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

SirSkully

🦊 FM of Neshaten
🦾 FM of Nepleslia
🎖️ Game Master
RP Date
EE005v / YE 43
RP Location
Nesha Prime, Neshoten outskirts
A lot had happened since the attack on the Division 5 safehouses, a war the Shukaren people had very little stakes in had ended, relationships with the foreign nation of Nepleslia had been strengthened and the terror cell known as Kingdom Fall had been quiet for some time. Of course, skirmishes and raids on weapons caches had continued, the renewed alliance with Nepleslia letting Division 5 more accurately track foreign weapons on their soil and even sabotage the supply chains of various terror cells who used these foreign weapons.

It was quite a simple though ingenious idea that Operator Depolanskaya's older sister, Anaska, had thought up. The majority of weapons used by their enemies were older and still chambered in archaic cased munitions instead of the energetic and/or caseless ammo most cutting edge Shukaren weapons currently used. The simple act of cold-welding a projectile to its casing and letting it enter the hands of the enemies was easy enough and almost impossible to detect, though as soon as someone attempted to use one such sabotaged cartridge it'd detonate and ruin that weapon in the process, it'd also helped to cut down on friendly deaths and injuries by a not insignificant percentage.

Things could't stay this quiet forever however, and actionable intelligence had recently surfaced involving multiple reports of large quantities of surplus military equipment being purchased by practically non-existent companies that would later be identified as being owned by potentially radicalized individuals with pre-existing anti-establishment ideologies. Evidence had also been collected from a few skirmishes, evidence that pointed towards Kingdom Fall cells making use of heavily modified, highly advanced gear.

When put alongside each other it became apparent that certain methods and techniques taught to Navy technicians were being used in these non-conventional contraptions, rumor had it that one of KF's more prominent members had a few characteristics that could explain this. Division 5 didn't have a name, face or any sort of description to identify this ghost by, and ex military personnel filling out the cell's ranks unfortunately wasn't unheard of so narrowing them down was proving to be quite troublesome...

Overnight this steadily flickering flame of activity inside Division 5's Netoshen headquarters would snowball into a roaring inferno, the cause? a decommissioned Tachyon communications mast had been discovered missing from the shipyard it had been rusting away at the bottom of. Not only that but an energy signature from its reserve power supply had briefly been spotted in the mountains to the north east of the city, a sector that had been flagged with a few reports of suspicious activities though nothing actionable up until now.

Something capable of directed FTL emissions potentially in the hands of any terror cell was a worrisome thing that required immediate action, the fact that it was most likely Kingdom Fall made it a doubly more terrifying prospect that required boots on the ground five minutes ago.

It was not the usual call to arms for Captain Leo's squad, there was no briefing and window to calmly gear up.

No, instead a call was put out for the squad to drop whatever they were doing and report to the vehicle bay for immediate lift-off. The snowy fox was pacing back and forth near the prowler that the team had been assigned some few months back, the telltale black gloves of a standard issue bodysuit peaking out from the sleeves of a tan-coloured tunic the worried Captain wore beneath his chest rig, hands scrambling to fasten a lightweight helmet as the various bits of gear slung over his torso clattered and jostled against themselves.

As the team began arriving in their various states of preparedness his silver eyes panned up, offering little more than a curt nod to welcome each of them as he started speaking up.

"Sorry for the short notice, team, details have been sent to the data crystals of each of your rigs and all your gear has been packed into the prowler's belly," He explained, gesturing to a pile of half-open crates that took up a decent bit of the vehicle's cargo hold. Sitting near the door into the cockpit and tucked away behind a large box marked "NE-O1-1A Ya’stelco", somehow fully dressed in her BDUs and armour despite only being made aware of the situation after the Captain was, was Kyenerinyah. The uncharacteristically curvy Daur busying herself by filling her pouches with magazines for her SMG, not even looking up to acknowledge the presence of her team-mates despite being fully aware of their presence.

Though it'd been a very brief period of her life, it was hard to shake everything that'd been engrained into the young fox, once a spook always a spook.

"We're skids up the moment the last one of you hops in, ask anything you need and I'll do my best to answer, this whole situation is starting off as a drisa clusterfuck." Leo finished with a tired sounding sigh, a prowler next to theirs sealing up its rear doors in preparation to move out. On their way in the various members of Leo's squad would have seen a pair of CC-32 Orso'dian Dropships, haphazardly modified to include large clamps in place of troop storage, coming for landing where the Prowlers usually exited.

It was Chaos, something they were specially trained to deal with.
 
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Prowler Garage

"Why the surge? Is it a hotzone?" First to join the scene was Arynn, the sleek Fennec still shifting some uncomfortable folds of her undersuit into place as she held onto a drone with a spare arm. The techie was frankly a bit excited to try the newly-approved hardware in a proper mission, but there would always be the pre-operation nerves. Sometimes... People don't make it back.

"Have we caught wind of that relay again?"
 
A lot had happened between the events at the safe house, and now. The renewed alliance was certinly one of the biggest. Once more they were allied to the tall ear and tail-less Dura look-a-likes called humans. Further more they even got to meet and train with some of the Special-Forces of this distant Star Imperium which was definitely an eye opener seeing the difference the two factions had in terms of their military forces and applications. Still he was a bit put off at just how many of them seemed to have willing hacked away their own flesh for that of soulless machinery, as open as he tried to be to the aliens it remained something of the feeling of the uncanny valley. Still he couldn't deny that the though of having a computerized eye that ran the calculations of his rifle for him was appealing, but at the same time the rifles can be programmed to do that themselves, no need to loose an eyeball.

The next mission came to them sudden and jarring, even more so then the last one had been. This time there was no real time to prepare they had to cover everything quickly and would soon be boots on the ground. "Do we at least have satellite shots of the area?" He asked. It would be hand for him if he could have some idea where the best spots to set up would be, and even where they might find enemy snipers to pick off before they got their chance at things
 
"If the timing is anything ta goo bai, they are probably still processin' those shots." A gruff unfamiliar accent informed Limr'viad Kil'nda. Looking pretty much exactly like his errant daydreams, this Shukaren Daur had a black and glossy, clearly Nep-tech prosthetic arm right up to the shoulder. It looked almost comical considering their typically stout size, though they were enough of a robust little creature that they maintained some balance; Not in military uniform, but maybe with some history?... Eyepatch, and the opposite arm sitting pretty useless in a sling... "...Erm, Zuia'ne Yinri Abravin, is tah name. Vlun'har Robotics... Sent me ta' keep an eye on ya tech, and seems a good-o time ferh it tuo!"

Female? Female. Brown uniform from some weird tech company.

Carried a tripod over one shoulder that had a weird little antenna on the end, cables dangling down to a big battery pouch on the left side of their waist.

"Gravity an' magnetech' multi-sensah. Should give ya somethin' to shoote at, at least." A brief grimace, one ear going lower, and a wag of the tail. "Erm... Can ya tell me oo's ya leader tho sonny?... T'was only in tha' yooth breg-aid I was..."
 
It was so calm after their latest mission, the sudden call took Suzu'ha by surprise. She wasn't slacking off, of course, but when there's not much work to be done, might as well engage in one's hobbies... Right? Lately, on her friend Mari'ya's recommendation, the young fox has been reading this adventure novel about a group of Neshaten travelling through the stars in search of ancient alien artifacts. It was all so exciting, and the call came in right in the middle of a very heated chapter... Dropping the book was hard, but duty always comes first.

Now, standing in front of commander Leo, her black hair still messy and her clothes still a little crumpled, the girl listens to the commander's briefing, while combing through her hair in an effort to tie it on a ponytail. Looking around, she also notices, with some surprise, an unknown person among them, with an... Exotic appearance to say the least. She caught herself staring for a moment... Prothethic arm, eyepatch, and a broken organic arm. It was a miracle that shukaren was even standing at this point, but the more impressive miracle came when the individual opened her mouth to speak. "Is that even Tinacen?", wondered Suzu'ha in silence.

Her ponytail now ready, the young daur turned to their commander with a salute. - "Ready to go, sir. I assume we're getting support from the intelligence department while we're on the move? Or do we know the precise location we are to set down? Searching the mountains is going to be a challenge, but their proximity to the city makes it all even more worrisome..." - She said, bombarding the commander with questions.
 
Prowler Garage

"One at a time, team, one at a time! You sound like a bunch of kits in their first week of basic," Leo frowned before letting out a sigh, waving his hand to gesture the team into their awaiting charriot.

"Welcome to the team Yinri, sorry it couldn't be under better circumstances... I'm Captain Ci'Rado, the gear you requested should be all loaded up by now," the Daur answered, the stiffness of his tail and bags beneath his eyes pointing to how overworked the man had been of late. Regardless he tried to maintain face, and shifted his face into a weak mockery of the cheeky grins normally plastered across his maw.

"As she said, yes, the data is still being compiled but we should be receiving it any moment now, alongside additional updates by the intelligence department as they have more info for us. While we have a fairly accurate estimation of where the Tachyon relay should be located we are yet to determine the exact point of entry, though preliminary scans have started to reveal some caverns the OPFOR could be using. Suzu'ha should be ready to make an entry for us should it be required~" the captain continued, taking a second to adjust the reticle on his weapon's optic as a strawberry-blonde laibe in a crisp and slightly baggy mechanic jumpsuit walked behind him, peak of their cap pulled low as they dragged a diagnostics cart out of the way.

"Current plan is that these Orso'dian dropships will carry us out of city limits before splitting up, we'll swing south of the AO and use a jump-kit drop off Kil'nda on the marked ridge before releasing us so that we can quickly move in with him providing overwatch, the other dropship will deploy the second team further north so that we can cover more ground and pincer the hostiles," Leo continued as the last member of the squad stepped in, the doors elliciting a small mechanical whine as their hydraulics systems began contracting.

The lights flicked from a soft blue colour to a dim red, illuminating the Prowler's belly for it's occupants' sensitive eyes. Before too long the vehicle could be felt lifting off and beginning to move into position, rising further as magnetic clamps gripped into its hull.

Go Time

The prowler rattled as it was lifted up into the dark night sky, slicing through clouds as altimeters and various other instruments went higher than was usually possible before the drop-ship evened out and the prowler it was carrying was given some room to breathe. While its hull rattled and vibrated the air inside the Prowler was just as electric, tensions were high and the silence was near deafening.

"Team," Leo spoke up, swallowing thickly as his pale eyes shifted from focusing on an open pile of munitions to the sight of the assembled counter-terrorist operators.

And, a civilian contractor, the latter of which was vouched for by someone Leo served with what felt like a lifetime ago.

"As I'm sure you've all realised, we're practically on our own from here on out. Yinri's sensory equipment and Arynn's drone proficiency should help but this is, figuratively speaking, and up-hill battle and the enemy is on their home turf. Having such a weapon so close to a civillian population could spell disaster, failure is never an option for us but I must reiterate how that has never been more true than it is now. I fully believe in our ability to turn this situation around~" the Captain offered up as some words of encouragement, letting the hang in the air a moment longer before securing the faceplate to his helmet.

Leo looked down to his wrist-mounted volumetric display before beginning to pad his way to the rear of the Prowler, looking back one last time to ensure Kil'nda was strapped in to the small thruster kit before offering a thumbs up to a small camera mounted inside the vehicle's belly.

"Opening the rear doors, jump when ready, Kil'nda~" Leo's voice piped up over radio up as the rear doors slowly creaked open.

Something was wrong, something was very wrong.

In unison each member of Leo's team would feel their hairs stand up on end and their breath catch in their throats as it seemed like all the air was sucked out of the immediate area. Everything was so still, so serene for a few moments before the night sky was lit up by a blinding bolt of purple energy. It sliced through the distant shape of the second team's dropship with ease before the noise hit Leo's team, a deafening roar hitting their chests hard enough to make their hearts skip a beat as a gout of blueish flame erupted from the struck vehicle.

Pitch black smoke trailed from the second team's dropship as it began losing altitude and began spinning, the attached prowler shearing from its moors as radio chatter began filling with the frantic sounds of the crew trying desperately to regain control of a rapidly worsening situation.

"Kiln'da, jump now!" Leo yelled as he wrapped one gloved hand around a nearby rail, their prowler lurching to the side as the attached dropship began taking evasive manouvers, another terrifying bolt of energy ripping past the vehicles rear close enough to make any heads up displays crackle and sizzle momentarily.

"Everyone else, brace! I'll get the pilots to drop us once we're clear of the ridge!"

Team 2's Shitshow

The occupants of the tumbling, freefalling prowler were being tossed around and battered by anything not bolted down. The pilot had a large piece of shrapnel through his midsection that had severed the man's spine from his lower body as the co-pilot tried desperately to stabilize their descent.

"We're going down hard, brace for impact!" the co-pilot's voice yelled as she struggled against the joystick, the prowler's doors shearing off as one armoured My'leke was sucked out into the night sky with a short-lived scream of pure terror.

Hana was unconcious before the prowler impacted, the warped vehicle plunging through a few meters of sandstone, only its smoking nose visible above ground and with most of its occupants dead or dying. Save for one grumpy, jaded Daur named Hana.

He awoke, slowly, the large spiderweb of cracks in his faceplate being the only reason his neck was stiff rather than broken in multiple places right now. A string of orange lights were haphazardly strung up along the walls of a long tunnel the Daur now found himself in, some foul-smelling liquid poured out of the ruined prowler and pooled over a crate of munitions as the lights shifted to red, and distant yelling down one end of the tunnel began growing louder.

The battered and bruised man was potentially concussed and his gear was strewn around the place, though even through all the fog and pain he could hear the faintest of groans from inside the disfigured vehicle.
 
Moments before impact

Back in the saddle, after how long again? Hana's ears flattened to his skull as the thoughts went through his mind. It was first-mission jitters all over again and he couldn't help but let out a bemused huff at his own nerves. He was better than some rookie that would understandably be extremely anxious for his first, but he'd been threated, shot and stabbed before. Not to mention he had already killed a number of terrorists, so he couldn't grasp just what this uneasy, gut-sinking feeling was or why he felt it. But there wasn't much time to ponder it further.

Impact

The transport was hit by unidentified fire with a force strong enough, elliciting a well-deserved "shit," from Hana before he too was subjected to the force of the Prowler in freefall, before slamming against one of the handlebars with his face. A loud crack of glass coming from his visor as his subconscious body now ragdolled around in the prowler.

It was with a sharp breath that Hana woke, his HUD offering only static and blurred vision and at this point. Not to mention that everything hurt, though that wasn't high on his list of priorities. What he had to do now was escape the warped prowler, as fast as possible. And while his leg felt like it was on fire, the Daur persevered, pushing through the anger as he slowly wiggled around through the warped metal. A single streak of orange light shining in through the crack of one of the vehicle's doors was his only guiding light. He managed to grab the handle and pull himself towards it, feeling something foreign lodged in his leg which got caught on the seating. Ripping the air out of his lungs and causing him to only produce a faint, almost pathetic whince. Though as warped metal often did, the door didn't open right away; requiring several thumps of his shoulder against the door to make some leeway nescessary to fit his fingers between. Though he succesfully managed to force it open enough to crawl out and splay himself on the floor in the tunnel. Laboured panting filling the air as he laid there.

Taking a few seconds to catch his breath and another few to steady himself as to not pass out from his injured leg, Hana glanced around before shaking his head. The gear had been scattered and he didn't have the time nor the pain tolerance to get up and just search through it. He clipped the pistol from his belt instead and held it close to his chest, whilst the other hand busied itself with taking off the visor. It was more an impairment than anything at this point, though when he took off the visor the full brunts of lights hit him. Sharp, glaring, a screeching headache, the voices that echoed in the distance only causing a faint and dull thumping in his head.

Though what he did hear was the faint, yet agonized groaning of another survivor. And he was no idiot, it smelled like fuel. One spark and they'd be blown to kingdom come.

That thought didn't stop him though. It was a herculean feat for Hana to even get to his feet, supporting weight on his right one since the left felt like it was on fire. Every shuffle closer to the prowler was like somebody sunk a new dagger into the exact same spot over and over again. There wasn't enough adrenaline flooding his brain to even begin nullifying the pain. Yet he kept going, leaning over the prowler to assess his comrade in arms and if he could, rip him out of the wreckage. Though he'd fall down due to the force and use his remaining good leg to kick himself away from the transport as far as possible, dragging the other operator with if he managed to get him out, all the while he was keeping his pistol trained on the shouts that drew closer and closer with each passing second.
 
Kil'nda had been ready to jump when everything suddenly went to hell on them all. He had seemingly been the only one to make the jump, but that could have just been his own view of things . He had to figure out these jump boots he hand on and slow his fall. Luckily it was nothing more then a jostling landing leaving him a bit sore. "Could have been worse. He began to try and hurry and make his way to the crash and look for survivors before their enemies come to finish off whatever might be left there.

Hana was the first one he could see. Rushing over to his side. "Are you okay?!" He asks before getting his question answered seeing the wound. "Ahhh Damn it.. Hold On I need to get you somewhere form the wreck and look for out medical supplies.. if we even have any of those left!" He says looking around as well desperate to find the rest of his team, or what might remain of them all.
 
Leo's Dropship

Contractor Engineer Arbavin was already struggling with their own drop kit when the energy weapon rang out, slowed not just by panic but also with lack of procedure; Their first thought was a unpack their sensor tripod and actually be helpful by taking some readings, but a lump built up in their throat when they remembered they were still several hundred feet too high in the air for that to work. It needed a stable surface, not a light hovertank dangling in the wind and getting shot at.

"By heck, how they aimin' at 'tus with a gun like that? Can we no get some ECM up here?" Yinri complained out loud, but didn't really expect anyone to hear them over the complaining groans of metal and shuddering spikes of turbulence. For now, just getting properly fixed into their seat seemed like the best bet, heels digging into the mesh that contained their tripod below. "Get 'em to put us on the far side of the hill, will yah?"

This situation was bad. They wanted Leo to take them seriously as a recruit, and so didn't let their terror leak out completely, but the fact that she was staring at him kind of made it obvious they were pleading for some kind of direction. Some kind of assurance they weren't about ten seconds from being smashed against the floor like a carton of eggs...
 
Team 1, Leo's Bundle of Foxes
"Kiln'da what are you doing?! damn it man! you were meant to~ shit!" Leo yelled into his headset as the team's sniper descended towards the drop-site, though with how the situation was evolving it probably the better course of action. With a huff the snowy leader threw himself into a seat and braced, turning back towards the one-armed contractor with a nod.

"If the dropship still had all its mobility I'd agree, but with us strapped to its belly she's not so good at turning. We'll stay the course and get dropped behind that outcropping, here's hoping our pilots are throwing enough static into the air to make us hard to hit... another life and you'd make a good advisor, Arbavin," Leo offered with a weak chuckle as the prowler's red interior lights shifted to a yellow colour.

"Everybody brace, they're going to drop us and the moment we've stopped we're going to spill out," he commanded.

Surely enough the prowler's occupants would feel their chariot lurch, the dropship tipping its nose up to bleed momentum as the magnetic clamps binding the two vessels were released. The sensation of weightlessness was lessened by the prowler's inertial dampeners but a few small, unsecured, objects still gained a brief window where they were allowed to float before the prowler's armoured underside slammed into a sand dune. A large cloud of sand was kicked up as the prowler's engines flared, mitigating the impact somewhat but definitely not enough to avoid some bruising where gear was strapped to the bodies of the Operators.

Team 2, Kiln'da + Hana
Unfortunately half of Leo's yelling would dissipate into static as Kiln'da entered the cave, the recently disturbed ground crumbling beneath his feet as he crawled past the second team's ruined prowler, a few lumps of sandstone tumbling down near Hana's scrambling form. There'd be a brief, tense moment as each Operator's vision adjusted, unsure of if the other figure was a friend or foe before the tell-tale Division 5 camouflage pattern became apparent.

A bassy, thunderous tone reverberated through the tunnel walls, knocking free a cloud of grit that'd shower down on the Operators and cause Hana's injured companion to let out a low groan. The lights flickered brighter and then dimmed once more, enough light for them to see a medical kit strapped to the Operator's belt next to an orange grenade and a large patch of blood-soaked fabric below the woman's left knee.

Unfortunately the three foites didn't have much time to catch their breath before whoever had been yelling in the distance rounded the corner, appearing past the twisted wreck and wasting little time before they opened fire. Sparks flew off the downed prowler as a combination of shukaren flechettes and foreign projectiles filled the air, fairly accurate bursts barely missing the trio.

Team 1, Cont.
"New intel!" Leo called out as the Prowler could be felt decellerating, prompting the quiet Kyet to unbuckle her own harness and pass a small chip to him, the team Leader slotting it into his wrist terminal before continuing.

"It looks like there's some structure down there that looks more permanent than what we first though, once we land I want Arynn to provide some overwatch for us with her drones, Arbavin you deploy your scanner and find us some thin ground, Suzu'ha you prepare something that'll punch through at least a foot of sandstone while me and the others run security. Everyone know their job? get ready to spill out then." He commanded, unbuckling his own harness and rising to a stand.

The side doors slid open to reveal the moonlight-bathed valley of sand and sedimentary rock that the teams found themselves assaulting, a fairly inconspicuous sight if not for another bolt of purple energy filling the area with light for a few short seconds as the surviving dropship limped away, as hard as the active hearing protection in their gear tried to dampen the deafening roar it was still loud enough to make any dental work feel like it was about to be shook loose.

"Arynn, try and see if you can find out where that damn thing is firing from, it's ionizing the air too much for our orbital scanners to get a good reading through the atmosphere."
 
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On the Desert Floor

Cirillo woke up to the taste of sand and blood in his mouth as he laid on the cool desert floor. He creaked his eyes open, but his vision was too blurred to make out much apart from a broken helmet split cleanly in two and the remains of a deployed parachute.

I need to pull myself together, what's going on? he urgently asked himself, opting to stay motionless and continue looking like a casualty on the floor for the time being.

I... was on the phone with my mother. She was chiding me for not taking more time off after my leg injury. I felt bad I couldn't tell her how I got it, just that-- stop, stop, that's not important. The call was interrupted by an emergency sortie notice, so I had to cut it short and head to the hanger bay. We were given data crystals with the mission, then pushed onto the planes. The crystal... Cirillo glanced at the lifeless helmet. ...isn't doing me much good now. We're on a mission and I need to regroup, that much is clear.

It took him a second to see the crashed prowler a few dozen meter away. Did I get blasted this far out or did I jump out at the last second? I must have pulled the parachute string, but clearly there wasn't enough distance to use it. Just then, he heard the sound of several footsteps and gunfire pursuing limping figures into what looked like a cave. He could have sworn one of them was Hana, probably seeking refuge.

They're going to be sitting ducks in there if I don't do something! He didn't want to give up the stealth of the darkness where he was just yet, so he slowly confirmed his equipment loadout. His SMG was still in his holster, hopefully not broken. He had a couple of knives as well, but his grenades either hadn't been put into their pouches yet or flew out in the fall. With slow, deliberate movements, he slipped the SMG out of its holder, flipped the safety off, and aimed towards the attackers while propped on his elbows. Then, careful not to make too much noise kicking sand and rocks, he bent one of his legs and planted his foot flat on the ground, ready to jump up in an instant.
 
Yinri snapped off the cuff of their harness, but fumbled getting the tripod out from under the seat, and onto their shoulder. By the time they were out the back of the prowler, a pistol holster and bulky energy pack swinging wildly as they skidded down the ramp, they looked like some old-world news reporter somehow lost in this highly trained military outfit.

But they followed orders, charging out into the gloom, heavy boots crunching the sand in the dark...

The lack of trees made them feel nervous. They kept getting confused and trying to remember if you were supposed to go towards or away from those during a thunderstorm, having to constantly remind themselves it wasn't real thunder.

Her ears were getting gunfire, too, somewhere in the dark? Was it enemy or friendly? Both?

When they reached a small rocky outcrop near the rest of the squad's advance path, they then dove into it's cover, rolled into better cover, then scratched at the dirt with their good leg to test the consistency. It was hard enough.

Grabbing onto the sensor's main handle and kicking the extension release, it fired a metal spike into the ground, and mechanically unfolded the box at the top. It looked like a geometric, angular flower, inlaid with spikes of black crystal. Command terminal was best operated when reeled out on a long wire, so that's what they did, laying flat, with their head wedged up against a rock, getting all dusty whilst the readings came in...

<-"...Gun's messing with te' readings... I can't get anything useful out of these energy waves..."-> Yinri spoke to Leo's squad frequency through the microphone in her lapel. She wished her left hand was free in order to get her pistol out, not stuck using this tiny joystick with her huge cumbersome metal hand. <"...I'll try-ee mappin' the seismic- Yeah, that's bettar, the vibration o' te' gun is picking up where the tunnels are... looks like... gosh, there is 'en 'ole bunker complex out there...">

<"Stand by, I'me tryin' to finde...-">

<"There. Sixty meters nort', twenty meters east... Looks like there is a tunnel under the rock, 'bout two meters down... Narrow... Maybe an old ammo loading point? Or an'e emergency exit? Canne' tell if it's buried or not, but you can't miss the big ole' rock on te' slope...">
 
Leo's Squad
Squad One


Arynn barked affirmatively at the new command, the large-eared operator rushing out of the Prowler and keeping low as she prepped the arrow-shaped flier for use. This one was practically fresh off the assembly line, and a couple of bindings needed to get cut before it could fly. She was, luckily, not handling a knife during the flight.

Some preflight checks and a boot-up sequence later, and the robot's video feed was online. A toss upwards, a bit of turbulent wind thanks to the aggressive energy discharge to boost it along, and the Ya’stelco zipped off, nearly imperceptibly quiet as it raced around above the desert surface. What started as a brief orbit around the landing zone quickly became a life-saving survey of the enemy's position.

"We've got incoming already, some KF troops are getting greedy. Rocks at three o'clock and twelve o'clock," Arynn relayed, pointing to the little piles of rubble. Sure enough, there was just a little bit of motion flitting about, the stray twitchy ear or shine of a readied weapon. Chances are, the only reason Arynn got away with launching her drone was the kicked-up dust of the dropship's air currents providing visual cover for the briefest of moments. She kept crouched, near the back of the group where the bulk of everyone else's bodies could shield her while she kept the information flowing.

"The second squad is already getting rushed, I'm not seeing the anti-air weapon from this vantage either. Laying down suppression-" The Ya'stelco drone swooped above a group of KF Laibe and Daur, a nightmare-piercing screech of auditory assault sending the terrorists into fits of pain as their ears were overwhelmed by the noise. Even though they weren't the direct target, Cirillo was still subject to a diminished effect as well - Arynn just had to hope this would buy him and his companions enough time to rally a defense against the incoming Fellers.
 
The Daur had not much time. He had taken note of the flashbang, as well as the medkit. Though time was of the essence after all. While he had a precious moment to go through the medkit, all he yanked out was painkillers. If he'd pull the piece of metal out of his leg, he had to stem the bleeding somehow. And thus, he elected to have the piece kept lodged in his leg and slammed the auto-injector in his arm. Providing at least some relief and allowing him to focus at least somewhat without the pain reverberating from his leg and the thumping headache from the concussion he had no doubt suffered.

Hana then looked up to Kil'nda, a faint though shit eating grin on his face. "I'm peachy," was retorted with a tone that dripped with sarcasm. "See to the other," he grunted while slipping the flashbang from the wounder operator's belt. Shots resounded, smacking into the metal plating of the ruined prowler, dust being kicked up from impact with the floor. The sharp sound of bullets colliding with metal only worsening the headache and ringing in his ears, which flattened against his skull; "Agh fuck! Give me a goddamn moment would you!" The Daur cried out to their attackers before slipping the flashbang from his belt again. "We run, flash out," he stated - loud enough for Kil'nda and hopefully Cirillo to hear. He propped himself up when there was a break in the gunfire, tossing the flashbang out after pulling the pin, aiming to disorient their attackers for long enough to make a break for it, holding the pistol up in a rather shoddy shooting position as he blindfired into the group of unknown assailants to halt their advance and cover their retreat at least somewhat.
 
Kiln'da cursed as they were being shot at now as they had to dive for cover behind their own wreckages now as he still had his weapons at the very least. He was going to take the guess these were not their allies shooting by mistake. A flash of light that came from where he would guess his team was helped solidify that as he took aim and created a sound loud enough to be sudden thunder as he hoped to down a target and maybe make the attackers think about cover more than charge in and blind firing as he looked to the others. "Let's start suppressive fire and move to our allies! There should he enough rubble we can use for cover while we do so!"
 
Remnants of Squad 2, The Heckin' Tunnel Rats
The threat of up-to-date military grade weapons being fired back at the slowly encroaching terrorists was enough to scramble their ranks, one of Kiln'da's shots splintering one KF member's forearm and forced him down onto the ground, the woman screaming and grabbing at her stump as her fellow terrorists scattered to grab any nearby bit of cover they could find. Which mostly consisted of slight alcoves carved into the porous walls of the tunnel and small piles of rubble that hadn't been cleared yet.

Blood from both the injured KF and Division 5 Shukaren began seeping into the sand, soaking it a dark shade of red as Hana prepared his grenade, the orange sphere tumbling through the air before it impacted a few meters past the prowler. The tunnel was bathed in white light that burnt itself into the retinas of anyone unfortunate enough to be looking in its direction, the closed confines of the tunnel focusing the loud bang into a concussive blast that'd both blow out any unprotected eardrums and send small rocks scattering in all directions. One such rock barely missed Cirillo's head but still managed to nick the lackey-band holding his ponytail together, causing the man's flowing hair to fall down and frame either side of his face, now was as good an opportunity as ever to make his presence known!

It was extremely effective, the previously encroaching KF members now stumbling around confused in the tunnels, lacerations dotting any exposed skin from all the small fragments that'd been kicked up, the now one-armed opponent having lost consciousness as the pool of blood they lay in bloomed outwards in almost certainly lethal quantities. With (seemingly) the only other survivor in tow the remnants of squad two quickly scrambled up the jagged hole, where they'd see Cirillo's prone form nearby and two small groups of enemies attempting to catch squad 1 with a pincer maneuver.

Squad 1, The Fortunate Few
"Gotcha, gotcha, thank you both, keep looking for that weapon, Arynn," Leo puffed, offering both techies a little pat of appreciation on the shoulder before hefting his SMG upwards, a few rounds flying over their heads from the group of surface-side KF terrorists not currently writhing in pain from the effects of Arynn's drone.

"Tunnels huh? we'll move and try to blow through that slope you mentioned Arbavin, we'll get Operator DePolanskaya to lay down suppressing fire with Yuri'no as her backup and move from cover to cover, alright? Suzu'ha I hope you've got something ready for us... Arbavin you just stick close to me and yell if you find anything noteworthy, alright?" the snowy Daur nodded, his free hand gripping at the back of the contractor's collar, ready to pull her along.

"On it, sir," Kyet nodded, her voice low and flat despite all the chaos happening around them. She offered the sword-wielding Laibe a count-down on her fingers before making a break across the desert, diving into cover behind a small outcropping of rocks before needles began flying out her weapon, putting pressure on the group of enemies not currently harassed by Arynn's drone, even hitting one of them in the shoulder despite her stubby weapon and the range she was engaging at.

"Right, let's go!" Leo yelled as he began moving towards Kyet and Yuri'no, pulling Arbavin along behind himself and spraying a few one-handed bursts of suppressive fire towards the enemies, hoping Arynn and Suzu'ha were both hot on his heels.
 
With them able to see Squad one off in the distance it meant they could finally regroup. Ki'lnda looked to his other team member. "Move in and aid them, I'll cover fire here!" He says as they are finally getting closer to finally getting this mission on the way properly. He braces himself and set up his rifle and then take aim at one of the terrorists and pulled the trigger to try and take one down and hopefully relive Squad 1 of some of the fire coming their way.

"Try and get the squad on the comms and let them know we're right here. We can finally regroup or at least get some orders to fallow." He says.
 
Roughing It on the Desert Floor

Cirillo's face scrunched in pain as the reverberations of the screeching weapon reached his ears. He quickly cupped his ears in a vain attempt to block out the noise, but anything would help even if it only bought a couple extra seconds. As the noise died down and he uncupped his ears, he just caught Hana's voice say what sounded like "flash." Not taking any chances, he immediately threw his eyes towards the ground as the world lit up around him.

Small pebbles knocked his arms and legs at high speed, but he hadn't expected his hair to block his eyes as he looked up. In a swift motion, he tucked the loose wave of hair behind his ear for now and pounced up, SMG in hand trained towards the cave and the panicked terrorist members.

"The coast is as clear as it'll get!" Cirillo shouted, aiming suppressing fire at the most alert and collected Kingdom Fall members, leaving the distressed members to their own devices for now.
 
Unprotected ears were blown out.

If anything, the concussion he suffered went from bad to worse after the flashbang detonated. The disgruntled operator saw Cirillo suddenly surfacing, though his shouting was lost by the loud ringing in his ears. He couldn't hear anything anymore but just that. "I-... I can't hear anything!" He shouted, though Hana was ever the tough, no nonsense operator, he couldn't help but have a distinct tone of panic creep in his voice. The un-helmeted fox' ears lowered against his skull as he slid in cover near Cirillo. He tapped the flat ear with one hand, squishing his eyes shut as he thumped his head against the rock of his cover in frustration, if not desperation. "Fuck, fuck fuck-..." He uttered before glancing up. "Those aren't our guys are they?!" Hana asked Cirillo and Kil'nda, maybe a tidbit too loud as he nodded over to the KF members attermpting to pincer squad 1.

He glanced down at his leg, the blood he saw reminded him just in fact that he was bleeding. Which was a glaring reminder of his mortality, if he wasn't dizzy already from the concussion, the faint throbbing in his pierced leg and the bloodloss didn't help. "Anyone got a medkit?!" He shouted once more, glancing over to his fellow operators. "I'm losing too much blood!"
 
Squad 1
Hot-footing it across the desert


Arynn nodded in concentration as Leo gave out his commands. There was an itch onthe back of her right ear, aaaaa- daamit, it'd have to wait. The little fennec strafed another sheltering gaggle of Kingdom Fall's grunts from the sky before forcing the drone into a striaght offshoot. It'll hold in the air for this burst of movement.

Panting lightly with each step, the streamlined figure of Arynn Sher'meso darted across the exposed surface of the desert at astonishing speeds. Holding her tablet against her chest, the intel operator's already-small profile made her easy to miss in the commotion. It wasn't until they'd returned to some shelter against the Fellers that Arynn was able to put her eyes back into the sky (relatively) safely. A fresh beam of terrifying light split the sky once more, the Kingdom Fall weapon taking potshots at the retreating transports... And helping Arynn pinpoint its position.

"PoI located, they've got it hidden in plain sight," the miniature Daur called out to her squadmates. "I've never seen this kind of technology before. These terrorists are foreign funded."



That or they stole it from someone else. They're really crafty at making things work as inconveniently as possible, aren't they?

Unfortunately, yes. But going fully invisible is a step up from mere craftyness. There's not even ruins to disguise as!

Yeah, yeah, I saw that too y'know.
 
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