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Pandora's Box; No blue people allowed.
Topic Started: Jan 29 2011, 02:10 PM (3,709 Views)
~Alissa~
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No one had said it, no one was going to say it, they were not even thinking it, but things were going smoothly for once. They had a lead on the competition, they were on their way to the prize, the locals were more concerned with other parties, and they had the tools they needed to dig the pod out.

Also it had stopped snowing; Alex had allowed himself a relaxed seat as the big vehicle lumbered steadily over the landscape, unperturbed by holes, stumps, small boulders, or a car for that matter if they had happened to come across one.

“Hey Boss…I got foot prints here” that was cat over the radio

Alex picked up the mic on his end “anything special about them?

There was silence a moment “one pair…..whoever made them was trying to cover them….” She was silent a moment “they seem….smallish, not a kid though”

Alex got quite a moment “go find another place to hide, and keep an eye out, whoever made those might have friends with them”

The only reply was a click

Alex turned around a bit letting the rig move in a strait line as he looked toward Mike and Sam.

“I think there are other players on the board, keep an eye out I don’t want any surprises.”

Alex turned around and it was as if the universe heard his words and decided to respond in kind, quite suddenly a plume of dirt and snow shot up from the area of the right front tire and the rig came to a sudden and slightly violent stop.

“What the?....” Alex scrambled out and around to survey the damage, the front fire had been shredded, the wheel was intact.

“Mike! Get the spare rigged up double time” Alex ordered back

“We hit a mine?” Mike replied, already on the side of the rig beginning to free the spare wheel and tire

“Yeah but nothing military, real deal would have taken half the front off, this just slows us down a little.” Alex turned a slow circle, raising his riffle to scan the tree line quietly, the thermal scope highlighting heat.

Alex swore not seeing anything before looking back at the rig before pulling a pack and a helmet for his gear out of the cab.

“Ok new plan…..kind of like the old plan” Alex said beginning to secure his gear “Mike you fix the truck….Sam you make sure no one sneaks up on Mike while he fixes the truck. I’ll go secure the package.”

“What alone?” Mike protested as the heavy spare hit the snow with a thud, he was already pulling a large hydraulic jack toward the front of the rig.

“I should go” Sam interjected

Alex looked between his crew mates a moment “Sam, no offence but you are not subtle…..stay here, help mike Cat can watch from cover.”


The radio sparked to life “I know you are all busy there….but there is an obsidian frigate just kinda…..sauntering?” there was a pause “anyway….I think they are a distraction.” Hannah provided by way of update, Alex sighed shaking his head before pulling his helmet on flipping on the sensor display.

“not my first mine field, not my first rodeo” he said to Mike and Sam who both looked ready to protest “if you are so worried, work faster.” And with that Alex started jogging toward their goal, on occasion suddenly dodging around something his HUD highlighted as a potential trap.
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While it was still quite chilly down in the valley where Ronnie had landed the bomber, there was still a smattering of snow scattered around. Not much, mostly on the trees and in patches on the surrounding hills. Higher up in the mountains was certainly a winter wonderland, but where they were, it was nothing but green grass and the bright sun overhead in the clear blue sky.

So naturally, Jimmy thought this was the perfect spot to work on his golf swing.

Truth be told, the hard soil made it a bit tough to stick a tee in the ground, but that was about all the hindrance he had. With his sleeves rolled up and a cigarette dangling from his mouth, he lined up his driver and swung, smacking that ball as hard as he could and watching it sail through the air.

"Ohhh! Nice shot, Jim!" Ronnie shouted. He sat in a camping chair situated neatly in the shade of one of the Longsword's wings. In the right cup holder was a beer bottle, actually the same dark Irish brew that he'd been drinking back at Maddie's. In the left was a radio to keep in touch with the rest of the crew. "That's gotta be three hundred fifty yards at least!"

"Thank you, Ronnie." Jimmy handed him his driver, still watching the spot where his ball had landed. He took another ball and a tee from his pocket. "Hand me a nine iron, will you?"

"Sure thing." Ronnie took the driver and grabbed the requested club from the brand new golf bag that Grace had given Jimmy for his birthday this year.

"Ronnie, that's a six iron." He handed the club back to Ronnie, not exactly sighing but his face doing it for him. "You're looking at it upside down. It's the one with the little hash mark."

"Oh, my bad." Ronnie actually got a little red-faced, which didn't take much given how pale and blond he was. He grabbed the right club and handed it to Jimmy, who then dropped another ball on the ground.

"Looks like our friends found one of the presents I left behind," came Grace's voice crackling through the radio.

"Nice," Ronnie said with a smirk.

"What's the damage?" Jimmy asked.

"Not much. Their ride got hobbled, but no blood, no foul."

"I'm sure that's exactly how you drew it up," said Jimmy. While he wasn't necessarily disapproving of her strategy, it definitely burned him up that she had effectively hijacked the entire job. Not that it surprised him at all. Once she got rolling, she couldn't be stopped. She was a pure force of nature. Knowing that pressing the issue would be less than useless, he simply shrugged it off and turned his attention back to his game. He took a swing with his nine iron, swatting that ball high and far.

"Are you playing golf?"

"I'm working on my swing." If he was irritated with her, he didn't show it much. Then again, he was almost always irritated with her, and her with him. That was just how things went with the two of them, how things had always gone. "Believe me, if there was a golf course still left on this rock after seventy years, I'd be there instead of here."

"You actually brought your golf clubs on this job?"

"You know how you like to do yoga and shit? Well this is my yoga. This is my meditation. Helps me block everything out, focus, and just... forget about all my troubles."

"You're a douchebag. You know that, don't you?"

"Love you too, babe."

Jimmy flicked his cigarette away and dropped his next ball. That little exchange had actually counted as a good conversation between them.

"Man," Ronnie said, "Han Solo never had to deal with this shit."

"Han Solo was also a good guy, Ronnie. We ain't the good guys."

"Huh?" Ronnie looked utterly confused. "Nah, man. We're like the noble crooks, you know? Trying to teach these snotty, ungrateful little punks how things really are." He had apparently forgotten his conversation with Grace the other day, where he acknowledged that rarely did they ever do the right thing.

"C'mon now. You know what's what. I'm collecting a debt, remember? And if it ain't paid, someone's getting hung up on my wall. So if I'm anyone in this scenario, I'm Jabba."

"Yeah, I guess. Except you ain't got a slave girl in a metal bikini."

"Nope. Just Grace. And if you ask me, she's just as likely to strangle me with a chain."

Jimmy brought back his nine iron, but right in the middle of his back swing they felt a rumble overhead. He and Ronnie looked up to see a massive frigate soaring right above them, a ship just on the edge of being too big to fly in the atmosphere.

"What in the hell was that?" Ronnie asked, staring up at the sky and watching the ship sail past.

"The Obsidians," Jimmy said, a deceptive calm in his voice. In Ronnie's experience, that was always an ominous sign. That was when Jimmy was at his most dangerous. "It's Graves."

"Slater Graves? Thought he was dead."

"Well, sorry to disappoint you and all of humanity, but no, he's still very much alive. And him and the Obsidian Group are trying to steal our thunder." He put his nine iron away and grabbed his golf bag. "Let's go."

......................

A missile blast rocked Slater's ship, not actually making contact but close enough to rattle their teeth. A warning shot, nothing more. But it was definitely a warning that needed to be heeded.

"Hey there, Slater," Jimmy said as his face flashed across the screen. "You take it easy there now, buddy. I know I said I don't mind you trying to jump in the sandbox, and that still holds. But I got my people down there. Any harm comes to any of them, and I'm taking it outta your ass. You dig?"
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An alarm blared on Slater’s frigate, far above the forest, though promptly shut itself off when the warning missile exploded harmlessly. Slater listened, and grinned. He grinned when Vega sent his transmission, and only managed to just compose himself for his response.
"I would expect nothing less. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that."

He moved his hand over the button to close the transmission, his finger lingering for a split second before he terminated it. He didn’t really want a tussle with Vega.

But he had been in worse. And this wasn’t about him, this time.

He glanced to his computer readings as the frigate’s sensors actively scanned the area. The Longsword was unmistakeable, and there was another ship near the impact site: the other party. There was also some kind of vehicle near the site, possibly more. And finally, a dot representing the Silent Ibis blinked on the screen. Their target was marked with an X.

That second ship was another wildcard, and he wasn’t sure what move to make just yet.
He brought his hands together in silence as the frigate moved forward, casting its long shadow below.

~

The ground crunched beneath Damian’s boots, the sound of the frozen grass oddly loud to him. He fiddled with the thick jacket he wore, tightening its straps even though it covered the light armor that was supposedly spec’d for these conditions. He never liked the cold. Not in the colonies, and certainly not in this far flung world with enemies all around them. He wore a grey bandanna over his face for warmth, though that didn’t help either.

Marcus, outfitted with his GFED power armor, couldn’t possibly be cold. Damian eyed it with envy - he couldn’t even see his friend’s face through the helmet. Two scuffed spots on the armor marked where the Federation insignias had been removed, though nobody had bothered to put any kind of Obsidian marking on it. The armor was entirely Marcus’s own, after all, from his days long before the group.

Damian shivered once as they walked along quietly, the sounds of the forest filtering through his ears. It could have been peaceful, were it another occasion. Instead, he clenched his gloved hand around the rifle provided by Slater.

It was a plasma rifle - effective if a bit unimaginative. At the very least it was a trusty model he was well acquainted with, which he appreciated. There was also a pistol strapped to his belt, along with a set of tools for when they got to the impact site. Marcus had a heavier rifle and a shotgun, along with a pistol and a few grenades, which Damian eyed with caution. Part of him wanted at least one, but he shook his head. They were trying to avoid combat, after all.

They walked slowly for some time, the both of them occasionally checking their trackers that marked the way to the impact site. The minutes passed, and Damian grew more anxious until finally he broke the silence.

"Hey Marcus…"
The older man didn’t respond immediately. "What is it?"
"So with the nature of this bounty… does this mission sit well with you?"
"I don’t understand," Marcus said bluntly as he walked.
"I just mean, you know, with Valhalla’s history, going after this when we’ve got no idea what the-"
"You have the worst timing, you know that?" Marcus interrupted, exasperated. "How many days have you had to talk about this? Why now?"
Damian stared at the ground, tightening his fingers around the rifle reflexively. "I don’t know."
"If you care so much why were you so insistent on being the one to do the mission?"

Damian fell silent, his mind racing back to his thoughts back then. It hadn’t been that long ago, really, that he had pushed for this mission when Vishik had proposed it. It hadn’t been that long ago when they were supposed to be the stealthy first prong of this mission, the group that would get close to the bounty with the Nightfire at their side.

He sighed to himself.

"’Cause of Vishik." It was an admission Damian didn’t make lightly. "He doesn’t treat me like everyone else, and yet I’ve been here five years and-"
"Oh come on. You’re the youngest of the crew, of course he’s going to treat you a little differently. You’re only 23."
"See that’s exactly my point, I’m one of the best goddamn pilots on the crew and-"

"Wait a sec, stop." Marcus’s voice suddenly rang out in alarm as the man stopped in his tracks. Damian flinched at this, expecting something to fire at them.
Nothing happened.

Marcus moved his head back and forth slowly, then let out an exasperated sigh. "Nobody ever said this was going to be easy."
Damian’s heart sunk. "What is it? Did we get beaten to the target already-"
"No, but there are mines just ahead. I see them on my infrared scanner, and…" There was a click over the comm as Marcus switched one of the channels on. "Argo…? Do you know about these mines I’m seeing?"

There was a diminutive reply. "Sorry. No. I couldn’t catch them through the trees. Are you sure they’re mines?"
"I see them through the IR clearly. Is there anything else you can pick up?"
A tense second passed.
"I don’t really see much, but I am detecting a vehicle just north of your location, It looks stalled or damaged. It probably hit one of those mines then."

Marcus harrumphed, then motioned to Damian.
"Don’t… step there," he pointed ahead at a spot. "Or there." He looked to his left. "Or…there. In fact just stay behind me for now, I’m the one with the IR visor."
Damian grumbled. "Fine."
He shuffled behind Marcus and waited for him to take a step. As if on cue, an explosion rumbled in the distance, sending flocks of birds far above the forest in protest.
"What was that?!" Damian squinted, trying to locate the source. It was too loud for a mine.

"Nothing good." Marcus flipped through his visor. "More traps, maybe."
They waited, but there were no more rumbles, and after a moment Marcus hesitantly motioned for him to go forward.

"Nothing to worry about," Slater suddenly spoke over the comm. "Just a warning shot from our acquaintances. I see you’re nearing the impact site. I will not be there just yet. I’d be tempted to bomb the entire place but let’s not shake mountains when we don’t have to."
"You’re crazy," Marcus muttered, and Slater gave a disapproving noise.
"Crazy? I keep all options on the table. Like I always do. That’s what makes me stand apart from you lot."

Damian gritted his teeth but kept his mouth shut. Instead he looked to the tracking device in his hand again, the cold lashing his eyes. The impact site was nearly upon them. This would be it.
A brief moment of anxiety overcame him, like he was choking on the very air itself. The cold air, no less.
He pushed back against this, not saying anything, until he felt it fade. There was no time for that. He couldn’t think about the many ways this could go wrong again.

And yet, so much had already gone wrong with this mission.

He shook his head to himself, keeping quiet. Marcus continued his inspection, his eyes fixated on the ground. The next few minutes passed by in a tense silence, and then Marcus stopped again without warning. Damian nearly bumped into him yet again. "What-"

Marcus held up a hand for him to be quiet, then motioned for them to move to a nearby boulder. "We’re not alone. "
Damian squinted forward, but saw only trees. "I don’t see anyone."
"Just get over there."

Damian hurried behind him to the boulder, listening as Marcus spoke lowly. "There’s someone’s heat signature up ahead. And I mean up. In a tree. Probably a sniper…"
Damian tightened his grip around the rifle. He didn’t dare tell him that he’d much rather be in the ship right now.

Marcus spoke quietly over their shared comm line. "Argo, Slater, we’ve got at least one sniper. Possibly more. Just so you know."
"I see." Slater responded. "Well you should do something about that then."
"Thank you for the insight." Marcus’s voice was cutting, making it clear he wasn’t in the mood. "Aren’t you supposed to be distracting them? You know, this whole working together thing?"
There was a pause. "I’m trying. I can do more, maybe. Depends."
"On what?"
There was no response, and Marcus made a punching motion in frustration.

"I tell you Damian, the fact we have to deal with him…" Marcus didn’t finish his sentence, and instead fiddled with a grenade around his belt.
"Surely you’re not..." Damian said suddenly.
"Hey," Marcus said. "We might be able to flush them out. I’d prefer not to reveal ourselves, but that depends on Slater. Again"
"Let’s see about that first."

~

Meanwhile, a communication opened up to the Longsword from Slater.
"Jimmy. If we’re going to keep things civil right now… how many of your crew are down there? You got any snipers I might want to think twice about knocking out?"
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“You done yet?” Sam asked from his perch as he slowly surveyed their surroundings. He had honestly two concerns at this point; First was for their boss he was making his way through a mine field toward their target alone, and second was for them, sitting ducks out in the middle of this field as they were.

“This isn’t exactly a simple change, you want it done faster, get down here and help” His Protests aside Mike as in fact working remarkably fast, the new wheel was in place and the sound of an air wrench told the story of rapidly working hands. There was just a lot of work to do. “at least have Lucy put the flat in the back”

Sam glanced down at the heavy lifting bot before picking up the controls letting his riffle hand from its strap as he did as the other man requested.

“Boss seem keener than normal to get this job done?” Sam asked at last

“It’s got something to do with Hannah…” Mike said standing up and beginning to check his work “we do alright but this would be a big payday….and he’s been pretty hush about his meeting with Sergei.”

Sam grunted in agreement as first the old wheel then the bot were loaded back into the truck. Mike lowered the front back down and began securing the jack to the side.
“So he’s not talkin’ about what it is, not to me, not to you, and not to his sister” Sam mused as both men climbed up into the front of the truck, the engine roared to life and there was a hydraulic whine as a big plow was lifted from the bac over their heads and into the ground before they began moving again, it was slower going but the next mine they hit simply sent a plume of dirt up and away from them.

“You think he’s protecting us?” Mike asked, as Sam nodded “From what?”

Sam grew thoughtful for a moment “Whatever it is, probably not above board, can’t be in trouble for what we don’t know.” Sam observed quietly as they rolled along “Still…probably pretty important for him to take a risk…”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Cat had hidden her bike well off from the landing sight, and once she had found what she assumed to be Grace’s tracks she had taken pains to circle around in the opposite direction. She had settled herself down into a hallow with the cloak on watching Alex’s progress on the scanner when the motion sensors picked up two more signatures.

The Suit was fantastic, she had been out working in this sort of role for a while now but never had she been with a crew like this, and nor had she been given gear like this. All of Alex’s comments about the technology aside it was really something.

She pushed up from where she was hiding carefully slinging the riffle she had been sighting through over her shoulder before drawing a pair of pistols and moving with an amazing amount of stealth through the brush. She might be surrounded by mercs and soldiers, but Cat had been taught how to sneak up on a deer in heavy brush. And these two were making more than enough noise to mask her approach.

The first hint Nick and Derrick had that they were not alone was the sound of weapons being readied and the gentle lilt of a not quite lost accent “you boys lost?” there was a pause “no…don’t turn around, Give those guns a toss first.” The grin could be heard in Cat’s voice as she stood waiting for the two men to comply. “Good boys, now hands up, turn around nice and slow…”

Derrick would see it right away, even with the modifications, which were clear, Cat is shorter than he is, and certainly not proportioned the same way. The armor had also had a new paint job, gone was the black and gold it had originally had, instead it was painted white, with purple highlights, and on the right bicep someone had carefully painted Hello kitty in the same armor holding a riffle.

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"Well now, you're just gonna have to roll the dice now, ain't you?" Jimmy flashed a wicked smirk, making it seem like Grace had been rubbing off on him.

"How 'bout it, Slater? You a gamblin' man? You ready to take that risk? And besides, ain't you got your own people down there on the ground too? I mean, I know you generally don't give no fucks, and they probably like you about as much as I do... but I mean, goddamn, that sure would make the office Christmas party pretty awkward now, wouldn't it?"

Ronnie snickered as he steered the bomber, keeping in close striking distance to Slater's frigate. He imagjned them to be like a fly buzzing around that you just couldn't swat.

"So why don't you take it easy with that trigger finger there, brother? Maybe think about it for a second before you go carpet bombing the place." With that, Jimmy terminated the transmission.

"Think he'll listen?" Ronnie asked.

"You kidding me? This is Slater Graves we're talking about here. He don't listen to nobody." Jimmy leaned his seat back and put his feet up on the console. "Stay on his ass. He so much as looks at us funny, you start pummeling him."

"Aye aye, Jimbo."

.....................

Two of them... little guy, thick jacket, bandana... definitely not Alex's boys... Sam and Mike, right...? normal-sized guy, GFMC power armor... energy weapons, both of them...

Thus ran Grace's internal monologue as she watched Damian and Marcus through her rifle scope. She sat up there in the tree, facing north, while they moved west to east. At this distance, they may very well have already spotted her, but so far they made no hostile moves towards here.

There was a definite pattern to the way they moved through the snow. They were dodging her mines, that much was obvious. The larger (normal-sized) one was in power armor, so he should definitely have the visor tech in there to easily spot all those little explosive surprises.

But there was no way he would be able to spot the snare. Rope didn't show up on infrared.

That's it... just a little bit further... you're almost there...

Right on cue, Damian took that one wrong step that she was waiting for. The rope tightened around his ankle and yanked him right up into the air, leaving him dangling upside down from a tree branch.

.....................

"You boys lost?” said a voice behind Nick and Derrick, a voice with a very slight but unmistakable hint of an Irish accent. “No…don’t turn around, give those guns a toss first.” Seeing no other recourse, they dutifully complied. “Good boys, now hands up, turn around nice and slow…”

They did as she said. Though his face was currently obscured by a visor, Derrick was clearly looking her over, studying the details of the armor she was wearing.

"That's my suit," he said, in that reptilian voice of his.

"Technically it's Jimmy's suit, since you ain't paid your debt," Nick said. "Course that's why we're here in the first place, ain't it?"

He removed his helmet, looking at Cat face to face, but keeping both hands where she could see them. "How much is that boy paying you?" he asked. "Cause however much it is, I guarantee Jimmy can pay you more. A lot more. He's got Fuck You Money, kind o' cash you only dreamed of. And don't get me wrong here, I ain't tryin' to insult you by insinuatin' that it's all about the money. What do you want? Fame? Glory? Revenge against someone done you wrong?"
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Damian took a nervous step away from the rock, his eyes locked forward in the direction where Marcus had said the sniper was.

If he could just-

Before he could finish the thought he suddenly felt something tighten around his ankle, tighten and then- he lost his footing entirely.

"Oh hell-"

The ground slid out from underneath him as the trap yanked him into the air. Damian went tumbling, swearing the entire time as he tried to stop it. On instinct he pulled the trigger of his rifle, but his grip was still too loose and it went tumbling to the ground below. The resulting shot was loud – too loud – and he cringed at the noise it made. He flailed his arms as he spun slowly, trying to somehow get himself down.

His heart pounding though, he realized he was stuck, and he stopped as the gravity of the situation sunk in. Slowly, his bandana drifted over his face, covering his eyes as if to add insult to injury.

“Damn it Damian, I told you to stay here!” Marcus sounded about ready to kill him himself.
“I’m sorry! I just-“
“You will be sorry when your brain’s splattered all over the ground! Use your knife for god’s sake.”

Damian stammered, his response incoherent as he reached for his pocket. But his head was heavy and it was hard to twist himself upward. He couldn’t think like this, couldn’t focus, and he knew that sniper was right there and-

“Damian!”
“I’m trying goddamn it. How about a little help here before I get shot at.”
“Arrgh!” Marcus let out a growl. “Fine.” He moved his rifle forward, aiming in the direction of the sniper, and then fired a single shot in an attempt to catch them off guard

~

“Now just a m-“
Slater couldn’t finish his sentence before Jimmy ended the comm.
He stared at the blank screen in silence, chewing the inside of his mouth with his arm lifted in the air as he did so. A nearby officer stared at him wordlessly, having been present for the whole conversation.

The taste of blood soon filled Slater’s mouth, and he suddenly brought his hand down on the console in anger. He let out an explosive chuckle, then turned around to the officer.

“Keep several turrets trained on their ship. They can’t do much damage to us, but I want them to know we can blow them out of the sky if we wanted to.”

The officer nodded once, and then Slater folded his hands. Before he could get another thought in he heard the squabble of Damian and Marcus over the comm line, and rolled his eyes.

“What’s going on down there?”
“Goddamn it Damian HURRY UP! Gah.”

There was the sound of a thud from the other end, and Slater tapped his desk. “I’ll ask-“

“A trap,” came Marcus’s voice. “Damian’s currently hanging upside down with that sniper near on us. You know that distraction would be nice.”
Slater tapped the desk again. “Yes it probably would be.” He jerked his head to the officer in an unspoken order.
“You know, you are too close for me to fire on them without accidentally hitting you. But there’s another thing we can try.”

~

Damian sawed at the rope with his combat knife, his body painfully twisted for him to reach it. The stupid bandana was in his eyes though, and he could barely see if he was making progress. Then, to make matters worse, he heard several dull booms and the unmistakable whistle of missiles sailing through the air.
“Oh now what-“

With an eye upward, he felt some relief when he saw that the volley came from Slater’s frigate. It
became clear they weren’t tracking anyone, but were warning shots set just above the tree line, sailing off over the impact site.
It was a message to everyone that he was ready to fire.

“That’s not helping, Slater!” Marcus yelled over the comm.
“Maybe not yet.”
Damian hastened his cutting of the rope, acutely aware of time passing.

Satisfyingly, he felt it give and- THUD. His reunion with the ground was painful. He hit it solidly, hard enough to knock the wind out of his chest, and he lay there for a moment unable to catch his breath. The dirt was cold and icy, but at least he wasn’t vulnerable in the air.

Slater’s voice came over the comm line again. “Before we continue… Argo, how well can you fly the Silent Ibis while cloaked?”
Argo’s reply was quick. “I can navigate it well enough near ground level, but-“
“Good. I need you to bring it exactly where I tell you to before this gets worse.”
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Hannah sat on the bridge of the Persephone watching and listening to the exchange between Vega and Slater. It would almost be amusing except for what her sensors were showing her next. Whatever passed for a military on this part of the planet wasn’t much. Cast offs and salvaged bits left over from the long finished war.

There was a long moment as she leaned over the console making sure that what she saw was correct before she leaned back into her chair “….shit”

“Alex…you are about to have company!” she called over the radio

Her brother’s response brought with it the sound of automatic gun fire “not about too…it’s here…Sam Mike, I’m pinned down inside the crater can I get some cover?!”

“Yeah boss we are cresting the ridge now…Sam should be making new friends any minute…Cat! Come join the party?” Mike called on the frequency

“I’ve got two of Vega’s boys here” she called over “what should I do with them?”

“They can come help for all I care just get me some damn cover!” Alex called over the radio about that time backed by the sound of automatic gunfire from multiple locations

Cat looked between the pair who likely heard the whole exchange for a moment trying to figure out just how to best handle the situation
“I clearly cannot trust you two” she said at last taking a deep breath letting it out slowly “over there, go hug that tree….” She said still with weapon trained on the pair of them waiting for them to comply before walking over to where they dropped their guns picking each one up in turn and throwing it into the bushes as far as she could before cloaking and taking off at a sprint in the direction of her ride
“Cat get back to the ship, I need a gunner” Hannah radioed, all business now as she got the ship ready to lift off as soon as Cat was on board, they would pick the boys up with the grapple if they had too.

A moment later Hannah opened a channel to the obsidians and Vega “If you boys want to zip up and put the ruler away you have managed to alert the locals…..” she cut the channel waiting for Cat already plotting a low altitude course to the crash site.
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Nick and Derrick exchanged awkward glances as they received Cat's instructions. Derrick arched his eyebrows, thoroughly confused, but Nick just gave a shrug.

"The lady says hug the tree," he said, walking over to the tree in question.

"So you're just gonna give up without a fight?"

"Ain't worth it kid. C'mon, we're gettin' off light here."

Reluctantly, Derrick followed suit. Nick already had his arms wrapped around the tree as if he were exactly the sort of hippie flower child (i.e. Grace) he loved to mock. Cat activated the cloak, and they watched as the woman-shaped shimmer in the air dashed off to meet up with the rest of her crew.

"Nice job standing up for yourself back there," Derrick grumbled as soon as she looked to be out of earshot.

"This ain't nothin', kid," Nick shot back. "We're lucky she don't make us get butt nekkid."

"What?"

"You heard me." He looked over to where Cat had been, but there was nothing, not even the telltale waves indicating the use of an invisibility device. "Grace woulda made us get butt nekkid. She she'd a had us huggin' each other instead of the tree. She got a sick sense of humor like that."

"Lovely," Derrick groaned. "And it's buck naked."

The look on Nick's face said he could give less than a shit.

....................

Jimmy and Ronnie watched as Slater's frigate started firing warning shots all over the place. They both knew what that meant.

"Hey Grace," Jimmy said into the comm. "There's about to be fire raining down from the sky here real soon."

"Yeah, I see him jerkin' it up there." Both men snickered at her description of what Slater was doing, which in their minds was actually pretty accurate.

"Well, get yourself to safety. I would like to touch your boobs at least one more time before you die."

"You're so charming, Jimmy. Remind me why it is that I let you do that in the first place?"

"Because you love me."

"Sad but true. Probably a sign of a more serious condition. I really oughta get an MRI when we get back home."

"But you do have a plan, right"

"Sort of." She clicked off.

Ronnie kept on Slater, staying within weapons range just in case they had to respond to something. "She doesn't have a plan, does she?" he said.

"Probably not," said Jimmy," but when has that ever mattered?"

....................

"Hey fellas!"

While Damian and Marcus had been preoccupied with getting the latter out of the tree, Grace had climbed out of her sniper nest and had been coming their way. Now all of a sudden she was just a few yards away.

And more importantly, well within the same blast radius.
Edited by The Boss, Jun 7 2016, 11:14 PM.
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((OOC: Minor joint effort for the dialog with Grace.))

Slater listened to the sudden communication from the Persephone with irritation, ready to say something cutting, but before he could muster a response the channel was cut from the other side.

He snorted, then shot a glance to his officers.

It had been a woman on the other line then, young and unfamiliar to him. She was in a wheelchair, and that had given him the briefest of pauses before the line had been cut. At least now, he knew, they had everyone’s attention.

The locals would be another matter to deal with, and he frowned as he watched their ships move closer on the radar. He could probably worm his way out of that confrontation if he had to, but there was no point in more delays.

He radioed Argo on the Silent Ibis quickly, one eye on the radar and the other on Jimmy’s ship.

~

Damian nearly jumped out of his skin when Grace spoke, and he could only scramble for his rifle clumsily when she stepped nearby. Marcus already had his gun pointed at her when Damian responded, and his comrade’s expression was impossible to tell from behind his helmet.

“Stop right there.” Marcus’s voice was quick but blunt, and his threat was unmistakable.

Damian stammered to say something too. “Yeah, uh-“
“Shut up Damian.”
Damian recoiled at Marcus’s words, but quickly hid his expression. Instead he bit his tongue and didn’t dare say another word.
He did have his weapon though, and shakily pointed it at the newcomer.

Marcus took a step forward, his armor clinking. “Who are you with? Jimmy? Or the others?”

"Well... it's complicated," Grace said, that smirk all over her face. "He and I have a long, twisted history. We have great highs, and great lows. He's a total egomaniac. I mean, don't get me wrong, the man is an animal. But I dunno if we... oh, you mean..." Her smirk got even bigger. "Yeah, I'm with him."

Marcus was at a momentarily loss for words and just stared at her. “Okay then. You-“

A voice cackled over their radio line and he stopped himself.

“There are locals incoming. We need to hurry up.” Slater’s voice was flat and uninspired, to which Damian scowled.
He tapped his earpiece once, then glanced upward, feeling a pit in his stomach as he saw the group of ships in the distance. It was only a small squadron, but they would certainly be enough to cause even more headaches.

“We’ve got company.” He pointed to the ships overhead.

“I see that.” Marcus grunted, displeased. A few seconds passed as he deliberated, then spoke to Grace.
“What will you do now, then?” His gun didn’t stray from her direction.

~

The Silent Ibis, small and unassuming, moved steadily forward to the rim of the impact crater. The ship’s dull grey metal was hard to spot amidst the leafless trees, but there was no questioning its speed or its target. No one would have guessed that only Argo piloted the ship, however, and that fact put the AI more on edge than any of the others. His new role was almost too much.

The words from Slater had been clear though, even as the newcomers fast approached. The tiny ship zipped closer to the target, tantalizingly close now, but in more danger than ever before.

Edited by Emperor, Jun 19 2016, 01:31 PM.
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((OOC: Oh hey! I'm alive! I had a super long post, but I cut half of it out for editing at a reasonable time. AKA not 2AM. My brain isn't as spry as it once was. Forgive my potato writing, this was rushed and I was excited. :unsure: ))

“Kaori?”

Knock…

Knock…


“Kaori!”

“Dahry!!!”

Kaori shot awake.

“What the fucking hell… WHAT?!”

“We’re here, get up.”

Kaori swore under her breath. “Give me a minute!” she shouted. It’s not like she had to dress herself. Her suit was built into her body. Upside and downside of being a project. She was both human and machine. She had the wants and desires of a human and the acuity of a computer. She was never going to feel the sheets over her naked body in the morning or the passionate touch of another human, but she could calculate major equations with her eyes closed and easily blow through feats that were impossible for even the best trained athlete. Her mind was a wealth of information on strategy and munitions, but feelings… Well, she just felt awful. Somehow that was ok.

The door opened with a hiss. Two seven foot giants leaned over the doorway.

“Hello Istus!” she said cheerily. Preferring his clueless grin to Validus’s annoyance any day.

“We’re here.” Validus grunted.

“Hoo-aayyy!” Istus held his hands up and waved them back and forth.

“So we got things running again?”

“If by we you mean me and Istus, then sure.”

“It’s Istus and I.” she scoffed “I swear, sometimes you’re as dumb as he is.” She thumbed in Istus’s direction. His smile faltered for a moment.

“He may not be as smart as you want him to be, but he’s not incapable of understanding what you say…” Validus growled at her.

“Whatever. We’re finally in the drop zone. We still have a chance of getting the package.” She pushed past Istus.

Kaori stood at the entrance to the bridge. The ship was built specifically for the brothers. Their minds blended with the computer like it was nothing. She felt useless here. She hated that. She hated relying on people. She didn’t mind using them though It’s not like it was any different than what happened to her, anyways.

The two brothers pushed past her into the bridge. It was made of two large chairs before a massive screen. The view screen wrapped around the room making the bridge look as though it just dropped off into space. There were no control panels. The brother’s didn’t need any, they interfaced directly to the ship.

Something Kaori never had with the Medusa; the ship made specifically for her. When the Project program began they used people. Real living tissue to make super soldiers who were capable of amazing things. She was recruited into the program at ten years old. The perfect age to start building a new human. Puberty hadn’t set in yet and the body was able to heal and adapt better than any adult could have.

Parts of her skeletal system were removed, unnecessary organs were replaced by a control module that regulated everything from blood pressure to basic metabolic functions. Literally every part of her personality had been changed by the gruesome experiences. Sometimes when she really thought about it she could picture what she would have been without the program; family-less, yes, but human.

Human.

She thought about that word for a minute.

The brothers weren’t human. Not to her anyway. Just clones from a test tube, and one of them was half baked. She looked at Istus. He’d be attractive if he hadn’t had the brains of a cucumber. She laughed to herself. He didn’t need him to be smart anyway.

“We’re going to be landing in a few minutes, hold on to something.”

Kaori grabbed onto the door frame.

“No more problems?” she scoffed.

“No. And if someone wasn’t so keen on wasting time at dry dock we would have left the same time as everyone else.”

“This ship is faster than everyone else, we should have been fine. Do you want to explain to me why we started venting atmosphere an hour into the trip?”

“It definitely would have been fine, problems and all, had we left on time.”

Validus was shouting now. Kaori could see Istus shifting uncomfortably in his chair. Something about the two of them was starting to rub her the wrong way. It was like they were already starting to hate her. Usually she could keep the attitude in check long enough to get what she wanted before leaving a crew, but something about them just got under her skin. She just hated how… connected they were.

“Calm down, Validus. Istus doesn’t like it when mommy and daddy fight.”

If Validus could have pulled this car over he would have. Both brothers whipped their heads around and looked back at her. Perfect unison down the muscles in the collar bone tightening. She was poking the beast and the beast was angry. It was creepy how they switched into one unit sometimes.

“Don’t do that; it’s nightmare fuel…” she complained.

The ship jolted violently as it touched down on the surface of the planet.

The ship fell silent as the engines slowly shut down. Valudis’s attention was somewhere else now, but Istus still looked directly at her. The muscle still tensed up, just like his brother. Or rather like himself. Istus did come first, after all.

“What kind of useless scientist keeps the broken one, anyway?” she said out loud. They already hated her at this point, so she didn’t care what they thought now. She didn’t need them once they got to the surface, she could steal someone else’s ship. A vein in Istus’s forehead started to bulged. His blood pressure was obviously rising. Good, maybe he’d die of it and she could manipulate Validus to take her back to civilization in a fit of sorrow.

These two were useless. She was beginning to question breaking them out in the first place. This field trip might have been easier alone after all.

“I know you’re frustrated by us, but can we keep it together until the job is over?” Validus sighed.

What was this? Was he extending an olive branch? Funny how a lab experiment was being more human than she was. It didn’t matter. She could agree to the terms for however long she needed to to get the capsule.

“Sure,” She responded dully “Just do as I say and we’ll be fine.” Kaori marched off the bridge.

The two brothers exchanged looks.

“What do you think?”

Validus knew he didn’t need to ask. He already knew what his brother though. He mostly voices the question for himself. They held eye contact for a moment.

“Duuur, nah nah nah!” Istus held his hands up to emulate a mock girly walk. The brothers started to laugh.

“That’s a good impression” Validus contued to chuckle for a moment.

“She aint’ right.” He sighed at length.

“Dah.” Istus agreed.

“She treats you like shit.”

“Dah” Istus agreed.

“Let’s just get this over with.

“…Dah.”
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