Kai
Retired Staff
Damien and Rin soon found themselves inside a section of one of the buildings which seemed to have never been finished. It was rather open inside, aside from the ceilings, and numerous pillars which held up the building, placed strategically around. Clearly, they could see a number of staircases which would allow them to move upward, as well as the more dense looking core of the building, which had thick reinforced concrete walls. This path would give them the largest amount of cover possible, but also leave them the farthest from the action before they could reach their overwatch position. As Sif, Aya, and Dmitri went into the building across the street, the two more veteran members of the squad were faced with a choice: closer but more exposed, or farther and more protected.
Damien entered the building sweeping his section as he went. Forcing himself on point by charging ahead of Rin. Damien surveyed the routes ahead of them and realized that they had a choice to make. There was a shorter route which would leave them exposed or a longer one which provided more cover.
Damien considered the options and his natural cautious nature took over. He preferred the safer route mostly because he didn't want to be shot again. Of course he had no intention in telling Rin that. He didn't want to look weak. Thinking for a second Damien had a more practical argument.
"Hey I think we should take the longer route. If we get into a firefight and need to break out the heavy weapons we would be better protected. What do you think?"
Rin nodded at Damien's suggestion.
"That would seem to be a better course of action," replied Rin, lowering her GSR.
"But we should move quickly; we need to get into position to cover the rest of the squad."
Rin followed behind Damien, her GSR at the ready despite the close-quarters. She occasionally glanced behind the two of them to make sure the rear was clear.
While the pair ascended, they would note the din of some kind of battle going on nearby; in the nearby buildings and out on the courtyard, possibly. It would probably be a good idea for them to get into the action soon, but they still needed to gain some more elevation to provide proper overwatch. In the stairwell, showed signs of battle. The walls were pockmarked from LASR rounds, and there were even splashes and splotches of blood here and there, But, oddly, there was a complete lack of any sort of bodies, or pieces of armor, nothing aside from the holes and blood, as if someone had taken the time to clean up.
Damien pressed forward, examining the weapons damage and blood on the wall. He was no forensic investigator but it definitely appeared that whatever happened here hadn't happened long ago. He looked back at Rin who was covering the rear.
"Hey Rin, looks like we aren't alone in here. Not sure if it's friend or foe" stated Damien in a low whisper while moving up the stairs.
He remembered his training and cleared the stairwell one floor at a time, but this was tedious and Damien could hear the sounds of battle outside. He wasn't sure how his comrades were doing or if they needed his help. His patience began to turn to impatience and looked back at Rin, "Hey, sounds like a battle is going on outside. We need to double time it!" suggested Damien in a hurry.
He began to move quicker up the stairs, only breifly pausing to check the corners for bloodstains and scorch marks before proceeding upward. Damien figured that if he kept moving until he stopped seeing blood, then whoever or whatever was in the building had to be on that floor. He just hoped that his theory was right and he wouldn't miss anything important.
Rin pushed her way up the stairs behind Damien, noting the signs of battle etched on the walls. She increased her speed to match Damien's hurried pace, her eyes glancing around constantly for threats.
Unfortunately, Damien's prediction was wrong. Long before the signs of battle stopped, He was suddenly accosted by the rattling gunfire of a LASR. Along with it, however, was another loud booming noise, one that seemed both familiar and yet different from anything he had heard before. As the opening onto the floor passed him by, the Yamataian would catch a running glimpse of three Powered armors, all of them Reapers. Two were painted in a drab green similar to their own Daisies, but the third was painted a bright, gaudy red.
Warnings popped up on his HUD as his barrier took several hits. Luckily, Damien's speed in ascending the stairs saved him from major damage, but the concrete walls of the stairwell only provided so much protection. Rin, Behind Damien, found herself able to stop in time, Separated from Damien by the gap through which their enemies were now shooting them. A quick glance showed that the three were spread out around the floor of the space, hiding behind pieces of construction equipment, which was also strewn about, as well as a few pillars and some piles of building supplies, which made this level a veritable obstacle course.
"Contact!" shouted Rin. She immediately ducked behind the nearest concrete wall by the stairs. She then carefully glanced over the wall in an attempt to see where the fire was coming from.
"There is no shortage of cover, but unfortunately it gives them the same advantage," she said over the comm. Rin glanced in Damien's direction.
"We need to keep from being outflanked. "
Damien reeled back as he was hit by small arms fire. Damien soon realized the error of his ways and chalked it up another rookie mistake. He couldn't afford to make those anymore. "Well that's not good" thought Damien as he took cover behind the pillar.
Damien collected himself quickly, not being phased by being hit, he quickly switched weapons to his AGL and reached for a concussion drum, changing out his fragmentation drum. His plan was crazy and partially dangerous, but the forethought of getting into the heavy pillars might very well pay off. Looking over at Rin as he changed his drum, Damien gave a quick rundown of his plan.
"Rin, I'm going to hit them with this, when those bastards stumble out of cover, finish them!"
It was a simple solution. Damien hoped that he could get a straight shot on the enemy behind cover with his AGL. He figured it probably wouldn't do much damage, but might spook the enemy out of cover, or at least take down their barriers. Hopefully the concussion rounds wouldn't do much damage to him or Rin if this backfired.
Damien said a silent prayer and waited for the fire to die down, presumably for his enemies to reload before popping up and praying he got a good line of sight on the target. His weapon was set to airburst so it wasn't an exact hit that he needed, but it was still a long shot.
Damien's shot went out, hurtling toward the enemy- He managed to get a line straight at the red Armor, but the shot didn't seem to make contact. Instead, it flew right through, the apparently not solid figure wavering slightly as it was disturbed. However, the Airburst went off anyway, and caused quite a spectacular concussive blast, which bent one of the pillars, and knocked over a few piles of supplies and equipment. It also caused the two other Reapers to duck behind cover and stop firing for a moment, which gave the two Unluckies a chance, and a Choice- they could press their advantage and take the attack to their enemies, or they could continue to defend their position.
One problem remained however- the red armor seemed to have disappeared, and it also seemed to have been just a hologram. Was that all it was, a Hologram to throw them off, or did it mean something else?
Damien was satisfied with his work on at least not blowing them up. It had also caused the desired effect of getting the enemies' heads down. Of course that didn't excuse the ominous fact that the AGL round went straight through the Red Armored foe. It was certainly a concern but not one that immediately crossed Damien's mind as he shifted from bombardment to attack mode.
Without missing a beat, Damien switched his AGL to his plasma rifle again and began to move towards the enemy. "COVER ME!" shouted Damien as he opened fire on the enemy, firing an aimed shot once every second to keep his weapon from overheating. Damien aimed at the enemy cover, mostly to keep their heads down so that he could move up and flank the enemy to get into a better firing position and create an opportunity for Rin to exploit.
Rin popped up from behind cover and brought her GSR to bear, aiming at the last locations she saw the enemy Reapers. She watched for movement and aimed carefully, her finger ready to pull the trigger should one of the Reapers expose themselves.
Rin's watch as Damien advanced was quite thorough, and as if he were silently warning the enemies, neither of them dared raise their heads from behind the piles of cover any further as Damien moved ahead, finding himself a nice bit of cover behind a compact wheeled construction vehicle, it's heavy, metal body and engine making a great shield against most rounds that might come his way.
Both would notice the man's plasma rounds eating away at the piles of cover that were before them, but suddenly they found themselves being set upon from another direction. Two Reapers popped up, this time further to the left, giving them a better angle on both Rin and Damien, but with the Neko focused where the armors had been before, she was unable to get a bead on them before they disappeared.
Distracted, both suddenly found their shields taking damage, this time from the far right as another pair of Reapers popped up, firing in unison before dropping down behind their cover once more. Damien's luck held out for the moment however, as the vehicle stopped most of the rounds from hitting him.
"Luckiest Unlucky EVER!" Damien thought as he happened to fall behind cover. Running out and getting shot was becoming the running joke. A very deadly running joke but humorous nonetheless. It didn't help that he was the only one really drawing the enemies attention by running around screaming. As Damien watched the rounds hitting around him, he looked over to see that Rin hadn't fired her weapon yet. Damien wasn't exactly sure what she was waiting for but he was getting annoyed. She had definitely missed the opportunity to help take out at least one of the enemies."RIN FIRE YOUR WEAPON!" he shouted out in frustration.
"Screw it" Damien thought, realizing that the odds were stacking up against them. It was time to throw caution to the wind and get serious about their survival. Damien switched back to his AGL and quickly dropped the concussion drum he was carrying, reloading his fragmentation drum. He racked the rounds before taking a quick peak around him to see where the sets of enemy troopers were firing on him from. Not wasting time to wait for Rin to decide to start shooting, Damien popped up, brandishing his weapon. He was sure that his shields would take a beating from this but he didn't care. After his near brush with death he felt slightly invincible, or at least really lucky.
Starting from the right side of the room he was on, he squeezed off two grenades a piece at each set of cover that he saw while screaming "SUCK ON THIS!!". Damien had brought the AGL for situations like this and he might as well use it. After sweeping the room and getting his shots off, Damien ducked down behind cover before the airburst munitions went off. Trying to fight 6 on 2 wasn't his style and he knew that he would have to end this soon or they would be overrun.
Rin ducked behind cover again, furrowing her brow as the appearance of two more pairs of Reapers complicated things. At least they knew where the enemy was now. Rin ignored Damien's shouting and instead focused on the task at hand.
"Watch the right. I will take care of the left," she said over the comm.
She activated her shoulder-mounted Gauss cannon, the weapon unfurling from her right shoulder. She popped up from cover again, this time firing both her GSR and the Gauss cannon at the cover to her left, where she had seen the Reapers previously. She fired the Gauss cannon rapidly, hoping that the weight of fire would draw one of the Reapers out so she could fire a precise shot with her GSR.
All sorts of mayhem was sown by Damien and his AGL as his rapid fire shots went everywhere. Not exactly an effective firing style, but it did make a huge mess of things, knocking down some bits here and there, and generally causing damage to just about everything. The two groups that they had seen seemed to have disappeared under the fusillade of ferocious fire, But the pair from earlier showed up once more, and Damien found his shields being eaten away at again.
Rin's firing of her Gauss cannon did provide the intended effect- It blew up the cover that the two Reapers were hiding under just as the smoke cleared from Damien's rampage, causing the two armors to get up and begin to skitter away. Rin pulled the trigger of her GSR, missing her target, and feeling an intense kick from the heavy Gauss rifle. The stray round found its way into a column, which promptly exploded as if it had been hit by a truck going full tilt, spraying bits of concrete and shards of metal everywhere, but most of what it did was provide a thick layer of dust all around the level, obscuring not only their, but their enemies' vision.
"HAHAHAHAHA That was awesome!" laughed Damien out loud as he looked around at the carnage he had caused. Despite not killing his enemy, he had managed to wreck most of the level. Damien's joy was short lived as his vision was obscured by dust and his shield levels gave him a grim warning. Still he was more concerned about finishing the fight. These disappearing goons were quite annoying.
Switching back to his Plasma Rifle, Damien began a slow sleep through the room, dust be damned he wasn't going to let the bastards get away. Damien switched on his optical camo and adjusted his helmet to be in infrared mode. He hoped that it would help him see through the dust a bit better, and perhaps track the actual enemies better. There was something strange about the randomly disappearing troopers he kept encountering and Damien was sure that there was more than met the eye.
"Rin, I'm moving up, let's get these guys" he reported over comms. Keeping his weapon pointed outward he began to proceed in the direction he thought the enemy was headed. He knew he wouldn't see much of anything but he his infrared did appear to be producing some results. Damien kept his finger on the trigger and was ready to shoot at the first thing that looked like an enemy power armor.
Rin scowled at Damien's enthusiasm; not that it was a bad thing, but Rin thought the two of them should not be rushing in to attack the enemy. She hefted the GSR and held it at the ready as she followed after him, activating her thermoptic camouflage as she did so. She switched her visor to infrared in an attempt to pierce the thick dust, the Gauss Cannon on her shoulder tracking with her head as she glanced around.
Not wishing to be caught out in the open, Rin moved from cover to cover, resting the GSR on the bipod for stability and covering Damien as he probed for the Reapers. Rin remained mindful of their flanks; without knowing where the enemy was, they could still be attacked from multiple directions.
Through Infrared vision Damien and Rin could see blurred images, a few points of extra heat through the dense cloud of dust kicked up the the AGL and GSR's firing. They were moving, and now that they had better cover, the duo picked up even more. Two, Four, Six, Eight! Four pairs of Reapers moving from place to place, and as the duo of Star Army troopers moved into the field, deeper into the cloud of dust, they would realize that they were being surrounded.
They could try and keep cover, and fight their way out, but they were badly outnumbered. They could make a break for the stairs, trying to surprise the two Reapers moving into position over there, or perhaps go the other way and jump of the side of the building. The Daisy Armors could fly, anyway, perhaps they could escape to a level below or above.
For some reason, however, their enemies had decided to hold their fire for a while. As the eight enemy units moved into position, Rin would notice a buzz of communications; nothing she could hack into, but they were busy coordinating, getting ready for some kind of attack. And then there was a noise- It came from above, like something heavy and metal sliding to one side. If they looked up, they would see a figure dropping down, But oddly enough, it was broadcasting an IFF- It was the Juni.
"Sorry I am late, but I had to investigate something," the Yamataian explained, landing gracefully midway between Rin and Damien. "There are a few more of them, and that Red armor is around here somewhere. I have seen her before- Be careful, you two, this is not a normal unit we are dealing with." The Blonde raised his ASGR, his own Infrared vision engaged. "Press the attack while we have a chance- they are just as blind as we are!" He ordered, opening fire on one of the pairs of reapers!
Damien realized that they were getting themselves into a sticky situation all too late. His blind charge had moved them into a position to be surrounded. "Another fucking mistake," he thought in his overzealous nature. It didn't matter, he was a trooper in the Star Army and it was his duty to fight the enemy and die if necessary. At least that's what his drill instructors often said to him. He didn't really buy it most of the time, but still it was something to think about.
As Damien readied himself for what was sure to be his last stand, he noticed a figure dropping in on them. It was the Juni. Secretly Damien sent up a silent thank you to the universe. Not only for having delivered them reinforcements but for letting said reinforcements not be Sif. He was sure that the Mini-Neko would have some select words regarding their performance. The words of the Juni were quite the opposite, bold and inspiring.
Not missing a beat, Damien squeezed the trigger down on his plasma rifle firing in the same direction as the Juni. While not having the same rate of fire as one of the heavy assault rifles he could have brought, the plasma was still extremely dangerous to most non-armor things, which included the cover the reapers were hiding behind. Damien figured if he toasted that, then the reapers would be exposed to the fire from the Juni's rifle, plus whatever naughty destruction Rin's heavy weapons brought with them.
As Damien opened fire, he remained mindful of his barrier strength. He took cover before what he could only assume was an intact part of the building as he popped out to fire on the enemy. If they were going to kill him today, they would have to work for it.
"Hai Juni," said Rin without skipping a beat. She was certainly surprised when he came down from the ceiling, but that did not change their situation. She aimed carefully at one of the thermal Reaper shapes that was foolish enough not to remain behind cover. Attempting to compensate for the Reaper's movement, Rin pulled the trigger on her GSR.
Damien's fire, aimed in the same direction as the Juni's, caused sudden, intense flare-ups on the thermal vision wherever they hit, lighting anything and everything they came into contact with on fire. Not only that, but the sheer amount of energy released by the blasts was enough to do exactly as Damien had hoped, and blow the scattered cover apart. Unfortunately, it obscured what little he could see, so while he was certain that he had hit something, he was no no longer certain what he was aiming at.
Rin, on the other hand, having taken careful aim, found her mark. The round, flying fast and hard, parted a channel through the dust on the way to its target, hitting one of the reaper armors square on, popping its shield immediately and lodging itself somewhat into the Reaper's chest plate, the sheer kinetic force throwing the armor back and several meters away. The Neko had just enough time to notice this before the smoke from Damien's Plasma rifle added to the dust swirling around, closing the gap swiftly and continuing to obstruct everyone's vision.
"Fuck, well that didn't go quite as expected" muttered Damien as he watched his thermal vision flare with plasma heat. The unintended side effect of his weapon. The dust was making the room extra congested and wasn't at all helping their situation. It wasn't hurting them though and so far, the reapers hadn't been able to find them, or so Damien figured as he hadn't been riddled with holes yet. Throwing caution to the wind, Damien advanced towards the position he had just blasted with his plasma rifle, firing shots as he went. He hoped to close with the enemy and identify one so that he could remove the threat permanently. He just hoped that the Juni picked up on what he was planning and at least back him up.
Rin found herself smirking after the GSR hammered into her target.
"Fantastic weapon" she thought to herself. While she waited for the required five seconds for the GSR to cool down, Rin attempted to line up another thermal target blob into her targeting reticule. Once the cool down was completed, she would pull the trigger and fire the GSR once again.
As Damien pressed forward, he made his way around the slightly darker thermal blob that signified a piece of cover, and, coming around it, he noticed a flare of heat as a Reaper armor's thruster pack suddenly went off, the armor accelerating itself at the trooper. Damien had no time to react- before he knew it the reaper had thrust into him and knocked him into one of the support columns of the structure, the sheer force popping his shield and crushing his chestplate slightly; thankfully he had been saved from being impaled by one of the large spikes, but he found it difficult to breathe. His enemy, a step ahead of him, readied itself to fire, but a swishing sound and a thud greeted the appearance of the Juni, his Zesuaium Katana outstretched; having just removed the Reapers head from its shoulders.
"Get up, keep moving, we need to find a more defensible position." He ordered.
Rin's patience once again paid off, The round, with all of its kick and otherworldly might, parted the smoke once again, this time finding a mark with weak shields. The enemy armor's shields popped like a balloon, providing no resistance to the hyper-velocity round, which impacted with such force that the Reaper simply exploded into bits of metal and gore, a pair of arms and legs dropping awkwardly to the floor.
"That goes for you too," Kai called to the Sniper, "We need to move!"
Rin grimaced at the deadly effects of her rifle's shot and shook her head. The target was eliminated, that was all that mattered. She gathered up the GSR and ran forward to keep pace with the Juni, the Gauss Cannon on her shoulder tracking with her helmet as she kept an eye on her surroundings.
Damien moved forward realizing that they had a limited opportunity to get out of the situation. His shields were down but he couldn't simply stay there. Damien scanned the area, hoping to find a position that would be defensible. Although considering he had suggested that they go through this deathtrap, his overall confidence was shaken. Hopefully with the Juni there, things would be easier.
The smoke concealed them as they all made their way to a different part of the abandoned floor; and ahead of them, as they found the edge of the obscuring debris cloud, something that looked more defensible did indeed appear- It was the corner of the building. In it was piled all manner of construction equipment and building materials, likely the store pile for that particular floor. there seemed to be a bit of space between said pile and the actual corner of the building.
It was perfect; it removed most of the places the enemy could realistically attack from while giving them choke points to attack or defend from. "Rin, Come with me, you clear the left side, I'll take the right. Damien, cover our flanks as we go in, make sure nobody sneaks up behind us from what's left of that cloud."
"Roger that sir!" responded Damien. He was much better at taking orders than giving them. Damien spun around and covered the entrance to the corner. He was prepared to give anyone that walked out of the cloud a healthy helping of plasma.
"Hai," responded Rin, following after the Juni. GSR raised, she made her way to the left side of the debris pile.
Rin was greeted by something that would likely make her day- there was an enemy, but they were turned the other way, Likely trying to sneak around the corner to attack from the right. The Neko had about one second to make a decision on whether to do something, or simply alert the Juni and let him handle it.
Damien's sensors remained fuzzy, even as the cloud was beginning to finally dissipate. He could see shapes on the visual sensors, mostly the obvious lumps of the piles of debris and equipment, but occasionally a shadowy shape would rush from one place to another, vanishing as quickly as he could register it.
Rin advanced around the rubble pile and found herself before a Reaper that had its back facing her. She immediately dropped to one knee and raised the GSR to her shoulder. Bracing herself for the inevitable recoil, she aimed and fired at the unaware Reaper.
Damien watched nervously as the shapes and shadows moved. He wasn't sure what was there, but he was certainly ready to open fire. Either through not wanting to open fire randomly or because he was getting more nerve, he held his fire. He waited until the area was clear before doing anything. Hopefully his squadmates would clear them a fighting position before they were rushed.
KR-KOW! sang Rin's rifle, as the magnetic coils flung the round to a speed so much higher than the speed of sound, that the round had actually finished its job before the sound could even register. There was, also, an audible POP as the Reaper's shields collapsed, the slight pressure differential from one side of the electromagnetic bubble to the other suddenly righting itself. As for the reaper, everything on its back exploded. All of the thrusters, equipment, stowed weapons and ammo, everything, turned into a fireball. Though the round didn't manage to penetrate completely through the enemy armor, it did send the unlucky soul through the thin wall that was there, and eventually down to the pavement.
Much more quietly, Kai ran another Reaper through with his blade, vivisecting the NMX Neko with a downward slice, and then kicking the slowly failing body off the edge, as well. "All clear, Damien, get back into cover" Kai mentioned over the comms, just as the staccato of enemy rifle fire erupted again, peppering their new found cover with rounds, some of which came dangerously close to the Hei, even so far as to graze his armor in several places.
"Holy crap" Damien thought as he heard the loud shot and explosion behind him. Whoever or whatever got hit certainly wasn't going to be much of a problem anymore. Not sure what was going on behind him, he did hear the orders of the Juni. Not questioning them, he moved quickly behind cover. Just in time as rifle fire erupted from the position.
Damien raised his rifle and aimed down through the firing slit that he found. "EAT PLASMA BITCHES!!!" Damien said, aiming at the rifle bursts as he was unable to actually locate targets through the smoke. Hopefully his aim would find something and ruin their day.
Quickly checking her surroundings in the aftermath of the Reaper's messy demise, Rin rose to her feet momentarily to relocate to a better firing position. Just as she found a few chunks of rubble to take cover behind, their enemy had returned. She brought up the GSR to her shoulder again and quickly tried to identify the location of their assailants.
"I've got you covered!" she shouted to Damien over the comm. The Gauss Cannon on her shoulder fired a burst of rounds at the location of the incoming fire. If a target presented itself, Rin would be ready for it.
The Juni had by now sheathed his sword, and pulled out his own rifle. From here, they could see much better than before, and they knew that nobody could easily flank them. Damien's return fire, while not the most spectacular or accurate, proved effective in keeping enemy heads down, which, combined with the Juni's fire, meant that Rin could focus on the few remaining enemies which were either brave enough or stupid enough to poke their heads up above cover.
Again, Rin's rifle gave off its loud signature, sending another NMX to its doom, but, as she waited for the weapon's automated cool-down and watched the ammo counter drop steadily with each shot, it would become obvious that they would either be sitting here a while, or be overrun very soon.
All the Juni could really do for now was to state the obvious: "Keep firing, and keep watch on your ammunition!"
"Hai!" responded Rin. She flicked out the bipod for the GSR and set it up on the concrete blocks in front of her. Holding the rifle steady, she lined up her sights with another target, hiding just behind cover. She waited patiently, finger on the trigger for the unsuspecting Reaper to pop its head up.
"HAHAHA! Holy shit that's awesome!" Damien giggled as he watched the reapers fall to Rin's fire. Only a few of them attacked and those that didn't stayed behind cover. Damien watched as the power level on his plasma rifle fell, his concentrated fire was burning through his power reserves. Perhaps it was time to bring out the big guns and bring the fools to them. Damien switched to his AGL, making sure his frag rounds were loaded. Damien picked up the spot where he figured the enemy was, and he popped off 3 shots hoping to place them behind the enemy covers and either kill them or drive them out.
There was, notably, a lot more noise, after Damien switched to the AGL. on top of that, it created some more dust, though, the previous large cloud had mostly dissipated, with only a cloud near the center of the building where missed rounds were going replacing it. what it left them with was a much clearer, but still hazy picture of the battlefield.
Rather close, perhaps only a dozen meters or so away, were three Reapers, huddled behind cover. Farther back, there were a few more, firing from behind cover sporadically. Every ten or twenty seconds, Rin's rifle would fire again, and one of those farther back enemies would be silenced. However, they were still more or less at a stalemate. Kai had ceased firing, conserving his ammunition as Rin and Damien's weapons served as a bit of a force multiplier.
Suddenly, however, All the firing from the enemy stopped. they stayed put, hiding behind whatever cover they had, but anyone whom was observant would note that they were all ready to go at a moment's notice.
Damien watched as his grenades at least cleared the area. It didn't take anyone out which was disappointing, but it certainly had a positive effect on the battlefield. He wasn't sure if it was their fire or something else, but suddenly the enemy ceased firing. It was a curious situation to say the least. Damien turned to his Juni, "Sir what do we do?" he asked. Not sure if they were surrendering or what.
Rin checked her ammo, noting she only had two rounds left in her current magazine. She kept her eyes trained on the enemy position, waiting for them to make a foolish move. She could play the waiting game for as long as necessary.
Damien entered the building sweeping his section as he went. Forcing himself on point by charging ahead of Rin. Damien surveyed the routes ahead of them and realized that they had a choice to make. There was a shorter route which would leave them exposed or a longer one which provided more cover.
Damien considered the options and his natural cautious nature took over. He preferred the safer route mostly because he didn't want to be shot again. Of course he had no intention in telling Rin that. He didn't want to look weak. Thinking for a second Damien had a more practical argument.
"Hey I think we should take the longer route. If we get into a firefight and need to break out the heavy weapons we would be better protected. What do you think?"
Rin nodded at Damien's suggestion.
"That would seem to be a better course of action," replied Rin, lowering her GSR.
"But we should move quickly; we need to get into position to cover the rest of the squad."
Rin followed behind Damien, her GSR at the ready despite the close-quarters. She occasionally glanced behind the two of them to make sure the rear was clear.
While the pair ascended, they would note the din of some kind of battle going on nearby; in the nearby buildings and out on the courtyard, possibly. It would probably be a good idea for them to get into the action soon, but they still needed to gain some more elevation to provide proper overwatch. In the stairwell, showed signs of battle. The walls were pockmarked from LASR rounds, and there were even splashes and splotches of blood here and there, But, oddly, there was a complete lack of any sort of bodies, or pieces of armor, nothing aside from the holes and blood, as if someone had taken the time to clean up.
Damien pressed forward, examining the weapons damage and blood on the wall. He was no forensic investigator but it definitely appeared that whatever happened here hadn't happened long ago. He looked back at Rin who was covering the rear.
"Hey Rin, looks like we aren't alone in here. Not sure if it's friend or foe" stated Damien in a low whisper while moving up the stairs.
He remembered his training and cleared the stairwell one floor at a time, but this was tedious and Damien could hear the sounds of battle outside. He wasn't sure how his comrades were doing or if they needed his help. His patience began to turn to impatience and looked back at Rin, "Hey, sounds like a battle is going on outside. We need to double time it!" suggested Damien in a hurry.
He began to move quicker up the stairs, only breifly pausing to check the corners for bloodstains and scorch marks before proceeding upward. Damien figured that if he kept moving until he stopped seeing blood, then whoever or whatever was in the building had to be on that floor. He just hoped that his theory was right and he wouldn't miss anything important.
Rin pushed her way up the stairs behind Damien, noting the signs of battle etched on the walls. She increased her speed to match Damien's hurried pace, her eyes glancing around constantly for threats.
Unfortunately, Damien's prediction was wrong. Long before the signs of battle stopped, He was suddenly accosted by the rattling gunfire of a LASR. Along with it, however, was another loud booming noise, one that seemed both familiar and yet different from anything he had heard before. As the opening onto the floor passed him by, the Yamataian would catch a running glimpse of three Powered armors, all of them Reapers. Two were painted in a drab green similar to their own Daisies, but the third was painted a bright, gaudy red.
Warnings popped up on his HUD as his barrier took several hits. Luckily, Damien's speed in ascending the stairs saved him from major damage, but the concrete walls of the stairwell only provided so much protection. Rin, Behind Damien, found herself able to stop in time, Separated from Damien by the gap through which their enemies were now shooting them. A quick glance showed that the three were spread out around the floor of the space, hiding behind pieces of construction equipment, which was also strewn about, as well as a few pillars and some piles of building supplies, which made this level a veritable obstacle course.
"Contact!" shouted Rin. She immediately ducked behind the nearest concrete wall by the stairs. She then carefully glanced over the wall in an attempt to see where the fire was coming from.
"There is no shortage of cover, but unfortunately it gives them the same advantage," she said over the comm. Rin glanced in Damien's direction.
"We need to keep from being outflanked. "
Damien reeled back as he was hit by small arms fire. Damien soon realized the error of his ways and chalked it up another rookie mistake. He couldn't afford to make those anymore. "Well that's not good" thought Damien as he took cover behind the pillar.
Damien collected himself quickly, not being phased by being hit, he quickly switched weapons to his AGL and reached for a concussion drum, changing out his fragmentation drum. His plan was crazy and partially dangerous, but the forethought of getting into the heavy pillars might very well pay off. Looking over at Rin as he changed his drum, Damien gave a quick rundown of his plan.
"Rin, I'm going to hit them with this, when those bastards stumble out of cover, finish them!"
It was a simple solution. Damien hoped that he could get a straight shot on the enemy behind cover with his AGL. He figured it probably wouldn't do much damage, but might spook the enemy out of cover, or at least take down their barriers. Hopefully the concussion rounds wouldn't do much damage to him or Rin if this backfired.
Damien said a silent prayer and waited for the fire to die down, presumably for his enemies to reload before popping up and praying he got a good line of sight on the target. His weapon was set to airburst so it wasn't an exact hit that he needed, but it was still a long shot.
Damien's shot went out, hurtling toward the enemy- He managed to get a line straight at the red Armor, but the shot didn't seem to make contact. Instead, it flew right through, the apparently not solid figure wavering slightly as it was disturbed. However, the Airburst went off anyway, and caused quite a spectacular concussive blast, which bent one of the pillars, and knocked over a few piles of supplies and equipment. It also caused the two other Reapers to duck behind cover and stop firing for a moment, which gave the two Unluckies a chance, and a Choice- they could press their advantage and take the attack to their enemies, or they could continue to defend their position.
One problem remained however- the red armor seemed to have disappeared, and it also seemed to have been just a hologram. Was that all it was, a Hologram to throw them off, or did it mean something else?
Damien was satisfied with his work on at least not blowing them up. It had also caused the desired effect of getting the enemies' heads down. Of course that didn't excuse the ominous fact that the AGL round went straight through the Red Armored foe. It was certainly a concern but not one that immediately crossed Damien's mind as he shifted from bombardment to attack mode.
Without missing a beat, Damien switched his AGL to his plasma rifle again and began to move towards the enemy. "COVER ME!" shouted Damien as he opened fire on the enemy, firing an aimed shot once every second to keep his weapon from overheating. Damien aimed at the enemy cover, mostly to keep their heads down so that he could move up and flank the enemy to get into a better firing position and create an opportunity for Rin to exploit.
Rin popped up from behind cover and brought her GSR to bear, aiming at the last locations she saw the enemy Reapers. She watched for movement and aimed carefully, her finger ready to pull the trigger should one of the Reapers expose themselves.
Rin's watch as Damien advanced was quite thorough, and as if he were silently warning the enemies, neither of them dared raise their heads from behind the piles of cover any further as Damien moved ahead, finding himself a nice bit of cover behind a compact wheeled construction vehicle, it's heavy, metal body and engine making a great shield against most rounds that might come his way.
Both would notice the man's plasma rounds eating away at the piles of cover that were before them, but suddenly they found themselves being set upon from another direction. Two Reapers popped up, this time further to the left, giving them a better angle on both Rin and Damien, but with the Neko focused where the armors had been before, she was unable to get a bead on them before they disappeared.
Distracted, both suddenly found their shields taking damage, this time from the far right as another pair of Reapers popped up, firing in unison before dropping down behind their cover once more. Damien's luck held out for the moment however, as the vehicle stopped most of the rounds from hitting him.
"Luckiest Unlucky EVER!" Damien thought as he happened to fall behind cover. Running out and getting shot was becoming the running joke. A very deadly running joke but humorous nonetheless. It didn't help that he was the only one really drawing the enemies attention by running around screaming. As Damien watched the rounds hitting around him, he looked over to see that Rin hadn't fired her weapon yet. Damien wasn't exactly sure what she was waiting for but he was getting annoyed. She had definitely missed the opportunity to help take out at least one of the enemies."RIN FIRE YOUR WEAPON!" he shouted out in frustration.
"Screw it" Damien thought, realizing that the odds were stacking up against them. It was time to throw caution to the wind and get serious about their survival. Damien switched back to his AGL and quickly dropped the concussion drum he was carrying, reloading his fragmentation drum. He racked the rounds before taking a quick peak around him to see where the sets of enemy troopers were firing on him from. Not wasting time to wait for Rin to decide to start shooting, Damien popped up, brandishing his weapon. He was sure that his shields would take a beating from this but he didn't care. After his near brush with death he felt slightly invincible, or at least really lucky.
Starting from the right side of the room he was on, he squeezed off two grenades a piece at each set of cover that he saw while screaming "SUCK ON THIS!!". Damien had brought the AGL for situations like this and he might as well use it. After sweeping the room and getting his shots off, Damien ducked down behind cover before the airburst munitions went off. Trying to fight 6 on 2 wasn't his style and he knew that he would have to end this soon or they would be overrun.
Rin ducked behind cover again, furrowing her brow as the appearance of two more pairs of Reapers complicated things. At least they knew where the enemy was now. Rin ignored Damien's shouting and instead focused on the task at hand.
"Watch the right. I will take care of the left," she said over the comm.
She activated her shoulder-mounted Gauss cannon, the weapon unfurling from her right shoulder. She popped up from cover again, this time firing both her GSR and the Gauss cannon at the cover to her left, where she had seen the Reapers previously. She fired the Gauss cannon rapidly, hoping that the weight of fire would draw one of the Reapers out so she could fire a precise shot with her GSR.
All sorts of mayhem was sown by Damien and his AGL as his rapid fire shots went everywhere. Not exactly an effective firing style, but it did make a huge mess of things, knocking down some bits here and there, and generally causing damage to just about everything. The two groups that they had seen seemed to have disappeared under the fusillade of ferocious fire, But the pair from earlier showed up once more, and Damien found his shields being eaten away at again.
Rin's firing of her Gauss cannon did provide the intended effect- It blew up the cover that the two Reapers were hiding under just as the smoke cleared from Damien's rampage, causing the two armors to get up and begin to skitter away. Rin pulled the trigger of her GSR, missing her target, and feeling an intense kick from the heavy Gauss rifle. The stray round found its way into a column, which promptly exploded as if it had been hit by a truck going full tilt, spraying bits of concrete and shards of metal everywhere, but most of what it did was provide a thick layer of dust all around the level, obscuring not only their, but their enemies' vision.
"HAHAHAHAHA That was awesome!" laughed Damien out loud as he looked around at the carnage he had caused. Despite not killing his enemy, he had managed to wreck most of the level. Damien's joy was short lived as his vision was obscured by dust and his shield levels gave him a grim warning. Still he was more concerned about finishing the fight. These disappearing goons were quite annoying.
Switching back to his Plasma Rifle, Damien began a slow sleep through the room, dust be damned he wasn't going to let the bastards get away. Damien switched on his optical camo and adjusted his helmet to be in infrared mode. He hoped that it would help him see through the dust a bit better, and perhaps track the actual enemies better. There was something strange about the randomly disappearing troopers he kept encountering and Damien was sure that there was more than met the eye.
"Rin, I'm moving up, let's get these guys" he reported over comms. Keeping his weapon pointed outward he began to proceed in the direction he thought the enemy was headed. He knew he wouldn't see much of anything but he his infrared did appear to be producing some results. Damien kept his finger on the trigger and was ready to shoot at the first thing that looked like an enemy power armor.
Rin scowled at Damien's enthusiasm; not that it was a bad thing, but Rin thought the two of them should not be rushing in to attack the enemy. She hefted the GSR and held it at the ready as she followed after him, activating her thermoptic camouflage as she did so. She switched her visor to infrared in an attempt to pierce the thick dust, the Gauss Cannon on her shoulder tracking with her head as she glanced around.
Not wishing to be caught out in the open, Rin moved from cover to cover, resting the GSR on the bipod for stability and covering Damien as he probed for the Reapers. Rin remained mindful of their flanks; without knowing where the enemy was, they could still be attacked from multiple directions.
Through Infrared vision Damien and Rin could see blurred images, a few points of extra heat through the dense cloud of dust kicked up the the AGL and GSR's firing. They were moving, and now that they had better cover, the duo picked up even more. Two, Four, Six, Eight! Four pairs of Reapers moving from place to place, and as the duo of Star Army troopers moved into the field, deeper into the cloud of dust, they would realize that they were being surrounded.
They could try and keep cover, and fight their way out, but they were badly outnumbered. They could make a break for the stairs, trying to surprise the two Reapers moving into position over there, or perhaps go the other way and jump of the side of the building. The Daisy Armors could fly, anyway, perhaps they could escape to a level below or above.
For some reason, however, their enemies had decided to hold their fire for a while. As the eight enemy units moved into position, Rin would notice a buzz of communications; nothing she could hack into, but they were busy coordinating, getting ready for some kind of attack. And then there was a noise- It came from above, like something heavy and metal sliding to one side. If they looked up, they would see a figure dropping down, But oddly enough, it was broadcasting an IFF- It was the Juni.
"Sorry I am late, but I had to investigate something," the Yamataian explained, landing gracefully midway between Rin and Damien. "There are a few more of them, and that Red armor is around here somewhere. I have seen her before- Be careful, you two, this is not a normal unit we are dealing with." The Blonde raised his ASGR, his own Infrared vision engaged. "Press the attack while we have a chance- they are just as blind as we are!" He ordered, opening fire on one of the pairs of reapers!
Damien realized that they were getting themselves into a sticky situation all too late. His blind charge had moved them into a position to be surrounded. "Another fucking mistake," he thought in his overzealous nature. It didn't matter, he was a trooper in the Star Army and it was his duty to fight the enemy and die if necessary. At least that's what his drill instructors often said to him. He didn't really buy it most of the time, but still it was something to think about.
As Damien readied himself for what was sure to be his last stand, he noticed a figure dropping in on them. It was the Juni. Secretly Damien sent up a silent thank you to the universe. Not only for having delivered them reinforcements but for letting said reinforcements not be Sif. He was sure that the Mini-Neko would have some select words regarding their performance. The words of the Juni were quite the opposite, bold and inspiring.
Not missing a beat, Damien squeezed the trigger down on his plasma rifle firing in the same direction as the Juni. While not having the same rate of fire as one of the heavy assault rifles he could have brought, the plasma was still extremely dangerous to most non-armor things, which included the cover the reapers were hiding behind. Damien figured if he toasted that, then the reapers would be exposed to the fire from the Juni's rifle, plus whatever naughty destruction Rin's heavy weapons brought with them.
As Damien opened fire, he remained mindful of his barrier strength. He took cover before what he could only assume was an intact part of the building as he popped out to fire on the enemy. If they were going to kill him today, they would have to work for it.
"Hai Juni," said Rin without skipping a beat. She was certainly surprised when he came down from the ceiling, but that did not change their situation. She aimed carefully at one of the thermal Reaper shapes that was foolish enough not to remain behind cover. Attempting to compensate for the Reaper's movement, Rin pulled the trigger on her GSR.
Damien's fire, aimed in the same direction as the Juni's, caused sudden, intense flare-ups on the thermal vision wherever they hit, lighting anything and everything they came into contact with on fire. Not only that, but the sheer amount of energy released by the blasts was enough to do exactly as Damien had hoped, and blow the scattered cover apart. Unfortunately, it obscured what little he could see, so while he was certain that he had hit something, he was no no longer certain what he was aiming at.
Rin, on the other hand, having taken careful aim, found her mark. The round, flying fast and hard, parted a channel through the dust on the way to its target, hitting one of the reaper armors square on, popping its shield immediately and lodging itself somewhat into the Reaper's chest plate, the sheer kinetic force throwing the armor back and several meters away. The Neko had just enough time to notice this before the smoke from Damien's Plasma rifle added to the dust swirling around, closing the gap swiftly and continuing to obstruct everyone's vision.
"Fuck, well that didn't go quite as expected" muttered Damien as he watched his thermal vision flare with plasma heat. The unintended side effect of his weapon. The dust was making the room extra congested and wasn't at all helping their situation. It wasn't hurting them though and so far, the reapers hadn't been able to find them, or so Damien figured as he hadn't been riddled with holes yet. Throwing caution to the wind, Damien advanced towards the position he had just blasted with his plasma rifle, firing shots as he went. He hoped to close with the enemy and identify one so that he could remove the threat permanently. He just hoped that the Juni picked up on what he was planning and at least back him up.
Rin found herself smirking after the GSR hammered into her target.
"Fantastic weapon" she thought to herself. While she waited for the required five seconds for the GSR to cool down, Rin attempted to line up another thermal target blob into her targeting reticule. Once the cool down was completed, she would pull the trigger and fire the GSR once again.
As Damien pressed forward, he made his way around the slightly darker thermal blob that signified a piece of cover, and, coming around it, he noticed a flare of heat as a Reaper armor's thruster pack suddenly went off, the armor accelerating itself at the trooper. Damien had no time to react- before he knew it the reaper had thrust into him and knocked him into one of the support columns of the structure, the sheer force popping his shield and crushing his chestplate slightly; thankfully he had been saved from being impaled by one of the large spikes, but he found it difficult to breathe. His enemy, a step ahead of him, readied itself to fire, but a swishing sound and a thud greeted the appearance of the Juni, his Zesuaium Katana outstretched; having just removed the Reapers head from its shoulders.
"Get up, keep moving, we need to find a more defensible position." He ordered.
Rin's patience once again paid off, The round, with all of its kick and otherworldly might, parted the smoke once again, this time finding a mark with weak shields. The enemy armor's shields popped like a balloon, providing no resistance to the hyper-velocity round, which impacted with such force that the Reaper simply exploded into bits of metal and gore, a pair of arms and legs dropping awkwardly to the floor.
"That goes for you too," Kai called to the Sniper, "We need to move!"
Rin grimaced at the deadly effects of her rifle's shot and shook her head. The target was eliminated, that was all that mattered. She gathered up the GSR and ran forward to keep pace with the Juni, the Gauss Cannon on her shoulder tracking with her helmet as she kept an eye on her surroundings.
Damien moved forward realizing that they had a limited opportunity to get out of the situation. His shields were down but he couldn't simply stay there. Damien scanned the area, hoping to find a position that would be defensible. Although considering he had suggested that they go through this deathtrap, his overall confidence was shaken. Hopefully with the Juni there, things would be easier.
The smoke concealed them as they all made their way to a different part of the abandoned floor; and ahead of them, as they found the edge of the obscuring debris cloud, something that looked more defensible did indeed appear- It was the corner of the building. In it was piled all manner of construction equipment and building materials, likely the store pile for that particular floor. there seemed to be a bit of space between said pile and the actual corner of the building.
It was perfect; it removed most of the places the enemy could realistically attack from while giving them choke points to attack or defend from. "Rin, Come with me, you clear the left side, I'll take the right. Damien, cover our flanks as we go in, make sure nobody sneaks up behind us from what's left of that cloud."
"Roger that sir!" responded Damien. He was much better at taking orders than giving them. Damien spun around and covered the entrance to the corner. He was prepared to give anyone that walked out of the cloud a healthy helping of plasma.
"Hai," responded Rin, following after the Juni. GSR raised, she made her way to the left side of the debris pile.
Rin was greeted by something that would likely make her day- there was an enemy, but they were turned the other way, Likely trying to sneak around the corner to attack from the right. The Neko had about one second to make a decision on whether to do something, or simply alert the Juni and let him handle it.
Damien's sensors remained fuzzy, even as the cloud was beginning to finally dissipate. He could see shapes on the visual sensors, mostly the obvious lumps of the piles of debris and equipment, but occasionally a shadowy shape would rush from one place to another, vanishing as quickly as he could register it.
Rin advanced around the rubble pile and found herself before a Reaper that had its back facing her. She immediately dropped to one knee and raised the GSR to her shoulder. Bracing herself for the inevitable recoil, she aimed and fired at the unaware Reaper.
Damien watched nervously as the shapes and shadows moved. He wasn't sure what was there, but he was certainly ready to open fire. Either through not wanting to open fire randomly or because he was getting more nerve, he held his fire. He waited until the area was clear before doing anything. Hopefully his squadmates would clear them a fighting position before they were rushed.
KR-KOW! sang Rin's rifle, as the magnetic coils flung the round to a speed so much higher than the speed of sound, that the round had actually finished its job before the sound could even register. There was, also, an audible POP as the Reaper's shields collapsed, the slight pressure differential from one side of the electromagnetic bubble to the other suddenly righting itself. As for the reaper, everything on its back exploded. All of the thrusters, equipment, stowed weapons and ammo, everything, turned into a fireball. Though the round didn't manage to penetrate completely through the enemy armor, it did send the unlucky soul through the thin wall that was there, and eventually down to the pavement.
Much more quietly, Kai ran another Reaper through with his blade, vivisecting the NMX Neko with a downward slice, and then kicking the slowly failing body off the edge, as well. "All clear, Damien, get back into cover" Kai mentioned over the comms, just as the staccato of enemy rifle fire erupted again, peppering their new found cover with rounds, some of which came dangerously close to the Hei, even so far as to graze his armor in several places.
"Holy crap" Damien thought as he heard the loud shot and explosion behind him. Whoever or whatever got hit certainly wasn't going to be much of a problem anymore. Not sure what was going on behind him, he did hear the orders of the Juni. Not questioning them, he moved quickly behind cover. Just in time as rifle fire erupted from the position.
Damien raised his rifle and aimed down through the firing slit that he found. "EAT PLASMA BITCHES!!!" Damien said, aiming at the rifle bursts as he was unable to actually locate targets through the smoke. Hopefully his aim would find something and ruin their day.
Quickly checking her surroundings in the aftermath of the Reaper's messy demise, Rin rose to her feet momentarily to relocate to a better firing position. Just as she found a few chunks of rubble to take cover behind, their enemy had returned. She brought up the GSR to her shoulder again and quickly tried to identify the location of their assailants.
"I've got you covered!" she shouted to Damien over the comm. The Gauss Cannon on her shoulder fired a burst of rounds at the location of the incoming fire. If a target presented itself, Rin would be ready for it.
The Juni had by now sheathed his sword, and pulled out his own rifle. From here, they could see much better than before, and they knew that nobody could easily flank them. Damien's return fire, while not the most spectacular or accurate, proved effective in keeping enemy heads down, which, combined with the Juni's fire, meant that Rin could focus on the few remaining enemies which were either brave enough or stupid enough to poke their heads up above cover.
Again, Rin's rifle gave off its loud signature, sending another NMX to its doom, but, as she waited for the weapon's automated cool-down and watched the ammo counter drop steadily with each shot, it would become obvious that they would either be sitting here a while, or be overrun very soon.
All the Juni could really do for now was to state the obvious: "Keep firing, and keep watch on your ammunition!"
"Hai!" responded Rin. She flicked out the bipod for the GSR and set it up on the concrete blocks in front of her. Holding the rifle steady, she lined up her sights with another target, hiding just behind cover. She waited patiently, finger on the trigger for the unsuspecting Reaper to pop its head up.
"HAHAHA! Holy shit that's awesome!" Damien giggled as he watched the reapers fall to Rin's fire. Only a few of them attacked and those that didn't stayed behind cover. Damien watched as the power level on his plasma rifle fell, his concentrated fire was burning through his power reserves. Perhaps it was time to bring out the big guns and bring the fools to them. Damien switched to his AGL, making sure his frag rounds were loaded. Damien picked up the spot where he figured the enemy was, and he popped off 3 shots hoping to place them behind the enemy covers and either kill them or drive them out.
There was, notably, a lot more noise, after Damien switched to the AGL. on top of that, it created some more dust, though, the previous large cloud had mostly dissipated, with only a cloud near the center of the building where missed rounds were going replacing it. what it left them with was a much clearer, but still hazy picture of the battlefield.
Rather close, perhaps only a dozen meters or so away, were three Reapers, huddled behind cover. Farther back, there were a few more, firing from behind cover sporadically. Every ten or twenty seconds, Rin's rifle would fire again, and one of those farther back enemies would be silenced. However, they were still more or less at a stalemate. Kai had ceased firing, conserving his ammunition as Rin and Damien's weapons served as a bit of a force multiplier.
Suddenly, however, All the firing from the enemy stopped. they stayed put, hiding behind whatever cover they had, but anyone whom was observant would note that they were all ready to go at a moment's notice.
Damien watched as his grenades at least cleared the area. It didn't take anyone out which was disappointing, but it certainly had a positive effect on the battlefield. He wasn't sure if it was their fire or something else, but suddenly the enemy ceased firing. It was a curious situation to say the least. Damien turned to his Juni, "Sir what do we do?" he asked. Not sure if they were surrendering or what.
Rin checked her ammo, noting she only had two rounds left in her current magazine. She kept her eyes trained on the enemy position, waiting for them to make a foolish move. She could play the waiting game for as long as necessary.
