Futuristic Starpath X: For All Mankind

[K0mori]

"Men will seem to see new destructions in the sky. The flames that fall from it will seem to rise in it and to fly from it with terror. They will hear every kind of animals speak in human language. They will instantaneously run in person in various parts of the world, without motion. They will see the greatest splendour in the midst of darkness. O! marvel of the human race! What madness has led you thus!"
-Leonardo da Vinci, as translated by Edward MacCurdy​

It is February 2nd, 2232, and the human race is at war with itself.

Having once been united under the banner of the United Federated Systems against the threat of alien adversaries, humans now face a nemesis of their own creation. Known as the upyri, they are a faction of genetically-enhanced colonists from the heavily-militarized Achlys system. Intentions had been noble; early arrivals to this 20th star system in the Federation's ever-growing frontier had struggled in difficult conditions almost since day one. Genetic-engineering and biomodification were seen as the only viable response to attacks from advanced alien civilizations, and the people of this upsilon star of the human constellation were regarded as the protectors of mankind's future. The term "upyri" was one given in admiration.

But this admiration masked a deeper insecurity. Even as the Federation's leadership on Terra sang the praises of the intrepid upyri colonists, they quietly plotted to limit the liberties and powers granted to them, out of fear that the frontier would break away and form its own, upyri-led government. They established Insurrection Laws which slowly created a military dictatorship over the colony worlds.

These fears were not unfounded, either, as the upyri regarded themselves as superior to their progenitors, and owed a debt for their ongoing sacrifices. Moreover, through their interactions with alien neighbors, the upyri had learned of a distant empire of incredible size and strength, to which humanity and its struggles would be regarded as a fight among dogs, unworthy of a second glance. While the leaders of the UFS hoped to establish diplomatic contact with these distant, enlightened beings, the upyri regarded them with the same loathing they felt for all aliens after generations of war.

In fact, the upyri regarded the xeno-threat to be so severe, and UFS leadership so inept and unjust, that on March 23, 2231, they could take no more, and rebelled. Seemingly in an instant, roughly half of humanity's starships had joined the mutiny, pledging their loyalty to a new empire founded on Ker- the upyri "homeworld" in the Achlys system. The outer colonies were swept into a well-executed blitz that saw the UFS ejected from control and thoroughly crushed wherever they stood to fight. On their back-foot, and facing the possibility that Terra itself would be taken by the Ker Empire, the UFS made a desperate decision to call upon the same distant empire which divided its people so strongly: The Astral Collective, known in its native tongue as Kosokom.

To the terrible shock of the upyri forces, Kosokom answered the call. With their superior technology and experience fighting in space, the Kosoks helped turn the tide of the war at the Battle of Terra, swiftly ejecting the rebels from the inner colonies. In their wake, the UFS has returned to discover innumerable atrocities committed by the fascist upyri invaders in their quest to "save" the human race. Now, as the humans approach the former divide between the core systems and the frontier that their genetically-enhanced cousins call home, they begin to wonder whether they are really of the same species, after all.

---
​

"It won't be more than a week, at this rate," explained 2nd Lt. Sudhir Das. "The Kosoks may have slowed down on their bombing runs, but the upyri haven't slowed down their evacuation. There's been talk that they're trying to regroup in some kind of 'new defensive array,' which makes it sound like shit's just going to be harder on the next world."

The soldiers of Tango Company Rifle Squad 9 listened to the commanding officer of their platoon explain their task as their dropship thundered through the air over the city of New Durban, on the colony world Achenar. Outside, the sky was filled with thin whisps of smoke and the dark speckles of distant dropships, all of which were headed for the general vicinity of the spaceport which jutted out from the coastline like a concrete wart. The city was a wreck after days of intense bombing, as was the norm; war was growing ever faster in the modern era, and entire planets could change hands in the span of just weeks of fighting, even less if there isn't much development to begin with.

Achenar, however, was well-developed. Being one of the most Terra-like planets in the entire galactic south made it a prime target for colonization, doubly so when the first explorers realized that no alien race had made a serious attempt to settle it. It was a jewel, to say the least, and so it was especially painful when the upyri came and took control last year, making it the first of the human inner-colonies to fall. Despite Lt. Das' pessimism, if what he was saying was correct, then the upyri would be off the planet at long last in only a few days.

"Now listen," Das continued, shouting over the roar of the engines. "I know that for some of you, this is just another day at the office. Don't get complacent out there. The upyri are falling back, but they've still got shit they're trying to move off the planet, and they're not going to give it up without a fight. We knocked most of their AA batteries out overnight, ahead of this operation. You can be damned sure they'd be hosing us down with lead if they could, and we've still got to watch out for rockets. We've still got a lot of fresh meat in this platoon. I need those of you with experience to make sure we don't end up losing them. Krawczyk!"

Sergeant Iga Krawczyk, Squad 9's leader, snapped to attention away from the window to meet her commander's gaze. "Yes sir," she said.

"Where's that new translator?" he demanded.

Krawczyk turned around. "Kang!"

Private Min-Ji Kang addressed Lieutenant Das, "Sir!"

"I want everyone in Squad 9 to look at Private Kang," Das said. "Kang has never fired a rifle in live combat before. She is as green as it gets, so I need you to treat her like a lost toddler, and defend her life as if she's your own, do I make myself clear?" he barked. The soldiers answered back in the affirmative as Kang did her best to hide her embarrassment. "Good!" Das shouted, "because if you dumbasses let her get shot, then you won't have anyone who can communicate with the Kosoks when you inevitably fuck something up and need air support. Hell, even if you don't fuck anything up, you're probably going to need air support anyway. The Imperial Honor Guard has been spotted operating in the city."

A few curses could barely be heard over the engines throughout the compartment. The Honor Guard were die-hard, true believers in Ker's cause. They fought hard and seemed immune to fatigue or loss of morale.

"I'll be accompanying Patrol 1, but you'll have me on comms if you need me, and the reverse better be true or I'll personally track your down and ream your asses. Patrol 2, you all have a list of objectives that you'll need to divide among yourselves. Namely, either capturing or blowing up any supplies the upyri try to take with them off the planet. Preferably, do the same to any upyri you come across," Das explained.

Outside, the roofs of buildings passed by in a blur as the dropship neared its landing zone. The platoon rose from its seats and gripped the straps and railings on the walls and ceiling of the craft as rockets began to fly from various windows and earthworks around the city. The dropships rained flairs down from above, and most escaped enemy fire unharmed, although fortune didn't smile on every vehicle equally. It wasn't long before the dropship carrying Squad 9 and the rest of its platoon reached an open, grassy plot which was surrounded on three sides by a retention pond and set down, its landing ramp hitting the earth at the same time. Wordlessly, the platoon dismounted from the craft and quickly took up position, in case there was enemy fire. The idling vehicle roared back to life and lumbered into the air, closing up its ramp and leaving the soldiers behind.

Quickly, Krawczyk and the other squad leaders rounded up their fireteams and headed into the city to find more stable cover. Orders could be given safely over the comms, which meant that staying in large groups was probably not to their advantage. Visibility at ground level was good, and the air was crisp. Squad 9 soon found itself breaking down the door into a burned-out apartment building which had been sitting abandoned since the beginning of the war. Inside, finally, they could go over their objectives.

---
​

This RP is currently open to new players, however it takes place in an established universe. Please send me a PM if you would like to join. I can provide you a link to our Discord server.

Rules:

1. Please be kind. This is only a game.
2. Do not power or metagame. As the GM, I utilize a system to determine the success/failure of all combat related actions, and some noncombat actions.
3. Characters are liable to be killed at any time.
4. If you plan to be inactive for more than one update, let me know, and I will keep your character safe in the background. If you do not, I will play your character for you.
5. PvP actions are discouraged, but are allowed if both parties consent.
6. Rules can be amended on the fly. I do not tolerate rules-lawyering.

Our Wiki: Starpath X Wiki

 

[joshuadim]

A year. A year of pain, now leading up to a decisive moment in this damn war. Corporal Aleksy Mazurek felt anticipation rise in his belly as he listened to the Lieutenant's briefing. His own optimism went against the Lt.'s forecast as he believed in their current momentum. It was hard to stop a boulder rolling down a hill, after all. As the dropship rocked a bit from turbulence, he felt a pang of nausea rise up as well that he quickly worked to swallow down. Despite having fought on Terra and been through the thick of it, he had that same anxiety back when he was completely green. He often believed the stories his father would tell him about how being in one battle prepares you for all others, but it was obvious that was just words of encouragement in simpler times.

Mazurek's attention was then brought towards Pvt. Kang, to which he visibly frowned as Das explained her importance as a translator. Not out of any ill will towards her, but rather towards the situation. If she had to watch everyone around her die like he did... He pushed the thought out of his head as he yelled aloud: "Sir yes sir!"

On the objectives of their mission here, Mazurek listened intently as to what they were here to do. Seemed rather simple on the surface: blow shit up important to the Upyri war effort, and deal with any stragglers.

Preferably, do the same to any upyri you come across," Das explained.

"No need to tell me twice sir. My trigger finger's been itching." Mazurek stated, bringing out some chuckles from some of his comrades nearby.

As the dropship touched down, the Corporal felt a rush enter his body as he exited with others, rifle raised and ready as he kept tabs on their surroundings. His small fireteam followed in formation, following Mazurek's hand signals as they cleared corners and streets until they arrived at an abandoned apartment block. Mazurek's team took point as the door was broken down to quickly secure the area before settling down. As a base of operations for the time being, it was serviceable, but the Corporal was itching for more.

"So, what's the plan ma'am?" the Corporal then asked Krawczyk, resting his hands atop his rifle as it hung from a strap around his neck.

 

[Infab]

One last system to go, and the Upyri would be forced out of human space. They were on the run, hustling to evac the planet in order to set up a defensive array elsewhere. It should have been music to Specialist Samuel Caine's ears, but he wondered just how much longer the war would actually drag on if Humanity and the Kosoks decided to press on and assault the Upyri on their own turf. How much more brutality and senseless bloodshed would it take to end this god forsaken war? How many more atrocities would they uncover, as they hopped from world to world? System to system? Planetary bombardments, indigenous enslavements or genocides, insane experiments... each world that the Upyri controlled held something new and sickening. All because they believed themselves superior to everyone else, and were dead set on proving it. Well, most of them, anyway.

There were, of course, defectors. There always were in war. Upyri that had swapped sides, choosing to fight against their own kind for something better. They were few and far between, though. The Upyri High Command, answering to the Emperor of Ker and chaired by Imperator Thies Kaestel, seemed to run a constant and thorough propaganda machine. Making sure that the Upyri race believed they were the Humanity's next evolutionary step and that they were better in every way.

He honestly wondered how the Upyri's intelligence service and state news organizations were spinning their losses in human territory.

Sam only looked up from his large medical kit when the Lieutenant and Sargeant began to talk about their new translator. She genuinely looked green, and he couldn't help but feel terrible for what she was about to get into here. Especially if the Imperial Honor Guard were here, being the worst of the worst that the Empire had to offer in terms of conventional military forces. Back on Earth, or Terra as some called it these days, he had heard of the systematic killings that the Honor Guard took part in. He had seen the pictures and read the reports, between tending to the wounded in the makeshift medical facilities. He wondered if they would come across anything similar here.

The objectives were simple: capture or destroy anything important, and kill any Upyri. As the group's combat medic, his job was more to keep everyone alive, but the semi-automatic carbine slung on his back and the combat revolver resting on his hip were basically screaming to be used now that he knew the Honor Guard were here.

Once the dropship touched down, he followed along with the rest of the group. Carrying his carbine in hand, while his medical kit was back where it belonged during movement. Slung across his back. Once they were inside the apartment building, Sam found a spot to wait. Looking to the Sergeant for further orders as Cpl. Mazurek spoke up.

 

[DG-117]

Hook to a charger system located under one of the loading clamps on the underside of the Dropship, Automata Utility Tactical Operative 262 ( Or simply just AUTO-262), Boot up from their Slumber and disembarked from the platform. It orders were wireless given into its metallic cranium in less than a few microseconds.

Born in the factories of Megaris, a world located in the industrial heartland that is the Elysium Sector. AUTO Itself was merely apart of the Elysium Sector's greater contribution to the Sol War effort as the besieged sector could not spare its already strained defense forces for the Upyri War. For the while the Sector itself was free from most of bloody fighting during the War, it had been at constant strife due to Xeno Pirate attacks due to its location at the South-Western fringe and the recent pan-Olympian movement that at aims to free itself for the greater Sol government.

AUTO-262 was a Gamma-series model 230 combat robot. This unit itself had seen some pretty extensive fighting already across the War, having been attached to Tango Company for about 10 months now. It has recently been reassigned to Squad 9 following recent casualties. AUTO-262 was among the last of its metal brethren to still be combat worthy from the original 2000 sent in from Megaris almost a year ago.

While the Model 230s were quite exceptional for Robot soldiers, their high attrition rate in battlefield due their common use as Pointmen in frontline platoons combined with their high demand had made them quite a uncommon sight these days in the war. Only being assigned to Squads that were expected to face heavy fighting. It was seen both as a boon and warring to it squadmates.

Nonetheless, AUTO-262 stood forward at the point of the squad during the breaching of building, its weapon rised at the ready as it coldly marched down the corridors of apartment, no care for itself, only the squad as a whole and the mission itself. Once the clearing was done, it simply stood in place with its optics focused on the surroundings as it waited for it's Sergeant to deliver the squad's next orders.

 

[K0mori]

"So, what's the plan ma'am?" the Corporal then asked Krawczyk, resting his hands atop his rifle as it hung from a strap around his neck.

With the power to the building long gone, the squad relied on rifle-mounted flashlights to see each other in the almost-windowless mail room. Krawczyk pulled a folding tablet out of her pack and set it down on the floor between them. A map drew itself on the screen, first in two dimensions, and then deepening, almost appearing as if a model of the city were sunken into a rectangular hole in the ground. Krawczyk pressed her thumb into one corner of the map for a few seconds as the pad read both her fingerprint as well as her pulse. Then, as the map began to populate itself with relevant information, the sergeant began to explain.

"Patrol 2 has three objectives, marked in red: there's the central armory here," she said, pointing to a large hexagonal building near a crater field on the north end of the city. "The imperials bombed the barracks from orbit when they made their push last year and then captured the armory with dropships. We have intel that transport vehicles are making a lot of stops; we don't know if they're even using our weapons and ammunition, but they definitely don't want us getting it back.

"Second, we have the Zeta-Shimizu Works plant in the heart of the city," she continued, motioning at a complex of rectangular buildings with a tall tower at one end in the center of the map.

Kang spoke up. "They used to build everything from calculators to supercomputers in there. Shimizu owned so many brands that they were estimated to be worth a whole fifth of Achenar's economy before the war, and more than thirty percent of that production was happening right here in New Durban."

Krawczyk nodded. "Supposedly, the upyri have been using it this whole time to produce military tech, like long-distance comms and ECM devices for their starships. There's no doubt they're making a mess of it now, making it harder for anyone to figure out their methods, but we might recover some of the technical documents if we can get there fast enough."

Down at the south end of the map, the third objective was already recognizable due to its proximity to the port on the eastern coastline of the city, and the long, tendril-like pipelines connecting it to the landing pads. "The Achenar Gateway fuel plant is our third objective," Krawczyk said. "The upyri have been using forced-labor to keep the plant running, which means we've had to sit and watch them refuel their ships on the way out so far to avoid collateral deaths. We need to get in there before they're ready to leave the city behind, because they'll probably burn the whole plant down as soon as they don't need it anymore."

The playing field was set: Tango Company and other units had been deployed in the far west of the city, and would need to work their way eastward toward the coastline, encountering heavier defenses the closer they got to the port. The Kosoks were also deploying land forces in numbers not seen since Terra and the battles concurrent with it, although they were further from the city center due to the larger size of their landing craft.

"Oberto over in Squad 10 is going to be calling us any minute now to figure out which objective Patrol 2 moves on first, but I don't think there's any question here. If we cut off the fuel supply to the port, the upyri are going to have a lot of trouble getting everything and everyone they want off the surface. We know it, they know it, and so there's no point beating around the bush. I say we head straight there and pop any Honor Guard we meet along the way right in the skull," Krawczyk said. "Any one have any other thoughts?"

 

[joshuadim]

Mazurek listened intently as the Sergeant went over their respective objectives and their significance, his head tilting slightly as he observed the map once Krawczyk went over the Zeta-Shimizu works. That industrial plant being repurposed for war is an important target, and in his mind he saw it as even more important than the other two due to the urgency of its current usefulness. If the Upyri were able to remove traces of what exactly they were doing, and prevent UFS forces from regaining control, it would represent a strategic and intelligence failure. "Sarge, I think the Zeta-Shimizu Plant is important. The wealth of intel we can get from there before they destroy it and the plant would help us." the Corporal then spoke aloud, giving his two cents on the situation.

"Just my opinion, but I think we should hit that first and use what we get from there for our other objectives."

 

[DG-117]

AUTO-262 Stood motionless at one of the few blown out windows of the mail room. Its head moved slowly from one side to the other, slowly scanning the area for any hostiles among the ruins. The scars on its chest-plate showing what happens to those who had let their guard down before in this bloody war. AUTO-262 remain silent during the debriefing, while it had the ability to think quite extensively, a rarity among non-Elysian robots. It choose to instead focus its attention on nothing but any potential threats to its squadmates and the mission, even if own self was put at danger first, it only saw itself as merely an tool to squad, like any rifle or armor suit. Ready to serve and little else.

"Just my opinion, but I think we should hit that first and use what we get from there for our other objectives."

Listening in, AUTO-262 spent a couple of micro-seconds puzzling over Mazurek words before suddenly opening up, "Agreement; This seems to be most logical course of action in regards to the potential sabotage and the capture of vital enemy intelligence." AUTO-262 spoke in a well-articulated and mono-toned voice.

 

[SniperComZero]

Private Aveline Champlin looked out of the dropship's window with a sort of impatient jitter in her leg. Not for any actual impatience, but more the fact that this was it. She was finally going to get her first taste of blood. The skyline reminded her of home, even. Sweeping vistas and concrete towers... even the smoking craters that she'd left it behind as, too. Painful memories, even if they were the same ones that'd led her up to hurtling just a couple dozen meters above the metropolis. The anticipation in her turned to trepidation that bottomed out a hole in her gut. At the very least, with Kang, she wasn't the only one in that situation.

The rest of her own flight was split between glances out the window, and double, triple, and quadruple-checking her magazines. She didn't wanna get caught with her pants down if her LMG started to misfire on her, for whatever reason. Especially if the Honor Guard were here. Not that she'd actually, well, fought them before, but the stories that everyone else told did not make any kind of encounter sound pretty.

Once boots finally hit the ground, Aveline was one of the last out, her weapon trained upwards in such a way that it dragged down on her arms. Everything felt like it was dragging on her, really. She'd been trained to carry these kinds of loads, but, still. Maybe it was just being in an active environment that made her feel more bogged down.

She was still on edge by the time they got into the mail room, sweeping a light across. There was a palpable dissatisfaction in her body movement once things were set up, and about the only interesting thing in there was a battered chair that was so charred and brittle that knocking it over sent splinters of it across the floor. She set herself up by the door, back rested against it, the stock of her LMG against the floor, making the occasional glance outward to make no one else was breaching in. Truthfully, it also gave her the position to readjust her gear once again, trying, almost in vain, to get it to sit better against her.

The briefing from the Sarge was fine, broadly. Hit their fuel stations and free anyone who's left in this place. Sounded like a win-win. "Wait-- what?" Her eyes flitted between the robot and the double-chevron. Sure, the robot's a robot, what is someone meant to expect. But that guy-- he's seen what they've been doing to people right? "There's-- they're working our people in that fuel plant, right? Who knows how many there are, or-or how long there even is before they start... you know. Doing what they've already been doing." Aveline's shoulders slumped down, as her brain forced her to come up with a more rational explanation. "And... I guess whatever's left of them here would be sitting ducks for our fleet if they don't have any fuel, right?"

 

[bat_hacker]

A hulking silhouette stood apart from the others, having hesitated briefly near the entrance of the apartment. Despite months of extensive combat training with the humans, the Fishman from Goldloch still prickled with an instinctual anxiety at entering an unfamiliar and enclosed space. His modified R-9 Dive Suit hummed quietly as it performed its duty in reverse, oxygenating the water held within as he listened intently to the sergeant's explanation, although "listening" may not be the most accurate description as his species lacked a spoken language. Instead, a miniature Fishman model on his heads-up display translated his companions' words into the somatic communication he was accustomed to: Movements of the limbs, a strobing of the bioluminescence; patterns upon patterns that gave the world its meaning.

This incredible feat of engineering and science had been accomplished in the short time since the black-blooded upyri had abandoned Goldloch in the opening days of the counteroffensive, a joint effort between humanity and the Fishmen. Conflict with the upyri was nothing new, but this was the first time that any Fishman had stood a fighting chance. The putrid filth had settled their planet years ago, unaware of the Fishmen living peacefully in the depths until their foul industry had polluted the oceans. The upyri were initially amused by the primitive-seeming Fishmen and their puny retribution, but their lack of technology belied their vast intelligence, and the war machine soon found itself suffering costly bouts of industrial sabotage. Ultimately undaunted, however, the upyri had simply proceeded to an extermination campaign that likely would have succeeded had it not been interrupted by the greater threat of Kosokom. As such, the sudden departure of the invaders was not cause for celebration. The Fishmen were deeply chagrined, and were eager to strike back, a desire that was not lost on the new occupying force of humans. Once convinced the humans did not pose a threat and were enemies of their greatest foe, the Fishmen worked tirelessly to provide humanity with all they could bring to bear if they would only grant them the opportunity to fight alongside them.

Despite being desperate for any and all boots on the ground they could get, Terra's command was dubious a Fishman--or any aquatic species, for that matter--could be of any use. While their intelligence could not be doubted, and they were unparalleled in underwater combat, the engagements would be largely landlocked. Undeterred, the Fishmen were so desperate in their plea that Terra agreed to take just one Fishman: A standout recruit who had distinguished himself in combat drills and rifle marksmanship, and who had a natural affinity for electronics, machining, and engineering despite their utter novelty to his species. He was given a modified dive suit to keep his body underwater during the campaign and was permitted to ship out with Squad 9.

It had certainly taken some adjustment. Fishmen did not contend with names, for one. Indeed, "Fishman" was a designation given to the species by the upyri, and was intended to be a pejorative. The species had no name for themselves, as a group or as individuals, and only adopted the name upon encountering the humans in order to widen the distinction between themselves and the upyri. That being said, this new recruit had to contend with choosing a name for himself. He did not make this decision lightly, as this name of his would be the first in the Fishmen's recorded history. It would be the name on the lips of every upyri whose life he endeavored to end. After much consideration and research, he plucked a name from the humans' mythology: Atlas, which he understood to refer to one man carrying his entire world on his back.

Protect the translator. Secure the valuables. Kill the filthbringers. Stay in contact. While the translation software didn't typically pick up on more idiomatic human language, Atlas had understood the parts he needed to hear. He gestured an agreement to Lt. Das and his suit spoke for him in a synthesized voice: "Enthusiastic agreement. I have received orders. Thank you, war chieftain. I have brought a weapon. I am ready to fight." Atlas put extra emphasis on his last gesture, bringing his metal-gloved knuckles against the breastplate of his dive suit, making a dull, resounding thud to punctuate his sentence. His primary weapon, a long-barreled rifle with a uplink from the scope to his helmet display, was stuck to his back with a magnetic holster. A sidearm pistol was magnetized to the outside of his right thigh, while a forearm-length barbed blade sat in a sheathe on his left hip. He was confident he was ready for anything.

 

[Infab]

Sam glanced between the three that spoke after the Sergeant explained the objectives. He had remained silent, mainly because he was just the medic and didn't really have any input on what they should do. That was better left to NCOs and Officers, as they were the leaders. Besides, pushing against an order was a quick way to get your ass handed to you by your superiors. Especially out here on the battlefield. He did, however, decide to chime in after the rest finished.

"If we take out the fuel supply, we delay their evac. It gives us more time to hit them elsewhere. Plus, I'd rather save some lives. If they're using forced labor, we need to save the civilians and POWs they may have there. Tend to the wounded, get them to safety." he said, putting his thoughts to words. "Problem is, its likely that the fuel supply and plant are better guarded than the armory. The Upyri have their own weapons and gear, from what we've seen throughout the war, and are just preventing us from using our own. The fuel and intelligence are far more important, so there's probably more guards. And you already know what the Honor Guard will likely do to the civilians and POWs should we show up to hit the fuel."

He made a gesture with his hand, shaping it into a gun and pressing the tips of his index and middle finger into the side of his head and making a bending motion with his thumb. "And I would really love to avoid that... but we might not have a choice." he muttered, as he lowered his hand. "...But I'm all in for whatever Sarge decides. I'll do my best to tend to the wounded, should we take any casualties."

 

[Breadman]

One more member of their squad lagged just a little behind. He disembarked from the dropship and kept looking behind them. Making sure there was nothing there or really wanting to turn around and fire a slug into someone's head to confirm his caution. Caution. Yeah. That's what it was. Although he was benched for a period, Boyan hadn't lost a step. He followed along the rest of the squad and made sure to be the last one in and that nobody would know they're there.

Despite the intensity of the war, they were breaking through. They were pushing the Upiry back and were likely going to go on the offensive soon. If everything here were to go smoothly, they would be at the tip of the spear. They just needed to punch through hard enough. From Tera to now, he's seen the war and it's left its marks on him. A year of Hell for humanity, but they would emerge stronger after this. United and ready for whatever else the galaxy would throw at them.

Any one have any other thoughts?

"Cutting them off at the knees will leave them crawling instead of running." Boyan stopped psyching himself up to contribute to the plan after the others spoke "POWs should be priority if we go there though. Once they're clear and safe, we can throw the honor guard around." He scratched his chin as he thought about it more. "Buuut if we stop at the armory, we can get better gear to take them down and probably something to do it quick and or quietly. Maybe." He shrugged "Who knows what's there." He relaxed his stance slightly "Your call, chief."

 

[K0mori]

As the soldiers of Squad 9 voiced their opinions, Krawczyk stood silent, although her eyes betrayed her thoughts toward a few of the suggestions. She clearly wanted to help the imprisoned workers, even if there was a chance that valuable intelligence would escape them while they were preoccupied with the fuel plant. Raiding the Zeta-Shimizu Works might net valuable information, but if the upyri had nothing left to protect or transport from New Durban, they might hasten their exit, giving them all the more reason to burn the Achenar Gateway fuel plant, and to abduct or execute the prisoners there.

She shook her head at Mazurek and AUTO-262. "We'll just have to let it slip if we're choosing between intel and human lives. Doing the devil's arithmetic is above our pay grade."

Kang glanced to Atlas, knowing that the fishman probably wouldn't understand the expression. "She means that only higher-ranking officers can decide when certain goals are so important for winning the war that we can let innocent people die in the meantime. Our job is to save the civilians."

"The fuel plant is probably well guarded," Krawczyk conceded, "but a patrol's mission is to seek the enemy and to destroy them."

Just then, a tone sounded on their commlink. The sergeant pressed a button, connecting them all to Squad 10's line. Sgt. Oberto immediately got to the point: "So what are we hitting? Over."

"Squad 9 is headed for objective Charlie. Can we expect the rest of Patrol 2? Over."

"...Affirmative, Krawczyk. Truth be told, we were torn between that and Bravo and needed a little push. Stay in touch. Over."

"Likewise. Over and out." The sergeant pressed another button on her commlink, splitting the two channels once more to prevent excessive chatter, but a reconnection was just another press away. She beckoned everyone to get a closer look at the map to ensure that they knew where they were going. "We're going to work our way to the bridge over the Mandela River and secure our side of it. We'll need to evaluate the situation and make sure that it's safe to cross before we try to do so. If the upyri have rigged it to explode, we're not going to get caught up in it. AUTO-262, you'll cross the top of the bridge and check for explosive devices. Atlas, you swim under it and check the underside."

Krawczyk lifted the map, causing it to lose its 3-dimensional appearance, before folding it away again. "If we can't cross, if they blow the bridge, whatever the issue, we hold our ground and wait for the armor to arrive with the Kosoks. Patrol 1 has its own objectives, but if they're on the east side of the river, they'll probably catch up with us if that's the case. Of course, you're free to engage Imperial opposition on sight. Now, let's move out!"

The team proceeded back through the doorway they came in through, then followed the wall of the building until the ground sloped a bit toward the street level on the opposite side. There, they crossed over the grassy lawn to the backside of an overflowing dumpster. Krawczyk took out her binoculars and checked down the length of the street while the rest of the squad waited, the sound of distant gunshots and explosions carrying on the air as fighting progressed throughout the suburbs. Another dropship flew by overhead, deftly avoiding several rockets fired from hidden launch sites.

Then, a surprise: somewhere, several blocks away, a stationary gun began firing at enormous speed, filling the air with lead and glowing tracers around the path of the dropship. It quickly burst into flames and plummeted in a spray of debris. The upyri had just scored a kill.

The sergeant turned back to them and nodded, motioning with her hand: follow me.

The squad sprinted out of cover, down the road towards downtown. They did their best to keep their heads down, as the line of burned and looted cars parked to their left provided some cover to their lower bodies, As they neared an intersection, however, there was gunfire. "Contact!" yelled Krawczyk as they ducked for the ground, pressing up against the body of whatever vehicle was closest to each of them. The sound of bullets impacting the sheet metal and tumbling around inside the bodywork warned them of the imminent danger, but didn't tell them where the shots were coming from or how many targets there were. All that was clear was that their enemy did not need to reload, implying a drum-based or belt-fed magazine supplied their bullets.

"Fuck!" the sergeant barked, "AUTO-262, return fire! The rest of you move as soon as it draws its attention away!"

 

[DG-117]

AUTO-262 quietly followed at the front of the squad, moving ahead with its head on a swivel, always on the lookout for any activity. Once they reach the intersection, AUTO-262 began rapidly scanning the area, looking at the rooftops, turn over cars, and for other vantage points. AUTO-262 raised its Shotgun towards it could best determine where the incoming tracers were coming from, the Single red-dot on its visor lining up with the sights on its weapon as moved sideways towards the rest of the squad. Making sure to always stay a step behind them as bullets whizzed by its metal head, one even managed to hit and ricochet off of its shoulder plates. AUTO-262 didn't stay out for too long before marching over to cover once the rest of the squad had found their own.

"Fuck!" the sergeant barked, "AUTO-262, return fire! The rest of you move as soon as it draws its attention away!"

"Understood, returning fire." AUTO-262 said calmly while loading phosphorus rounds into its large caliber shotgun, it was a heavy design with excessive recoil. Yet, in the hands of a 6'10" tall killing machine, it suited its inelegant nature well.

AUTO-262 then made a few steps out into open, taking cover along the rear of the car wreck and started firing potshots from its shotgun towards the previously scanned vantage points along the intersection. Firing one shot at one point, then firing another shot at a other point. These were mostly less-than-lethal, emphasis on less, to a fully suited and armored soldier but they could still block lines of fire to some extant while also marking their target's position to the rest of the squad.

 

[joshuadim]

Mazurek had no objections to going after the prisoners first, and he gave an assertive nod as he collected his gear and followed the Sergeant's lead. Really, he was on board with any course of action, so long as he got to kill some Honor Guard bastards. He just figured that getting intel first would make their jobs easier. Still, his fireteam followed suit as they advanced down the war-torn street towards the downtown area, with everyone on guard at the moment as distant sounds of fighting raged on elsewhere. Upon witnessing the shooting down of a dropship from a high fire-rate gun, Mazurek watched with a stoic face as he saw it crashed down in the distance. It was unlikely there were any survivers, and Mazurek muttered a curse under his breath. More casualties that the Upyri had to answer for.

Upon arriving at the intersection, it was the sudden spray of gunfire from elsewhere that brought Mazurek back to reality as the rush of battle entered his system. Adrenaline coursed through him as bullets pattered nearby. Once AUTO-262 started firing, Mazurek gripped his rifle and shouted to his fireteam: "On me!" The four of them together quickly pushed on across the street towards a large pile of rubble nearby that provided a decent amount of cover. Mazurek peeked out first, peering down his scope to see if he could spot where they were taking fire from. However, the current chaotic terrain made it difficult to pinpoint where they were at as Mazurek gritted his teeth. "I can't see them! No visibility on hostiles!"

 

[SniperComZero]

Aveline positioned herself somewhere in the middle of the group, one hand wrapped around the pistol grip, the other on the carrying handle. She figured it'd be kind of easier to carry it that way which-- in fairness, it was. The din of warfare made her antsy, whipping her head around from one opening to the next. Until the dropship flew overhead, anyway. She was focusing on that, and the tracers forming a glowing halo around it-- soon replaced by one made of flame until it disappeared past the buildings. She didn't know how exactly to feel. Maybe it didn't quite hit her that people were on there. Maybe she just didn't want to think about it too much. "...Jeez. I thought we got rid of those?"

She slowly settled back into focusing on every hole and window that could've even potentially been a threat. She might've not realized the sheer range at which an engagement could truly take place. Without any warning, she went from running down the street, to hiding-- well, moreso, belly down behind a burnt-out husk. Her hyperventilating slowed with a cough as she crawled to put her back to the car. Oh god. There had been live fire exercises before, but this was-- it was different. Somehow, she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She was fumbling with her bipod, anticipating that she'd be able to get some kind of angle on them from wherever she was. If they could shoot her, it only stands to reason she could shoot them. At least, if she knew where they were. Aveline certainly isn't going to poke her head out without a good line of fire. "I'm--" Her breath caught in her throat, adrenaline messing with her words. Just breathe. "...I'm waiting for a shot to give suppressing fire on!"

 

[Infab]

Having followed after Mazurek, Sam eased up till he could peek out from behind the rubble they were using for cover. He didn't have a clear line of sight on their attacker, but he did take note of their focus on the group's combat bot. The larger threat for the moment for whomever had decided to take shots at them.

He glanced over to the Corporal, before sliding back down behind the rubble. Crouch-walking, he slowly moved along the pile of rubble. Easing to the far right side of the pile. If there were any attempting to flank them, he'd try and catch them by surprise. If not, he could still lay down some suppressive shots at those that would try, or even move to flank himself.

 

[K0mori]

AUTO-262 rolls to identify enemy location (Likely): 5/2 - Passed.
AUTO-262 (shotgun) vs Upyri Marine at medium distance: 3 DMG
Upyri Marine (LMG) vs AUTO-262 at medium distance: 9 DMG

AUTO-262: 6HP

AUTO-262 rose out from behind cover, marching smoothly into the line of fire with no concern for its own survival. By calculating the most ideal angles for covering the intersection and comparing it to previously-identified vantage points, AUTO-262 zeroed in on the enemy's position and fired several rounds into the buildings. The upyri gunner was posted on an outdoor slat stairwell, his gun resting on one of the steps with the barrel pointed through the gaps. As the two fired on each other, the rest of Squad 9 reacted in their own ways. Corporal Mazurek, having already peeked over the wall, could now finally see the enemy now that the robot had drawn his fire.

Mazurek (rifle) vs Upyri Marine at medium distance: 6 DMG

With his scoped rifle, Mazurek managed to land a direct hit on the upyri despite the cover offered by the stair slats, which had taken the brunt of the damage from AUTO-262's shells. The enemy marine tumbled backwards down the stairs from the force of the impact, letting out a shout, but wasn't so badly wounded as the humans initially assumed. He quickly rose to his feet and drew a pistol out of a holster, limping around the corner of the building to a landing on the opposite side. At the same moment, another marine bolted from the cover offered by the same building and caught the sight of Caine, who was already watching for a potential flanking maneuver.

Caine rolls to ambush flanking Upyri Marine (Marginal): 1/3 - Failed.
Upyri Marine (rifle) vs Caine, Krawczyk at medium distance: 4, 2 DMG

Caine: 6 HP
Krawczyk: 8 HP

Unfortunately, as Caine moved up along the line of wrecked cars to get a better angle, he wasn't able to get his feet set in time to be able to shoot before the upyri could begin unloading on him. A bullet impacted Caine's helmet at a shallow angle, knocking him over and nearly unconscious. Krawczyk, being right behind him, could barely get her own rifle turned around before another shot her in the body armor protecting her chest. "Ngh! Shit, contact- right!"

Caine rolls to suppress flanking Upyri Marine (Marginal): 3/3 -Passed.
Krawczyk (rifle) vs Upyri Marine at medium distance: 6 DMG

Caine, on his back, still had double vision as he forced himself to ignore the ringing in his head and start returning fire. The marine, still at middle distance and having just reached for a grenade, was instead forced to duck behind the cover of another wrecked vehicle. As he turned the corner, the sergeant was able to catch him in the hip, causing him to fall onto the pavement and fumble the grenade ahead of himself, but it still had the pin inserted.

Champlin rolls to suppress flanking Upyri Marine (Likely): 3/2 Passed.

Only a shade off panicking, the private opened fire with an LMG on the burnt out car wreck, behind which the enemy marine was hopelessly pinned just a few feet away from the grenade, unable to reach it. The other marine who had disappeared moments earlier peeked from around the corner, bringing his weapon out to attack Champlin and give his comrade some relief.

Atlas (rifle) vs Upyri Marine at medium distance: 6 DMG

...However, before he could get his shot off, he was hit in the face by a round from Atlas' rifle, killing him instantly. The second marine was now hopelessly pinned down, and within moments it was clear that the duo the squad had faced was just that- a duo. "Hands up, motherfucker!" Krawczyk yelled, carefully approaching. A moment later, however, it was all over as a pistol shot rang out. The dead marine slumped out from behind his cover, having shot himself in the head. The sergeant grimaced at the mess he created. "...Shit," she grunted. "Come on, let's go check their outpost and see if they left us anything useful. We can patch up while we're in there," she said.

The squad jogged and limped across the road to the motel on the corner while Krawczyk radioed in a report of the encounter to Das and Oberto. Both were facing similar resistance as they moved toward the city center. There was little sign of civilians around, which was a good thing for the moment, but once inside the building it seemed likely that there had been innocent people working and staying inside the building perhaps only a few weeks ago. That meant that least some of the devastation seen in the streets outside had been caused by allied bombing. Judging by their rudimentary setup, the recon unit weren't particularly well-supplied or supported, but they had a decent medical kit inside a suite room with windows on both sides of the long, rectangular building. A case with a drone inside sat charging off a portable, solar-charged battery.

Krawczyk looked at AUTO-262 while the squad tended to its wounds and each member considered whether now was a good time to use their medical kits. Although Caine had taken a bad hit and probably needed some help, it was their robot that she was most concerned about at the moment. WIthout AUTO in good condition, crossing the bridge on their own seemed more unlikely now.

"Kang," Krawcyzk said.

"Ma'am?"

The sergeant hesitated a moment. "...How's your Kosok?"

"Kanad."

"What?"

"The Kosoks speak a language called Kanad," Pvt Kang replied. "It's named after the kanad race, the 'main one' out of the Kosoks. I know some words and phrases, but there's not a whole lot of people I've been able to practice it with. I've heard the Kosoks don't like to give lessons, either," she explained.

Krawczyk grunted. Aliens. It was so strange to think that the galaxy was so full of different kinds of life, and humans were so ignorant of all of it. And yet, somehow, these aliens saw fit to intervene in a human war. It reminded her of human history from when everyone was stuck back on Terra. Mankind was so divided that they didn't even have a single name for the damned planet. People from the great empires would be sent to the far-flung corners of the world to fight in wars between two factions without really understanding either side, all because the leaders of their empire had hedged their bets. She wondered what the Kosoks saw in humanity that made them want to dip their toes in this shitshow.

"We're probably not going to cross the bridge on our own at this rate," the sergeant announced. "The robot's too banged up to do the job I was going to give it, and that's my fault. We can't do this with air support alone, either. We'll need to wait for the Kosoks to catch up, unless we can locate enough tools and supplies to give AUTO-262 a tune-up."

 

[joshuadim]

Mazurek was pleased with himself that his shot landed. Since Terra he has had a lot of practice and it showed as he was able to, in essence, force the enemy to retreat from their position. However, he frowned when he heard the pistol fire. Both out of disappointment that he couldn't litter the Upyri with his own fire, but also from a place of anger. The sheer fanaticism that they displayed, that they would rather die than face capture, was astonishing when on display. The Corporal instead lazily rested his hands on his rifle as it hung from its strap, and fell in to listen to Krawczyk's new plan.

"I wouldn't mind doing a bit of recon in the area." Mazurek then said, practically volunteering for the job. "There might be something of use to get the bot back up and running."

 

[Breadman]

Boyan moved with the squad. While he didn't manage to engage with any enemy during the exchange, he did make notes on the Upiry soldiers they were facing. Mainly the death before retreat from that marine. Now was is doctrine or desperation? The new plan was straightforward, but they were being delayed.

"I'll help with that. Better chance for finding something between the two of us."

 

[Infab]

Blurry spots floated in Sam's vision, a byproduct of the shot to the head alongside the streaks of blood trickling down the side of his head. Great. First firefight here, and I almost get my head blown off. He could already hear his sister Abigail's voice in his head, berating him. You're a total dumb-ass, getting yourself caught like that.

He sighed, rubbing his eyes to try and clear his vision, before motioning in the direction of the charging drone. "We could repurpose their drone." he said. He then looked to the rest of the group. "Maybe we can use it to find the parts we need. Drone locates what we need, then brings it back to us. That or it helps us spot the Upyri ahead of time, and plan our engagements accordingly."

He removed his helmet, reaching up afterwards with his hand to touch where the bullet had hit. Definitely lucky the helmet caught it. Severe bruising, blood smeared from where his helmet had touched his head during movement. Stung every time he touched it. Probable concussion. Could apply a bandage and some gauze for the bruising and bleeding, but the blurred vision was another issue. And if he took another hit like that, he was a dead man.

 

[bat_hacker]

Atlas' search of the room preoccupied his attention while the two warriors discussed the sharkfaces. Atlas had only seen them from afar and in the pictures in his mission briefing. The scale of the world beyond the breach (and beyond the breach of the breach) gave him a bit of vertigo. It gave him a feeling not unlike being a youngling leaving the tidepools for the first time and discovering the vastness of the great ocean and all its teeming life.

It seemed as though the golem had been damaged in the preceding firefight, and his colleagues were expressing regret not for the poor creature but for the success of their mission. He had been told before that such entities, made of shining rock throughout, did not carry the light of life within them and did not feel pain, but he couldn't suppress the pity and anger that swelled in his heart seeing AUTO visibly compensate for its damage. The blackbloods would pay for this, Atlas would make sure of that.

He took note of the abandoned watch-bird as he searched for tools that may be of use. Atlas had briefly worked with similar technology during his time with the humans, and understood approximately how it worked. The question was whether the enemy had encrypted the device, which is where his particular skill may come in handy: While they lacked a written or symbolic language, the nuances of Fishman communication served especially well when it came to expressing and manipulating numbers. To their eyes, the human-standard base-10 number system and the mathematics governing it were frivolous and quaint. Between Fishmen, amounts could be communicated and understood in their entirety, seemingly no matter their size, and the relationships between quantities were self-evident. Calculation was as unnecessary for Fishmen to derive the answer to a complicated algorithm as it would be for a human to derive that red and blue make purple. This put them on par with standard-issue calculators for mundane arithmetic and algebra, but their heuristic analysis allowed them to perform calculations that would normally take a supercomputer or qCPU to evaluate nearly instantly. In fact, the primary difficulty in leveraging this particular quirk of the Fishmen was only that most real-world applications of mathematics in warfare and culture had no Fishman analogue and would get lost in translation. Of the Fishmen recruits, of which hundreds were currently in the humans' training and education program on Goldloch, Atlas was one of only a handful who understood the concept of encryption and could apply the lightning-fast prime-factorization needed for codebreaking on the battlefield. This was one of the most determinant factors in his selection for this mission, and he intended to put it to use whenever possible.

First though, he would finish clearing the building, both for any remaining enemy combatants as well as anything that would be of help patching up AUTO and Sam. He holstered his rifle and swapped for his sidearm pistol and began sweeping the rooms.

 

[K0mori]

"I wouldn't mind doing a bit of recon in the area." Mazurek then said, practically volunteering for the job. "There might be something of use to get the bot back up and running."

"I'll help with that. Better chance for finding something between the two of us."

Krawczyk nodded. Cpl. Mazurek and Pvt. Novy were both in good shape after their first dust-up, and would be able to search the surrounding buildings more quickly and quietly than the squad could do it as a combined unit. "If you can find a scratch AUTO unit, we could salvage it for parts," she replied. "Failing that, you're looking for a UFS Kit-39 or a Upyri Mk-7 repair kit. Same parts, different labels."

The sergeant had been specifically instructed about this fact before the battle, when AUTO-262 had been attached to her squad. Sadly, this was increasingly the way things were for a lot of the goods and materials used by both armies- despite being made to the same specifications, many of them were given new designations under the Upyri regime. It apparently wasn't good enough for them to just overthrow human authority; every facet of human culture would be rebranded under a new identity, one which would divorce itself from the past in every way possible, no matter how insignificant.

"AUTO-262, accompany them," she said, a thought having occurred to her. "You can identify your own parts even if they can't." The robot immediately acknowledged the order and followed the two soldiers out of the room. They made their way down the stairs to search at street level, while Atlas moved to survey the motel and ensure that there were no more hostiles waiting in ambush. Caine, meanwhile, removed his helmet and shook off the shock from the head trauma he received.

"We could repurpose their drone." he said. He then looked to the rest of the group. "Maybe we can use it to find the parts we need. Drone locates what we need, then brings it back to us. That or it helps us spot the Upyri ahead of time, and plan our engagements accordingly."

Krawczyk glanced at the drone. "...We'd have to hack into it, first," she replied. "Once we're sure we can operate it, and that the enemy can't use it to track us, then we can definitely use it to our advantage."

"I could take a look at it," Kang said.

"Are you saying you can hack it?" Krawczyk asked.

Kang shrugged. "Probably not, but I know about communications devices. If can figure out what band the upyri were using to control this thing, then I can figure out what device they had that emits the signal, and maybe Atlas can brute-force his way in."

The sergeant went a bit wide eyed. "Oh, that's right!" she said with a grin. "We haven't had the chance to see his code-breaking skills, but he's supposed to be real damn good at it. I guess we'll ask him when he's done sweeping the building."

Pvt. Kang crossed the room to where the drone was sitting and took out a device, carefully taking measurements from each side to see what sort of signals were being emitted by the device, and what sort of ambient signals in the environment might be tied to the machine. There was no telling whether this drone was operated independently, or if it were part of some kind of surveillance network connected to other drones, as this wasn't a design that the humans had been producing before the war.

Kang rolls to discover the access frequency for the drone (Marginal): 3/3 - Passed.

"Okay, yeah, I think I've got it," Kang said, showing her device to the sergeant. On the screen, there was incomprehensible information rapidly scrolling by, but it appeared to be broken up into a mixture of short phrases in English as well as segments of machine code. "This is coming from the drone. Now, if I ping this frequency..." she said, pressing a button, "you'll see a change in the output."

Just as the private described, the text scrolling by on the monitor changed patterns briefly, as if it were an animal that had just been poked with a stick. Krawczyk clapped her hands together, pleasantly surprised at the translator's efforts. "So, we need to find a controller that operates on that frequency. Maybe check the bodies of those marines we killed... Do you know if the drone is networked?" she asked.

Kang shook her head. "No, I don't know. I think it's in some kind of standby mode. The signal would be a lot noisier in-flight under direct control. But maybe, if we get in, we can disable any features that would give away our position before the enemy notices us."

---
​

Atlas rolls to search the building for enemies or items (Likely): 4/2 - Passed.

His heavy suit clunking along the concrete walkway on the exterior of the building, Atlas checked through each of the windows as he passed for anything the squad ought to be concerned with. For the most part, the rooms were empty. However, as he neared the room on the opposite corner of the building, which would presumably have an equally expansive view as the one which the unit was currently occupying, he noticed a large mass under the covers of the bed. Smashing the locked door open, with his shoulder, he entered wordlessly with his pistol drawn, but the lump did not move at his approach.

With his off hand, he pulled the blanket back to find another upyri soldier lying dead, and from appearances, it had been this way for maybe a day. A patch on the upyri's shoulder bore the marking of a corporal. Looking up, Atlas noticed that there was a medical supply kit on a nearby table which had been gone through; while some materials such as bandages and a suture kit had been taken, there was plenty of unused material. He placed the cover back down over the corporal's head and pieced together what had happened: this upyri fireteam had entered the motel, perhaps while separated from its own squad, its leader wounded and dying. A desperate attempt had been made to save his life, and when that failed, the other two men left him here and relocated to the opposite corner.

It didn't bode well. They must have called for support at some point during the preceding day, which could not have come during the bombardment the city received ahead of the human attack. But that bombardment had concluded just before Squad 9's arrival. The enemy could come at any moment, now.

Atlas took the medkit and left the way he had come, heading back toward the sergeant's position.

---
​

Mazurek rolls to search the street for supplies (Unlikely): 4/4 - Passed.
Novy rolls to search the street for supplied (Unlikely): 3/4 - Failed.

The streets were still eerily empty in the block surrounding the motel, but the sound of combat was intensifying as the time went by; it was clear, now that the aerial attack had subsided, the upyri were crawling back out of their holes to prove their resilience against the waves of human and alien attackers alike. The two men made a simple plan to circle the block on which the motel was built, preferably from the inside by crossing behind and between buildings to avoid making their presence known. They checked into the dusty businesses which had rear-facing doors, although they weren't feeling optimistic after their first few stops. A hair salon, a coffee shop, and a desolate garden supply store were all they found.

On their fourth stop, however, Mazurek and Novy pushed in the door to find an auto garage that the upyri were presently using as a repair shop for their own vehicles. Even from the dark hallway connecting the lobby to the shop floor, they could hear the sound of tools being moved around. They glanced at one another and knew that they couldn't pass up the potential of recovering something useful.

All they needed now was a plan.

 

[Infab]

As the others divided up to do their own thing, Sam found a place to settle down for a moment. He had considered saving his own personal medical kit for later, but he needed to be at a hundred percent if he intended to make it through the rest of the day. Especially if they were to encounter any other Upyri later. Didn't need to take another shot to the head, or anywhere else for that matter. He could restock on whatever he used later, if they came across any field kits the Upyri had lying around or found any personal kits on any dead Upyri troops.

Maybe in the future, medical supplies would be easier to work with. A simple shot of nanites to repair damage or something. That'd be wonderful.

((Having Caine use his medical kit on himself.))

 

[joshuadim]

Mazurek looked back towards Novy for a moment as they heard activity inside the auto shop, motioning for him to follow silently towards the closest door. It was impossible to tell who was inside, though likely Upyri given the situation. However, Mazurek couldn't help but hope that it was simply a surviving civilian scavenging for what they could... this meant that a breach and clear was out of the question in his mind, not to mention the possible damage to whatever materials would help aid in repairing the squad's bot that course of action might do. The alternative was to sneak in to take a good look at who they were dealing with, and dropping them with the element of surprise if they were Upyri.

Mazurek gave a two hand signal towards his fellow that signalled 'DOOR' and 'SINGLE FILE', with an emphasis on the stealth by moving his signals slowly. He hoped the man got the message well enough to work with him.

 

[Breadman]

Boyan noded as Mazurek gave his instructions via hand signals. Take is slow and carefully, single file and peek the door. Novy took point and proceeded towards the door carefully.