RP: Die Screaming [Die Screaming] Operation Glass Jaw

Mustering yard - Everyone.

The chaos of simply getting dressed did not last long as those that rushed in first met with slower but more assuredly powerful forces. The large Rhino mutant simply sauntered into the crowd like it was the shallow section of a pool and while digging around for the imposibility of his size casually threw handfulls of clothing in all directions, inadvertantly spreading out the scavenger hunt into more spread out pockets.

For their part, the team managed to keep their own little corner to get dressed in while others seemed to form their own cliques. The more reptilian mutant, unseen despite his exotic appearance, was right in the middle of them handing off seemingly perfectly sized garments to Locust who had still been sitting idly and expectantly; Naked.

The operator accepted the garments with a nod, and the Mutant was off to offer the same to Molotra who for her part still stared off aimlessly. The encounter with her was still fresh in the spacers mind but no matter, if she wanted to or not, was slowly fading to fragments of memory, almost like the afterthoughts of a distant dream.

But even if she was forgetting just what she had seen, the tremors in her psyche and sensations just beyond her grasp still flashed in ways she could neither ignore or seize even if she wanted to. Worst of all were the human sensations that still plagued her despite her desperation to just withdrawal. The sound of thousands of people close and far chattering, the smells of testosterone and adrenaline as a naked pile of fleshlings wrestled over redundant fabrics, the soreness of new bruises, and the copper-taste of blood from biting her cheek.

It was getting easier as her encounter faded and reality pressed on her if she wanted it or not. But she was changed somehow in a way impossible for her to understand and she knew that would never change. Because even if she had left the star god, she could still, in the moments she was able to embrace the absolute feeling of nothingness for even a millisecond, that the barest of logic threads still tethered them together even now.

She could not access it now, but perhaps in time, the connection between them could be established again? Or perhaps severed permanently?...

Still staring at the spacer as she simply idled, the reptilian mutant carefully placed a pair of undergarments and a just-right T-shirt at Molotra's treads before scurrying off back towards the group.

The Rhino-man soon appeared near the team as he sauntered over, A SOL sized T-shirt looking more several-sizes too small for his massive gut that hung out under it, and the same-sized trousered tearing at the calf into a pair of makeshift-shorts. If the chaos was still not keeping most people on edge they might make a comparison that he looked like a fatter, rhino-themed version of Easy with his shirt covering none of the midriff and his shorts looking about as tight on him as the strange Non-coms did on her.

He pulled off the look surprisingly well.

With a grunt he threw himself down alongside the reptilian mutant and, of all the things that could have happened next, started tearing off strips of a field cap and chewing on it.

Mustering Yard - William

Having more room to change William and the Lianjian man had a better go at it than the rabble. Eventually, as the majority had a semblance of at least some clothing the two of them Were guided by Easy with a large escort of Golem armored guards around to slowly start herding the masses into two seperate groups as she picked out faces and pointed a guard or two at them.

The first group were comprised of mostly NSN personnel and a few of the same but in NSMC uniforms. They were sequestered off to one half of the yard where previously unseen Senior crewmen and some other NSN personnel but in full uniform and also escorted by guards ushered them through a fenced-off gate and away.

The second group was made up of entire marines and two freespacers and were once again forced into a formation.

Walking down the line, Easy stopped at each man or woman and gave William an account of his men.

Their occupations, experience, any relevant information.

And most importantly; Their crimes.

It wasn't a silent affair, either. Each man's or woman's crimes were read off loud enough that it had to be intentional and so the entire group (and even some of the more keen outside listeners) could hear.



A few things became quickly aparent. First that was those who had been a part of the crew and operation on the Small Death had been misnamed or completely misidentified at all. Their crimes similar in some cases but wholely unfounded or all together false!

The second was their two new mutant comrades now had names; One of them famous! Rhindol Cruz was the name of the Rhino-man who gave a toothy smile when his meaguer charges were named off. The other was Rungo Bungo; A well known and semi-famous prankster who many Nepleslian men and women present in the courtyard would be able to recall his media-show based around usually harmless pranks on the general public.

Also his extreme anti-government antics often targetting policemen, political figures, and notable persons in the government. The clip of him attempting to assassinate a member of the senate with an antique crossbow still being shared all across the InterNep even to this day.

The final surprise was Locust. Easy had first looked down on the prone operator down her lose until her finger simply kept scrolling on the dataslate and her grin quickly turned into a frown.

By the end she simply stared at Locust uncertain while the entire yard had silenced to gawk at her and her list of charges until the operator made a very uncharacteristic comment at the senior NCO.

"Is that all?" She stated as a clear question, clearly expecting the list to be longer or knowing it should be.

Easy turned from apprehensive to downright hostile in a moment and launched out a kick towards the operator's face. Locust, even without being able to use her legs caught the seinor NCO by the ankle and pulled her leg past her head and continued to pull the woman off her balance before a nearby guard reacted in time.

With a Stun-Stick to the back of the operator's head. The hollow thump loud enough that everyone in the yard could hear it.

Like a hornets nest that had been kicked, a half douzen guards in heavy Golem armor swarmed the operator and obscured her form. The amount of downwards chops with stunsticks, kicks from boots, punches, and movement before Easy was able to right herself and call them off went on for several seconds. When they cleared out the grey-skinned woman uncurled herself from a fetal position and while heaving for air simply stared up at the seinor NCO with a deadpan expression.

That was until Easy took a Stun stick from one of the guards and jabbed Locust in the eye with it. For the first time and of the crew of the Small Death could recall, even Carina having downright tortured the woman...

For the first time, Locust screamed. The sound of crackling electricity was audible as the operator thrashed and the NonCom leaned in. Stunned by the cruelty of the act nobody had time to act. Not at least until Rhindol Cruz the rhino-mutant got to his feet and growled a warning to Easy.

"'S had e'nuff! Leave 'ff'n me fellow mutie or we see-" He was cut off when sonic rifles were leveled at his challenge and Easy relented. With a final and unnecessary kick to the side of the head with her booted foot, Easy spit on the unmoving form of Locust and stalked off back next to William. A guard carefully slipped a pair of red, glowing bracelets onto Locust's wrists that magnetically locked together, and placed a leather gag over the womans mouth.

What was left of her left eye, through the turned remains of the eyelid was just a black and smoldering eyesocket with the boiled remains of her eye...

"How the hell did we end up with one of the freaks from the pit?" Easy questioned out loud before taking a professional posture once more as if the whole affair had never happened. Silently, and daring any of the guards to make another move towards her, Rhindol carefully scooted Locusts' immobile form behind him.

"Ok! Anything else anyone wants to share before we get you naughty boys and girls loaded up?"

Otto
Watching the assault take place the man chuckled for the first time being in the 309th."You may be Easy, but that. Muriel has more balls that it seems you are packing." Spitting at the NCO, he chuckled again, stepping over to the now wounded locust, removing her Gag."Despite us being enemies. This bitch has more of a fight in her than most of you cowards put together. How many kuvexians did you kill? How many worlds did you jump to, dignitaries killed? Life and hours...days and years that we sacrificed for this Imperium. You are trash. And I won't have some confused pond scum tell me, what my Marines and spooks have or have not done!" Darting forward Otto took the steps to disarm the nearest guard, taking the baton, jamming it into the guards neck before throwing the Baton towards the tall woman's head, holding the guard as a meat shield.

Shawshank Prison

Carina's day had gone from shit. To worse shit. And now straight to flaming atomic shit in quick succession. She'd been grateful for the coveralls. But even at the start of that introductory speech, she'd had a feeling that this 'Master Sergeant' was going to be a mass of fucked up trouble. And it seemed with an alarmingly quick fashion she'd been proven right. And while some small part of her felt a little tingle at Locust's scream, she chewed the inside of her lip as Otto went on the attack. With a growl, the medic surged forward giving the large rhino-like mutant a look. Not one of disgust, or even fear. Just a plain look of thanks. Even though on the inside she hated herself for his coming to her torturer's defense. She knelt beside Locust, grabbing her by the chin with an all too familiar and firm hand and analytical gaze one associated with medical training. Perhaps. Just PERHAPS the crazed murderer would see the barest twinkle of sympathy there. Or perhaps pity. Either or, it was gone before she knew it.

Fodder, Otto had called them. And now he was picking fights with the dry snitching kitty in her cutoffs and on a powertrip. Yep. Bitch was going to be trouble alright. Looking from Locust to Otto's blaze of glory she craned her neck up to the mutant. " 'ey big guy, y'mind keepin' Peaches'ere company for me yeah? Try't get some cool water on that eye if'y can. I gotta tryin' keep one'a my people from pissin' off tha'ride leggin' dry snitch anymore'fore he gets himself fuckin' killed." just from a glance, she knew that the thing was likely ruined unless the killer's body somehow had some freakish regenerative ability. Best she could do, if she even had a kit with her would've been water, compress, painkillers and antibiotics before suggesting regrowth or cybernetic replacement.

Without so much as care, Carina gave the beefy rhino-mutant's huge arm a pat of thanks.

'Fucking Sayonara? Really? REALLY?' as if she'd ever take a burning black hand's be-damned Yamataian last name or allow herself to have one!

She didn't immediately try to seize Otto, but she did get close enough to the man and give enough of a threatening look to the guards around this 'woman' to back the hell off. Even if only for the moment. Golem suits aside. Her fingers itched, the very tips tingled. She almost imagined cold, naked steel being there. Having watched all the horrors inflicted on herself, and the maniac, she was now saddled with between them she wondered what she could do with just a blade. Just one. Give her two and who knew? Her heart thudding in her chest made her skin flush a little at the thought before shaking it aside. It was as much an act of giving off the impression of a murderer looking for a sick thrill as it was tempting to see the outcome. But that nagging mentions of micro-explosives in their heads stayed her hand. At least for now. Until she could find a way to disarm or take them out without everyone forgetting math or becoming drooling vegetables. So she set her little friend to the task. Asking the Savtech if she could think of anything while in the real here and now she seemed frozen on how to act.

Perhaps it was something the now partly blind Locust would notice or not. That moment of stillness. The slight twitch. There had been no deadness to her eyes. Even in this fucked up situation, and somehow ending up with a Yamataian word as her last name her eyes continued to have that little sparkle, that twinkle they'd held even before her life had begun to turn to hell. It was the look of consideration of her options. Just how many people knew what had gone on between them beyond whatever the fuck kind of old wrinkle tits admiral in her freaky digital office space had shown her?

She could fight. Maybe kill one or two. Maybe more. She knew she was strong. But not how much. Carina had learned how easy it now seemed to come when more bloodied violence was necessary if their little 'sessions' were any indication. Should she defend Otto? Could she? He'd come to rescue her from her would-be killer. He had been kind. Hell. Even brought her clothes. But here she was. Saying she'd try to help keep him from getting himself killed. And the medic was frozen stock still unsure of just how to proceed. This. All of this would probably take decades of therapy to fix, or at least manage to curb within her. Beyond this, her knuckles grew white as her small hands balled into fists that drew a trickle of blood from her palms. And for some strange reason, the pain was almost non-existent considering it should hurt. For all of that cocksure initial demeanor, a little war was now waging inside and all she was really aware of at the moment was her own breathing and how it seemed to come quick and heavy.

The Yard

The temporary space provided by the rush of people moving past them gave the stout tank-like cyborg a brush with reality, backed up by a reflexive, analytical examination of the reptilian mutant that handed them the clothes next. Molotra didn't dislike the nature of the organism particularly, but imagined herself defensively jamming her metal arm into their voice box, before the more benign motives became clear.

Outwardly, just scowling at them until they left, then.

"...This is... politics..." The logic of the situation whirred around in their head. They'd been in a robot-style prison of servitude before, but this was different; Nepleslians had clearly thrown off any notion of re-education, and had turned their system into something more like a twisted form of revenge. Or maybe entertainment, for somebody.

The thought made them finally move around a little, raising their cyborg right arm, clenching the three fingers. It looked like a crude sculpture without the guns attached, just a pair of metal poles that flexed where the wrist bones would be. Her spine still rigid with bolted-on electroactive polymer strands. Treads still... Well, treads. They didn't indignity her with rubber tires...

Fleshy left hand caressed the shirt over their solar plexus, finding that her fingers went... right inside her ribcage... through the empty metal ring that once contained her radioisotope thermoelectric generator...

Okay, so the cavemen weren't quite ignorant enough to let her build a makeshift nuke. Scratch the most 'direct' solution.

Itinerary completed; Her lifting ability was intact, and she had this spare shirt and panties. Took off her original shirt and wrapped it around her face, putting the new one on in turn.

Time for the long game. Attention was turned back towards this... Well, it really did look like a zoo.

That grey-skinned cyborg had a serious face wound, and the fight still didn't look like it was done escalating. Molotra chose not to look for attack options, and observed if they could get closer to the pathetically balled up, mauled lady instead... Dragging them away from this situation would be... opportune, for all involved.

The Stomping Yard

Dyna had been one of the last ones to get pushed into the mass as she had taken more than a few dives into the clothes pile to fulfill Lupin's request for footwear for him and his friends. She was definitely going to be bruised to all hell and on a guess, her lip was split after someone got a good elbow in. Her tank top was marked with small flecks of blood and her one boot was already ripping from when she had to literally tear it from someone’s hand.

As the accounting of her crimes was read out it suddenly all rushed back to her. The way his smug face curled into a smile when she first refused him. The way that same face crunched when it was pressed between her palm and his desk as soon as he went for his belt. Well, at least she did actually commit three of those crimes.

Any attraction Dyna felt towards Easy melted away as her cruelty was put on full display. “Fucking bitch” she muttered under her breath. She had already played her ‘violence first’ card and that didn’t turn out great for her. But this would be justified. No matter how long that person's crimes might have been they don’t deserve a stun stick to the fucking eye. Her attack on Major Rapist had also been justified and now she was here!

Her choice was made for her when the Black-haired marine hopped into the fray, he put himself out there and she’s not going to be able to do anything to step on his moment. She saw the small tank person from the cryo room moving to drag the poor broken woman away. Dyna dove to the tank person’s side and without saying a word grabbed the victimized woman’s ankles nodding at Moltara to pull her to the crowd.

Orange is the new Green

As serious, confusing and desperate as the situation was part of Lupin still felt guilty that Dyna got decently roughhoused in her attempt to make good for knocking the young sniper on his ass. But there was a bundle of assorted footwear that would hopefully fit him and his squad mates, with all the chaos going on there'd no doubt be broken glass and debris in the team's future, so footwear was a must.

She got a frown and an attempted smile for her efforts, the intention was genuine but far too much was happening for a proper thanks.

The hell kind of surname was Hersal? Certainly not his... it sounded almost Abwheran. With all the bright lights and yelling he had little doubt this was to help pressure and identify future troublemakers, people who'd make this facade more difficult to maintain in the future.

Who were these fuckers? some angry band of separatists? deserters? He'd need to do some snooping when he got a chance~

Then he noticed the severity of Locusts wound, and why the half-limp woman was being so quickly dragged away into the crowd for treatment. The scent of scorched flesh brought Lupin's mind back to... however long ago it'd been that his own face was reduced to a mess of gristle and sizzling fat, making the young man shudder slightly. He was glad an attempt was being made, but with only scraps of clothing and sweaty bodies at their disposal the half-Hanyan doubted there was much he could do to help.

There was one thing he could do, eyes locked on Otto, and the situation he'd gotten himself into.

"Otto!" Lupin yelled, zipping up his boots before storming over to stand alongside Carina, towering over the medic by a good foot or so as his body radiated a considerate bit of heat.

"Think, you dumbass, you're no good to us with your head splattered over the fucking floor!" the younger sniper continued to roar, sharp fangs bared as one hand was thrust up to point at the near invisible scar from when his brain spider had been installed, veins bulging through the side of his neck with each vowel uttered. It screamed against everything the logical side of Lupin's brain told him to do, to shut his mouth, shrivel up and got unnoticed.

But it was true. With Locust and Tobias' loyalties still uncertain, and with Minnie nowhere to be found, they needed the failed spook.

Green is The New Black

Tobias ignored the error with his name, though a voice in the back of his head reminded him that he couldn't be sure it was an error after all. The assault on Locust hadn't lasted long, thanks to the less-than-wise words of a certain washout. Letting out a brief tsk as he saw Otto confront the guards, he thought back to a similar error he had made in the swamp with the Red pilots. He had considered that foolish immediately after the fact, but it was nothing compared to the foolishness going on now. Even a washout should have known better, and one could almost think that the sniper had gone looking for trouble.

He watched for a moment as the situation unfolded, observing Lupin's... loud... attempt at talking Otto down, Carina's uncertainty, and the tracked Freespacer and the former Space Marine dragging Locust away from what looked to be a quickly developing brawl. There were two options, as he saw it. The first was to try and get involved in the brawl itself, which could only end one way; in getting beaten down by guards and watched more closely, or do his best to prompt everyone not yet involved to stay uninvolved, and unnoticed by the guards.

Thinking back to his dressing down by Dreamy Steve, and his training, he decided that discretion was the better part of valor here.

Never fight the whole city unless you think you can win.

The young operator moved over to Carina's side, slipping through the rowdy crowd before reaching the medic's side, he did his best to appear as a nervous young man rather than an IPG operative, a task not too difficult given his build. Speaking in a firm tone that failed to match the stance he took, he spoke just loud enough to be heard by Carina; "There's nothing we can do for him right now except get ourselves hurt and under watch, best to back off for now."

Yard, The

Quilly'd been called a bird more times than she could count. Actually, it took her biting her tongue, literally, to prevent the Elysian from launching a response deluge of slurs in instinctive response to the aforementioned assigned name, just to prove she knows a thing or two. Luckily, the whole "bomb in yer head" thing is a good incentive to shut up. Well, a good incentive for most people, not that Otto guy. She simply waited for that whole situation to resolve itself - running into that might get her head blown off just to get some guys a free meal.

Also, half those crimes were bullshit. Also also, they didn't even mention her burning down a building at all! What kind of shitty fake record was this?

Not a Correctional Institution Owned by some Company Upstate

Carina had clenched and unclenched her fists several times as she began to feel that familiar heat begin to rise. Ways. Oh, so many ways were coming to mind of just what she could do to that woman. Her ears had begun to ring just a little even as Lupin stepped in to try and de-escalate the situation. Her jaw began to clench, teeth grinding a little. But a voice pierced the hazy cloud of mounting anger that she turned a withering stare that if even physically possible would've stripped Nerimium off a ship's hull. Bottom Barrel stood there. A little taller than she but close enough that the medic had to indeed tip her head a little to see him.

Her lips curled just a little at the wisdom of his words until looking back at Otto and then him. And finally to Lupin. Squeezing her eyes shut and then with a final glance the girl stepped backward. A hand brushed against the tall sniper's perhaps letting him know she was going. The look she wore turning into something akin to pity. Or perhaps hatred of the moment. This. As she thought about it went against the ethos that the little girl had seen on the first-generation Nepleslian Star Empire warships she'd been aboard. A brotherhood. Comrades. Drinking buddies and bar brawlers. Panty raiders. All of it. Except the last perhaps depending on the individual and if said individual held your life in her hands.

With a shuddering breath, Carina wove her way back past the rank and file criminals. Innocent or guilty. Proven or otherwise. But all she could think of was: 'I'm sorry.' for leaving the man who'd put his life on the line to save her behind. One way or another. She'd find a way to get these 'bombs' out of their heads. And then whatever prayer these people had wouldn't be enough to sate her ire whilst trying to find out why in the hell they were even in this place to start with.

Mustering yard - Everyone

The brief melee was just that; Brief. Otto gave out just as good as he got, even against enemies in golem armor; Striking out at the masks and goggles where it would still be felt, and performing a few impressive throws that left the heavier armored guards still staggering back to their feet before the conflict de-escalators were introduced.

They hit those closest to the fighting and directly in it; Otto, lupin, a couple other marines who had not quite backed away but had not participated either. It even hit Carina as she turned away. All of them felt a particular danger sense in their head, but lacked the time to dodge before it struck...

"There's always some group like this; The tough guys who still try to act like they have some semblance of honor left in em" Easy explained to William as the melee commenced, clearly expecting it. She hadn't seemed to care for any of the terse or pointed comments the same way Locust' remarks had.

Easy had first looked to William with a questioning look as if she expected him to deal with his new charges. The look was only brief and was clearly only an invitation and she didnt seem overly tiffed and rather glad to end up with the current altercation.

Her grin only widened when several nearby guards not in the melee strode forwards and leveled anti-riot grenade launchers. They fired them mercilessly into the melee, grenades erupting with a loud and disorienting pop before dispersing a clear gas that quickly spread as the blasts threw it around. It had no effect on the guards in their golem armor and built-in respiration, but the effect on all the prisoners in or caught near the melee was quick as with burning eyes and failing bodies they began to collapse and spasm into unconsciousness.

At the same time others landed in the mustering yard from more distant guards and began to pacify everyone else.

In the end the only ones not standing who weren't guards were Easy who a guard brought a respirator (but not william), and Rhindol Cruz who stood tall if confused among a sea of scattered and unconscious bodies; His constitution clearly above the par as he grinned in a way that most prize-winners do. None of the team saw or knew this, And any of them who might have managed to stay conscious otherwise may have regretted it when the grenade launchers were replaced with point-blank shots from sonic rifles that even brought the mutant down with a couple of salvos.

In the distance and beyond the fences the crowds boo'ed, though clearly in a sportsman way that signified they would have liked the fight to go on a bit longer...

Sometime later - Barracks.

It was with a start that the team began to wake over time. They would find themselves in a simple barrack interior; With rows upon rows of simple bunkbeds built into a single massive and long room with a footlocker at the foot of each one and nothing else but double-doors at each end of the interior.

Nobody woke up in these beds, however. Most woke up on the floor where they had obviously been dragged unceremoniously thrown on either side with females on one side and males on the other. A clear and unmistakable red line was painted down the middle of the floor, segregating the two halves by gender.

Molotra, Dyna, Carina, and quilly woke on one side, mostly together. Locust was nearby, and actually on a bed still unconscious; Having been given some clear rudimentary treatment as was displayed by bandage rappings on her face, neck, stomach, and around one of her knees. At the foot of her bed and on the footlocker was a simple medical satchel that upon inspection contained fresh banadages, antibiotics, trauma patches, bruise-pads, and some non-pain medication and anti-inflammatories.

On the other side Otto, Lupin, Tobias, and Sebastian woke up in a simular state to their female counterparts with the exception of Sebastian who woke up to the displeasure of being little spoon to a massive rhino of a mutant who still seemed dead asleep and had to muscle his way out of the imposing cuddling of the mutant.

At the end of the interior, and through one of the doors, William also awoke in more private quarters though the only furnishings being a cot, a desk, a closet with a dress uniform roughly his size, and a door that led into a bathroom clearly too small for an SOL to comfortably freshen up.

The team appeared to be the first ones to wake up, but many were beginning to groan or moan and stir around them clearly not too far behind.

Zero Star Hotel

Waking up like this had gotten old several 'jumps' ago. Molotra dove straight into examining the situation this time, observing the dimensions of the room, those that were awake versus those that were asleep, and if they were being directly observed by any security cameras. It was good to see that Locust was at least alive, so that effort wasn't entirely wasted.

A small look of recognition, regarding the tall muscular woman, with the burn scars on her face... The same person that had helped them with the wounded cyborg?... It was plainly obvious that they were sizing up the marine, trying to judge whether this relationship would be worth continuing.

"...Thanks." Was all the smaller tank creature could commit themselves to emoting.

Next objective; The medical supplies... Their head seemed to audibly creak left and right as their tracks twitched, judging if they were themselves being observed yet, though organic or digital means...

If they could get close enough, they'd grab some of those antibiotics, wrap them up in the spare panties, and hide them in the fleshy chest-hole left by their missing generator unit.

It was about survival at this point. Without their filtration mask, they'd start getting sick soon.

A New But Equally Unpleasant Floor

Dyna woke up face down on the floor, after blinking her eyes open the words "Athlete's Face" crossed her mind like a suped-up car rushing past a window at 4:00 am. With a push, the buff marine brought herself up onto her knees. To her right was the tank person that Dyna helped drag the woman with the long list of crimes with.

Dyna almost didn't notice the person's 'thanks' but she found herself smiling nonetheless. "No problem! I'm Dyna!" She held out her right hand for Molotra then quickly switched to her left hand noticing the robotic nature of her companion's hand. Unfortunately, it seemed the tank person had set their sights elsewhere so Dyna left them to their own devices.

Instead, she opted to turn and check on Easy's victim from the yard. Who the hell was this person? Dyna felt glad she was still alive but didn't know if she really should. Since she wasn't anything close to a trained medic she just kinda stood over this person's unconscious form. Turning to the slowly waking group around her, "Do you guys know this chick?"

B O O T

Tobias woke up feeling like he'd suffered a particularly bad hangover, clearly whoever devised the chemical cocktail that had been in those gas grenades hadn't been too concerned with the long-term wellbeing of the individuals that they would be used on. But then, prisoners were expendable after all. He rose from his bed, briefly taking inventory of the surroundings, his ocular implants recording every detail he could make out, as they flitted between spectra to pinpoint cameras, hidden and otherwise. Useful information for later.

He strode over to the footlocker, looking through its contents and slipping on a pair of socks that he found inside among the assorted clothes before making his way around the men's side of the bay to wake other members of the team. It seemed like playing nice had gotten nowhere, but stepping out of line like Otto had wouldn't yield results either. They would have to wait for an opportune moment to make a move, the maybe-Operator thought to himself.

Some Janky Bunkroom

Carina could not recall too much as she awoke in a groggy fashion. Her ears still rung from whatever had been done. And it felt as if she'd drank an entire jar of grain alcohol in one go. But as bleary eyed as she was, the young medic sat up and rubbed at her eyes in much the same fashion. With a dull thump between her ears, the young Sanroma scion looked about at her surroundings. Bunk-style beds in a barracks-like room. No surprise there. She'd been used to much the same before everything went to complete hell and now being part of some psychotic old admiral's 'family'.

With a squint of her eyes, she examined further, seeing a tracked humanoid figure look about furtively and inching her way toward another bed. With a muttered curse, she swing her legs off whatever hard mattress she'd been settled upon and tested her footing. Her legs didn't give out under her which was a good sign. Yet as she made to run a finger through her once-glorious mane of hair she felt nothing but stubble followed by a growl within her throat. Not so much a warning toward Molotra than at her current situation. As she knuckled the side of her head, Carina made her way toward the little tank'spacer though her original objective had been Locust, clearing her throat as she spotted the medical bag, and the still unconscious 'Lambda' on her bed.

Wrapped in bandages, she narrowed her eyes at the deadly assassin as she put a hand on the Freespacer's shoulder, from her height advantage she loomed over her.

"What'cha doin' there, Rollo?" her voice a little harsh. Not out of malice but more of a scratchy throat and the simple fact it seemed she would be saddled with nursing her would-be killer back to some semblance of health. Not to mention it seemed there was only one medical bag on the operator's footlocker. While unbeknownst to herself, let alone others, her little power source, one of the Lazarus made QNCs that now provided energy to her skeleton, its systems, and her cybernetic lungs may have gone relatively undetected as it emitted naught in terms of active radiological emissions.

"Ya CREAK, when'ya tryin't be sneaky." her voice having gone from harsh to scratchy but all in a chiding tone as she leaned in close, close enough to whisper in her ear. "What'cha goin' for in'tha bag?"

Unpleasant Accommodations

It was not a comfortable void the young prince's unconscious mind found itself adrift in as he lay on the cold, hard floor - though the rolling waves of chemically induced unconsciousness were at least a brief respite from all the fear and panic that had ravaged his mental palace.

With an unceremonious snort all that was ripped away, replaced with stinging eyes and the damp sensation of drool against his face as Lupin coughed the last remnants of heavy gas out his lungs. Even with his luscious eyelashes it took a lot of blinking and rubbing for him to be able to make out any discernible forms in the swirling mess of orange he'd need to get accustomed to.

As though he was staring through an amber tincture glass his world was a collection of ocherous shades punctuated by dull hints of other colours... it'd certainly take a lot of getting used to, seeing the heat radiating from exposed flesh and transferring onto any surfaces his fellow prisoners made contact with. For someone who was so used to over-analyzing his surroundings it was a little disorientating, but if the alternative was a plasma-charred mess for a face then he considered himself lucky.

"She's..." the young sniper started as he began to rise up with one final cough, densely muscled thighs and glutes visibly pistoning beneath the somewhat-tight pants as Lupin sat down on the side of his bed, looking at the bandaged woman before his ethereal gaze returned to Dyna.

"...an unknown variable, not too long ago I dumped an M3 magazine into her but now it seems she's in the shit with us... fucking nothing makes sense," he finished with a huff, flopping back onto the bedding with a wince as his bare scalp hit the pillow.

Right, he had a head injury, one that felt like it'd been glued up at some point between the gas attack and him being dumped in the barracks.

"You said Dyna, yeah? I'm Lupin~"

The Group Cell Barracks

Dyna got very close to the sleeping woman observing her injuries "She took all that? Guess it explains how she didn't die back in the yard." Dyna considered poking her just to see if she was real, she thought better of it, even if she wasn't real she definitely was some kind of badass.

At Lupin's introduction, Dyna spun around and went closer to speak to him. She didn't dare to cross the red line separating the room for fear of getting gassed or stun sticked again. "Nice to meet you Lupin!" She gestured around to the other members of Lupin's group "So are you guys like a squad or just really close buds?" She looked at Lupin's pained expression on the bed "Also I'm still really sorry about the head thing, how'd you even get those panties on you? They were pretty cute." She said in genuine appreciation.

"They were mine." Molotra answered simply, blank faced as they considered if that was actually correct or not due to the multiple random dimension jumps.

...The glazed-over expression passed over Dyna, then at Lupin... Then they kinda just left it hanging.

They currently had another person stooped over them, after all. The caterpillar tomboy had kind of frozen mid-robbery, as if not hiding things made it less incriminating.

"...I require antibiotics for not dying." Was the more hushed answer they directed towards the more youthful Nepleslian. There was a lot of distrust in their voice, if only because the girl looked a bit ratty and dishevelled. They all did right now. "...Prison guard gibbons... likely to just let it happen..."

An odd look followed, examining Carina up and down now, noting the slight extra solidity in her stance, just at the edge of perception. The energy and clarity that seemed to come back to the girl much faster than anyone else...

Then they wrapped up just a single packet of the antibiotics, and shoved them under her grimy shirt.

"Are you a cyborg?" Direct. Cold.

They didn't have that small perceptible veneer of visual discomfort around Locust and herself. That was the real tell.

Barracks - Everyone.

Slowly the sub-50 odd other marines had begun to in turn stir and then groggily enter the world of the conscious once more. It took a marginal amount of time for them to wake, giving the genuinely innocent bunch time to have their tug-of-war around drugs like the good inmates they were.

The gender composition became pretty obvious when 2/3rds of the occupants in the room leaned into the male side of the gender spectrum. With the exception of Sebastian; A SOL, the majority were base Nepleslians with the exception of the couple mutants.

Many stood or staggered and began to routinely scrounge and scavenge around the footlockers, pulling toiletries, necessities, and odds and ends from bunks and racks they began to claim with more than a hefty majority pocketing small and easily concealed objects like toothbrushes and pocket shaving razors.

It was the first male to instead decide on other priorities and proved Dyna's caution a wise move when he instead started towards the female section with intentions unclear if easy to surmise. He gave a cursory glance to the line before brazenly stepping over it and in the direction of a pair of still groggy women.

As soon as he passed over the line completely, however, a loud alarm chime sounded once, causing many of the still staggering marines to wince in pain from the sharp sound. Those close enough to him to hear it after the chime would only have heard a barely audible click sound and then a spot in the back of the man would deform like an expanding balloon and then deflate again in the same second; Blood shooting out of his nose like a geyser and one of his eyes pulping with a disgusting pop all in the same time it took his second step to hit the deck.

The man staggered a few more steps and then simply collapsed on top of the two women. One began to scream and scrabbled to extricate herself while the other began to gag and heave.

Other than the two who he fell on, there was little hysteria other than some cursing from those present.

Even with the spectacle only lasting a couple of seconds, those two women closet to a certain comatose seeming operator may have registered the briefest flash of the movement in their peripheral vision. Looking at Locust, however, would just show her just as unmoving even if the medical satchel near her was slightly displaced. Her hands, still cuffed in the red bands were closed tightly obscuring their contents if there were any.

There was little time to process this as the doors at the face of the barracks swung open and a panting older woman with faded ginger-red hair burst in wearing the uniform of an NSN ensign.

"Sorry im late!" She heaved, seeming every bit as taxed as her years might imply. "Nobody else cross the line!"

The new arrival took a long moment to catch her breath, either ignoring or oblivious to the more than a few utterances of 'no shit!' that was aimed at her. She lingered for some time, clearly waiting and expecting something but was left wanting when it didn't happen.

"That system is there to keep you lot from any nighttime assaults or rendevous in the billet." She stated, still looking expectantly down the barracks. "Your handler in the mustering yard didn't brief you on that, who did you have any way that they didn't even brief you on the billet rules? Never mind. Wheres your lieutenant at, you all should have been mustered at the armory hours ago, we ship out in an hour!"

As if all that had just happened was clearly an outlier, a certain Rhindol Cruz; Rhino mutant extraordinaire gave a smaller man a shove across the line prompting the same fiasco to happen all over again; Alarm and exploding-bomb-in-head included. Ever the scientist he was, the mutant rubbed his chin thoughtfully and before he could even react clasped a hand down on one Lupin Kennedy.

Looking down at the young hanyan, the Mutant nodded with a grunt at himself just as much as Lupin.

And then shoved Lupin towards the line.

Barracks:

William and Sebastian rose at the same time to see the man's head explode after crossing the line...

At the Ensigns explanation, William sneered in her direction. "Would have been nice to know any of this before hand..." turning back to the rest of the barracks, he was about to bark out his order to muster but then saw Rhino shove Lupin to the line. "Sebastian! Get Lupin."

Without a word the Two ID-SOLs rocketed forward, Sebastian moving to throw Lupin away from the line. However William cocked his arm back and slammed his fist into the base of the mutant's neck.

Carina nodded at the little Type-2's answer. Made sense. But then again, didn't they have their radio-whatsits to help with that? The young medic scratched the side of her nose as she recalled seeing the little tank'spacer before back in whatever matrix hell that had been. She mouthed 'Shit' more to herself than to the 'spacer lass.

"You ain't got'ya RTG thingy? 'an'ya mask? Well fuck..." the girl ended with a look toward the spray of blood and eye goo that had once been another man. Hazel eyes glanced to the line across the floor. Where the poor, and probably dumb bastard had been and the shrieking women. Adopting a grimace, either she'd become inured by the sight of blood and guts. Partly from her profession and... other assorted things. She did blink however at the rather direct question and sudden change of demeanor.

From all shy and small voiced to something more akin to her favorite murderer crazed assassin. In response, Carina gave a nonchalant shrug.

"Yeah, I guess?" was her answer with a sly little smile. "Since I was eight. Now I guess I got a full skeletal replacement'n other shiz." she added with a companionable pat on the smaller woman's shoulder. "But, Rollo? We'gunna talk'bout what'ya took."

Holding her hands up to forestall any protests and showing the shortstack no sudden movements, Carina continued: "I know'yall get sick wit'out them things in'ya. I met plenty of'ya Folk before. Even some crazy ass redhead said she flew wit a buncha privateers 'an some dude named Has-somethin'. Had one'a them code ident things. Uh..." she snapped her fingers several times and sighed. "77-6584-1426 somethin' one'a them thinkin' types. Said she was on'tha path of tha'explosions whatever tha'fuck that means. Had a bigass automata with'er. Talked like some'inna pirate type. Blasted a lil'ol kitten apart sayin' that was for Freehold. Don' blame'em. Fucking things'll steal'ya soul wit' their eyes if you'let'em." shaking her head at going off on the tangent Carina rubbed her throat and cleared it.

"But yeah. I ain't sayin' ya'can't have'em. But we gotta know if they work on'ya first, yeah?" then in a low whisper, " 'cuz if'n we don' know what'ya took. We don' know if they gonna make'ya sicker. Or not work. Or dose's too high, too low. Shit like'dat. I'm a medic so I'd have a pretty good idea since I had'ta learn'bout you guys a bit." then with a little 'get on with it motion'. Carina looked on expectantly until she heard another gurgle having ignored the older ginger-haired woman.

Another prisoner, another guy died in much the same way as the first. Except for this time a rather introspective Rhino seemed to be mulling this newfound joy over. That was until he laid a hand on Lupin. The kindly, well, in a rough and tumble Nepleslian sort of way fell away and in its place was a look of absolute, pure murderous rage across her features.

And seemed deadset on showing Molotra she did indeed have some chrome in her bones by finding the nearest heavy object to throw at the burly mutant.

Thankfully the red haze abated somewhat as the ID-SOLs moved in, one going for Lupin, the other it appeared going for Rhindol. Yet that hadn't stopped her chest from heaving. "He's gonna be a problem, ya'don't fuck wit' our crew." she said in a heated tone both to herself and to the lil'Type-2. With a final look toward the resulting mayhem, Carina ran a hand over her scalp and expected her luxurious hair but instead felt stubble.

"We'll talk'bout them 'biotics later." her voice was not cold but it had been equally as direct and no-nonsense. The now older woman snatched up the medical bag just in case before walking over to the woman known as Locust, or Lambda, or whatever other name she'd had. Kneeling beside the bedridden, injured, and seemingly shackled killer, the medic inspected the cuffs with a frown.

"Fakin' it ain't ya'strong suit, Peaches." she muttered in a low tone. The look she gave the operator was one of familiarity. Not the one of the torturer or killer or whatever she'd done. But analytical in that way she'd developed while they'd played 'Hide and Killer or be Killed'. It was the look Carina had begun using when she'd begun catching on before the perceived sadism and looks of pleasure at the 'woman's pleading.

Except for this time she wasn't there to kill, maim, or whatever else had passed between them. Instead, the young Sanroma ran a finger along Locust's wrist, just shy of the cuffs. Then with seeming tenderness, cupped the killer's chin delicately and turned her face toward her. Conscious or not, hazel eyes would have met the dead-eyed stare.

The question was silent. Concern? With the bag opened before her, slim hands went through the contents, making little noises of disapproval or satisfaction depending on her discoveries. Finding the anti-biotic tablets, she poped one of the packets open, palmed the pill along with what passed for pain medication. And without much fuss, clamped the woman's jaw open and placed them on her tongue.

"Swallow." that tone one of command, perhaps once used when she'd plead for her life or an end to the torture. Yet none came. And instead of pain and suffering was the nearest thing to mercy or kindness she'd shown the creature before her. It was positive attention. No sadism.

"Here five fuckin' minutes 'an we got shit blownin' up on us." clearly indicating the dead idiots. And the rhino mutant's brilliant experimentation as the burly ID-SOLs had moved in to quell it. Already the gears were turning in her head. Trying to figure this all out. Why they were here. How to get the bombs out of their skulls if they were even in there. Make it out alive. And likely ensure Master Sergeant Not So Hotpants' pants were set on fire with her still in them.