that he had worn on his collar, stating what planet he had deployed from. Nyx.

I want to go home... if I even have a home to go back to.




Sam made his rounds, after having acquired fresh medical supplies to restock his medical kit. Those that needed treating were treated, and those that needed simple sleep aids were given them. They all needed rest, but he'd likely be one of the last to get it. Eventually, he stood near the makeshift bonfire they had made, taking a moment to feel its warmth. He shifted his head, glancing over in Adam's direction. He was removing his armor, apparently. Probably not the best of ideas, but if he wants out of it, so be it.

Eventually, he looked over to Krawczyk. The woman had been pacing most of the night, watching the other units move around them. Her mind was probably on Oberto, among other things. As he looked at her, he remembered that she took a grazing hit during the fight with Darwin. She had waved him off before, but it would probably still need checking out. Infections were serious business.

He picked up his medical kit, calmly walking through their camp until he arrived near her.

"Hey, uh... Sarge?" he said, just loud enough for her to hear. "...If you keep pacing, you're gonna wear a line in the landing pad."

...What was that, a weak attempt at humor?

"...I need to look at where you were hit earlier. Can't risk an infection." he then said, gently lifting the medical kit up next to him. "Should only take a minute or two... and if you need someone to talk to, we can talk."

Yeah. Maybe talking will help too.

 

[Breadman]

The night was winding down after the hard fought victory, but Boyan was feeling very happy about it still. He toured the campfires making small talk with the soldiers that would have him. His own unit were in a bit of a dour mood right now and for good reason, so they didn't need someone to annoy them and he didn't need someone else to bring his mood down. Walking between the fires, he spotted someone else catching up to him.

"Enjoying yourself, private?" Novy turned around and saw that it was two people. Man and woman. The lady was obviously in charge given the rank on her shoulder being visible from the glow of the fires.

"Yeah, I suppose I am." He narrowed his eye as he looked at their insignia "Huh. 'Back from the dead.' Skull and bones and everything. That corny line could only belong to one branch."

"No need for introductions then?" The man spoke, sounding rather irritated.

"I don't know who either of you geeks are and I'm sure you don't know me."

"Are you sure, Novy? Or do you prefer Boyan? If you recognize the words and the image then you have a good idea who we are." The woman took the reins. In contrast to her partner, she was calm about it.

"Right. You're two of the Vultures that helped us out." He waved them off trying to dismiss them. "Me and the squad appreciate it, but you should probably talk to the sarge if you want to..."

"What are you really doing here, private?" The man spoke again. This caused Boyan to pause and narrow his eyes towards him. He tilted his head so they could move to a more secluded location away from the grunts and their officers. Once they were in a far off corner, the trio were looking to the stars above. The silence was once again broken by the man. "We can take a guess why you're embedded in this unit, but wouldn't it be better to be among a more specialized unit?"

"I'm guessing you don't know much."

"We know you're in our department. S.A.D. Judging from your comment towards us, bio engineering?'

"This one is smart, commander." Boyan pointed a finger to Mordecai and looked at Saintclair "Not quite, but you could say I'm with them yeah. So you want to get involved with this?"

"Would be safer for you." Saintclair continued "The squad you're with are good, but they can get send to a literal death trap at any time." She looked to the stars again. "Taking that was your idea?"

"Our ground troops had the best chance to get to some sensitive assets the quickest. Figured it was the best shot to get my hands on it." He shrugged.

"And collect a bunch of upiry scalps? " Mordecai put no effort in hiding his sarcasm "Its in your file."

"Wrong, I prefer ears." Boyan was quick to correct "But I've been skipping on that. Don't want to alarm my squad mates."

"I think him and Sid will get along, just fine, don't you Mordecai?"

"Somebody has to."
---
As the night progressed a transport vehicle rolled in. Depending on one's point of view it is either late reinforcement or early morning troop refreshment. Although the transport seemed to be full of human troopers only, the last one to exit was not. Sure he was bipedal and spoke the most common language they spoke, but thats where the similarities with humans would end. Kumcho more in common with another animal from the human homeworld-the gray wolf. Standing up straight he resembled the old descirption of a werewolf, but instead of craving for human flesh or terrorizing their settlements, he was there to assist their war effort as the bounties they had put on upiry VIPs was drawing in more and more bounty hunters to the planet. He couldn't let this opportunity pass by.

He wondered arond the camp a bit, letting some of the soldiers turn their heads to him. They were new to this galactic community thing and soon learn its no big deal. He was initially very perplexed by the small amount of fur they have, yet he didn't question it. They seemed to try and make the most of the small tuffs of hair they have. Some of them at least. Others seemed to just let the thing grow and do nothing with it.

"Ah good evening." He spoke as he aproached Kang. "I'm looking for a place to lay down for the night...Sorry, you humans have certain manners I forget." He took off his helm, revealing the lupine features of his race to her and the odd scars here and there he had collected during his career. "Can I trouble you for a spot near your campfire?"

 

[K0mori]

"Hey, uh... Sarge?" he said, just loud enough for her to hear. "...If you keep pacing, you're gonna wear a line in the landing pad."

...What was that, a weak attempt at humor?

"...I need to look at where you were hit earlier. Can't risk an infection." he then said, gently lifting the medical kit up next to him. "Should only take a minute or two... and if you need someone to talk to, we can talk."

Yeah. Maybe talking will help too.

"...Okay," she replied softly. Far from the raging bull she had been at points throughout the day, Krawczyk was distant and troubled. She had laid no blame at anyone's feet but the upyri's for everything which had happened at the fuel plant, but Caine could tell that she was beating herself up inside. "Let's go inside the hangar," she said, putting her hand over the portion of her hip where the initial bandages had been hastily placed, indicating that she would need privacy if Caine wanted a second look. The medic had his suspicions, however, that she really did want to talk about things, but couldn't allow herself to appear weak in front of the unit, or the xenos elsewhere on the landing pads.

Inside the building, there was very little light. The power grid throughout Achenar was devastated by the war, and it would be a long time before empty buildings like warehouses and hangars would be able to run their lights all night, like they did before. A few battery-powered floodlamps were set out by Acheson to mark his field medical station, but the Sergeant led Caine away from this and into a smaller office off to the side. Once in private, Krawczyk placed a large flashlight on a workbench and pointed it toward the center of the room. She then undid her belt and pulled her waistband down low enough that the bandages were exposed and in the light, allowing Caine to get to work.

A moment later, he heard a gasp, and, afraid that he was hurting her, looked up at Krawczyk only to find her trying, and failing, to hold back tears. "...We started with fifteen," she said, shaking her head.

---
​

Limping over to where Kang was, Mazurek took a position nearby as he fiddled with the plasma weapon she had given him. "Think I could get some extra batteries for this?" the corporal asked her, "Should I ask for double A or triple A batteries for this one?" He tried to keep the mood light, though it was obvious that the weight of losing Oberto and others weighed heavy on everyone's minds. Mazurek patted the gun a few more times and shifted uncomfortably before speaking up again: "How're you holding up?"

Kang, despite everything, seemed to be holding together alright, at least better than a few of the others. She smiled at Mazurek's joke and shook her head at his questions. "I'm okay," she replied, her tone more relaxed than he had seen her throughout the day. "I'm glad you made it; I was worried about you."

She looked at the gun and then back to the Kosok camp. "Think we ought to go over there and see if they can share a cup of plasma with us?"

Before Mazurek could answer, another figure approached them.

"Ah good evening." He spoke as he approached Kang. "I'm looking for a place to lay down for the night...Sorry, you humans have certain manners I forget." He took off his helm, revealing the lupine features of his race to her and the odd scars here and there he had collected during his career. "Can I trouble you for a spot near your campfire?"

Kang's eyes seemed to light up as the stranger removed his helmet. Whether this was mere fascination with his wolf-like form, or admiration for his effortless grasp of the English language, she immediately took a liking to him. "Oh, um, I'm not in charge. That'd be-" she said, looking past him for Krawczyk, who had been pacing around the same area of the pad for the last half hour or so, but had suddenly disappeared. "-oh, I guess she's off somewhere... I think that means you and Cpl. Chou are in charge at the moment, sir," she said playfully to Mazurek.

 

[Infab]

Sam remained quiet, as he followed after Krawczyk. Over into the hangar, and then into a smaller side office. This was about as private as it got, unless they ventured further in to one of the storage rooms. Once she set up the flashlight, Sam managed to find a pair of chairs. One for her, and one for him. Soon enough, he was looking over the hastily bandaged wound. It had worked for the time being, stopping the blood and allowing her to move on the roof. Now it could be properly tended to.

Darwin had been using a relatively large handgun, which left a nasty graze across her thigh. She wouldn't need stitches, at least. He sanitized his hands after removing the old bandages and gauze, then prepared what he needed. Mild soap and water, to clean the area around the graze. Then, tweezers to help remove debris from the wound. Bits of gravel and such from the roof, along with bits of fabric from her uniform.

As he pulled a piece of gravel from the wound, he noticed her twitch. A gasp followed, which forced him to quickly look up. He was prepared to apologize, but noticed she was instead struggling not to cry. It wasn't because of him, however.

"...We started with fifteen."

Sam looked down for a moment, before speaking softly. "Its okay to let it out, you know. Its just us... and I know how you feel." he said, reaching into his kit and drawing out a clean bit of cloth. It was virtually a rag, but it would help with the tears.

"...Champlin had to leave. Then we lost Dawson, Bongani, McFarlane, and then... Oberto." he continued as he handed the cloth to her, "...We almost lost you at the start... I should look at that neck wound after I finish with your leg, now that I think about it."

He returned to cleaning the wound, as he spoke. "...Its just... just something you can't really stop. As hard as you try... as hard as I try... there's just some things that are just out of our control." he said, removing the last few bits of debris from the wound. He paused for a moment, simply sitting there with the tweezers in hand. "...I was a civilian paramedic turned emergency doctor back on Earth during the invasion. I saw... so many people come and go through the makeshift hospitals. One week, I went through eleven different volunteer nurses... because the upyri death squads were targeting medical personnel on the New York side of Hoboken. Still remember all their names too, including the two other doctors that were killed along with them."

He then leaned over and stuck the tweezers into his kit for a moment, drawing out a bottle of antiseptic. He paused again, however, before opening it. "...How long had you known Oberto? I don't think I've got a clear answer on that from any of the others." he asked softly, taking the lid off the bottle of antiseptic. "...This will sting, okay? Not trying to hurt you." After his warning, he gently rubbed some of the antiseptic around the wound, and poured a little on the wound itself. That would take care of any bacteria.

 

[joshuadim]

"I'm glad you made it; I was worried about you."

"It's gonna take more than that to get rid of me." Mazurek said in jest, rubbing at the bandages wrapped around him. He was about to ask Kang to translate between him and the Kosoks to ask for more plasma batteries for the weapon, until they were approached by a wolf-like alien who was undoubtedly a part of the coalition fighting against the Upyri. Unlike the Ursataari, he was less familiar with them though he could not help but remember the story of the Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. In fact, him standing next to Kang almost seemed whimsical were it not for the backdrop of violent urban warfare.

"-oh, I guess she's off somewhere... I think that means you and Cpl. Chou are in charge at the moment, sir,"

"Huh?" Mazurek managed to get out, diverting his attention way from his imagination before processing her words. "Oh... I suppose I am."

He then turned to Kumcho and nodded: "Make yourself at home."