Futuristic The Keepers: Unity [Two more writers Needed!]

[TAINLA]

Apollo placed his head in his hands as Sierra's speech took over. "Yes, we-" He was interrupted by Joshua, who seemingly verbally attacked Sierra for saying what she did.





"Now just follow my lead and listen while mom and dad talk." Apollo was surprised that Joshua would say something this cutting. "Jos-"





Again, Apollo was interrupted violently while Sierra shouted. She then leapt at Joshua. Reacting instantly, Apollo stood up and darted to Sierra, who was seemingly suspended in mid air to him. Every movement stressed down Apollo's muscles, but he managed to get to Sierra as she nearly smashed into Joshua. Flaring his wings, Apollo took her for a short flight across the dining room, crashing down on his own back to a skidding stop near the back wall.


Within less than a second, in a mess of wings, both Apollo and Sierra had slid onto the opposite wall of the dining room. Apollo blinked and looked at Sierra, then up at Ulysses.


"Well, I hate how all our dinners end in tackles. Terribly sorry. SIERRA-"


@JPax42 @DJGomez @Ulysseus @LesDom


(JPax42 agreed to temporary manipulation)

 

[LesDom]

"Enough!" Jack stood up out of his seat, shouting in rage like he had never done before in the presence of his newcomers. "To answer your question, Sierra, I am in charge. Get the hell off the floor. Joshua made a good point. Don't trust anyone. However, he needs to learn to keep his damn mouth shut! Now quit bitching and attacking each other, and help me arrest this man." He pulled the pistol out of his holster, aiming it at Ulysses with one hand. "This ends our dinner, Ody. No more games, no more politics, no more manners. I don't care what's coming. I don't care what you're afraid of. Right now, my job is to take you in. Until you explain to us what the fuck is going on, you're leaving this colony in cuffs."


@Ulysseus @JPax42 @AACS @DJGomez

 

[duegxybus]

Sierra had almost gotten her hands on Joshua's smug little face when she suddenly felt herself being pulled around the side. She tried to look around but her view was blocked by two leathery purple wings. Before she was able to react, a blunt thud had hit her on the stomach as she landed front side down. "Ow..." She was seemingly held down by something above her, which she soon recognized as Apollo. As soon as Apollo apologized to Ulysses, she was yelled at by Jack.





"Joshua made a good point. Don't trust anyone. However, he needs to learn to keep his damn mouth shut! Now quit bitching and attacking each other, and help me arrest this man." Sierra stood up and grabbed her rifle, aiming it at Ulysses. "Cuff him or what?"


@LesDom @AACS @DJGomez @Ulysseus

 

[Ulysseus]

Finishing off his drink, Ulysses looked at the frazzled bunch, his face neutral and unperturbed by the situation. "I apologize, Jack. I've been dealing with this too slowly. You're right, the time for manners is indeed over. People like you and the members of your team, for better or for worse, can only be truly convinced by one means: force. I was a fool to think otherwise. But don't worry, this doesn't make us enemies. Not yet. I'm just not going to leave the choice to you or your team anymore. I'll be making the choice for you. Fortunately, there was a certain part of me that had anticipated this. So don't hurt yourselves too much. I'll be seeing each of you aboard my ship soon enough." At this, Ulysses tapped the pocket watch in his coat pocket, declaring, "SAL, notify the crew to teleport myself and Cato aboard immediately, and to send down a shuttle to transport five prisoners. Also, please deploy ALL of our artificial ground troops. Mission: detainment and incapacitation. No fatalities." Ulysses ended the transmission and quickly winked at the Keepers as they rushed towards him. With a flash of light, he disappeared.





@LesDom @AACS @Anaxial @DJGomez @JPax42

 

[DJGomez]

Caine knew he kept his rifle in his lap for a reason. As Seirra ran towards him in another bout of immaturity and unprofessionalism. His rifle was still set to stun and he was just going to plant one on both of her wings, but Apollo stepped in. Probably for the better given that Monroe seemed to reach the end of his patience. He stepped up with his rifle raised and went towards Ulysses, but before he could get a hand in him he was gone in a flash. Caine knew what that meant and they didn't have much time. He switched his rifle to tungsten and began scanning exits and entry points again. "Monroe, I estimate two minutes max before QRF box us in. We need to make our exit."





@JPax42 @AACS @LesDom @Ulysseus @Anaxial

 

[TAINLA]

Apollo winked back at Odysseus as he teleported away. The silence after his disappearance was apparent until the thudding of ground troops from outside were apparent. "Monroe, I estimate two minutes max before QRF box us in. We need to make our exit." Apollo turned to Joshua. "So ninety seconds to get out." He looked down to his ED control dial and tapped for 90 seconds.


@LesDom @DJGomez @JPax42 @Anaxial

 

[LesDom]

Jack shouted, sending a pile of assorted china flying off the table and shattering against the wall. As the group prepared to leave in a hurry, he held his hands out. "Wait! Why didn't we come with? If he has that tech, why didn't he just teleport us with him?" Before anyone could answer, the ground shook. Jack ran towards the window, cocking his shotgun and putting his helmet on. "We've got company! Twelve Mechs on the ground! Remember, nonlethal rounds!" There was a loud bang as the roof of the colony shook, Jack switching his mask to the exoscanner function. He looked up, seeing glowing orange figures. "Five bodies on the roof! Human." Jack watched as the blobs seemed to pull on something, attaching it to the ceiling. "Shit! Get away from the windows-" He yelled, being interrupted by a loud boom as he was blown backwards by a flash grenade. Every window suddenly exploded open, soldiers poured through the holes. Jack shook himself on the ground, his ears ringing.


Jack struggled to get up, groaning as a human soldier jammed a stun baton in-between his armor plating, sending an electric current through his body. He shook briefly, grunting in effort as he yanked the rod from the man's hand, jamming it into his neck. The man collapsed onto the floor like a ton of bricks, smoking and convulsing. "That must have been quite a shock-" Jack was interrupted by a bullet, the stun round popping him in the back of his helmet and knocking his head forward. He turned around and saw the second soldier, the rifle in his hand still aimed at him. "Well, now you've pissed me off." Jack unlatched a sticky grenade from his belt, tossing it and watching as it attached to the soldier's chest. "That's what you get for ruining my one-liner." The soldier's eyes widened, the concussive grenade suddenly detonating and sending him flying. He sailed through the air, slamming into the wooden table and crushing it into a woody pulp. Jack chuckled, stepping over him. "Looks like you're in...a sticky situation." He looked around, hoping someone heard him. "Get it? Sticky? Come on, that was clever!"


"No it wasn't, Monroe." Kaero muttered as he destroyed a Mech with a pistol.


@AACS @Anaxial @JPax42 @Ulysseus @DJGomez

 

[duegxybus]

Jack had said to use stun rounds, and that's what Sierra did. She turned her rifle to stun and ducked, firing at two soldiers and taking them out directly. A soldier was about to hit her, but she whirled around, looking at the slow-falling baton before smashing it back up into the guy's face. She ripped the baton off the stunned soldier and looked to Joshua, who had a soldier behind him.


"Hey, look out!" She threw the rod and shot it with a stun round, the metal and electricity from the baton spinning it rapidly and smashing it into the soldier's chest, stunning him. "Cool! Jack, air support from Roan?!" Sierra felt a stun round smack her in the back of the head, knocking her down to the floor. She got up slowly and aimed back at the soldiers, a little bit of electricity still present in her arms.


@LesDom @AACS @Ulysseus @Anaxial

 

[LesDom]

"Oh, yeah! Cropper, we need ground-" A metallic arm wrapped itself around his windpipe, one of the Mechs choking him from behind. Jack wrapped his arms around the head of the machine, ducking as he strenuously threw the robot forward over him. As it flipped onto the ground, he pulled out his pistol, unloading and dismantling the bot. "We need ground support! Time for an air-drop!" Jack continued, speaking into his radio. He laughed, grabbing Jess' hand and helping her up. "Time to get the fuck out of Dodge! Everyone, out of the house! Things are about to get hairy."


Jack ran out of the building, the warning icon on his wrist HUD display flashing dangerously. Kaero sprinted out after him, staring at the circling Atlas ship above. "What's about to...?" He trailed off, seeing something drop from the hangar. Jack grabbed Kaero, throwing him to the ground. "Everyone, hit the dirt!" Jack dived onto the ground, the colony house suddenly exploding in a cloud of dust and pieces as a giant object violently hurtled into it. Pieces of rubble rained down, Jack hesitantly getting up. He wiped the dust from his suit, looking at Kaero as he rose next to him. "Head check! Everyone alright?"

 

[TAINLA]

Apollo felt the presence of all the soldiers, each of them slowly advancing towards him. He straight-up smacked two of the soldiers and ducked around a bolt. He was about to hit someone else until he realized that he had taken it too far, and that Jack was speaking. "Evverrryooonee! Hhhiitt tttheeee diirrrtt!"


Apollo felt an impact right then behind him and saw the walls slowly fragment apart, each piece dislocating after the other. 'Better stay carried away.' Apollo squinted at the breaking wall and started to make his way out. He counted about three-fourths of a second before he would be crushed by the already breaking ceiling.


1/4...Apollo jumped on a falling fragment and propelled himself through the dust, twisting out of the building


2/4...Apollo tossed aside the fragment right as the doorframe began to break...


3/4...Apollo darts out of the door and crashes chest-first onto the dirt, his eyes orienting back to realtime.


Moving at nearly fifty miles an hour, Apollo crashed and slid across the dirt, leaving a heated trail from the electrical armor. He skidded to a stop a few yards ahead of Jack, looking straight at the mutilated building.


Panting heavily, he looked at the object standing on the rubble. "Well-I see that ATLAS takes massive shits."


@LesDom @AACS @JPax42 @DJGomez

 

[duegxybus]

Sierra covered her ears and screamed at the dropping of Roan, which shuddered her thoroughly. She had looked to the building and seen that Apollo had not left the building. "J-Jack?" Moments later, the exit burst and Apollo went flying right out and skidded onto the dirt, much to Sierra's surprise. "What the fuck why do you wait until the last second for everything?! Asshole!" She laughed a bit before looking up to the Atlas ship. "But seriously, can we leave?"


@LesDom @AACS @DJGomez @Anaxial

 

[LesDom]

Jack took off his helmet, grinning. "The last second always feels the best." He laughed, happy to break his serious demeanor. "Time to go. Betty, send a cruiser. We're coming aboard."


"I cannot do that, Jack. Something has seized control of my mainframe."

 

[Ulysseus]

A large, triangular ship appeared opposite the Atlas, bearing the fresh letters OSS painted over the faded insignia of the OGA. All of its guns were aimed directly on the group of Keepers, maintaining a safe distance. Over the loud speaker, Ulysses' voice boomed electronically: "Keepers, all this damage you're causing is really unnecessary, particularly to my men. Why don't you come aboard nicely? After all, I'm the only one with a functional ship. Surely by now you understand that I won't take no for an answer, even if that means taking you as corpses in the morgue. So let's all just be reasonable." A legion of drones surrounded the Keepers on all sides.





@AACS @LesDom @DJGomez @JPax42 @Anaxial

 

[LesDom]

Jack paused, glaring up at the drones. "I don't believe you."

 

[DJGomez]

(Just pretend Caine was shooting and fighting and kicking General ass, hadent gotten the chance to post)


Caine ejected the power cell from his rifle as it bounced on the ground until it lay still, giving a low hiss. He popped a new one in and activated his crosscoms targeting system. Every drone began to become illuminated in a red outline as his targeting computer calculated target priorities and attack vectors. He casually flicked his rifle back from stun to tungsten rounds.


@AACS @Anaxial @LesDom @Ulysseus @JPax42

 

[TAINLA]

Apollo lowered his weapon at the sight of the dreadnought. All of its guns would unleash a barrage that would scar the landscape for months, scarring all Keepers with it. Looking around, he saw Joshua still casually firing at the drones. "Joshua, we didn't give you an order! Don't fire first."





Apollo rolled his eyes and darted away, coming back seconds later kicking a crate down as cover. He signaled everyone behind it and pointed out the shields around the dreadnaught, which had spread to the drones.


@LesDom @JPax42 @Anaxial @DJGomez @Ulysseus

 

[Ulysseus]

Ulysses watched Caine rearm his rifle on the video feed, and frowned. "Mr. Caine, Keepers, please drop your weapons. You have three seconds, or I will make the ground where you stand a scorched cinder."





@AACS @Anaxial @DJGomez @LesDom @JPax42

 

[Ulysseus]

Receiving no response, Ulysses silently coordinated three manned shuttles down from the Fury to pick up the surrounded Keepers. "No funny business, Keepers. The more you resist, the less comfortable you will be onboard."

 

[Ulysseus]

Ulysses' screen flashed a pale red for a moment, as a text transmission scrolled onto the screen. Reading over it, Ulysses seemed to mumble into the empty air, taking care that no one was nearby, "Why? No. Why would you make me do this? They will cooperate. We have a deal." Another message emerged, then faded away. "Fine. I understand, as long as you continue to understand the value of our bargain." The screen went unchanged after this last remark. No response. Taking the drone controls to his display while his many crew members rushed around him, nervously keeping their distance as they prepared isolated prisoner quarters for the Keepers, Ulysses shouted to a nearby soldier. "Ensign, we are going to require one less room. Thank you." Ulysses delicately recalibrated the drone controls with measured finesse, and locked them into groups onto three targets: Caine's gun, Caine's knee sockets, and Caine's forehead. "I'm sorry, Mr. Caine, but I'm afraid you have been selected as the first corpse of this war." Ulysses locked on and set three drones onto the targets, holding the rest for now in reserve. The drones began firing. These new designs rarely missed.

 

[LesDom]

Kaero's eyes widened, hearing the intercom mention Caine and the sinister message. "What?" Jack began, but was interrupted by the unmistakable rotor of ammunition starting up. It happened in an instant, Kaero running forward and stopping in front of Joshua, grabbing him. "Move-" He shouted, but it was too late. Bullets sprayed into Kaero's back, still shielding the soldier and turning his armor into a shredded broken mess. The bullets ceased to whir, and the sentries lights abstained from flashing danger red. Kaero slid to the cold ground, his grip and strength lost. "Talistor!" Jack shouted, leaping into the mud and helping the sprawled assassin as his blood mixed with the puddles of water on the ground, seeping into the earth. He stared at Kaero's pale face, his armor soaked and twisted. Jack felt the wounds, sighing and propping his head up as Kaero's life faltered. "Armor piercing rounds. Too severe. He's gone." Jack got up, completely covered in hues of scarlet and brown. "We give up. Everyone, lower your weapons. We'll come aboard."


@AACS @DJGomez @Ulysseus @JPax42

 

[TAINLA]

Apollo saw Kaero move to Joshua but was interrupted by the loud clanging of bullets, his ears ringing and his eyes shaking. By the time it stopped, Jack had issued an order to lower weapons. Apollo holstered his weapons and raised his hands and wings in the air. "Is Caine alright though?" Death was a part of The Keepers, and there wasn't enough time to mourn for the loss. Not now, at least.


@LesDom @JPax42 @DJGomez @Ulysseus

 

[DJGomez]

Caines body reacted before he even gave a thought. Years of clmbat had honed his body to peak condition. When Ulysses gave his essential verdict to Caine he flicked his rifle to tungsten and was about to light up the three nearest drones as his HUD indicated. He wasn't going to die like a rabid animal, he was going die a soldiers death, an honorable death. He had stopped fearing death long ago. But it seemed even Caine wasn't fast enough. As he brought his rifle up, he was tackled away as a burst of rounds from his rifle sprayed out into the air, no where near any targets. The heightend senses of the hybrid allowed Kaero to react faster then Caine. He got up from the mud and immediately grabbed his rifle, assuming a firing position but holding at the lack of gunfire. He looked down and saw no movement from Kaero as Jack checked him over. He was dead, and with that Caine now owed a favor, which in turn he'd repay with interest to the man responsible. Against his better instincts he dropped his rifle, at Jacks orders and tossed away his sidearm. "Yeah, I'm fine. You better know what you're doing Monroe."


@AACS @LesDom @Ulysseus @JPax42

 

[Ulysseus]

Ulysses stared at Kaero's dead corpse on the video monitor and twiddled his fingers on the desk. "Damn it." He closed the terminal and made his way along the hallways of the ship, stopping to look in on various officers and crewmen at their stations. Finally, he arrived in shuttle bay gamma, already lined with soldiers readying to receive the prisoners. Ulysses watched the video screen as the three shuttles landed around the Keepers and listened intently to the comm. He addressed the leaders of the detainment parties on the surface through the communication line. "Bring them aboard immediately. Be careful; resistance should be dealt with harshly, but I want the rest alive. Also, bring Mr. Tallistor's corpse aboard. I may yet have use of it, and we may give him a proper burial at a more convenient hour."

 

[LesDom]

"Yeah, I'm fine. You better know what you're doing, Monroe."


Jack stopped staring at the corpse, looking up at Joshua. "Armor-piercing rounds. Look at the plating on the drones, Caine. If they look different from the ones we picked off coming in, it's because they are. He was just distracting us earlier. Wanted to see what we were made of. Even your rifle couldn't break one of these things." The skies boomed in volume with the approaching dreadnought, a ship so large it stretched on almost indefinitely. The door opened slowly, soldiers pouring out by the tens as the inside revealed a massive hangar. "I'm guessing that's where Atlas is going. Our ship's locked down too."

 

[duegxybus]

Sierra had forgotten most of everything from the moment Kaero was shot. So much blood was splattered everywhere. The shock lead her to drop her gun and surrender as Jack gave the order. She had snapped out of watching Kaero's body when she heard the dreadnought. The engines whirred louder than most EM vessels, and appeared so much bigger than Exansis cruisers. She leaned towards Joshua unconsciously, shaking.


@DJGomez @LesDom @AACS @Ulysseus