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RP: SFS Chapter One: Alistair's Remorse

Eir didn’t even have time to get a word out before the Neko leapt into bloody, violent action and was cut off from the others. There seemed to be something about this squad and the people attached to it having absolutely no discipline and organization in combat – a tradition that swiftly presented itself again as the grenade rolled out in front of them with Phase charging forward. Eir could no longer risk putting Phase at risk by returning or deflecting the grenade in any way, so she had no choice but to smother it. She quickly batted the grenade against the wall and collapsed against it, holding the grenade under her shield and pinned against the wall at an angle. It was unlikely any simple explosive would be able to cut its way through such a thick barrier, and if it was some other nasty surprise like an EMP she had no choice but to hope her protection would hold against it.

As soon as her shield was securely in place she raised her weapon down the hallway, finger resting over the trigger and ready to blow away the first thing in her sight that moved that wasn’t Phase. As soon as the grenade went off she would be quick to join the ‘Spacer in marching down the corridor.

It was in this incredibly opportune moment that the com lit up. There was a moment where she absorbed the information and responded in order of importance. “Engine team, we have contact and are separated from the Neko. Engaging hostiles. Get here on the double. Negative, Thorn. Follow your orders and keep that system locked down and your eyes on it; give us an edge over here. Pass the intel to the Corporal; she’s chasing down Cloudheart. Beep, keep him covered.”
 
Halcyone followed behind Eli. Before leaving the engine room she had triple checked her work on disabling the ships power, engines and such, just to make sure. Now it seemed she woukd really be going into a fight, not totally unfamiliar territory, but something she was not hugely experienced in.

She had overheard the communications channel, it was hard not too and she was concerned with Cloudheart's safety.

"If I could get access to a computer terminal with security access, I might be able to access internal sensors and scan for Mindtwister Cloudheart." she suggested as she followed along, quickening her pace to keep up with Eli.
 
Alistair heard Eir as he ran.

"Eir, I have no choice. The only way to gain control of the bridge is a manual shutdown and reboot of the system once you breach the bridge. The only thing I can do to help is trick the ship into believing that there is an enviormental problem with the ship. I would launch an emergency shutdown and cut power to the artifical gravity. That the only advantage I can give you. All other terminals have been disabled." He paused a moment. "This is the only way to take command of the bridge and give you an edge. I have to get to the command terminal." He said as he awaited her reply.

He heard Halcyone next. " Halcyone, I am on my way to her right now. I know where she is." He finnished peering around a corner.
 
"Security terminal?" The servos whirred as Eli's helmeted head turned to look at her. As he opened his mouth to respond, Alistair cut him off. Whatever was going on in that digital data world, it sounded serious - the normally mild-mannered Thorn sounded terse and intense, a complete 180 from the mild-mannered boot they'd met earlier.

"I tink Thorn's got it, girl." He said softly. "Dey need us up at the bridge mos' serious, seh very yea."

It was a few more steps before he realized how callous that had sounded. Sure, there was an alliance, but he understood how concerned she was for her fellow spacer. Although he couldn't in good conscience allow her to break from him and seek out Cloudheart, he felt the need to reassure her, especially after his unintentional rebuke.

"Thorn mon, he a genius wit computers. Probably you an' him could talk lots 'bout 'em. He gon' find your kin, I'm sure." Eli said. "In the meantime? If we kill the baddies, get dem bridge out from under dem asap, den we can take all deh time in the galaxy to find ya sista. But while dey own the bridge, we all in danger."

As he spoke his long, loping footfalls had taken them very near to Eir's position, coming up behind her.

"P3C Eir, We comin' up behind you!" Eli said into their comms. "Hold yeh fire! What's the situation with the bridge? Where you need me?"
 
Beep was about to respond to the elf when the sound of gunfire switched its train of thought.

"Beep" it said in what one could only guess was a joyous tone of actual combat. As it raised its arms to trod off in the direction of the noise it was stopped by the one called Eir, telling it to hold its position.

"I would be much more suited in combat I belive." Beep said shifting itself to the side, much like a dog would its head, "I am confused, Should I not participate in the killing of the pirates?.... Beep"
 
Following along a few feet behind Eli, Halcyone puffed, she had not needed to run this much in some time and it was telling. "I understand" she replied to the soldier. She did want to help find Cloudheart, but knew she needed to stick to the part of the plan she was needed for and not just go running off. That said, for the moment there was little else for the gearhead to do other than run for the moment and that she did.

Halcyone slowed her pace as they came up on the bridge, letting the trained soldier keep the lead and do what he knew to do best.
 
Grenade Corridor
As soon as Eir could pounce on the grenade, it burst in a bright sizzling green light beneath her shield. Hot plasma spattered the walls of the corridor, oozing over the edges of Eir's shield and leaving little dots of steaming grey on her armor's surface where the paint had been seared off. Internally the tempurature rose by no more than four degrees celsius and the resulting flash was little more than mild discomfort to the power-armored soldier. The nasty bit about taking a plasma grenade in power armor has never been the explosion. On the other hand, these older plasma grenades left a foul dark residue that stained Eir's visor, gunked up her external electronics, and left even her power assisted joints feeling slightly stiff. It was no bubblegum cannon, and the grenade had been meant more as a distraction-- an inconvenience to be dealt with by the enemy while troops could form quick defenses and prepare their anti-armor weaponry.

Those same troops had not been counting on the wild charge carried out by a Freespacer who was practically made of armor and burning a trail of fire for their poorly formed fireteams.

Phase, with its glorious metal fist and the tiny turret positioned above it, tore through the right-hand side of the four-way intersection with a flurry of fire that easily dispatched the ill-armored squad of men. Those who fell too fast to be subject to further volleys let by a scattering wave of chaingun fire that pocked and rocked the far corner bulkhead. On the other end of the intersection, men were already ducking and jumping into rooms on either side of the hall, their hard-fought though lacking organization already broken in favor of survival. The 'Spacer was fast and efficient, but not apparently as fast as the speed of desperation itself. Besides, it's poor form to complain about kill-stealing and then leave nothing for your buddy.

Elevator
Ilsa wiped the blood from her axe and switched batteries for her plasma pistol while she assigned the skill points from her most recent level-up. Her weapons sorted, she calmly twisted the blood out of her thick blonde braid. The elevator stopped between the cargo deck and the bridge, where most of the ship's support rooms were kept. It had been called to this floor over and over, and would've prevented anyone from reaching the bridge unmolested for as long as this deck remained occupied. That particular issue, having been observed with Ilsa's strange Neko abilities, would now be resolved in a self-determined way.

The elevator doors slid open, and the path to the bridge one deck above was cemented in ashes leavened with blood.

Spooky IPG Corridor
Linda's search turned up nothing. If there was a secret passage right under the panel where Bricklet was standing; it was made with extreme care, the deck panels flush with their neighbours. Had a smuggler been looking, he would've known to check by the sound of his own footsteps or by knocking on the walls and floor. Despite their IPG training, Thaddeus nor Linda were seasoned smugglers.

And now, more pressing issues were at hand.

"Thorn, immediately move to regroup with your squad. Do not proceed into combat alone, Marine." Elway's orders had none of the harshness or vigour of Commandant Black's. They were much more specific and much more robotic in their delivery. "You will get the liason killed if you rush in like this. Corporal Nelson and I are already in pursuit of Cloudheart, and are much better equipped to handle the situation. Relay the location to us."

Cargo Bay (And Adjacent Corridor)
As first Alistair, then Beep trundled off after some invisible threat, Thonmir turned a quick glance to his troll companion and then back to the shrinking forms of those who'd left them behind. Shrugging, he sheathed his sword at his hip and his rifle on his back, then walked at a much more measured pace behind them.

Rastafarian Corridor
Eli and Halcyone's heightened pace brought them to the bridge between the Rastafarian Corridor and the Grenade Corridor, an invisible line drawn only by the very visible edge of the plasma grenade's effective explosion range. The walls beyond this imaginary boundary were burnt and their paint peeling off in wet, burning puddles. Just beyond this border was Eir, her armor sizzling in response to the wicked burning it'd just taken.

Bridge (Not A Corridor)
Daxton lifted the floor panel above his head and shoved it to one side, then elbowed the bound form of Cloudheart onto the bridge before him with a firm thrust to her generous rump. He clambered up next and was immediately surprised to see someone other than himself on the bridge. The captain, he knew to be helping organize the defenses and the rest of the crew had been drawn into the action as well in light of the Jiyuuian mercenaries they'd been ferrying refusing to help.

Now, as he tightened the fiber-optic cable binding Cloudheart's wrists, he eyed the Mindy armor strutting around impatiently.

"Who the--?"

"Lu-fou Lang. Peacekeeper Lang in better times." The Mindy replied, cutting him short. On the ground, Cloudheart wormed and struggled silently against her binds and was rewarded for her efforts with a quick, sharp kick. Immediately, she started to cry noisily with overlapping sobs.

Lang made a sound, but the nature of it was disguised by his armor's external speakers. It certainly sounded a lot like a snort of derision and disgust, mixed with another language's word for 'fool'.
 
As Alistair heard Elway's order, he stopped. "Son of a bitch..." He thought. "Sir, with all due respect it's my fault she is in this situation. I have to help her. " He called desperation creeping into the edges of his voice. He quickly forwarded Daxton's last known location to Elway and Linda. "I understand if you or Commandant Black want to Court Marshall me later, but I can't sit on my fraking hands any longer sir. I can't do anymore to the ship unless I get to the bridge to take control." He said as he punched a dent into the bulkhead. "Sir... find Cloudheart. And when you find that filthy piece of shit Daxton, I am going to strangle him to death with his own spine!" He called as he changed course and ran towards the bridge.

"Eir, I am headed your way. No, if ands or buts about it. I have to get to the Bridge to take control. So, it's time for me to paint the halls red." He said as he cocked his shotgun and prepared for war.
 
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Spooky IPG Corridor

Linda shook her head at the exchange between Alistar and Elway normally she would not have interjected but she felt there needed to be something said so she spoke over the comm to Alistar. "Private Thorn, I understand how you feel, but you have your skills, and we're in enemy territory, rushing ahead blindly or doing something you're not good at makes you useful to no one, not us, or Cloudheart. Cool your head and think."

After speaking she turned ot Elway. "We have the location, we should probably make our move before they can use her as a hostage or something."
 
Eir cursed under her breath as the grenade went off. She had hoped for the sharp bang and lack of other effects a frag grenade would have brought, but as it was she was partially blinded and deaf by the terms of a powered armor soldier. The fact that her armor sizzled around her was also a bit unsettling. Weapons fire told the story that Phase had engaged the enemy. Hindered as Eir was she just had to go with the idea that the cries she heard were all enemy combatants. Thankfully her friendly fire tags were still displayed and told her it would be a bad idea to open fire on Eli and Halcyone as they made their way down the hall to join her. It was at that moment that Alistair made his stand and Eir once more cursed quietly. It was hard for her not to get on the com and rip Alistair several new orifices that were not naturally intended to be. The situation was going down the tubes fast, but it was still possible to pull it together. Remaining crouching, she lowered her weapon and raised a hand to the visor on her armor, doing her best to wipe it off and restore vision as best she could.

“Holding fire, engineering team. Glad to have you with us. Make your way down the hall and back up Phase; she has engaged the enemy and we are not sure how many are out there.” Assigning a sex to the ‘Spacer felt a bit weird to Eir, but it was the easiest way to keep everything going. She would have joined them herself, but until she got everything she could off her visor she was a detriment to any combat that came up. “Once we have all of this under control we re-group and push hard for the bridge.”

Now of course was the time to deal with their new mutineer. She wanted to repeat her earlier orders to send Alistair back but Elway had changed the plan. It was left to Eir to work with what she had. Alistair had proven himself a loose cannon so she did what she could with him. “Thorn, get over here double time. Beep, you too; make your way over to the assault team. Alistair, you have rear guard. We don’t know how many hostiles we have out here, so keep your eyes peeled.” She didn’t bother to add the fact that he could have grabbed that intelligence at any time, but she let it quietly sting her sensibilities. She also wasn’t sure exactly how accurate the Neko could have been with her numbers earlier. Best to play it out and play it safe.
 
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Phase's two drones popped out and primed their scalar grenades to stun, then both spun at high velocity to bank the grenades into respective rooms and rushed in to attack their targets with sharp, pointy things.

The hulk fired bolts at some of the lights in the hall and used their manifold suite of tracking senses, though the monoeye still glowed in the darkness.

"Oh my, it looks like they think they can run~" the sing-song tone said before dropping several octaves. "THERE IS NO RUNNING FROM MY GRASP."

They dashed and looked for the closest one of the other group to grab, or at least shoot in the face repeatedly.

"Do not mind me, I will be done with these love~ly individuals in a minute~!"

Meanwhile, Bricklet followed Linda silently. Jeez, it could really use a vocalization suite.

~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile meanwhile, Phase the smaller finished a hand puppet of Elway. Hooray!
 
Eli stomped up the p-way, narrowly missing the prone form of Eir as she recovered from the grenade strike. He didn't bother to get a medical read on her - one of the first points hammered into you in Infantry school is that first a firefight must be won before aid can be rendered to the fallen - stopping to treat a casualty in the middle of a fight merely makes one dead man two.

Phase's initial charge had scattered the resistance in the passageway, killing a few but routing the rest. It had been the right maneuver, for it had saved Eir's life, but there was still work to be done. Armed hostiles still inhabited the various cleaning gear lockers and electrical switch rooms dotting the hallway, and whether their intentions were to cower and shit themselves or continue resisting didn't matter. Until they were neutralized, the firefight was not over.

Eli directed his Hostile to scan the P-way with it's three integrated Monoeyes, his HUD immediately flooding with humanoid silhouettes. The partitions that made up the passageway and separated the rooms from each other were extremely thin, unable to defeat the powerful, directed sensor beams of the three Monoeyes working in concert; indeed, the air around Eli's suit had warmed considerably in response to the sheer energy the detection arrays had put out.

And if they were unable to defeat sensor beams, then, well.

Eli took aim at the silhouettes, giving each a three round burst of 30mm x 6mm 'Coin' ammunition, the HPAR deafeningly loud in the close confines of the hallway. The explosively formed penetrators sang through the thin sheet metal, presumably into the targets, though Eli didn't stop to check, simply hosing the next sensor outline, the next human silhouette in turn. The Hostile did the hard work for him, only shooting at targets that Phase's kill-drones did not obstruct, and shots that would eventually be stopped by some thicker part of the ship's construction, minimizing the danger of friendly fire and hull breach.

Just as they'd taught him. "Let the suit work for you - it's what it's designed to do." That simple rhyme played through his head as the suit did its work, himself only the organic computer giving it life.
 
Beep did as he was told, he was tired of chasing and wanted to actually get into grips with the enemy.

"Beep." he said as he backed his way towards Eir before pivoting and heading off in the new indicated direction.
 
Elevator Corridor
It was a comedy of errors and a trial of fire and distraction, but everybody was there. When the last enemy had been converted into a pile of moaning flesh and tattered bloody fabric by Elijah and Phase's combined efforts, Beep and Alistair had arrived, emerging next to where Eir struggled with the sticky plasma suspension fluid coating her armor. With the firefight dying down, a sort of silence filled the corridor. The pock-marked walls still hissed and sizzled, steaming from the battle, and the moans of fallen men echoed through the halls-- but the sounds were so minute in comparison to shouting and gunfire that the speakers in every helmet played a much softer sound. Pools of blood lined the walls and floors at intervals, and one of the combatants was hurt dragging himself uselessly across the floor. And still, Commandant Black was silent on the line. He hadn't chimed in once during the engagement, and even now he left them to their own devices.

The elevator politely chimed, and its doors slid open to reveal Ilsa. Her old Grand Star Army jumpsuit was covered in slick black blood, and her cloak was shot up and tattered. Hemosynth leaked from a graze going across her delicate neck. The Neko seemed unfazed by this however, and walked three steps out of the elevator with the war axe still dangling from one hand, poking at a wound on her thigh with the GP-13 in her other.

"There are seven men remaining on the middle deck." She reported, "And they have held up in the ship's 'CIC' room at the end of the corridor. I would've killed them as well, but they're guadring the entrance with a crew-manned weapon, and I'm ill-equipped for such an endeavor."

Blue eyes surveyed the damage, and something like a twisted smirk crossed the Neko's face. "I see you have sent many of them to the underworld down here, as well."

IPG Corridor

"These coordinates from Private Thorn place our hacker in the communications room between decks." Explained Elway. The Master Seargent ran a glove over his forearm with a sigh and looked over Bricklet and Linda. "Corporal Nelson. Dog. We should move quickly, as I'm sure you well know, Nelson, intelligence can become swiftly out of date."

Without any further explanation, he bolted off down the corridor with his flamer resting on his shoulder. He wasn't heading for the elevator where the rest of the team was assembled, but rather for the engine room where Eli and Halcyone had come from; where a service ladder could be easily ascended to reach their destination.
 
Elevator Corridor

Beep was disapointed that he had missed the firefight but the news of the remaining hostiles in the CIC room gave him what he could only process as happiness in his subconscious. "Please direct this one to the location of the remaning hostiles." Beep said to the neko, a bit suprised that he was about to help one out in combat, "This one is designed to handle such weapons. The odds of success are nominal..... Beep"
 
IPG Corridor

Linda did not hesitate to follow after Elway, she well understood how time sensitive information could be as well. "There is going to have to be some extra training done it seems. Particularly with the idea of working as a team." She was thankful she had come in a raider, otherwise she'd likely have to blow through the floor cause she wouldn't fit.
 
Elevator Corridor
"Underworld? They are not programs you can subject to ill treatment once they re-upload. No~no~no, once they die, they are gone for~ev~er~" Phase gleefully chimed, coming out of a sideroom. Their massive hand was covered in blood and gore. And maybe some hair? It was hard to tell in the terrible lighting.

"I still have one more grenade left, you know~. I could send my little friend to drop it on them from a vent and slaughter them all in one sweep~."

The Type Four seemed giddy with excitement at the process of brutally murdering a bunch of pirate/mercenaries/general ne'er-do-well, their chassis bobbing up and down and fidgeting.


IPG Corridor
Bricklet kept pace and trotted along, drones re-housing in its form.
 
Halcyone followed somewhere behind Eli, she was at a loss as to what she could do to help at this point and decided it might be best if she stayed out of the way and made sure no one came up behind their group. At least, she hoped, she looked someone imposing in her armored encounter suit, which, while not designed to be battle armor, would protect her squishier bits from some damage.

"If there is any way I can be of assistance, please let me know" she radioed to Eli, "If not, I will be watching this space behind you" she added and kept an eye on the area they had just left, her rifle held up in case she needed to use it.
 
Eli blinked. He raised his rifle at the Neko, then lowered it. The monoeye arrays on his suits whirred and clicked multiples times, focusing and refocusing on the newcomer. It was as if the Neko from the hilariously out of date educational tactics videos in training had stepped out of the footage and into real life.

And no one was raising their guns. Just what in the hell had happened when he was in the engine room? Why was he the only one who thought this was strange?

"Ah. I." He still didn't quite know what to say. "Spose' I did girl, seh yea. Ahm."

He had so many questions, but none of them seemed appropriate or necessary in the sheer awkwardness of the situation. He supposed he should be grateful that none of the blood that this inhuman killing machine was covered with was his or anyone else's blood.

Well. He wasn't one to look a gift supersoldier in the mouth, he supposed.

"You said a crew-served weapon?" Eli said eventually. "I got dat. Be ready to storm deh CIC after I take deh gun out, girl. I'll radio all ya when deh deed is done."

He peered at the elevator's lift capacity and did some quick mental arithmetic. It would be enough to hold him and his Hostile armor. He stepped inside, the doors sliding shut with a demure ting! that seemed entirely at odds with its current inhabitant. He pressed the button to the CIC deck, the contrast completed by the soft, tinkling sounds of what could only be Yamataian elevator music as the elevator rose inexorably towards its destination.

With a polite sayonara, the doors slid open, revealing a corridor with said weapon emplacement. There were men around it, and men manning the guns, ready, but it mattered little to Eli. Small arms fire pattered off of him ineffectually as the doors opened, copper-jacketed bullets and low-yield energy beams panging and zinging harmlessly off of his armored form. He could hear the whine of the plasma cannon charging, men cursing in Yamataian and Trade, weapons cycling back and forth.

None of it mattered.

The push-pull array on his suit whirred as they charged up, then discharged, grabbing the gun emplacement and rudely yanking it upwards, dragging the gunner with it for a foot or two before he let go, dropping back onto the deck in an undignified heap. Eli directed the crudely made gun emplacement back down, squashing the poor man and destroying the improvised gun mount, rendering the cannon practically useless. With that over, he shouldered his HPAR, and took aim at the last resistance.

"Hard luck mon." The suit growled, "But dat's jess deh way it is sometimes."

A man had unpinned a grenade of an unknown type, and reared back to throw. Eli's monoeye locked on to the explosive, and before the man could huck it, he fired his HPAR, the EFP cutting the man's hand off at the wrist and obliterating his arm. Before he could even scream, the grenade detonated, turning the passageway into a gory, Bosch-like vision of hell. More EFP's followed, the 'Coin' rounds shredding the wounded remains of the misbegotten defenders. In seconds, it was over.

He keyed his suit's radio, checking carefully to make sure it was actually transmitting. "CIC P-way been secured, mon. We good to move up, seh yea."
 
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Cargo Bay.

She had stayed behind to help the troll and the others. She figured the rest would radio if they needed medical care, and someone needed to help and watch out for these recovered beings. Sitting on a cargo crate Dom had pulled some chocolate from her medical bag that Sweety was holding. unwrapping it she held out a peice to the Troll. "Here you go big guy... It's yummy!" She giggled from behind her mask. "I'm sure you would love it. I love it, But I can only eat a little, it makes my tummy a little upset." She nodded here helmeted head, giggling again. "What are you called? I'm Doctor Domicile. you can call me Doc. Dom, if you like... ummmm Can you speak?" Not that she had given the large brute a chance to respond with her consent chattering. "I would like to look you over, you biggum, I would be amiss to leave you injured and alone. Wouldn't be such a good Doctor now would I..." she continued on chatting about what she would do in an exam, and how she had never met someone like the "big guy," and how excited she was to be part of such a team to come and rescue folks like him.
 
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