See all of the soldiers gathering up, Flint turned his head up to survey the group and assess any damage. From what he could tell, there were a couple scrapes and bruises, with a few missing... presumably dead. Then again, there were a few more new additions to the mix. There would be time to lament later; Flint's eyes followed the floor up to the entrance to the submerged subway station, a faint crimson light softly pouring in from the street.
Violetta had been checking on the civilians. They were shaken, a little dirty, a little hungry, but otherwise in good condition. This was somewhat of a surprise, given that Rok'Veru had been occupied by the NMX for the better part of a year now. At the same time, it wasn't all that surprising; Nepleslians had been known to be notoriously difficult to root out when they've gained a foothold. Even the civilians had a tendency to hunker down for extended periods of time right beneath the trampling boots of their many, many enemies. Nepleslians were a hardy species. They had to be.
---
The small group of people that had found their way to John Davis consisted of six individuals. Three Nepleslians; young men in their twenties and, from the looks of their street clothing, members of the same gang. It was not uncommon; gangs often ran rampant in the heavily-urbanized Nepleslian society, to the point where the word 'gang' became synonymous with a simple group of like-minded individuals... usually with less-than-legal intentions. They were unremarkable all in all, save for their ability to survive the harrowing advance of the squid menace. Although in a previous time they would most likely have rejected the authority of individuals such as the Grand Admiral or Admiral De Luca, at that moment they seemed to be perfect law-abiding citizens. Again, not all that surprising. Flint had a tendency to inspire several emotions in those of lesser moral character. Most of them in the neighborhood of unfathomable fear or incredulous awe.
Sometimes both. In fact, quite often, both.
---
Another of the group stood out sorely; a male Delsaurian. Delsaurians, bipedal lizard-like sentient natives of planet Delsauria, were not exactly uncommon, but generally were not found on Rok'Veru; the extremely moist and humid environment is a stark contrast to the dry heat of Delsauria's barren desert landscape. Large, back-jointed legs supported a slightly hunched figure, no hair, with scales varying greatly depending on region. The Delsaurian, in turn, was covered in a dark sandy yellow, beneath a set of white and green coveralls (tailored to the unique physique of Delsaurians, of course), the thick material relaying the possibility of employment in industry.
Despite the alarming contrast of his home ecosystem, this Delsaurian seemed to manage, and manage well. He, like many species absorbed by Nepleslia, seemed to have embraced the wonders of Nepleslia's cybernetic augmentations. His eyes were a common cybernetic model, gunmetal black pupils housing a neon green in stark contrast. This particular model was known to change colors with emotion, but at the moment they remained a sickly mixture of green and yellow, constantly flitting about the room in an obvious display of shaken nerves. From what could be seen beneath his coveralls (and from what each soldier's armorsuit HUD could glean from sensor readings), the Delsaurian had everything from the first joint down the leg replaced with cybernetics, the piston-powered joints easily replacing the Delsaurian's naturally powerful leg muscles, ending in large flat-footed plates.
The Delsaurians arms seemed somewhat lithe compared to the rest of its impressive leg muscular structure. Slightly longer than the proportion of a regular Nepleslian's arms, the similarly-jointed Delsaurian arm ended at a wrist and hand skeletal structure with three long, slender, parallel fingers ending in off-white ivory talons. Delsaurian talons grew in a naturally sharp, curved form, but after the impressive rate of growth after their discovery by early Nepleslia, Delsaurians usually kept their claw tips blunted to avoid accidents. Delsaurians did not have opposeable thumbs, either, and almost always utilized cybernetics to allow them to use of an incredibly useful opposeable digit, yet another great service to the species that Nepleslia introduced to them.
The most noticeable of cybernetic enhancements were not his eyes, nor his legs, however, but the telltale-tail... or rather, the lack thereof. A Delsaurians silhouette could easily be picked out from a group by the tail, which was large, long and quite a bother for crowded subway trains and planetary shuttle transfer. In lieu of his tail, however, this Delsaurian had instead replaced it with a cybernetic 'stub'. The tail portion, normally holding a majority of the muscle and skeletal structure for the entire appendage, stopped roughly 12 inches from where it sprouted from above his flanks. Instead of continuing, the tail cut off at this point and had been replaced with a round gunmetal-gray hunk of sleek, dome-like machinery, slightly wider in circumference around the main body of the limb. The reason for the strange shape was not immediately apparent to most, but it was most likely a way to compensate for the balance issue. Delsaurian's relied on their tails to maintain the balance of their bodies; by taking it off, a Delsaurian would most likely find it impossible to move. The dome-like structure at the end of this one's tail must have been substantially heavier than its size would appear, in order to actively and accurately replace the long appendage, rather than be a bothersome unbalanced stump.
Nothing could deny the Delsaurian a seat on the bus now. A victory, won through the pain of loss, so to speak.
---
The final two citizens were two female Geshrintall. The Geshrin, the first precursors to what was known today as the Yamataian organism, were abundant through Nepleslian society, those once-Yamataian citizens choosing to remain in Nepleslia after her independence welcome to retain in their more resilient bodies. As such, Geshrin as a species thrived and mingled with Nepleslian until the two were nearly synonymous. The abundance of the Super Y Chromosome in pure-Nepleslian DNA made the Geshrintal females a particularly attractive favorite.
The two of them, an older motherly woman and a small infant girl, sat at the edge of the stone-decorated fountain. A mother and her child, no doubt, given that the woman had not removed the small girl from a close embrace the entire time since she had arrived with the others. She wore a simple outfit beneath a plain brown apron, stamped with the icon for a local Bal'Sharok grocery chain; it was possible that the invasion had taken to Rok'Veru while she was at work at her job. She seemed entirely unremarkable beyond that... another adult, a low-wage cashier, a fairly common sight amongst the megacities.
The mother looked tense, but at the same time determined; Nepleslians weren't the only species that knew how to protect those closest to them. The picture this mother and daughter painted by their presence before the group was both terrible, and at the same time hopeful; both of them dirty, both tired, and hungry, shaking, scared for their lives, in a hostile environment surrounded by those that would do them harm, for a solid year no less, probably spent hiding in a dark place, fearing the worst every waking moment...
Yet she was still alive, and still here, with her precious one kept safe from harm. Men of higher standing, who would have once looked down at her, purported to be "greater" than her, could not say the same.
Violetta, in particular, was deeply affected by these two. At the time, she did not know why.
---
"Alright marines," Flint said loudly and with authority, taking the position ahead of Violetta as she stood in front of the civilians. The citizens looked up at the Grand Admiral as he began to speak, their small conversations set aside by his commanding presence. "Plan's gone south, pretty much knew it would once I saw that squid mech. That red flare is gonna burn for a good thirty minutes, give or take, and every squid that can see that glow will be coming down on us hard. I aim to be long gone before that happens; we got more important things ahead of us."
Taking a step back, putting equal distance between him and both his soldiers and the civilians, Flint Vanderhuge crossed his arms across his broad chest and sighed before continuing one. "Wouldn't be a problem, normally. We got a destination in mind, we could make it there on foot before any suction-cup-sonuvabitch would be the wiser. Armorsuits would be doing most of the running anyway. However, we have some unforeseen hindrances."
The Grand Admiral paused only long enough to throw a curt nod towards the group to his right; the small swathe of Bal'Sharok citizens, wide-eyed behind Violetta's standing form, equally wide-eyed. "They won't be able to keep up with us on foot. Our options are clear, I believe, and time for deliberation is long passed with that goddamn smoke flare in the sky above us."
Flint's stone-faced grimace displayed a serious tone. He knew what he was implying, and he had no doubt the soldiers and civilians before him knew it too. The ID-SOL paused, arms still crossed, waiting for a reply. The citizens looked stunned by the sudden realization of how their safe haven was going to quickly become invalid, none of them raising their voice to Flint's intimidating form. Violetta, equally stunned.
