RP: Neshaten Division 5, Case 03 Part 1: Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Yinri was too worked up to consciously appreciate the words, at first, falling over bodily as they attempted to twist around and defend Arynn- Only to find that their superheated gun was not only disconnected from it's power source, but had also welded itself to her metal right hand. Rolling back around, her reflexes told her to draw a backup sword- Not exactly possible either.

"...Arynn?... Capn'Leo?... are you-" A moment of squabbling for breath, rolling onto Cirillo's leg, before the shock of just how quickly the situation had changed hit them.

What the heck were these things? If they were enemies, why weren't they dead already?

Sense returning into their rotund head just a little, their eye observed the elongated silhouettes, trying to compare them to any alien tech reports she'd seen... Was this... powered armour? Or were these genetically engineered creatures?... Unless they were Laibe in highly specialized armour?... The tech base was just way beyond what the Neshaten could produce, surely...

"...If you 'nought us enemies, why didn' j'yous just declare your presence 'ere?!" It sounded tougher than they felt. They were focused on the eyes and tail of the aggressors- Bad translation of that part of Shukaren body language was a dead giveaway for aliens. "What's the big idea 'ere!?"

Didn't know Kil'nda all that well, but maybe his senses rung true?

It was as if Cirillo's own grenade blew back on his own team. The roar of the explosion was matched with the swiftest non-lethal takedown he'd ever seen. He managed to avoid getting directly hit himself, but he tripped backwards in the chaos. After a brief moment of confusion, he kicked himself off the ground and leveled his SMG once again.

They specifically kept us alive. There was no need to cut Yinri's weapon or avoid using the sharp of the blade. And that gap for ears and a tail. A Shukaren who emigrated to Nepleslia? He couldn't say if Nepleslia had their best interest in minds, but if they sided with the terrorists, then why would they have shown mercy?

Cirillo slowly flicked the safety back on his SMG and slung it back over his chest.

"Let's calm down everyone," Cirillo encouraged, raising his two hands open in the air in front of his chest. "Two non-adversarial special forces have clashed. Let's not do anything rash and make it worse. Both of us have injured that should be taken care of. Let's attend to that and exchange information, okay?"

Cirillo couldn't help but feel a bit bad for the grenade that injured the newcomer's friend, so the faster they could receive first-aid, the better.

Arynn shot her pistol as the armored unknown started moving, panic quickly growing as they rapidly approached her with her needles bouncing off harmlessly. One of her arms went in for a quick strike only to get shut down as the assailant bopped the fennec girl directly on the nose, stunning her and making her fall right on her ass as her vision flashed up with stars and cracks. "ACK!" The operative screeched, spending a precious moment clutching at her bruised skull and writhing in pain. By the time she'd gotten back to her sense, the little Daur has missed the order from the figures - but she could tell by the lack of overall gunfire that the fighting wasn't going to continue - for now.

Clutching her temple just in front of her left ear, the fennec gal's bloodied eyes shot daggers at the tall.... Eared-and-tailed creatures...

Shit. Were they some of those weird, tall mutants that typically left for the cat place? Their armor wasn't blindingly bright, though.

Arynn coughed to clear her throat. "What are you, mercenaries? Assassins? You've been fighting KF and now you choose to spare us, you're no amateurs. Why are you here," her roughed-up, but still squeaky voice inquired.

Bunker
"I... it's nothing," Leo grumbled as Kyet quickly helped the squad's leader to his feet and handed the man his weapon, blood trailing out the pale man's nose and past his chapped lips from the brief introduction to the floor.

The tense yelling and barking of very valid questions gave the team of survivors a moment to soak in the details of the armoured beings across from them, grunts and winces of pain and fear were met with the blank visage of those multi-lensed helmets, the cameras twisting and refocusing asynchronously each time one of the operatives dared move a muscle or breathe too hard. The suits themselves, while highly advanced, seemed almost unfinished or at the very least unrefined. Visible beneath the armoured plates were hints of sleeved cables and routed wires that no doubt acted as its nervous system, feeding data to what looked like quite the feat of engineering even to an expert like Yinri.

While the suits did have some semblance of Shukaren anatomy they were... off, for lack of a better word. The ears were smaller than they should have been in relation to the rest of the strangers bodies, and the standing figure's tail barely moved at all, seeming to act more as a counter-balance for their low, ready-to-strike stance.

Time stretched out as their questions went unanswered, the sword-wielding figure's glove creaking as their grip was slightly readjusted, foot moving backwards as though they were moments from pouncing~

"Enough," came a voice previously unheard by the team, once again spoken both through their comms system and from the blasted-open door, ever so slightly softer than the voice that'd barked at them moments ago.

The sword-wielding figure's body language shifted slightly, betraying some sense of shock at (assumedly) their partner's words. There was a slight grunt before the softer voice continued.

"We... I cannot promise answers, or even any sort of definite outcome from this... but plans change, and we both have injured that need tending to," the voice agreed, micro tics in the armoured figure's body language suggested some unheard argument for more observant among the operators to pick up on, but eventually the sword-wielding one's shoulders drooped slightly.

"Fine, don't try anything," the uninjured stranger warned with a growl, a section of their armour's abdomen retracting enough for one hand to reach inside and produce a pristine medical kit still wrapped in plastic, tossing it to the floor between the two uneasy groups before moving closer to their injured companion. Retrieving a rugged injector of some kind they kneeled down, opening a port on the injured figure's armour and administering the injector's contents through the previously hidden membrane. It clearly took a moment to kick in but both behemoths were quickly back on their feet, the injured one retrieving their bullpup rifle from the ground and moving to stow it on their back. The thing seemed Shukaren-scale and looked a little undersized on this larger figure.

"Don't poke around too much and we can take you with us, no pointing guns at each other, we don't mean you any further harm," the one with the more welcoming voice explained, gaining a helmeted glare from their companion as they retrieved a cannister, beginning to spray some sour-smelling aerosol over any traces of the injured figure's blood.

"We'll airlift you out and drop you elsewhere, your comms are being jammed so no bright ideas, we'll discuss this further once we're out of here, understood?" they continued to explain, and while Kyet's own frown might have been hidden behind her helmet Leo's own expression was painfully visible. He was confused and angry, he had questions but knew now was hardly the time. Warily, the snowy fox gave a nod of agreement, still cautious of these strange entities. Whatever they were.

"Alright, we'll play along for now... just don't fuck us over~" Leo warned, wiping at his bleeding nose with the back of his glove before reaching for the medical kit, handing it off to Cirillo to begin dispensing its contents.

"Play nice," he continued, turning to point a finger at the tired, injured survivors of this nightmare. Offering a glare that promised pain to anyone who dared disobey.

"But~" Kyet began, cut off by Leo as he redirected the finger towards her, prompting the busty operative to take a step back and hang her head a little lower.

"You keep your people in line and strap these on," the closer figure spoke, testing his injured hand before tossing the team that bag they'd been grasping moments ago, hints of chrome and spider-silk straps visible through the half-open zipper.

"They're skyhooks, you'll need to get creative but they were meant to lift something heavier out, sort it out~" they nodded before re-joining the other shadowy deeper into the concrete dome beyond that destroyed blast-door. Surrounded by bodies, capacitor banks and terminals was what they could only assume was the FTL cannon, modified beyond recognition in order to serve this new role. Both black figures approached the improvised superweapon and one began removing panels, the other moving to place shaped charges around the area, both were borderline identical in appearance save for the fact one had hardened, partially dissolved blood staining their arm.

"This has become a tomb for too many today... no-one else dies here~" Leo huffed, the usual sparkle in his eyes long since snuffed out as he reached for the bag and began handing out sky-hooks, the straps were very industrial but it looked like they could be fastened to each operator's vest with enough effort, each one baring a tether that ran to some kind of rugged gravity engine.

"Get any injuries stabilized and help the wounded get strapped in, we need to be ready to leave whenever they give the signal," he ordered before turning to Arynn, noticing the signs of a possible concussion in the size difference of each pupil. "Shermeso... you okay?"

Kyet offloaded Hana for Cirillo to take care of and moved over to Yinri's side, eyes going to the pistol that was melted to her cybernetic claw with a curious cock of her head, taking it in her gloved hands to look the metal limb over before those gold-green balls drifted back to the stout civilian's face, an expression of sympathy visible even through the woman's goggles.

"Do you require assistance?"

Yinri ghosted Kyet for just a moment, absorbed in what came across to her as rigid, unnatural movements on the part of these new allies. Her engineering instincts couldn't help but just watch them clamber and machinate, drawing her into a sort of trance where they considered how such alien technologies might operate.

"...I am fine, Lass." Finally a word towards the more comely, brown-haired athletic soldier. Her eye didn't dare take itself away from the outsiders, but the tone was appreciative. "Would pop me hand off 'n leave it here, only it's company property, wouldn't cha' know..."

A moment of self-awareness, examining her mobility options, and then a begrudging realisation, all communicated through subtle twitches of her extremities. Her face stayed stone cold, but couldn't hide it.

"...Erm, actually, would you help me but the harness on?"

Using the limited mobility of their left hand, they took a roll of tape out of a pouch pocket, and then drew their combat knife slowly but without covertness- It took her teeth to attach it to the underside of her metal wrist, so they at least had some kind of armament. Even if it made these newcomers nervous, they really didn't know what else could be waiting in the depths of this facility. She'd had enough surprises for one day.

"Lean on me if ya' hav' ta', Arynn. It's okay."

A tactical suggestion. Those who had guns should be using them. And that tiny fox could totally use Yinri's slightly husky form as a body blocker, if they really had to.

In the midst of all this, they were a bit disappointed they couldn't have a look at the FTL weapons more closely but... No, enough of their own team had died today. She wasn't that greedy for secrets.

Kil'nda was rather beside himself much like the others. These outsiders, whoever they were seems to have taken out most of the terrorists here in the base. As he strapped on the Skyhook he looked about. "Guess we're grappling out of this place then?" He asks and then looks over at the strange outsiders as they were busy with the cannon.

He approached but still kept a distance and spoke up. "Look, we're here to neutralize this thing as a threat to the area. If your wither blowing it up, or disassembling it, whichever, I can help I'm a military engineer." He gave the offer out hoping that maybe if they could help these "Others" Out they might actualy learn who they are and what their doing here. He figured if these aliens were going to kill them, they wouldn't be helping them out this much.

"Given that your here on our world, and this interested in the weapon of a terrorist cell, I'm guessing this cannon, or parts of it, came from your own world then. My people would appreciate if we could at least get some idea how things were smuggled onto this world to make the cannon in the first place "

Bunker of Spook

The fennec Operator was rather skittish and, on top of that, woozy - Yinri's offering of assistance was taken advantage of, the half-metal fox feeling her weight shift with the fresh addition of the techie-oriented Arynn. She was nervous at these unknowns, her ear stung, her vision was blurry and now she had a splitting headache. At least the last two of those things were caused by these guys.

"Thanks."

It was hard to tell what the suited, possibly hostile operators were up to, but the mentionings from Kil'nda implied they were planning to take out the Fellers' weapon with explosives. That damn cannon... They led Division 5 right into a trap with this thing! How many other smash-and-grab operations like the radio antenna were just bait for something like this?


No sense worrying about that yet. We can barely stand. This is probably the first ambush they'd actually tried with something like this anyways, and now that it's been used they can't try it again.

Yeah, and? Everyone in the squad still got wiped out, and they didn't even know it was coming. This is the most advanced ambush ever made, and they managed to pull it off so damn quickly... What if they did something dirtier next time? An IED and getting surrounded with machine guns is a lot cheaper to set up.

It's also easier to predict. We went through training for that, not this bullshit. Everyone knows what to do in those, and they're easier to spot.


Arynn seemed to be lost in thought as Leo was trying to inspect her and check for a concussion. Her eyes didn't focus for a couple of worrying seconds, the burst blood vessels only contributing to her pretty-fucked-up state of appearance. She suppressed a cough and blinked before saying, "I'm still with ya, but they fucked me up with that smack. I just need a moment to get my balance back..."

Yeah, Yinri's support was helping a lot.

Cirillo let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding and let his shoulders relax as everyone stood down. He watched the newcomers tend to their injured friend, partly out of curiosity, but mostly relieved to see someone he didn't mean to hurt get treatment. He barely noticed the medkit being tossed to him and nearly fumbled it in surprise; an odd moment of his usual character breaking.

Eying the skyhooks and the injured Hana, Cirillo thought for a minute as he looked over Hana's injuries. If they'd be at the mercy of wind and momentum as they swung in the night sky, he'd want to splint any injured limbs to prevent any breaks from getting smacked around and worsening. He set to work doing what he could with the medkit and anything sturdy for a splint before opening up the skyhooks.

Kyet's eyes were the only part of her face visible to Yinri, so the metal-armed engineer might've noticed how one of those faintly-sparkling peepers reflected slightly more of the bunker's dim lighting than the other... Though not for long as the taller Daur moved behind and began fastening straps to Yinri's torso, taking care to not interfere too much with the rigging holding that cybernetic arm on, those strong hands securing the straps maybe a little too firmly for someone like Yinri who likely hadn't worn much rigging since she got out of the youth corps~

"Make sure you don't leave anything important~" Kyet noted, giving the stout civilian's harness one last check before securing her own skyhook, dragging extras across to Cirillo and Hana before taking a knee next to them, observing Cirillo's handiwork and his search for more supplies.

Silently, she reached back to pass Cirillo a length of rebar that'd been lying on the ground, and one of her unused tourniquets, having caught on quickly.

Both armoured figures turned slightly to face Kil'nda as he approached them, stopping what they were doing to let the man say his piece, just watching. Lenses silently twisted and refocused before both shadows faced each other, sharing a private thought before resuming their work, faint LEDs attached to the shaped charges blinking in sequence around the perimeter of the concrete rotunda.

"You ask too many questions," came the modulated voice of the figure crouched by the cannon, placing a panel to the side with a sign before they continued.

"You wish to help? follow those cables and finish shutting down the power, I checked the panel already, it's not trapped as far as I could tell," they suggested without turning to face the sniper, pointing a gloved finger towards a nearby switch-board before resuming their work. The cobbled-together switch-board sparkled with a sea of notated buttons and switches, labled with little Tinacen scribblings long enough ago that some of the paint was beginning to flake off.

Everything was neatly labled, it was just a matter of finding the right button, or sequence of buttons.

"Just stay awake, Sher'meso, you've suffered a pretty nasty head wound," Leo huffed with a reassuring little squeeze of the fennec's shoulder as she was passed off to Yinri. The commander picked up the gravitic engine at the end of his tether and turned it over in his hand, investigating the relatively boring little contraption before opening his mouth to speak~

"Soon," came the warmer of the two strangers' voices, answering the snowy fox's question before he even got the chance to ask it.

"We're blowing the lid off this place shortly and extracting, just be ready."

Cirillo secured Hana's battered forearm by binding one of his sheathed knives with some cloth against the outside of his arm to provide a bit of protection. Hmm, not really the best, but I don't see anything else... He was about to ask their Kil'nda to unscrew the barrel of his gun when a piece of rebar appeared in his vision. He looked over to see Kyet handing that and a tourniquet over; surely a blessing that would save Cirillo from making enemies with their sniper.

With a small smile and a nod, Cirillo accepted the bar and worked to stabilize Hana's leg by using the tourniquet to hold it in place. Satisfied, he secured a sky hook to himself then Hana. After giving them each a firm tug, he called out to let the rest of the squad know they were ready.

"Just a bit more Hana, then you'll have all the bed rest and drinks you can want." Maybe that wasn't the best thing for the dry Cirillo to say to the certainly not dry Hana, but he couldn't think of anything else to say.

Kil'nda would nod his head and indeed fallow the cables to the source so he could shut down the power. "Not the he didn't trust the heavily armored outworlders that appeared form nowhere, but he gave it a quick once over himself for traps before he began to mess with things working on either pulling switching, unplugging fuses, or whatever form of power this thing was using. It wasn't hard for him to fallow where the wires were leading up to and taking things off or out as safely as he could given the circumstances.

He was glad to hear they were going to be blowing this place and evacuating soon as he and the others would soon be out of this nightmare of a mission.

Kil'nda's methodical flipping of switches and pressing of buttons steadily made the quiet hum of cooling fans and electricity dwindle into nothingness, the clicking of one final and very important looking black switch dipping the bunker into total darkness. There was a moment of silence, where breaths could be heard echoing around the thick-walled space, before emergency lighting kicked in to bathe everything in an ominous tone of red. With a nod the figure crouched at the base of the weapon began removing parts of it, the work was mostly shrouded by their armoured bulk but a keen-enough observer would note that both data crystals and foreign storage mediums were being stowed away in the empty bag that'd previously held their sky-hooks.

The red glow made Hana's expressions of pain and discomfort all the more noticeable as he looked over Cirillo's handywork, tired eyes drifting back to the ad-hoc medic who'd strapped that injured limb. Hana was a pained individual at the best of times and as stubborn as they come, but under the cynicism and narcissism there was obvious relief and gratitude aimed up at Cirillo, a brief mumble of "Thanks~" passing Hana's lips as he grabbed at a shoulder and allowed himself to be helped upright.

The second, barely more personable, of the two armoured entities finished their lap around the edge of the room - their path marked by a series of small black parcels stuck to the wall, each blinking with a soft blue light that struggled against its red environment. With silent footsteps that taller figure, having now finished their task, approached the group of operators and stood still. Cognitive gears turning as some unknown choices were weighed, and another moment of silent contemplation before they spoke.

"Stand close to us, in the middle near that weapon, the sequential charges are timed to make the walls fall towards the room's outer edge should the model hold true, there's room for error but with all the variables today..." they paused, and a noise that could almost pass as a sigh left the figure's helm as their partner finished rummaging through the weapon and moved to stand beside their companion.

A treaty, however brief, had been formed though the figure with the sword and bag of components looked ready to lunge at a moment's notice. Unoccupied hand moving to deploy their own tether before resting limply on the handle of their blade, causing the dusty air to grow slightly heavier as tensions grew.

Though they were sympathetic enough to spare the operators and offer them a way out the two figures made no attempt to help move any injured members of the party, forcing Hana to rest his weight on Cirillo's shoulder just a little longer as they hobbled along like some four-legged beast.

Once everyone was in position the two strangers looked to each other once more, and without a warning, the small space was rocked by a quick series of explosions. The sound was deafening even through hearing protection, pressure waves knocking the air out of the operators' lungs. Though their word had been true, and the walls crumpled in on themselves instead of falling onto the squad and crushing them like bugs beneath a heavy boot. It was hard to notice amidst all the ringing, coughing, blinding sunlight and dust, but the tethers tied to each person began glowing and rising up into the air, pulling the long cables attached to them taut but not lifting the operators themselves.

Was something wrong? had they been betrayed? doubt might've crossed more than a few minds in the commotion as the black-clad figures stood still like statues, the bright sunlight that'd filtered through the room's now-destroyed roof beginning to grow ever so slightly dimmer...

It didn't so much feel like they were being lifted, there was a definite feeling of their harnesses pulling against their bodies in with a strength that'd definitely leave a few more bruises, but that was overpowered by the sudden sensation of the ground falling away from them - and the endolymph of their ears being churned like the sea in a storm. The ground got further and further away, allowing some of the operatives to take in the full scale of this cluster fuck, the sands far below them dotted with pillars of smoke and scorched craters as small blips on the horizon moved closer - rescue vehicles of some variety.

Though the unfortunate few, Leo chief among them, passed out from the violent G-force whipping at their bodies.

It was overwhelming; the clear skies, wind biting at their faces, the vague sensation of a shadow looming above them and then suddenly.

Darkness.

The darkness gave way to dim red lights barely illuminating a cargo-bay of some variety, walled off at either end while powerful hydraulics whined and whirred behind thick metal walls, the operatives were more or less bound by their tethers, held in place by industrial armatures some twenty odd meters above them. Clearly capable of ripping a tank off the ground with ease.

There had been no ship, maybe some dense cloud cover but now they were in the belly of something big, something that should have been very obvious even with all the disorientation.

Kyet fell to her knees and ripped her helmet off, ponytail falling to one shoulder as the usually stoic, reserved operative emptied the contents of her stomach onto the floor, bile and half-digested food splattering against the metal grating beneath their feet.

The two armoured figures looked at home in this metal beast's belly, rummaging through the contents of that bag as though they were alone when a quiet hissing sound started up. Some sweet-smelling, barely visible gas began wafting up through the flooring as Kyeterinyah dry-heaved, eyes going wide before she quickly and unceremoniously collapsed face-down in the puddle of her own vomit.

There was panic, an understandable reaction, but more concerning with that was how heavy each operative's limbs started feeling, and how fuzzy their minds were going, struggle as they might each one slowly keeled over into the sweet embrace of pure nothingness. Fear and Regret melting away to the pure, primeval void.