RP: Die Screaming [Die Screaming] Creepy Crawlies.

[Charmaylarg Dufrain]

RP Date

YE 41

RP Location

Fr-3 system, "Garden Of Thorns"

The site was a small pock mark on a lush and lavish world. A burnt clearing a mile wide in any direction, The towering skyscraper sized trees grown for millennia had caught ablaze from plasmic discharge and high explosive munitions alike from the careful application of orbital lancing as only starship grade weapons could topple the giant flora reaching towards the heavens.

And even then the massive trees wouldn't burn. The brush burned, The plants and lesser trees burned. But the mega flora simply exuded sap rolls from the heat as large as a car that snuffed even the most passionate of flames and coated the massive towers in retardant slick.

Mass drivers solved the issue soon after as pure blunt force kinetics made to break through the armor of star ships broke through the several meter thick bark and into the core a thousand rings old. The trees fell, And with them the very earth was uprooted as with them they tore root and vine deep and dark to the surface as long as subway tunnels and twice as large.

The site would be named Site Romeo when claimed by the occupants of the Cobra class gunship, The Small Death and established the first of dozens of firebases planetwide and the deadly suprise they would hold. A surprise that required precious NSN and NAM personnel lingering in low orbit in drop craft ready to unload and begin construction of the base proper and said suprise.


The vehicle and armor bay of the Small Death was packed for the drop. Four dozen marines assembled loosely in casual groups as team leaders checked gear and made final adjustments and changes to kit. Each marine was armored in the heavy Golem combat armor; Painted in shades of greens and browns to suit the jungle like biome they approached. Some wore custom kits devoid of sleeves in some cases for snipers and even some extra bulk in the form of ammo pouches and add-on mods for the heavier gunners.

Marines, Each in various formed of readiness held their weapons both custom bought and issued weapons near and close as the anticipation built. For many of the 309ths marines it would be their first true deployment. The war on New Bernese won before their arrival as the restructured 309th and its green troops had been taken from what was a single planet engagement now to the frontlines against what many whispered was a numerically and technologically superior enemy.

Regardless there was no turning back now. The Ten minute call was given as the gunship threw itself towards the planet and the marines of the 309th where destined to fight and die on...

"Patstone stop scribbling in your damn diary and check your kit, I see a loose strap!" A shrill squeak of an order was cut over the tense atmosphere as the 309ths shortest NCO leered at one of the privates from across the bay, Earning a bout of laughing and jeers at the marine hastily shoving a journal under the breastplate of his armor with a short reply of "Aye, Sarnt"

Minnie Valentine sighed before turning back to the object of her previous attention as she checked over the last group, Looking up quite literally at most of them as the almost comedic bulk on her small frame barely managed her a couple inches at best compared to even some of the youngest marines before her. The on again off again half surgeon/half NCO scrutinized a private under the glare of her unblinking cybernetic eyes before nodding and moving onto another and then another.

"So they stuck all the kids with me?" She complained audibly to herself, A few errant strands of her hair glowing faintly red in irritation before she addressed the group.

"My name is Doctor Valentine." She began, Prioritizing, In her opinion, The more important title above her rank. "I am your squad leader and defacto NCOIC of this operation for the time being. I fought the reds and fatnecks on New Bernese while you where all playing grab-ass in transit."

"I fought under lieutenants Juno Rickett and lieutenant Kokuten Gaiasis Chiaki the 5th" She declared with some pride before continuing as if the green troops before her somehow didn't know the generals aid and the semi famous Kokuten of the civil war. "I fought the reds and the fatnecks on New Bernese with the best of the entire three-oh-ninth. And none of them are here today except me." She said grimly. Inadvertently making it sound like Fang and Ella and the others where somehow dead without meaning to.

"Stay close and do what I say, When I say it." She jerked a thumb at her chest plate, Her thumb jabbing into her lucky phallic magnet before she glared at each one in turn. "Don't try thinking my size is any detriment to my authority or my ability."

"Any questions, Comments, Or Concerns?" She demanded curtly. "If not converse among yourselves while you still can."

Spoiler

Im not good at thread openers... Regardless. Time to meet your fellow marines and converse for a round or two until the plot advances. @SirSkully @paladinrpg @Alex Hart @Soresu

 

[Gunhand4171]

Site Romeo

A late arrival stomped out the back of a drop ship, having to crouch considerably to not smack his head on the back of it. The man who stepped out was MASSIVE. Like the do a double take and say "Damn..." kind. Sebastian Armstrong walked out carrying his Void's massive chain gun in one hand. As he stepped up to the doctor, he saluted. "Doctor, Private Armstomg reporting for duty." He said, a slight twang to his voice.

Fortunately for the ID-SOL, he was smart enough to read up on his new CO on the ride over from the ID-SOL facility on New Bernese. Sebastian was to become the new heavy weapons specialist. Which suited him just fine. He did love to use overwhelming fire to tear targets apart.

He noticed out the corner of his eye that his Void was being moved over to the holding area. Soon he'd get to suit up and make things explode, which caused him to smirk slightly in anticipation.

 

[Soresu]

Site Romeo

Carina could have grinned. She'd survived basic training! And was thus now on her first assignment. Sure, she chose the medical track, but that didn't mean she may not see any action. As the tiniest woman, she'd seen thus far began barking at them. She was going to be in charge? The youngest Sanroma could've shrugged. Thankfully she didn't, they'd beaten that out of her after a few weeks in basic training. So she shrugged mentally. Though the woman garnered some renewed interest at the mention of a family friend.

Kokuten Chiaki, she'd only been a snot-nosed kid when she'd met him whilst out one day with her mother. He'd been kind, funny even with those electric green eyes of his and his affable demeanor. It had been a shame they hadn't heard from him in a while... Carina shook her head to clear it. Though at the end of it, the young medic sighed.

She hated standing at attention. Her shoulders slumped, her head tilted backward and a small groan issued forth. Once the 'Doctor' had said they could talk amongst themselves she'd relaxed.

 

[paladinrpg]

Site Romeo

A serious-looking young woman with tanned, Kuznyetski features was keeping mostly to herself and making sure her assigned Golem Assault Armor was ready, the sound of magnets in the arm shell clicking audibly with the primary body shell as the connection was made. The Private pulled her forearm up to her round face, using her teeth to pull the wrist straps taunt while her other hand simultaneously worked the elbow securement. The last step was to tie up her dark blonde ponytail and slip on the heavy Durandium helmet and chinstrap to complete the set, while green eyes searched briefly for her armaments.. among them her prized Zlata, a heavily modified GP-1 Assault Rifle. She cleared its firing chamber with a satisfying piston click and sizzle of gas escaping, the familiar sounds serving to calm her nerves at what would be the start of her first real combat mission... nothing like dealing with the gang members and ne'er-do-wells back home on Vandenberg.

When the Sergeant spoke up, the Kuzyetski recruit was a bit surprised to see such a voice coming out of the cybernetically-enhanced yet still very diminuitive marine surgeon. declaring herself the NCO in charge of the mission. But then, she knew all about trying to project a presence bigger than your size... back on Vance Bridge Road it had been an asset on the neighborhood watch patrols around her former grocery store. "Private Anatevka Kuznyetski, reporting for duty, Doctor Valentine, ma'am," replied Ana politely in her accented Trade, rifle in hand, "I respect following such a survivor, with a maiseh like that. But who is our enemy here in this bramble?"

 

[Charmaylarg Dufrain]

Site Romeo

"Im not an officer, Armstrong. I work for a living" The diminutive sergeant stated without any malice as she took the lead as the troops disembarked and scattered in all directions on their various tasks. Under the watchful guns of the Small Death there was little need for security but none the less sentries immediately took up positions at fifty meter interval positions as many more started offloading equipment crates and whatever they could quickly unload before the engineers came down from the circling Zachtnik shuttles circling overhead like vultures ready to pick the corpse of the site clean before rebuilding it.

"He is though." The sergeant jerked her head as her team followed her out towards their designated departure zone at a rather imposing SOL already disembarked. The former e5, First sergeant Miles Darling was a good example of his species and their service with the imperium. Tall and dark skinned with a neatly shaved head that framed around a set of deep scars gave one the intent to wonder at many of the untold stories that where likely told about such a well worn soul.


Second Lieutenant Darling had been one of dozens given the brevet rank of an officer for the operations at hand to give them controlling legal authority over their men with a drastic lack of officers to go around for the hundreds of groups sent down planetside on the worlds of the free range that the teams on the Small Death had been.

"Don't salute him though, We're under arms." Minnie finished and continued onward at a casual pace.


7 Hours Later

With the sun finally going down in what many would suspect was the west, The long day had started coming to a close. Earthen bulwarks and large rocks where moved by hand and by powered armor around the ship for several hundred meters in interlapping defenses. Sandbags had been filled with hard packed mud and dirt and piled around makeshift dugouts that left only enough above the surface to fire from and earthen mounds where raised above the ground fifteen feet high as makeshift fire support towers with sandbag bunkers and durndium plates wedged for protection.

Set up along various battery banks, Floodlights shone out in every direction before the sun had even started to set and small makeshift buildings where already drying with hard packed clay mixed with concrete and reinforced durrandium frames as makeshift storage, ammunition bunkers, infirmaries, and a motor pool where spaced far enough apart under the protective roof that was their ship.

Nearby, A Corona gunship on a hard packed handing zone sat idle and camouflaged while an outrider APC's guns looked off into the distant oposite a light coyote tanks twin barrels still being tuned up by a couple members of the motor pool performing finishing touches on the turret ring.

The firebase had been worked up in rather remarkable time considering the controlled chaos and even while not being done the engineers and everyone not on watch was waiting in a long line outside a makeshift kitchen with an almost comically large pot of something that smelled heavily of spices and beef in stew form that was being stirred by a cook while a nearby set of privates both served food and washed dishes in a jerry-rigged pot and pan sink.

Minnie's team had gotten their stew and rations; Bread, cheese, some kind of moonshine to most except her team when the sergeants intense glowing gaze and now the occasionally glowing luminous violent red strands of hair promising hell if they where handed out to any of her team considering their average age.

As soon as she had passed however the cook had made sure with each handed jar of spirits a wink and a finger to his lips at he tucked the jars into their breastplates or the helmets under their arms as they passed with a chuckle.

Most of the teams had gathered by the guiding of their corporals or sergeants to a central location under the ship and where heartily jeering and messing around in an almost celebratory atmosphere that seemed lost on the sergeant however as she squeaked over the din.

"Go eat and meet back at the infirmary in twenty mikes. " The sergeant ordered to the team before weaving her way around the gathering no doubt back to count the medications again in preparation for making the team spend the next few hours as they had the past few; Assembling a surgical theater to exacting standards and trying in vain to sterilize a mud-floored operating theater...


A rare moment of freedom had grasped many of them considering the painstaking labor of the past few hours of what they could or should do with the time at hand.

To the side a pair of sergeants spoke quietly over a map while jotting down casual notes in dataslates.

Behind them a group of five marines had already finished eating and where cleaning their weapons and gossiping.

At the edge of the camp the lieutenant stood almost alone, Watching the flickering of a holo-table with a jar of one could assume the home-made spirits with a look of intense concentration as he whispered to himself.

At the elevator and ramp to the ship a single, Strange woman applied camouflage to her face but was devoid of any uniform save for a black bodysuit and strange black armor.

And finally Minnie sat on a large rock outside the makeshift infirmary chatting casually to what looked like a strange glowing light the size of a baseball that fluttered around her.

 

[SirSkully]

At the edge of their little group of greenhorns sat a young lad with mottled black/brown hair the team knew as their sharpshooter, regardless of how forgettable he seemed - rather than make conversation Lupin just listened, doubting he had much he could have added anyway. Lupin was quietly working away at his meal, the steam and heat melting the cheese as he steadily shoveled more down his throat.

Lupin's gaze occasionally broke from his lap when something in the camp caught his eyes, usually just the gleam of a fresh-from-the-fabricator hardware or someone slipping in the mud but he found it more interesting than the current goings-on with the rest of his team, so it only made sense that those burnt amber orbs eventually made their way to the painted lady in odd armour.

He squinted, bringing the spoon up to his lips again as the mouthful of grub was chewed on thoughtfully and slowly swallowed, Lupin taking a few moments to consider before wordlessly excusing himself from the group with a curt nod - the boy continued to eat as he strolled over, gear clinking against itself with each step Lupin's slightly slouched figure took, by the time he was near her no conclusion as to who the woman might have been was made.

It was clear though that she was anything but a heavy gunner.

Lupin cleared his throat quietly and offered a half-friendly look before moving to hold his food in one hand, the other reaching into his helmet to retrieve his small jar of moonshine that had been shoved in there - the liquid-filled glass thing was offered to the painted woman, still untouched since it had been wordlessly passed to him, and so he wordlessly held it out for her after making sure his medically-inclined Sergeant wasn't looking their way.

 

[Alex Hart]

Site Romeo

Tobias sat with several other people, near the ramp to the ship. Like the strange woman and the others there, he was wearing a black bodysuit. Unlike many of the other soldiers who were in similar equipment, his attention was less on checking his weaponry and instead on a dataslate. He tapped away at the slate, running through checks on several types of drones. A rack of 5 disk shape drones, armed with light weaponry, sat nearby. He looked up as one of the normal marines approached Deuce, and smiled a little. It was always nice when they were able to interact with the regulars.

He ran through the check on the next set of drones, humanoid and skeletal in nature, they too were cheaply made, and hard to trace to a place of manufacture. Once the diagnostics were done, he stood up and made his way over to his superior and the marine before speaking. "You might as well take it, boss. Nothing to build a little solidarity like sharing a drink."

 

[Soresu]

Carina looked to where the jar of heavily distilled spirits now sat snugly hidden on her person. Sure, she'd snuck a few beers, or even a shot glass of liquors here and there. That was like a right of passage as was stealing their first airbike for kids from Los Apagos. Didn't mean she'd drink it of course. But it could do for an agreeable antiseptic in a pinch. And a useful trade item in others. The greenhorn cast her gaze around at the tables around her. With a shrug, Carina Sanroma sauntered over to a near by table, not too heavily populated and let the tray almost clatter on its surface. The stew sloshed a little, but not a drop had been flung loose. Thick stuff.

Helmet off, she began to dig into the meal in earnest. Likely the last time they'd get a heated meal for a while so it was best to partly savor as well as packing it away. Never knew the next minute she could be still eating away, and the next after that or sooner she'd be on her feet. Sloughing through god knew what to somewhere on a battlefield to patch the holes in her fellow soldiers. As she ate, the young medic looked about, eyes roving over the others in their little slice of heaven that was the mess. Uncle Wii had always said to be observant of your surroundings. So did the asshole Drill Sargents from basic. With a brief scowl at remembering that specific tidbit, Carina went back to lavishing attention on her food.

 

[paladinrpg]

Anatevka had made a distinct point to be one of the first marines in line to sample the stew that had been cooked up by the makeshift kitchen at the site... and the experienced cook definitely didn't hesitate to make her own recommendations to the mess crew about their mix of spices to the beef and the consistency. Yes, it was decent and filling for the average grunt, but could have been so much better when compared to her own family borcht recipes. When the cook tried to decline her not-so-subtle offer to be a back-seat chef next dinnertime round, the young gourmand decided to steal the soup ladle from his hands and bop him lightly in front of the other soliders like one's mother would until he finally acquiesced to Ana's demands. The rest of the marines waiting in the queue got a good laugh at the antics of the newbie as she stomped off in victory, and things started moving once again when the head cook regained his damaged pride...

Once the heat had died down in the kitchen, Anatevka naturally plopped down by the group of five marines and started focusing on cleaning her rifle as well. To an outside observer, the woman did it very ritualistically... it was quite the contrast to the average slapdash manner of a normal soldier. But that was likely her heritage shining through... Kuznyetski were around firearms from a very early age, and it was a central tenet of their culture. The artificial lights of the camp reflected off Zlata's golden-sheened barrel, as she made note of the dings that it had sustained recently that she had worked to machine out and smooth. One day it would have to be replaced, a difficult thought as it had been with her since the days of the community parts swap meets.

But war is harsh... and Anatevka had grown harder, too. Old glittering dreams had been slowly replaced by a stark, gunmetal reality. Sometimes she wondered if she should still go back to her erstwhile betrothed -- for all his money-loving ways and poor fashion choices, Yigor did care about her. But something in Anatevka rejected the comfortable, easy life. Running her store in spite of hostile gangbangers, or being here on this jungle planet in the middle of nowhere to fight... they were challenging experiences. Real and visceral struggles. Accomplishing things actually meant something, and made one truly feel alive. No amount of money could replicate that.

 

[Gunhand4171]

Site Romeo

Sebastian nodded at the Sergeant's words and followed behind as she spoke. He looked around the camp and noted the imposing Lieutenant as he studied the holomap. He was glad there was another SOL around the base.

As they broke to eat, Armstrong moved and grabbed his rations. He smirked as the bottle of spirits was slid under his arm and he thanked the man.

He then walked over to his PA and began to wolf down his food. As soon as he finished eating he began to perform maintenance on his VOID, while occasionally taking sips of the moonshine.

He found it calming to methodically check over his equipment, check his ammo, and clean his weapons. As he worked, he went to take another sip of the moonshine, but found that he had already finished the whole bottle. He frowned and tossed the bottle into the pile of garbage nearby and pulled out a cigar. Lighting it quickly and taking a puff, he continued on with his task.

 

[Charmaylarg Dufrain]

IPG TEAM- Tobias/Lupin.

The lithe woman accepted lupins offered spirits with a wry smile that seemed almost predatory as a soft blue glow emanated from her iris' as barely legible symbols and shapes seemed to dance in her eyes like a story untold. If lupin looked hard enough it almost looked like his bootcamp graduation picture before the woman looked away towards tobias.

"Speaking from experience, Toby?" Her voice was soft and playful with just the slightest tone of a machine hum denoting some form of ocular cybernetics. Not waiting for an answer, The apparent cyborg knocked her head back and downed a fingers worth of the spirits before tossing it to the side.

Where it was caught by another man in a similar black suit of armor who sniffed almost disdainfully before completing the toss to another team member who in turn passed to another before the jar ended up empty in lupins hands as it began. Each member of the team seemed engrossed in their duties and ignored the marksman with the exception of the occasional appraising glance noticed from the corner of their eye as it became obvious from the quite of their own little corner how all the other marines seemed to be avoiding the obvious example of an IPG kill team of some sort. Their leader, Deuce, Seemed however nonplussed towards the marksmans presence and almost entertained in some way as she circled around her tech, Tobias, And threw her arms around his chest from behind to lean over his shoulders almost throwing him off balance as several hundred pounds of pure cyborg leveraged just enough of her weight on the young man to force his posture unless he end up in the mud.

"My little boys growing up so fast!" She cooed into tobias' ear, Her arms tightening around his chest to pull his back into her chest as the pommel of some kind of knife strapped to the harness on her chest seemed to poke him annoyingly in the cheek in a way that had to be intentional as his superior; Like a teasing lover, blew in his ear before she turned her attention from her teasing victim back towards lupin, still leaving enough of her weight on the young operator that both his seat and the two of them started leaning ever so slightly to the side as the combined weight started pushing them deeper into the mud.

"Come to embrace the black, Boy? Or maybe confess your love for my little toby?" Her eyes seemed to light up again as her devilish grin seemed to drop ever so slightly as she stared off into the distance to something only she could see.


Mess - Carina/Anatevka

Carina's meal was anything if peaceful. A rater excentricly loud group of marines had commandeered the end of the table and had gathered a crowd as a marine with a cybernetic arm wrestled against the arm of a half SOL putting most of his weight into countering her with the constant jeering of the crowd as first once and then the other seemed to gain the leverage depending on the tone of the cheers.

It could have been ignored. Even the group of NAM techs banging their fists against the polymer table could be forgiven for how much it jostled her tray. But the final straw occurred when one of the marines next to Carina witnessed the female marine literally break through the table at the elbow as the SOL surprised her with a burst of strength that sent her thrown straight into the mud. The occurrence had gotten a marine next to her to slap her on the back so hard and point to the event as if she had not seen it herself that the young marine could almost feel the breath leave her lungs as the meaty hand then shook her by the shoulder.

Any retaliation to her neighbor however was cut off as the downed female cyborg practically launched herself upright. With more mischief in her eyes than any malice she kicked a foot at the bench the SOL sat on and collapsed the leg before he, Or anyone else including Carina could react as it collapsed sending all seven marines; Carina included sliding into the mud.

Carina however was saved from the dirt and muck as her landed on her neighbor and managed to scramble off in time for many of them to upright themselves and start towards the cyborg with a mischievous gait of their own as she back-peddled away with a rather recognizable gesture egging the 6 men on.

The thing to top it all off, however, Was that carina's tray had landed almost perfectly flat with all its food and was miraculously free of any contiminates.

Except for the boot of a sergeant who stomped unknowingly on her meal as he started after the gaggle of marines with a growl.

Anatevka was witness to all of this from the adjacent table which remained empty save herself...

Vehicle Bay/ Outer Perimeter - Sebastian/ Molotra


Sebastians meal, Compared to his fellows, Was rather tame. His armor was the same as the last three times he checked it with the exception that somehow, Yet again, The fingers had curled into an obscene gesture on both hands in a way that seemed to challenge the dark of the forest it faced.

Someone had to be doing it, He knew. But who had the ID lock to his armor and the motivation to do such a simple if annoying prank was beyond him at the moment as a group of several marines chasing a chuckling woman with a cybernetic arm weaved through the bay. Around the tank and the outrider and using the lieutenants personal Cyclops armor as a shield she effortlessly dodged the men an egged them on more and more before she tripped on the tracks of a tank that seemed almost comically too small compared to the massive double barreled beast beside it.

The woman hissed, But shirked back in surprise under the cold glare of the type-two spacer from the Viridian army forces slowly making their way planetside. The spacer had barely dug their tracks into the ground before one of the flesh-legged nepleslians had blundered over them. If she had been in movement she could have crippled the marine with little effort under her movement apparatus and was lucky she had chosen not to.

What had distracted the spacer and now even got the attention of Sebastian however was the group of six marines who had been chasing the woman in her fun as one of them seemed to have sunk a single leg down to the thigh in the hard packed dirt of the vehicle bay and was getting some laughs out of his comrades as one of them seemed to try wrenching him upwards with a hand under his arm before his annoyed grumbling stopped and he seemed to look down in surprise and concern.

"Hey, Hold on a sec i think something-" Was all he got out, Swatting at the others to settle down before he started screaming and grabbing for his leg in a vain attempt to pull himself up with blood chortling scream that could be heard from all around the camp.

 

[Primitive Polygon]

Vehicle Bay/ Outer Perimeter - Sebastian/ Molotra

Wildlife. Things grown without supervision. Spontaneous. Both the alien planet, and these unregulated Nepleslian folk. Unregulated air currents hit the side of the engineering tent and made a rattling, unnerving sound. A towering organic man with bright red eyes. Concerning.

When the woman tripped over the compact tracked box, they were met with a blue-eyed gaze cold and concentrated, likely categorising their body and calculating the exact material value of component parts. The short tank-thing muttered something barely audible under their gas mask, raising their right-side gun-claw-arm with a hydraulic hiss- But before anything could become of it, there was another situation, something involving the men chasing them around- Was this a trap arranged by the woman?

"Situation: Sabotage?... Forty eight percent..." A rasping comment, interrupted by another squeak of rubber rubbing, the clinking of rotating tracks. "Information: Lack of armed response... No, likelyhood is twenty three... Additional information required..."

Popping a smaller secondary pair of tracks out from behind them, the spacer suddenly moved forward and churned through the mud. Making their way over to the man with the trapped leg, they then simply grabbed the back of his collar with their metal arm, and yanked upwards. Trying to pull him out of the dirt like an oversized green turnip, basically.

"The leg." Another raspy murmur. "It will clarify the nature of this attack."

 

[SirSkully]

IPG Team

"No I just figured you lot could get more use out of it than me, that's all~" Lupin quietly admitted, finally speaking though doing a good job masking the fact he didn't yet know an IPG killsquad at a glace - he was green as green could be after all but simply stowed the empty glass thing on a nearby table and downed some more of his food before speaking further, "Anyway, I should probably let yo~"

The scream ripped through the camp, cutting the young marksman off as his head whipped around to the direction it had come from with a furrowed brow, which was soon followed up by the amber-eyed nobody stuffing a few more mouthfuls of food down his gullet and discarding what was left of his meal to the same table as the empty jar - Lupin wasted little time fastening his helmet with a faint squint back at the IPG team and chambering a round in his M3 rifle before running off to see what was going on, were they being attacked? did someone get crushed by a box of equipment? hopefully he'd soon find out, shame it hadn't been a few minutes later so he could have properly filled his stomach - who knows when his next proper meal might be, depending on how this went it could be a while...

 

[Soresu]

Carina had been trying to ignore the raucous Marines as she ate. It wasn't exactly delicious, more along the lines of 'okay'. At least it was filling. That was until she landed on the ground within seconds. Saved from the mud, the medic had thanked her lucky stars that her tray had been fi-, the half-formed thought ending in disaster. A foot came stomping down upon her tray. Stew leaked on the ground from the cracked bowl, and the other assorted parts of her meal crushed underfoot. Her mouth hung open, hands flung in a 'What the fuck is this?!' gesture. With a growl, Carina climbed quickly to her feet and fully intended to give the person a piece of her mind.

That was until she saw who it was. With a muttering grump, she picked up the now ruined meal and took it to where a stack of used trays and bowls sat. She had only gotten half of the food down before it had been ruined. With a loud sniff, she got back into line to try and get another. When it was her turn, the girl looked anything but chipper.

"'ey, can I get anotha?" her Los Apagos accent shining through. "Kinna' got fucked up there chief," she said with a wave of her hand to where her ruined food tray had been sat. Then to the group of Marines, and the Sergeant now likely giving the jerks a verbal tongue lashing. As if to add to it, Carina's large, hazel eyes looked almost pleading as her stomach rumbled audibly before something, a sound causing her head to whip around, long black hair flicking with it. It sounded like a scream.

 

[Gunhand4171]

Vehicle Bay/ Outer Perimeter

Sebastian growled in annoyance as his armor flipped him the bird for the 3rd time in a row. "When I find who keeps doing this, I'm gonna strangle them..." he muttered under his breath. He reattached his data jockey to the armor and rest the settings. He then went through and reapplied his perfered settings.

It was while he was doing this that the other marines began to chase each other around the motor pool. Sebastian rolled his eyes and kept working until he heard the screams...

He whipped around to see one of the men clutching at his legs which were stuck in the mud. Others rushed in to help him but still wouldn't come free.

The weaponer didn't like this. Not one damn bit. With the press of a button on his data jockey, the Void opened up and Armstrong jumped inside and powered up his suit. Tactical suites came online and his HUD flashed into place.

"What the hell is going on Boss?" He asked the doctor, as he took several steps towards the man that was trapped. Heavy machine gun held at low ready.

 

[Alex Hart]

IPG TEAM

At the sound of the scream, Tobias extracted himself from his CO's grasp with what seemed like almost practiced ease, and snatched up his datapad, hitting a button and activating the small circular disc drones, sending them hovering slightly into the air to canvas the area. It might have seemed like overkill, to some, but it never hurt to be extra careful in their line of work. The drones began to circle around the camp, and as they did so, he located his weapon, just in case, before looking to his boss.

"It could just be a marine breaking a bone in a wrestling contest or a fight, but..." He motioned towards the camp, his suggestion that the team check the camp apparent, at least to other members of their group.

 

[Charmaylarg Dufrain]

Vehicle Bay

Molotra's weight and unmoving position gave purchase in the loose soil lost on the flesh-footed marines as she, with minor effort, yanked the hysterical marine from his predicament and back onto level ground.

The leg had indeed been the issue at hand to have resolved any number of questions had there been much left of the appendage to examine. Down to the bone bellow the knee, massive chunks of flesh where simply gone in quarter sized chunks as his leg had been methodically eaten for a lack of a better term to expose muscle and bone and flesh that jetted and leaked crimson into a small but steadily growing pool at the mans ankle which was luckily still connected to a foot, if only one with a single pinky toe still left attached.

The man, For a lack of motivation, Was still frantically thrashing and kicking with the remainder of his left leg with reckless abandon until the necessity of the breath he had been holding won out and his sudden burst of strength now gone left him panting on the ground with a manic look of severe pain while he caught his breath in ragged rasps and gasps.

With him not stationary and no longer flailing it was obvious to those around that a mans leg innards did not pulse or throb and that strange finger length objects where thrashing within the wound the same color of fresh crimson. Their identity was quickly discerned when first one, And then four, and then by the dozen massive ants the length of ones index finger swarmed from the hole. Each one half as thick around as a mans wrist with a heart shaped head ending in two scissor like serrated mandibles easily capable of putting such damage to a mans leg swarmed from every direction out of their new nest hole and onto shocked and unprepared bystanders while they started trying to effortlessly scissor through clothing like it was tissue paper in preparation for no doubt the ripping and tearing to come as even more of the insects now numbering in the hundreds and with no sign of stopping flooded the field and now threatened to overflow into the other occupied areas of the camp.

In moderation, Larger and more Menacing soldier ants exited. Each one easily the length of a large housecat with long legs that gave it a concerning height and a massive heart shapped head the size of a fist with mandibles like small knives and an encouraged thorax that dragged behind it leaking a clear fluid from a large and twisted stinger that throbbed.

Molotra, Lucky to have no feeling in their... lower body... was saved from the first swarm that sought to attack the legs of larger prey and take them down for the swarm to finish off like the curiously now quiet meat bag at her... Tracks... that lay seizing as ants swarmed him, one particular bug burying its entire head into the side of the mans throat and was wrenching left and right inside of hisneck flesh while its kin did the same across his entire body. Most of the half dozen other marines had yet to fall and where stomping and swatting the bugs as fast as they could but for each insect squashed there where three more to start climbing up their legs in search of soft flesh.

Minnie stood stunned next to Sebastian as the soft blue glow from her cybernetic eyes seemed to brighten and the occasional strand of bioluminescence wound in her hair changed to a soft and tempered orange to read her mood as the situation unfolded.

"Private." was her simple statement to Sebastian as she drew her sterling 45. and clicked off the safety, No more needing to be said she drew a bead and placed a well aimed 45. caliber round into a bug crawling their way, A score more following behind in a full rush towards them.

IPG Team


Most of the team had little reaction to the screaming than to casually look towards the source and continue on with their gear check. They all knew there was no reason to panic like most of the marines now bristling and trotting off towards the vehicle bay where.

"Half of them didnt even bring they guns." Stated one of the team members, A stoic looking nepleslian man named Cutter .

"Poor situational awareness." Agreed his shadow, A fellow nepleslian with rosy cheeks and a scarred forehead oddly carrying the callsign Apples.

"If they cant handle their own perimeter security there is little we can do."Mumbled Locust. The only other female member of the team as her back jointed cybernetic legs allowed her to raise her height above much of the other team, Not that she could see with her un-augmented eyes. Seemingly the only other member of the team save Tobias with a care towards the encounter as her SPAID was hefted to wrest on its sling, The silent click of the safety disengaging the only indication of combat readiness compared to the rest of the team.

"Well they are green" Deuce agreed with a pouting tone at her teasing victim pulled away, Leaving her to plop down where Tobias had sat and look off towards the now fully dark and star filled sky with an odd look of curiosity and a head tilt to look over her shoulder at their newest and youngest member before shifting to look at the now disembarking Lupin as she imparted some wisdom as she rarely did to tobias, Her usual playful smirk and tone replaced with a stoic and deadpan look that left nothing to read and a now dry and harsh tone that belied the inner killer that occasionally slipped out when the mask fell.

"Don't get comfortable with the marines, Operator." She looked Tobias in the eyes with a gaze that any other professional could describe as killing intent, and would warn against keeping or breaking eye contact too quickly. "They are a means to an end, And nothing more. Their contribution to the imperium is meager, but necessary, as the bait to draw our prey and you would do well never to get too close to anyone."

And within a moment the fire in the spooks eyes dropped and was replaced with the sanguine playfulness that the killer hid behind as she went back to staring at the stars and the multitude of shooting stars flying across the sky before commenting absently that "Its ok if you want to play with them for a bit though. Making friends your own age is important for a growing boy."

Mess.

The screaming and a single punctuated gunshot was all it took to send the majority of the marines centered at the mess hall into a panicked hornets nest in full swarm. Tables and chairs where kicked over and people shoved and tripped as marines scampered in the wrong directions to what they thought was their billets as sergeants too slowly attempted to whip things into order.

"We're under attack!" More than one marine shouted.

"They've got us surrounded!" Another screamed, Punctuated by another distant gunshot.

"There's fucking BUGS in the vehicle bay eating someone!" Said another.

And the chaos went on.

 

[Primitive Polygon]

Vehicle Bay

It was a good thing that Molotra had a gas mask, so much metal, and unexposed flesh. Their immediate intended reflex was to throw the man over her shoulder and back off, but the voraciousness of the bug swarm tearing into him just left them in shock instead. Leaving somebody behind wasn't something you did so easily. But getting covered in these things would be instant death for both of them.

Somewhere in that split-second flash fire of panic, their rear track-pod thudded into the dirt and sent them careening backwards, creating a small grotesque wake of mud and churned up alien insect parts. Outrunning them was only temporary. They backed right into the front of the tank that they had emerged from behind just moments before, and it took another moment (and the audible crunch of some internal gears) to turn away from them again.

<"□░ ░ □□░ !"> A deafening pulse of code snapped over the local security com-net.

It was a full profile and attack trajectory of the organisms... But Molotra had accidentally resorted back to native tongue.

<"Enemy Organism!... Insect!"... They are... under!"> A distressed follow-up.

They were not equipped for this.

 

[Soresu]

Mess

Carina had been on the verge of getting another serving of what passed for 'stew' in the mess when the barking retort of a gun went off. Her head had whipped around just as all hell seemed to break loose in the mess. Marines ran too and fro, some yelling, sergeants trying to get some semblance of order restored. Though when she heard mentions of 'Bugs' it was enough for her to go: "Aw shit." like a curse. Yamataian news wasn't something she regularly watched. But the few times she had, the word 'Bugs' brought those disgusting bastards the cats were fighting to mind.

The Los Apagos native quickly checked herself over. Her helmet had been clasped to a waist latch on the belt alongside her sidearm and the Hypolathe, the hallmark of her career. Unclasping the helmet, Carina rammed it on with a little too much force before trying to weave her way through the clusterfuck before her. She had to find the sarge, get her shit in order and ready to roll once she found the tiny woman. As she wove a path through the storm of shouting, grunting Marines, one slammed into her back which sent a curse of "Fuck!" from her as she stumbled at first to thankfully catch herself. As if the chaos wasn't enough, another gunshot went off which seemed to whip them in a frenzy even more now.

 

[Gunhand4171]

Vehicle Bay

'Well... fuck...'

Sebastian did waste another second. He was thankful that he had decided to jump in his armor when he did.

He immediately began to mow down bugs. His chainguns firing, he tried to clear the rest of his fellow marines some breathing room. Unfortunately he was to close for him to use his mortars. So he just did what he could, letting lose with the chainguns at his hips and the autocannon in his hands.

He gritted his teeth as he fought back the tide of bugs. The disgusting creatures needed to die because they were really starting to piss Sebastian off. "Anybody brought some bug spray?" He asked to no one in particular.