RP: Die Screaming [Die Screaming] Red death part II: To Die For So Little.

Gangrene Grotto

Tobias let out a sigh of relief. He was still alive, despite the fact that the second team had been forced to reveal himself. He'd gotten sloppy, and he was sure he was going to get an earful from the boss once she got back regarding the fact that he'd forced them to show their hand. His mind raced over the things he could have done differently. He could have disabled the enemy's armors before the whole incident, made it look like a malfunction by forcing a fuse to go over-current.

Without replacements, maybe the Reds wouldn't have tried to pull a stunt like this. Could have, would have, should have. Tobias let out a sigh again. It was no use kicking himself over it now, not when the other operators were sure to give him twice as much flak as he could possibly give himself. "Sorry, sir." He said.

"I didn't take the proper time to assess threats after the boss left, and tried to handle things on my own. That was stupid of me." He finished, as he began to withdraw to nurse his cut and gather his gear in the short time they had before they would need to move again. As he finished stowing his gear and pulling on his Britva's helmet, he began to shadow the group of marines at a healthy distance, not too far, but not too close either, and he made sure that he had a clear line of sight to every red still alive.

Gangrene Grotto
L.Fekete

Lou sat and watched, as the spooks appeared and just as quickly vanished. Thinking on the words of dreamy steve, he laughed. "It caused hesitation in the enemy, enough for most of our team to move. Its not stupid if it works." His voice was matter of fact as he continued laughing. Picking up his pack, and the Kuvexians pistol he kicked back near it. Setting the explosives back into the pack and the detonator back in its pouch. He would move to ensure the rest of his team did not need assistance. Going to each person , checking to make sure no one but the reds were stuck in the cave.forming up with the small Sergeant, for whom he had now more respect for. Slinging his rifle off of his pack, Lou checked the magazine and sighed."good thing I grabbed that pistol. What are our orders Sergeant?" His question to the point as the group surveyed the treeline.

Gangrene Grotto

As quickly as Sebastian got to his armor and powered up, it was already over. He watched the Reds retreat out of the cave and kept watching till they were well out of sight. Only then he allowed himself a sigh of relief.

He powered down his PA and exited again. He needed to conserve what power his armor had left. Stepping back from his armor, he pat the shoulder before he began to perform what maintenance he could in the cave. "That's what I get for saying I was bored... Not making that mistake again." he said as he began to clean the VOID's weapon systems for what had to be the 10th time since they had first entered the cave.

He glanced towards the Sarge from time to time, just to make sure she was okay. Besides Lou was talking to her, so Sebastian was fine with staying by his armor.

Gangrene Grotto.

Many of the teams questions went unanswered by their sergeant who continued her seemingly morbid stare into the rain. What might have seemed like brooding was more akin to circumspect speculation of their surroundings as she dwelt over what a second IPG team meant for her team and just how; If the first team had been inserted via the small death had that team been inserted with the nearest another friendly touchdown she guestimated of their current position being before many of them had bugged out.

There were none within hundreds of kilometers. And even that one was supposed to be an enclave of the Viridian Array; Not the kind of group to ferry spooks planetside.

Duece had been a common enough occurrence on New Bernese. The enigmatic figure more often than not abused the 1st Assault Fleet forces that had been in the planets orbit as her own private ferrying service and planetary strike platform and had more than a few occasions snagged some of the 309ths' marines for her escapades when extra muscle was required; Herself included.

But it had been just Duece.

She had assumed the rest of her team that had been inserted on the small death with the marines had been either operating independently on New Bernese like she had and differed to her, or had come in with the arrival of the 3rd Assault Fleet. It had been one of the topics she had been about to grill Tobias on earlier and to what end what was clearly a kill team had been inserted into what was supposed to be simple guard duty for some NAM techs installing ground to void batteries.

But now there's another team...

And what's more, she now knew they were out there, and even with her own enhanced vision and optics and having known their last position she couldn't even pinpoint the 14-foot black aggressor that had somehow coalesced from the rain itself and disappeared just as easily without a sound or disturbance.

Even when she turned back into the cave she failed to spot any additional operators other than Locust or Tobias.

And she was standing in the only exit...

Checking the mysterious updates to her Golems HUD she was being fed as to their daily destination, she acquiesced that the marked clearing on the simple map on her HUD was large enough that it could be only one thing and would come with answers one way or another.

"We move out." Was her answer to all the questions at once. Ending the statement with a nod to the now-vacated stretcher Lou had occupied earlier and then to Carina in a gesture to pack it up. They would have to make good time and on the last round of antibiotics, they had the marine could make it on his feet.

2-hours later. Rendevous

The rain had broken an hour earlier and brought back with it the oppressive humidity and some of the more annoying swarm insects of at least a manageable size. What awaited the team, reds, and operators and was the first sign had been the first signs of clear-cutting of some of the smaller trees and brush, and for those who kept their Golems goggles the link to a familiar and friendly IFF system marking sporadic green dots just off the path standing vigil in increasing numbers in a security pattern.

They were the marine detail of the small death.

None moved to greet them, and it was unlikely any of the reds knew of their existence until the growing sounds of commotion and distant shouts of commands made it obvious to even the most oblivious that they were no longer alone.

It was no less surprise to anyone when the team and a large group of reds broke into the clearing and into a live commotion of swarming marines; Few of which had enough time to even register the group of wet and dirty brown and red troopers before sergeants verbally beat them back onto various tasks moving equipment into two massive shuttles each half the size of the small death.

Each one was clearly not SMDIoN standard and shared the sleek and angular design and blue-gold-purple color scheme of kuvexian manufacturing.

While everyone stood dumbstruck trying to process everything a weary sergeant finally tracked over and stood before the group, glaring at but not at all surprised by the arrival of so many reds.

"Valentine, you look lot look like ass." He grunted with finality, appraising the group before clearly softening a modicum.

"We've got chow and fresh water. Un-ass and get some rest-" He was silenced by the arrival of the two red officers who, like Minnie stood silently expecting answers. The sergeant stood his ground for just a moment before gesturing to a group of unmistakeable figures in black armor lounging around on crates and in the mud much the same as the first time they touched down planetside, A single lithe figure covered in too many knives to be feasible watched the group from her seat like a sadistic predator; Practically becoming them without making so much as a gesture.

"Sebastian, Dismount and get your suits batteries back to a hundred and restock the team's weapons. Lupin, gather some rations and top off the canteens and find everyone a place to crash. Carina, take Lou and re-up our meds, make sure you change his bandages and get him another course of antivirals"

Without further fanfare she stalked off towards the spooks, Windchime in tow while her second gave similar orders to her reds.

The two spent more than an hour in an oddly joint effort of shouting and threatening Duece who seemed not at all bothered and seemed to respond to anyone paying attention with more casual gestures and quiet and casual conversational statements just outside the range of being audible from anyone trying to eavesdrop.

By the time the two furious women broke contact with the spook and returned to their own groups they had settled into a kind of morbid acceptance.

The team, now at least fed and a modicum more clear and refreshed and carrying fresh packs of ammunition, explosives, meds, and the like would never have guessed what she was about to tell them next...

15 Hours later, Low Orbit, Kuvexian shuttle

Lieutenant darling and the small death, along with its crew bugged out to the far side of the local satellite after dispatching the rest of our marines here.

The sergeant had began, before revealing a complicated plan unveiled to her and their awaiting fate.

The entire mission had been designed to and doomed to fail from the start. The small death, the BRR Atlas class frigate, and of all things a DeepSix command tower all waited on the far side of the planets only moon, The later of which crewed only enough by the on-site NAM techs volunteered to die for the DIoN at a wild and suicidal mission sanctioned by the Admiral himself under such dire circumstances.

The kuvexians early arrival had been predicted by Dueces superior who had remained unnamed and fed to the admiral at the last possible minute with a plan so bold its chances were so low that it was obvious from even beneath the stern look on minnies face that of the marines, reds, and even the spooks; All had been written off already as KIA and as necessary losses to attempt an impossible feat.

A rook still in orbit only seemingly destroyed.

Two Hray class gunships still hidden in the khyber belt of the system.

A single Cobra gunship, One Red frigate, And an FTL capable space to ground command center.

Fifty marines, Two hundred reds, seven members of the Viridian Army, sixteen NAM techs, and 16 IPG operators.

All written off as expendable sacrifices for a chance to kill one ship. And more importantly its contents.

The ship, it had been explained to Minnie and now to the team and nearby the reds; Contained some four hundred thousand if not more kuvexian mercenaries bound for the colonial expanse. All still bound in cryosleep with their entire officer cadre as well; Surrounded on all sides by the protective hull and shield of a kuvexian heavy-cruiser and its thirty escorts.

Now, crammed into Emrys manufactured environment suits and packed like sardines into a shuttle too small for the twenty marines, ten reds, and Duece's team it was reinforced how desperate an attempt was to be made; And how.

It was never revealed how the shuttles had been captured and what happened to its pilots. But a need for pilots had become obvious; Hence the reds who convinced by duece had given away the lives of his two sole surviving pilots to somehow in such a short amount of time learn the foreign craft in such a short amount of time and as fighter pilots were clearly flying them much like fighters and less like combat shuttles.

It was only Sebastian and one of the two red PA pilots crammed in their shuttle who couldn't be practically smothered by the press of bodies.

In a nearby corner the IPG team sat slightly more comfortable in their light bravita powered armor. Tobias, somehow through some circumstances was playing the part of little spoon to duece who quietly hummed an off-tone melody with her hands wrapped around the younger operators waist to hold him snug, the curves of her body lost to the ever-annoying poke and jabbing of a sheath of each shoulder prodding annoyingly into his back even through the armor.

"So did you make any friends?" She had cooed playfully at her reunion with him in the clearing, obviously well aware of what had transpired as she had licked a thumb and cleaned dried dirt and blood from a cut on his face like a doting mother. "I told you not to play rough. You're too much of a bottom to go roughhousing when I'm not there after all so i asked Steven to go pick you up. Hes a kind soul when it comes down to it!"

Her teasing and innuendos hadn't stopped even now as she casually unbuckled his belt or unbuttoned one of the outer-pockets of his webbing in the playful groping while the rest of the team simply floated around in the odd lack of gravity in the clearly advanced shuttle.

It was that very lack of gravity, a need to save power to compensate for all the extra weight of the literal coyote light tank that took up most of the shuttles space that it was never meant to carry and forced everyone into such tight corners that made one Carina float a little too high.

Before she could bump her head on the ceiling of the shuttles in her environment suit, however, a hand had grabbed her by the ankle and gently pulled her back down. Still close enough to her team as not to be noticed as missing it wasn't too odd for the long-legged Locust to have been nearby when she pulled her back down and now rested a single armored hand on the smaller girls shoulder, securing her on the deck.

Carina couldn't see the sheer intense and manic gaze through the operators' helmet or even notice how the operator was hyperventilating so with how much gear she was wearing and how tight the confines where. Even her hand that kept her grounded seemed light and gentle and little cause for alarm and she released the girl at the slightest hint of resistance, allowing her to pull her way back to her team.

Carina couldn't have known how little restraint or control the operator had left in her...

"Thirty minutes." Someone echoed on a shared net, the voice distorted it could have been windchime in the pilots seat or one of the operators.

From outside one of the shuttles shielded windows and those that hand an angle to view out of them the black of space was alive with the bright flashes of void warfare.

Kuvexian Shuttle
Lupin had regretted the tiny bit of sleep he'd managed to get, sandwiched between crates and warm equipment he'd passed out briefly, and even if it did help his body it made the lad feel worse. As such his mind wasn't on the bit of weight he'd lost over the past few days, nor the way his bruised face had swollen against the helmet of his Emrys spacesuit, no.

It was the fact the Yamatai-designed thing was really pinching his junk, and that the poor pubescent sniper felt very awkward packed into the back of this strange shuttle, pressed up against the other marines like sardines in a tin. To try and take his mind off it Lupin reached down to the M3 floating near his chest and removed the banana-yellow polymer magazine he'd been handed earlier, briefly tapping it against his rifle's reciever before his tired amber eyes drifted across to the pile of Brivta-covered limbs that was Tobias and Deuce.

Totally missing Locust tossing Carina around like a ragdoll.

The slim half-Hanyan cocked his head to one side a little, trying to gleam any motives behind the constant groping and coddling between the two spooks before deciding it was probably better to stay in the dark, for all he knew it could be some Psyops bullshit that'd snowball into a coup on Kennewes in five months time. His helmeted head just shook a few times and Lupin went back to minding his own business, swallowing thickly and biting his balm-coated bottom lip before speaking into the suit's microphone.

"You holding up okay, Fekete?" he asked, looking across the sea of EVA-suit clad bodies to the team's demolitions expert, an attempt to momentarily distract himself from the dire straights of the whole situation they were all stuck in.

"That head isn't giving you too much hassle? all things considered~" came his doubtful and ever so faintly distorted voice, that comically yellow magazine being slotted back into the underside of Lupin's green rifle.

Location: temporary base camp


Private L. Fekete

following the orders of his Sergeant, Lou followed his teams medic, sighing as he saw the temporary med station. the medical personnel running around busily providing aid to growing numbers of injured, listening carefully to the medics, Lou sat down, his mind on the last situation that occurred. their mutiny still fresh, his hand seemed to twitch, as the thought filled his head with nothing but more drive to kill the enemy, and possibly leave a surprise for those red bastards." Doc, patch and stim me up, then i need to restock all m-my exp-p-p-plosives, I...I wont let this shit happen again." Shortly after receiving aid he quickly made his way to the arms storage, snapping to attention providing his information. "Private Louis Fekete 309th infantry division 'ruthless riders' specialization, Demolitions expert. I need a full restock of explosives, and ammunition. as well as a requisition for a secondary weapon. if you have one the launchers i heard we can acquire. a combat load with one, and a compact grenadier variant m3 would be what i need." the Armorer stood nonchalantly nodding to his Salute, setting down a fresh pack, similar to his old one, grenadier M3 and launcher, was placed adjacent to the pack, along with a bandolier , with his rifle turned in and replaced with the launcher variant, he smirked to himself, nodding as he left to get a few hours of rest, before shooting up, wide awake in a cold sweat. the stims wearing off lightly, his hand still twitched as the sheer rage began to bubble up again." Fuck these reds and fuck these damn Kuvexians. I'm not dying on some shithole rock! not for for these reds!" he stood up pacing angrily for a time before sitting down, taking apart his new launcher.
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the Shuttle.

Lou sat in the stifling suit, as dead eyes stared across from his squad mate." Define okay? right now? i could probably sleep, or eat a whole menu of Neppy's to myself. but i want nothing more than to rip those blue bastards limb from limb and watch as their comrades are blown piece by fucking piece. how are you holding up pretty boy?" his words were monotonous and cold, as if something had snapped, his hand still itching for the next fight. as he watched the ball of sexual harrassment continue in the corner where the spooks were, Lou looked to their medic and to the spook jostling her around the small space." Hey...Locust w-was it? how about you fuck off for f-five seconds and leave our medic be, she ain't your toy. s-save it for the enemy them fondle them all you want. you fucks use us like pawns enough. if I'm going to die then it doesn't matter much if i hold my tongue on the matter does it?: his cold tone coming out once more as his eyes locked on the ipg operator, he knew to make no sudden moves, but would seldom stand for their aloofness any longer.

High Orbit

While the two shuttles broke low orbit and took a leisurely pass through the debris field still loitering about from the previous battle, a new if more desperate fight had taken place near simultaneously.

The BRR Atlas class destroyer and the significantly smaller Cobra class Small Death had broken from the dark side of the planets second moon with a long and needle-thin void-capable tower burning not far behind in formation; The three craft looking like quite possibly the most rag-tag and motley fleet of desperate last-stands that had possibly ever been arranged when paired up against the Thirty kuvexian line-ships.

Knowing the ships where nearby but expecting them to instead attempt to flee the system instead of slingshot around the moon and directly at them it was a testimony to the skill of the Kuvexian commodore that he paused for only all of ten seconds before making the best possible plan and composition that would ensure the timely destruction of the three ships with the least damage to any of his escorts from their debris after he turned them into shattered hulks.

While proud, the commodore was no fool and tasked Seven frigates from his fleet to take down just three lesser and outdated ships. The gaps in the line they left where filled mere minutes after the seven broke formation as the others closed around the flagship.

It would have gone much to plan if not for four near-instantaneous events that occurred in the battle that followed.


Not long after - Captured Kuvexian Shuttles.

"All we have to do is hold the kuvies attention on us for a few minutes and not on the spooks while they do their thing."

The orders were simple to a fault that even the exhausted and sleep-deprived reds and marines could understand.

Hold the hangar. Kill everyone in sight. Dont let our rides get blown up. Somehow fly away from an entire fleet after blowing our cover. Dont die.

Everyone briefed knew that failure of any of the above would mean release from all of their problems one way or another. The don't die objective was the outlier, especially since everyone present sans those in powered armor and the operators had been forced to dawn EVA suits due to the lack of oxygen in the shuttles from so many bodies straining the life support.

The teams shuttle in particular was extra airless as the loading ramp was unable to close flush due to the literal tank crammed inside of it. Were it not for the shuttles meager shield the rigors of space would likely have killed many of them before the raid even started.

The IPG teams orders where slightly more important.

Let the fodder keep take all the fire. Infiltrate through two hundred meters of hostile enemy-held starship corridors. Perform second-order while lugging 5kt antimatter mine. Place mine close enough to the primary reactor. Detonate mine. Die.

The final order had gone unspoken by any of the team but all knew the end result. None had any fantasies that such a suicide mission would end any other way, they all knew what they signed up for when they took the black and what it entailed after all.

Even Duece's usual banter had sobered as some unseen and unknown threshold had been passed and her mask had not so much slipped as had wretched itself off. She practically ejected Tobias from her lap as she stiffened and glided her way towards the cockpit, the soft clicks of a private communique heard only by the other operators as she spoke in the fluent and masculine tones of a kuvexian taskmaster over the shuttles comms, silencing whatever wretch had delayed such a VIP and his escort from their return to the flagship even during an open void battle.

As if on queue the other operators all stiffened or slacked into their perspective states of readiness, the change in the shuttle being only perceptible enough for a few veteran marines to take notice who passed on their own orders to make ready.

"Five minutes!" Minnie squeaked. Her Pmope held snug to her chest.

Kuevxian Cruiser - Hangar

All fanfare was prepared for the VIP. A noble who lead an assault on the last dregs of resistance on the planet had been returning and the cruisers hangar had been cleared of all but a few dozen workers; Hidden mostly from view lest their presence offend the highborn. And an honor guard of twenty bloodsworn guard arranged in four rows; two rows deep, of five.

As the shuttles drifted through the hangars shield one might initially suspect something wrong when the lead shuttle drifted past the gravity crane and was flying vertically.

Something seemed rather suspicious when the rear shuttle started to lisp off to the side and its starboard wing started to scrape the deck and began scraping its hull against the deck without its landing gear.

It finally clicked too late when the lead shuttle slammed to the deck and a loud non-standard engine sound screamed from inside and before any of the elite guard could react an armored enemy-tank reversed out of its hold before it had even finished landing and slammed to the deck with the screeching sound of metal on metal as its tracks bit into the deck and arrested its movement.

The veteran mercenaries stared wide-eyed in shock as from the holds of the two shuttles figures swarmed out of them like a hornets nest and the twin barrels of the tank started to swing left and right as its gunner and commander scanned for targets.

Had any of them time to think they would have made a mental note to feel shame that the first one to react to the invaders had been a lowly elefirn tender who shouted in distress and bolted across the football field length of the hangar towards the central corridor and the emergency alert switch almost a hundred meters away.

The team, out just before the IPG operators and in concert with the other shuttle disembarked into a foreign hangar large enough to fit the small death inside of with room to spare. A normal daylight white was absent as would be in any normal ship-space and was instead replaced by a disorienting lemon-yellow. The hangar itself was clear down the middle as expected for craft to enter and leave with the exception of a formation of stunned, armed, and armored soldiers while the flanks of the shuttles at least held enough miscellaneous crates and equipment that some of the smarter raiders had already started to bolt for.

Tobias had been squirming around in Deuce's lap, attempting to avoid the awkward interaction as best he could before his rapid displacement, which he had been thankful for. He attempted to reorient himself before the gravitational field of the Kuvexian ship. Once in, he checked his ZARCNAM. Thankfully they'd had a resupply for ammunition after the trek through the jungle, but if all went well he wouldn't even need it. He lowered it momentarily just before the shuttle doors opened as he interfaced with his Britva's computer and JANE, beginning to scan for his first objective. He was not there to provide firepower for the IPG team's penetration of their target, Locust, Deuce and the rest of the group had that in spades.

No, he was there to facilitate the IPG team's goal through more subtle means, and to that end, his first goal was to find a terminal of any sort. The hangar was a sure bet, with machinery all around that was hooked into the ship's computer systems. One would more than likely be tied into the central processing system, and provide the operator with what he was looking for; a map and entry into the ship's communications net.

As the doors opened and the scuffle began, Tobi began a furtive dash towards a terminal highlighted by his suit, taking a few potshots at the startled Kuvexians who were otherwise occupied by the marine force but otherwise leaving them to those better equipped to deal with the enemy head-on. Once he arrived, he crouched down to make his profile smaller, and fished a wire from his wrist terminal, custom made by the IPG in preparation for this mission, plugging it into the compatible Kuvexian port. "In we go..." He muttered, as he began to worm his way into the ship's systems. He didn't need to get much, the hack didn't need to go too deep, he only needed surface-level access.

High Orbit

Sebastian rode out the shuttle ride in the relative comfort of his VOID. The bodies pressed up against his armor were probably not as comfortable though.

He had spent his pre fight time well, recharging and rearming the VOID like he was told too. He also made sure everyone elses' weapons were all in working order.

Now it was time to put those weapons to good use.

Kuevxian Cruiser - Hangar

As the shuttle touched down and all the bodies began to flood out of the ship, Sebastian smiled, cranking up a bass thumping Aether Sperm song that began blasting through his suits external speakers. "GET SOME KUVIE BASTARDS!" He yelled as he moved into the hanger and began mowing down anything that didn't flag his IFF as a friendly.

His machine gun and chain cannons ripped out long and steady reports, Aether Sperm blaring all the while.

High Orbit
Lupin's expression curled into a bit of a frown behind his polarized visor as the cranially-compromised demolitions expert dared to speak so boldly, sure he knew this mission most likely wouldn't have a happy ending, but the smallest chance of making it through this shitshow easily beat getting an IPG-issued knife through the back of your skull for stepping out of line.

"If you keep calling me pretty boy then it's unfortunately going to stick~" Lupin growled before shaking his head with a dismissive sigh as the lad felt the marine behind him shift around a bit.

"Five minutes to shower and shave, man, that's all I want."

Kuvexian Cruiser - Hangar
As the station's artificial atmosphere began to wrap its fingers around the shuttles Lupin made sure to give the bottom of his M3's magazine a few final, stern slaps, it was more for his peace of mind than anything else because countless clean-ups had told the marksman his rifle was one of the less beat-up ones in rotation. Then everything kicked off, the shuttle's belly slamming into the deck causing his legs to buckle though unlike a few of his surrounding marines Lupin managed to remain upright, moreso being pushed out by the tide of marines than moving by his own volition. Lupin's eardrums were almost immediately blown out from the sounds of gunfire reverberating throughout the hangar, confusing the marksman a moment and making him think the splash of blood and gore coating his chest rig was his own before seeing a now-headless fellow marine slump over to his right.

The lad stumbled a moment before catching himself, flicking his M3's selector to the burst-fire mode and laying down some volley-fire that would most likely hit one of the reeling Kuvexians, keeping them busy as Lupin scooted his lanky behind over to get low near some crates. His ears began recovering and the bassy music reached the marksman's attention, making his amber eyes roll before Lupin swapped his rifle for a fragmentation grenade. The marksman yanked the pin though kept the lever depressed with an iron grip, watching Sebastian's unrelenting wall of fire push enemies back into cover before his somewhat deep though still obviously adolescent voice yelled over the communications network.

"Grenade out!" Lupin warned with a slight voice-crack at the end, releasing the paddle and letting the fuse begin cooking off a short moment before pitching the grenade through the air like any other resident of Funky City would toss a baseball, hoping he'd timed it right for the thing to detonate shortly after it landed on the enemy's position. Afterall, they needed to make some headway and push the enemy back a bit before he could get properly set up.

High orbit
L.Fekete

Lou, grunted at the marksman's response, packed tightly in the alien shuttle. the few marines packed tightly with him still surprised by his comments towards the Operators." i want a fucking cigarette." his tone was still highly agitated due to the stims, he took before their departure.
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Kuvexian Hanger

As the first wave pushed out of the shuttle, Lou adjusted after the hard landing with a smirk. he was waiting, Whipping around the back section of the shuttle, he shouldered his M3, firing the 40mm grenade launcher quickly. the poor mark ended up being a Kuvexian mechanic, as his top half evaporated with the HE round making contact. reloading calmly in the chaos, the marine next to him cried out as he slumped against the shuttles hull. stepping to the side, to get past the dying marine, Lou broke into a sprint towards one of the armored Kuvexians between him and storage containers. firing the second HE into the power armored soldier, hitting him in the neck the armor began to spark as he was tossed to the floor, as Lou continued his pace. as the Golden armored soldier attempted to stand, he was met with the full auto report from his M3. ripping into the broken components, the blue kuvexian blood began to leak from the armors helmet. "grenade out!" was heard over the comms. the voice crack of his adolescent comrade, breaking Lou from his murderous focus for a moment, before falling behind the cover of storage crates, as the grenade exploded,Lou reloaded his rifle and launcher. letting them fall against his armor by the sling, as a shaped charge was pulled from his pack."Seb! keep them pinned!" taking two of the HE rounds for his launcher, Lou pressed them into the soft Charge. seeing a group of gold clad soldiers attempting to fire from cover,"Let's see how much the enjoy not having cover." With all of the strength he could muster, Lou threw the charge as it stuck just in front of the crates, the kuvvies were behind. Taking cover once more, lou got onto his comm set." This is private Fekete, watch your ass. My 1 o'clock has a surprise for the kuvvies. Take over in 3....2...1!" Lou pulled the detenator from his pouch clicking the switch three times as a medium size explosion happened first, knocking the crates shot back into the soldiers, as the sympathetic detonation occured, destroying what was left of the crates, throwing anyone behind them. Killing those close, maiming those unlucky enough to just within range." If I die here, I'm taking this fucking ship with me." He growled to himself allowing his comrades to begin their volleys of fire.

Kuvexian Hangar

For Carina, it had been a harrowing, jarring, and eye-opening experience. So this was war. Combat, where every second of each minute, hour, or day was brushed with hurt and death. Old 'Two Times' her drill Sergeant had even warned them. "One day, someone out there, someone you did or didn't know had a bullet. A bullet with your name on it. You wouldn't know when or where. Or how it'd happen. It just would. And that would be that. Your life would be snuffed out in an instant, or drawn out in a slow agonizing death. As the not so gentle reminder came to her whilst floating around, flailing a little in the zero-g environment of the shuttle, a hand, unbidden had grabbed her ankle, gently even as she was pulled back down. With a startled look, the young, now brooding medic looked to whom had granted her the courtesy.

Unbeknownst to Locust, it had made her skin crawl a little, gooseflesh prickled her olive skin inside of the climate-controlled environmental suit. She'd resupplied the squad's sparse supply of medical gear, even taking extra just in case. Her sidearm had fresh rounds within it, and more moon clips belted around her person in pouches. All within easy reach if she needed them on the fly. Looking to the towering, creepy female IPG agent, she mumbled her thanks, placing a hand on the other woman's and patted it in gratitude before wriggling free to join her team. Her team came first in her mind. Something that she wholeheartedly believed in and had drilled into her from months of training. 'We take care of our own!' one of her SAW instructors had bawled out. But the squat, ugly woman had waddled around their classroom reminding them that when it came down to it. And when times got tough. Prioritize those that would make it. Those necessary for survival and those without? A merciful end. That had not sat well with her. It was a rational pragmatic approach to battlefield care. But deep down in her gut, heart, and soul, Carina knew everyone's lives were not expendable. Each had their own way to contribute.

This short-lived reverie of past training and flight of fancy of those under her care had been cut abruptly short as their destination was reached. Pulling the relatively large hand cannon from its holster, Carina gave it a twirl, the grip coming to rest in the palm of her hand as the barrel was held skyward as Lulu began doing what he did best. Shooting things. As people began to disembark, the plucky young medic stayed behind a moment, letting the others file out as necessary. She was trained in combat of course. Marine training was thorough like that. SAW training had made her see things in a new light. She was a medic first, soldier second, sixteen-year-old survivalist third. When it was her turn, Carina's revolver, once shiny and new, with a silvery and nickel shine. During their stay in the caves avoiding hell on earth and just barely clinging to life, the gunwoman had begun working in dirt, mud, whatever she could find to stain the finish. To dull it. To make it stand out less and less.

The result was now evident. The once new, squeaky clean weapon now looked careworn and well used. It no longer shone or sparkled with that factory finish. It was dull and attract less attention to herself that way. Lulu's staccato clatter of gunfire ceased for a moment as he called the warning of throwing a grenade. Seeing it thrown, Carina Sanroma, daughter of an acclaimed lecherous Los Apagos native, and the adopted daughter of a naval urban legend in the medical field on NSM ships fired. A belch and an all too brief flash of fire followed by the roaring retort as a 7.7x30mm round tore through the air. The thunderous echo was short-lived, followed by another as she fired a second shot at the enemy.

While compensating for the recoil, a nifty little feature in such a large, deadly weapon was a welcome sight. What remained jarred her hand, and made her wrist quiver and ache just a little. Firing the weapon twice, in rapid succession could have such an effect. But then again, firing the loud, obnoxious gun was a hallmark of the more 'Traditional' mentality of old school Nepleslians. If it was big, and it was loud and hurt like hell to fire. Well... it meant it was likely going to fuck someone's day up if it connected. And even if it plinked against body armor or even a suit of advanced power armor of Kuvexian design, it still meant she still aimed to misbehave. And to let the fuckers know a 'true red-blooded' Nepleslian was aboard and even if she lacked the big guns and explosives to back it up. She was sure as fuck was going to make their lives miserable.

After the brief display of belligerent defiance and a giant middle finger to the enemy, Carina took a step back. The medical kit dangled from her stoneweave shoulder strap while moving and letting the big boys have their fun and get their machismo rocks off in the face of a superior enemy. After all, even in the face of overwhelming odds, when chances were slim, being outmaneuvered or the last one standing. Her people, her race were some of the hardest, most badass and daring sons of bitches in this sector of space and took no shit, or gave no fucks to anybody when it came to skirmish, battle, or warfare. That was part of the Nepleslian way of life. And one she took to heart and made it swell with pride even as stress corded her shoulder muscles, her heart pumping faster and her adrenal glands gave her that added jolt her species was all too familiar with.

This was a fight. Something every one of them who came from Planet Nepleslia and lived in its megacities was all too familiar with. And if one of them went down. She'd patch them up, kick them in the ass and make sure they could keep mowing down the enemy until either their ammo ran out, or they were cut or gunned down.

It was like a Lewis Pasco Day celebration gone awry. And these ostentatious, gold-plated gecko looking fucks were the guests of honor.

Space

The deep-six command tower traded its life hard.

Twenty-two NAM techs and fifteen NSN crewmen traded their lives for two frigates by the time it was finally cut down to size and its purpose had been spent.

Seven frigates had focussed on what had been perceived as a suicide charge and an attempt at ramming as the tower took the lead ahead of the gunship and the destroyer. None of the kuvexians would have risked being speared or letting an enemy get so close and possibly self destruct in their midst after all.

So it was with grim satisfaction for one side and abject horror when the deepsix finally faltered and the dozen odd curbstompers coasting in its wake and hiding in its sensor shadow overtook it and overwhelmed the shields of the two enemy frigates at what would be considered point blank in void warfare terms.

A third had caught two curbstompers in its flank but suffered only the falling of its shield.

Thousands of kilometers away a Rook station had drifted ever so slightly into position as it still seemingly spun in its perceived death days before. With a single encrypted transmission sent to it, thrusters snapped on and forced the firing platform into a steady firing solution with enough force that the sheer gravities involved tore off a single stabilizing fin but did not throw off its aim enough that within minutes it too was point blank with the five remaining frigates and what had been intended as a simple mopping up operation for the privateer ships quickly turned into a nightmare.

Hangar

The honor guard fell with only a handful managing to get off a few reactionary snapshots. Those with enough sense to run for cover or attempt to dive out of the way from the sheer mass of fire suddenly directed their way lasted only a second or two longer than those that chose to stick to their training and attempt to fight.

The fight had not been completely one-sided, however.

Two marines and two reds lay unmoving on the hangar floor while a single marine wailed and thrashed from a shot that simply obliterated his pelvis and one leg from his body. The two medics fighting to save his life both knew instinctively he would be dead from blood loss and shock in seconds but refused to let up without a fight.

With the marines death, however, an odd silence overtook the hangar. A spattering of crewmen ranging from kuvexians to elefirn and even a few nepleslians in mustard yellow jumpsuits and gold and purple facial tattoos denoting some kind of caste or rank cowered or leered from their hiding spots; A few clutching tools or items as makeshift weapons or means of protection but none brave enough to step into the open where a solid firing line of over fifty men and women still pointed weapons at the unmoving corpses before them.

At the far side of the hangar, however, someone had less survival instinct than them.

A guttural voice snapped over built-in harmonic intercoms through the hangar and drew attention to a shielded command section overlooking the hangar as silhouettes scrambled inside the room tinted with a glowing purple window-like shield as some kind of controller made demands or orders none of the marines could tell due to the language barrier.

What did get through was that whoever was up there had already hit some kind of panic button when klaxons started blaring.

The effort was not wasted but was cut short none the less when both barrels of the coyote light take snapped onto the window and opened up. The first shot detonated against the shield and overwhelmed it; Its purpose more to protect the occupants from possible hangar fires and keep the room from being exposed to the void if ever the hangars shield failed or was breached.

The high explosive round tore through the shield and the concussive force ruptured and pulped all ten souls inside. The second round in tandem with the first passed into the control room without any resistance and exploded against a far wall; destroying equipment, silencing any who survived the first round, and sending damage through a bulkhead and into the opening corridor where the single kuvexian with enough sense to abandon his post caught enough shrapnel in the back to turn his insides-out.

The silence continued for scarece minutes with the marines and reds fortifying their holdout as best they could until the next wave inevitably came. Many of the marines looked on in abject horror as no less than Ten powered armored soldiers floated down a gravity well in the ceiling at the far side of the hangar.

Against a single VOID, and three crooked demons it would have been the end. Less noticed but significantly more sizeable a force started funneling in closer to them from a service corridor as tens of armed crewmen started storming the hangar with weapons and light armor retrieved no doubt from a nearby armory. Oddly enough the first threat resolved itself the quickest...

IPG team.

What tobias had been able to retrieve from the terminal wasn't the best outcome but had been better than nothing. No ship-wide maps or route access did he have time to garner, but by the time the power armored mercenaries came down the grav-lift practically feet away from him he had a circuit-map of the ship and could trace the lines of power to their source, the next best thing.

By the time he turned to appraise the armored soldiers, he needn't have worried. Their armored boots had only just touched the ground when all ten mirrior images of the golden god met their fate.

An armored gauntlet of a hand large enough to encompass the head of any of the enemy frames shot out from its place camouflaged against the bulkhead wall and simply crushed the head of one armor like it was a grapefruit as the black Agressor stepped into existence. It punched a vibroknife completely through the back of another in the same instance and jerked it up and away in a J-motion.

The other eight ceased their existences almost at the same time as eleven brivita armored operators practically coalesced from the shadows and cover and fired high powered Nova pistol carbines point-blank into the light powered armors while others used their own armors enhanced strength to punch HEAT or vibrosaw weaponry into throats or between armored plates of the stunned frame pilots.

One single golden armor seemed to stand upright in the end but simply collapsed as the wicked and twisted blades of deuces kineblades withdrew from its sides like a puppet with its strings cut. None of the operators daned to comment on the carnage or casual destruction of ten suits of power armor in mere seconds but glanced nearby at the flood of kuvexians swarming into the hangar with little more panic than if they had noticed a trail of ants.

With the information they needed now on their shared net, the Agressor forced its fingers into and wrenched open a nearby bulkhead and the second team began flooding in, a simple nod and handoff of an armored case the size of a large suitcase the only goodbye they would get.

The alpha-team would hold the way clear and follow shortly to clear out any pursuing forces or to attack the read of anyone who thought they could bog down the raiders. For now they simply watched, near-invisible and silent as tens and what could very well turn into hundreds of mercenaries threatened to swarm unhindered into the hangar as the marines and reds started fighting against the tide.

None of the team expected to have a ride off the ship when all was said and done, they simply needed the marines to keep the kuvies attention for a few minutes...

Hangar
Cpl Reiter.
Stepping from behind cover, his bolt action resting against his ballistic vest. Ötto made his way to the wounded Marine, towering over the three before firing a single shot from his 10mm machine"pistol." Pierced the skull of the injured man, blowing out the back of his helmet. Painting the hangar red before engaging his push to talk system." Four confirmed dead Sergeant, two medical staff returning to their teams. Callsign huntsman returning to support Pvt.Kennedy and your squad. Permission to take the Pvt and position accordingly?" His words came quick and clear. Apathetic to what he had just done. Looking to the still shocked medics, they slowly looked up to the cold sniper as he motioned for the two to fall behind cover they quickly did so, their training kicking in as he briskly moved back to where the squad waited.
=======================
L.Fekete

As the crew inside the hanger was wiped out. Lou watched the six foot two, frame of the sniper. Execute the wounded Marine before moving to his location. Chuckling with disbelief he quickly looked to the heart dropping sight of how many Kuvexians he witnessed, before seeing the unlikely yet relieving sight of the squads of IPG spooks, before moving storage crates for cover, Louis began to do as his training intended. Sprinting with all of his might, to plant explosives at the hallway adjacent to the grav-lift, before seeing the crowd of mercenaries, before firing a grenade into the hallway, doing his best to ignore the Spooks. Before panting heavily, as he only made it back to the second shuttle closest to him to use for cover, before his lungs felt as if they'd give out. Still panting he laid prone, reloading his grenade launcher before also connecting to his comms." Explosives are set, give the order Sergeant. And we will give them one hell of a welcome party!" There was quiet for a brief moment. Like the quiet before a massive storm. The comms crackled to life once more." Hey, to all members of the 309th...you're a bunch of misfits, myself included. But if we die today. I'm glad it's with you all." A raspy chuckle escaped his voice as Lou waited for the gilded tide of Kuvexian mercenaries.

Hangar
"We'd better make it out~ I think Mrs Sanroma would hurt us bad if we let anything happen to Carina," Lupin grunted half-jokingly in response as a few other Marines and even a Red helped the marksman tip a small cargo-skid onto its side while they had a moment to breathe, one EVA-suit clad figure giving the young private a slap on the shoulder before jogging off to rejoin her own squad. He began setting up, thinking about the pile of death the IPG operatives had caused and letting his M3's sling hold it in-place low on his back before Lupin realized his name had been brought up, the Marksman half-way through wrapping the stonethread sling around one forearm as he paused to look over at Otto.

He was... worried that the big scary guy executing wounded marines wanted to find him, his Sergeant's aversion to unnecessary violence was well known by now so hopefully she'd be keeping an eye on this... did he say his callsign was Huntsman?

Admittedly that did incite a brief pang of jealousy before Lupin waved the man over, his helmet's mic clicking a moment before the lad spoke, "Yeah~ uh yeah! Private Kennedy over here, by the cargo skid on its side." He quickly resumed getting set up behind the thick underside of the previously hovering thing, adopting a low stance and chambering one of the steel-cased rounds his DSR's magazines had been filled with as Lupin prepared to spot targets of opportunity.

He tried to not let the whole impending doom thing get to him too much, a small chance was still a chance after all~

IPG team.

Tobias held his rifle with the barrel to his shoulder now as he moved quickly, along with the rest of the IPG team, down the hallway, wrist terminal held up for him to quickly check directions, and occasionally offer single word directional instructions. When the team came across any stray Kuveixan ship crew, they were quickly dispatched, and locked doors were denied the dignity of being hacked.

Instead, whenever the team ran across any locked doors, Locust's claws or one of the other team's knives more than did the trick of tearing off access panels, which Tobias then used the circuit map to hotwire open with practiced ease. Few words were spoken as the team continued to move deeper and deeper.

Hangar

"Ah hell..." Sebastian groaned as the wave of enemy armor began to file in. Next to the 3 crooked demons, the VOID loaded a fresh magazine in its machine gun and pointed its mortars directly at the enemy. "If this is how we go, I'm making sure it is with the biggest bang I can cause." He said as Sebastian prepared a final hoorah.

As soon as his cannons were ready he fired a dual mortar shot directly into the approaching mass of units. To top it off he unleashed a salvo of mini missiles in there direction.

Hangar

With the literal flood of kuvexians turned into a red mist from Sebastians opening salvo and the following enemies hesitation lasted only as long as it took for those behind them to force them forwards the kuvexians managed a beachhead as small one-way shields deployed from the floor to ceiling as a competent kuvexian somewhere activated a fire supression system meant to confide fires inside the hangar while allowing emergency crews entering to deploy foam from the safety of the sidelines through the safe side of the shield.

Except what came through was not foam or water or anything short of pure and intense energy weapons fire as the regrouping kuvexians grouped up and laid down a steady stream of small arms fire while command figures filed in and started organizing what would obviously be a soon to be counter attack.

Their fire was rather inaccurate as the shield seemed to ebb and twist like it was made of water; Sending the constant torrent of weapons fire all over the hangar, having a better effect at keeping the marines pinned from the chaos of the counter-attack rather than scoring much outright damage.

One close call however would have taken the head off of the over-zealous Otto had a powerful force not literally thrown him by the belt of his EVA suit to the ground as a looming figure stood over him, PMOPE in hand.

"BRAIN. SPIDER." Minnie enunciated each word with a tone coming out in an exasperated rage at the man and his execution. Her admonishment sounded hollow even to her considering the suicide mission nature of the mission. Her dressing down lasted only that long as she spun, kicking the marines rifle back towards him while executing a turn and firing her PMOPE at the largest concentration of kuvexians behind the shield; The two energies colliding and causing a bright flash of energy that started more than a few of the attackers back but causing no actual damage.

All in all the number of kuvexians on the other side of the shield to anyone counting would have numbered the survivors from the VOID and the marines fire before the shield raised at close to seventy.

Nearby the tank fired its secondary continuously at the shield while its autoloader no doubt started its lengthy reloading process for the double-barreled cannons. The war machine alone could have shredded the entire attacking force with its full complement and salvo were the shield not simply soaking up its fire with no sign of stress beyond the ripples of impact. To make matters worse the gravity lift at the opposite hangar seemed to glow with rippling light as something or somethings on an upper level where before powered armor had deployed from was deploying a second wave.

IPG Team

The operators saw all of this through the shared feed from the black aggressors' monoeyes. The large frame had stayed behind and waited silently in a dark corner of the hangar; Too large to follow its fellows to their end it simply watched and narrated the play-by-play by its pilot with a casual and professional monotone.

For the alpha-team, it had been a fairly straightforward run with no noteworthy encounters beyond stray crew and security teams. Locust had shifted towards the rear of the group when it became apparent her size was becoming cumbersome as each bulkhead she had to adjust to fit through cost the team precious seconds leaving Tobias to take up the middle of the group alongside Duece as the two kept along at a steady fast-walk down the corridors, their only sign of the front three operators being the trail of corpses and occasionally a hint of black armor as they got caught up in a kill only to start off down the hall again.

At that point in the mission the bravo-team had already passed through the ships inner-shield and had lost communication from the interference. The alpha teams job now was simply to follow suit and break any siege placed on them long enough for them to set and detonate their antimatter charge and cripple the ship; Destroying its Aether generator and just as important the hundreds of thousands of kuvexian troops still in cryostasis somewhere deeper in the ship.

So it was by some surprise when Duece simply stopped. Tobias practically bumping into her from behind as she stood stock-still, her head tilted to look off into the distance in only the slightest inclination that she was listening to something only she could hear.

She simply turned her attention towards a nearby hatch off to the side a moment later and nodded at it. Tobias had worked with the woman long enough to know what she wanted and within moments a panel was removed from the wall, a few wires were spliced, and the hatch slid open seamlessly to allow the woman passage.

Wordlessly the usually extroverted assassin stalked down the new passage with the stalwart grace she reserved for when her mask slipped and the hunt usually commenced, leaving Tobias and Locust behind.

How or why it was interpreted that way Locust too stormed off, but in the opposite direction; Back the way they had come as if her life depended on it like some kind of woman possessed to the point the SPAID on her side was literally ripped away from her and left behind without even a glance or second thought against a hatch when it got caught on the frame.

Left behind and oddly bewildered Tobias was left to his own devices and three options before him.
The mission he knew.
This new objective he was either expected to follow duece into or had been forgotten about completely.
The flight of the madwoman who he knew had taken a rare chance to slip her leash into lunacy and could potentially endanger the mission if not corraled.

Hanger

Sebastian didn't have time to enjoy the fruits of his labor. Enemy fire poured out of the area he had just satured with his strike. "Incoming!" He yelled as he deployed his shield drones into two wall formations, leaving a hole for him to shoot out of.

His machine gun rattled and his mini missiles were flying as quickly as he could reload them.

Their situation was looking bleaker and bleaker as they waited for the IPG team to get their job done. However, the ID-SOL refused to go down without a fight.

Hangar
Cpl.Reiter

Hitting the ground hard, the expression of the man changed little."understood Sergeant." His words cold and calloused. Picking his rifle up, Otto began moving back to the makeshift cover the other marines had prepared. Fucking only enough to dodge stray blasts of aether, he calmly walked along the line of Marines. Pinpointing the young marksman, his bolt action at the ready."Pvt. Kennedy I take it? If so, follow my lead, and I'll begin painting targets. Its time for a good hunt." His words were slowly backed by the bolt action Otto himself would now insulting. Kneeling into position, and adjusting his sights."let's see who will make a mistake first." He whispered, chambering a round, before taking aim across the hangar to the entry way into the Corridor of mercenaries.
===================
L.Fekete
Still prone behind the first shuttle, the literal storm of energy blasts forced the Marine to keep his head down. Backing away slowly, the thought to flank came to mind.quickly clicking his comms, the Marine sat up to a kneeling position." If we can get power armored support up here. We might be able to get past the shield. If we destroy the corridor itself or nearby electrical systems. There might be a chance to get through. Please advise Sergeant. What are my orders?"