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RP: Cirrus Station [Episode 10] Cumulocirrus

Blake loaded the capsule into his gun with a satisfied sound and fell in next to Kokuten. He kept his newly deadlified weapon held high on his chest, pointed towards the ground. Just like he was told to in training.

"Captain." Blake's voice was deeper, calm, in-character, "Don't our suits have some sort of low-visibility function? Light amplification would be of little use during a snow-storm, but thermal or infared might be nice about now."
 

"Uh... yeah," George said, taking a quick glance around the room before his eyes immediately fell onto the raised stairwell connecting to the bulkhead. "Lenny and I used to patrol this area like all the time back when we were in Squad 104," the Nepleslian explained as he looked back at Tweak, tossing a pointing gesture over to the doorway on the opposite side of the room. "We're in one of the storage bays; that door should lead to the main hall. Should be fine as long as we have our..."

George's expression suddenly sank into slight shock with realization when Tweak helped him remember that he was quite unarmed. The man looked around on the ground bewildered for a moment, thinking that perhaps his security rifle had fallen through with the two of them... however it was a fruitless search, turning up next to nothing. "Ah... alright... not a big deal," George attempted to assure himself, not sounding all too convinced but hopeful none the less. He tossed Tweak an unsure smile. "I mean, we're in a weapon development lab, right? And a storage area, too. There might be somethin' in these big boxes... maybe..." George's voice trailed off slowly as he spotted one crate that wasn't completely covered in the powdery whiteness, farther down a small bank of snow. The man took a couple steps down the slope, sliding for the last few feet and hitting the crate with his abdomen, coming to a stop with a hefty "Oof!" of surprise.

It was a that very moment that Tweak's natural early warning and detection systems immediately began to blare out to her senses, alerting her that something was in quick approach directly behind her. It was a wonder that she could detect it at all; in a manner of seconds there was a loud shrill cry followed by a burst of snow from behind Tweak and George as a large creature leaped from beneath the tundra.

Judging from the description the squad had received earlier, this thing must have been a Quahhg. An enormous, long muscular body supported by eight limbs, about the size of a large SUV. The limbs left the main body at a horizontal angle before sharply turning towards the ground, ending in three-toed claws tipped in menacing-looking talons. At one end of the body twined a long, thick tail which tapered smaller towards the tip before ending a a large, thick ball-like clump. The other end of the body was the head of the Quahhg; no discernible neck was visible, the body simply merging into the larger face of the beast, revealing four large sunken pitch-black eyes, two on each side of its face. The head came to a pointed beak similar to a lizards, save for the maw of gnashing teeth and a trio of curved horns pointing skyward from the pointed snout. The entire thing was covered in a coat of short white hair which allowed it to blend in seamlessly with its surroundings.

Purina had mentioned that Quahhgs were predators, but the creature reaching out to devour Tweak looked more like a terrifying killing machine than a thing of nature.

---

"The Savtech system cannot see things in that area due to the camera system's being covered by the elements present; the most I can do is turn on the lights," Mimi replied to Kokuten as quickly as he had asked. "But I should be able to track your general location as you move through. Follow the hall until you reach another bulkhead; it will lead to the main terminal for that floor. Tweak and George should be coming from the hallway connected to the left of that room."

Mimi's directions were more or less spot on; the snow-covered hallway lead several meters before ending in what was most likely a door. It had, however, at some point been battered by something until a sizable hole had formed at the base, large enough for something of equal size to the Quahhg Squad 35 had encountered to fit through.
 
It appears we're on the right trail.

"Thank you, Mimi." reported the Captain, his fingers pressing firmly on his send button as he tried to keep his arms active. He could feel his joints locking slightly, and began to shake himself loose. It was a strange feeling, having the cold creep upon oneself like a swarm of ants swarming on the corpse of a larger, dead bug. The thought itself was morbid, and more chilling the cold ever was. Though that's exactly how the squad would end up if they didn't watch themselves out there.

"And no, Morris, our helmets extend only to polarization. It will darken against bright light, but we've got nothing to battle against darkness itself." explained Kokuten as he kept his rifle up, while the squad led itself through the corridor. "Our armor and weapons aren't designed for this sort of environment, but at the very least the plasma injectors should keep our weapons from jamming in the icy cold."

Kokuten looked at the VW he was carrying, before throwing a glance at Blake, "No mounted flashlights, and no flashlights for carrying. It's as if Miss Montreal has never even seen a Police Officer before."
 
"Some high-tech research station this is." Blake moaned. The childish tone was already back in his voice after only a brief vacation. He hefted the rifle again, working some of the cold out of his body.

"Wait a minute!" He stopped in place. Then he picked back up again to catch up, forgetting their formation momentarily. "Administrator Montreal has seen a police officer! When she bailed us out back on Fortuna, there were several of them there. I think she was just being stingy when she designed the armor. Well, she'll think twice about short-cutting her security forces once we valiantly rescue her from the clutches of an angry Quahhg!"

Blake toyed with the gun some more.

"Or at least let us eat sweets."
 
Tweak noted George's falling expression upon his reminder that they had left their guns behind with a bit of amusement.


Tweak immediately put ten meters between herself and the large beast behind her with a single jump, sliding to a stop facing it. Not that thirty feet was very far to a creature of that size...but it gave Tweak a bit more room to move. She kept moving, back-pedalling while changing her direction so she didn't get backed into a wall or corner.

"George, get to opening those crates! I'm calling for help!" she shouted through her speakers, immediately going into combat mode. The 'spacer neko added the Squad 35 channel, opening it alongside the channel she had to Kess and Mimi while keeping external speakers open to both keep George updated on what she was doing and to keep the creature focused on her instead of her teammate. George wasn't doing a very good job of proving himself maneuverable in these conditions, Tweak figured it best to keep attention on her for now.

"This is Tweak, we are under attack! George and I have no weapons in here, please hurry!"

Scanning... ... ...

"Kess, do we need to keep it alive?" Tweak sorted through the ideas flicking through her mind as her tactical system fed her options. "What's its digestive system like?" she added, remembering what she did in the access tunnel and getting the crazy and outright insane idea of trying that again.
 
"Captain Kokuten!" Mimi's voice sounded out through Squad 35's radio channel. "Tweak has encountered the target. Her location is through the east hallway of the room you are all entering now. Hurry!"

The team would be able to easily fit through the opening torn into the bulkhead, which led into a large, open room. The recent renovation work must have been in its initial stages, as the room itself was much larger than what would have normally been accepted as the standard, although still well-lit from the numerous light fixtures along the walls and ceiling. Large sections of creamy white wall-plates were stacked sparsely through the zone, as well as several other construction materials either boxed in large metal storage crates or left out to stand by themselves. The entire area was blanketed with pristine white snow, a veritable blizzard billowing in from the several ventilation shafts speckled across the ceiling. From their position, the team could see the large area close into a smaller corridor to both the east and west.

---

"Administrator Popjoy has already stated that she feels it is necessary to terminate the animal rather than try and apprehend it unharmed," Kess answered Tweak's query in a hurried voice. "As for the digestive system... I am unsure. I'm looking at the differing subspecies of Quahhg but the diversity between them is making it difficult to-"

"Snow Quahhg have a standard Gastrovascular digestive system," Purina Popjoy interjected between Kess, quickly making up for her lack of knowledge. "By nature they tear their food when feeding rather than swallowing whole, but they are capable of it."

The Quahhg expected its prey to be felled right then and there, evident when upon landing in the area Tweak had been standing the massive beast whirled its head around, its four dark eyes swiveling about. It took naught but a moment for the Quahhg to instantly ascertain Tweak once more, beginning to bound towards her again. Tweak's movements weren't slow, to be sure, but the large size of her opponent in comparison to hers gave the creature a number of impressive advantages; the ability to cover much more ground in a shorter span of time being one of them. Tweak was ahead of the Quahhg for now, but in another couple seconds, it would leap into range of Tweak and swipe at her form with its two front legs, the sharp talons capable of shearing metal and flesh alike.

George had heard Tweak before actually seeing what the commotion was about. When he caught sight of the Quahhg, the man instinctively shrank back in fear for a moment. When he saw that the creature was more intent on chasing Tweak rather than himself, however, George was able to grasp the situation quickly and began looking for a way to open the storage crate, as Tweak instructed. It was, however, no easy feat; the storage crates for the Weapon Labs were much more secure than others one might find around the Cirrus.
 
"Am I bite-size?!" Tweak shouted to Purina before she made an impressive somersaulting jump over the double-swipe, but hit one of the creature's talons as it passed under Tweak on the way down and set her off-balance enough that her boots betrayed her on the landing, breaking her right ankle's purchase so it bent outward. The joint didn't break or sprain, but it did hurt for several seconds. Thankfully, the cushion provided by the unpacked snow dulled the damage a landing like that could have done...she transferred her landing momentum into a roll away from the creature and hopefully out of reach of its next strike.

Getting up and making a short dash, Tweak reached the wall behind her then tried changing direction to run along it, intending to use the wall as a launchboard for higher jumps if she needed them. Previously-mentioned unpacked snow made changing direction on the fly difficult, so she ended up slowing for a moment before shoulder-checking the wall, which would have sapped all of her momentum, but she managed to push off strong and stay ahead.

Meanwhile, Tweak focused her TacOpSys' analysis on what she could do to get onto the beast's back without injuring herself too badly...the horns would need to be avoided, of course, but the rest of it seemed to just have that white fluff. And, worst-case regarding being pursued, she could just duck and let it run over her...assuming momentum was still a constant for something of that mass.

Analyzing... ... ...

Analyze FASTER!
 
"We've got contact with the other team, everyone! Double-time! Double-time! Get through that corridor!" ordered Kokuten as his boots began striking against the snow, splasing powder into the air behind him, and doing so ahead of himself as he kicked forth. His body began to warm up in excitement, terrible excitement, and sickening worry. His mouth felt dry, his arms felt stiff, but every part of himself was moving forward, with more purpose ever than before. Not only had the creature surfaced, but on the smaller group itself!

"Tweak!" barked the Captain into his helmet's comm system, speaking over the squad-wide channel in futility. "Tweak! Damn it all! Mimi, tell her we're pressing the advance!"

Kokuten made a turn past some of the snow caked wall panels, cutting into the corridor, but tripping just momentarily as his foot caught something hard. He stumbled a slight before pushing into hall. His thoughts intruded on him once more, making him wonder how a Space Station could be so dangerous. How did these troubles make it past all the security cameras? All of the security itself!

"You all know what to do! Aimed fire to the center mass! Do as much damage as possible!"
 
Blake followed close behind Kokuten and charged towards the supposed location of their deadly opponent, clutching his newly deadlified weapon close at hand. His arms didn't swing as he shouldered his weapon mid-sprint. He clipped the front of a boot over the same thing Kokuten tripped over but maintained his pace, having seen Kokuten's trouble just a second before.

Blake flicked off the safety on his variable weapon and lifted it high as they burst through the corridor, ready to fire at a moment's notice.
 
Tweak's TacOpSys listed several things, but one factor gave all of her results a large risk; the fact of the matter was that she had little to no actual information about this thing. Quahhg were a relatively new species, only discovered in the Prime system recently. Being an older model of Nekovalkyrja didn't help the matter, but even more recent information found through the various communication networks lacing through the Cirrus Station had little to nothing to offer her in terms of the beasts' tendencies, hunting habits, combat prowess... Tweak was going into the fight blind.

Now that the Quahhg had more or less caught up to her, Tweak found it incredibly difficult to outpace the monstrosity. It bounded after her, catching up easily as he ran beside her, the wall on her opposite end. In the midst of its lumbering, the Quahhg pulled its head to the left slightly, lurching its body towards Tweak and swinging its horned face towards the Neko's body. Her TacOpSys didn't have to remind her of the potentially lethal force she was dealing with.

Meanwhile George continued to struggle with the crate, frantically checking the surfaces he had dug out and continuing to push snow out of the way when he found no purchase. More than once his eyes looked up to follow the Quahhg and Tweak's movement, a mixture of fear and determination playing across his face.

---

As the rest of Squad 35 made their way towards the opposing hallway, the bitter chill biting at their backs, Kokuten's mechanical eyes would catch a glimpse of movement to his left. In the next couple of steps when they reached the mouth of the hallway, there was another flash, a dusty billow of powdery snow to his right, followed by a short, clicking screech.

They were upon them. In an instant, several figures burst from beneath the white surrounding them, bounding towards them with intensity. They were Quahhgs; similar to the one Tweak and George were engaging, but smaller, about the size of small vehicles, their more aggressive visual aspects not as pronounced, but still very easily distinguishable. There were three of them, although it was entirely possible that there could have been more, given how easily they were able to blend into their surroundings.

One of the beasts leaped towards Kokuten from behind, easily grasping the man at the waist with one of its three-toed taloned claws. Thankfully, the CSS suit was sturdy enough to provide the man with some measure of protection from what could have been a particularly painful grip, but something about how easily it could carry him away made it clear that if it had a more violent intent, the armor wouldn't stand up to much abuse. The juvenile Quahhg continued dragging the man along the ground as it crawled away from the hallway, taking him to a construction area to the left of the entrance. Kokuten would make out large sections of piping, roughly 10 feet in diameter, laid on their sides in sparse order as he was forcibly moved towards them.

Another of the adolescent Quahhgs took hold of Blake across his chest, also using another of its free limbs to take hold of Lenny by the leg. With much effort due to Lenny's increased size, the Quahhg was able to take the two of them in the opposite direction, towards a large, snowy hill. Blake and Lenny could see beyond that snow bank was a deep, dug-out hold that reached all the way to the ceramic tile floor, one side of the snow leading into a darkness; a tunnel or burrow of some sort, made by the quahhg that was carrying them, no doubt. Lenny attempted to struggle, but in the confusion and due to the fact that he was being dragged by his leg, he found little chance to free himself, the only sounds he made being grunts and the like as he slide across the snow.
 
As the other two young quahhgs snatched up a share of their prey, a muscular, jointed leg burst out of the snow behind Serra as well. Grabbing her from behind at the waist, the rest of the beasts body burst from beneath the surface in a torrent of powdery frost, yanking Serra along as it also began to approach the pipe yard where Kokuten was being carried. As the quahhg scrambled across the snow on its other free legs, it lifted Serra up towards its face, the two swiveling black eyes on the left side of its face fixated on her form as it opened its mouth slightly, baring its teeth and unleashing a clicking growl as it lumbered along.
 
Blake writhed in the tight grip of the creature as much as he could, shouting obscenities in several languages for artistic effect. His feet kicked like a child's tantrum was thrust upon him.

"-ucking, cocksucking, ichii-sho, muttefrichte!" His voice would fill the channel with obscene static, "There's a whole bunch of 'em! We're all going to die here, and no one's going to bond!"
 
"Blake!" growled Kokuten hearing the obscenities blare in his ear as he was dragged across the snowy ground. They were in it deep now, ambushed by the snow creatures unaware. The soldier cursed himself for charging in such a fool-hardy manner. No matter, now, he needed to get out of this situation, and everyone else. "You've still got your gun, god damn it! Use it!"

Kokuten grunted as he gripped his rifle tightly, struggling to bring it to bear before unloading a few plasma infused rounds into the creature's head.
 
"Captain," Kokuten heard Serra's voice over his radio, "I apologize to inform you that I have also been captured." She explained. "It pinned my arms to my side and my wings also." The last bit was a little bitey, since she has been known to hassle about her wings. "I would request a recommendation as to a course of action, because it's leering at me with exposed teeth and I might punch it if it doesn't stop."
 
Kokuten threw his head back to look over at the troubled Patrician. He did not think of Serra of a fighter, but she was an Elysian, and Elysian's had one monstrous quality. Strength.

"Lobotomize it! Whatever works! These are hostiles to be neutralized!"
 
With Kokuten's arms free and the close proximity, he was easily able to take his intended shots with the newly-installed plasma-induced rounds from his Variable Weapon. However, his aim would be less than stellar, due to the constant and violent shaking the quahhg was giving him as he strode towards its destination. The first bolt of blueish-white superheated plasma collided with the bottom of the quahhgs jaw near the edge of the mouth itself. The reaction was near instantaneous; the plasma burned away the short white hair and splashed against the creatures skin with a searing hiss, causing the quahhg to jerk its head in surprise and release an alien screech of pain and displeasure. The rest of the plasma fire from Kokuten's burst missed their mark, the creatures reaction to the first removing its head from the line of intended fire.

Kokuten would then find himself flying. Flying, in the sense of moving very quickly through the air without touching the ground. The snow quahhg had reared him back and threw his body in reaction to the sudden pain, using its free claw to scrape at the afflicted area, covering it with its three-toed claw as it paused its advance. As a result, Kokuten's body was thrown into one of the several large cylinders in the area.

In accordance to the small yard, it was the only one facing north to south, rather than the other four facing with their opened ends to the east and west.

The security captain's back hit the inside wall of the large, heavy-dude pipe, colliding with enough force to knock a little wind from his lungs, despite the protection of the CSS suit. The quahhg, on the other hand, had quickly recovered from its recent injury, still holding a claw to the afflicted area as he swiveled its eyes around towards where it saw Kokuten fly. The beast let loose a low growl before disappearing from Kokuten's view around the edge of the cylinder.

---

The quahhg that was carrying Serra towards the same cluster of large steel pipes paused its forward movement for a quick moment upon hearing the shrill cry of pain from its companion several meters ahead. The four black eyes swiveled around inside their sunken sockets, as though looking for the source. However, upon finding none, the two on Serra's side of the face turned back to her, the creature baring its teeth once more. This time, however, the quahhg began to open its mouth wider, turning its head and moving the grasping claw towards one another, strands of sticky ichor dripping off its fangs as heavy plumes of mist heaved from its mouth, the animal leaning in for a taste of its newly-captured snack.
 
The collision with the pipe indeed knocked the air of Kokuten's lung, his insides shaking painfully with the collision. The Captain fell flat on his side, his mind still reeling from the powerful toss. Aches and delirious pains caused him to scrunch up a moment before looking for his weapon, only a few feet away caked in snow, but still in his reach. With hot breaths beating back on his face, he reached his hand out to snatch up the weapons grip, before curling up to his thighs and pushing himself off the floor of the pipe with a weathered arm.

His visored face, slowly overcome by building frost over its surface, scanned around to get his surroundings. His eyes shifted to a white color, and his vision went from seeing things in refracted light, to infrared-senses, capturing everything in a white-hot image.

"Kess! Mimi! We are engaged!" announced Kokuten through the comms as he caught sight of Serra's familiar form under attack at the mouth of the pipe he was in. "The Quahhg is not alone! I repeat, the Quahhg has several young along with itself!"

The Captain, sure of his unwise decision to ignore the single Quahhgette hunting, brought his sights up against the animal assailing Serra. With his aim lined up enough despite the conditions, he squeezed off a few plasma shots to the head, trying not to hit Serra in the process.
 
Blake caught his nerves at Kokuten's instruction and gripped tight the variable weapon that had been dangling uselessly in his left arm up to this point. He writhed a bit in the grip of the ferocious snow-monster and pointed his new weapon, single-handed right at the center-mass of the beast. Or, at least as close to the center as he could manage in the circumastances. Without a moment to consider what was on the other side of the creature, Blake wailed on the trigger like it stole his lunch money-- that is to say he did everything he could to fill the Quahhg with hot plasma death before it filled itself with him.
 
As Squad 35 struggled with their new opponents, the shuffling sound of security suits striking the soft snow began emanating from back from where they had previously come. Sure enough, a handful of Cirrus Station Security members appeared at the mouth of the room, their backs to the hallway leading back towards the large industrial elevators. There were four of them, the black printed 054 on their shoulders identifying them quite clearly.

As they entered, the one at the head of the trio turned towards his two comrades. "Alright boys, sitch' is the same," he started, stepping backwards as he spoke. "Got five confirmed abducted, casualties unknown. The Head Administrator is among them; we're to assist Squad 35 while the rest of 54 gets here. Ormaund, Sgzyr, Endoh you're on me. Ready?!"

---

As Kokuten leaned against the lip of the cylinder, aiming his weapon to precisely strike Serra's aggressor, he would not notice his own target slowly peeking into view from the other end of the pipe. It was standing on top of the cylinder, its head slowly twisting around the top rim of the open end, the black eyes on both sides of its head swiveling towards Kokuten's direction. The burns that Kokuten's weapon had given it were still there; a small splotch of charred flesh surrounded starkly by fine white hairs.

Just as the Squad Captain fired, the quahhg opened its mouth and from the confines, launched a long, thick, black tongue-like appendage. The bobbed end of the tongue swung around Kokuten's ankle and yanked him back, causing the man to fall forward as he discharged his weapon, sending the blueish white plasma harmlessly off-target. The quahhg pulled Kokuten back with great force, the tongue unhinging itself from the mans ankle roughly mid-way through the pipe, sending the squad captain sailing shortly out of the pipe before hitting the ground and sliding the rest of the duration into the side of another cylinder. The black tongue retracted back into the quahhgs mouth, the creature releasing a heckling series of chirps and a low growl as it lowered its body atop the pipe, coiling its body down like a spring... no doubt in order to follow up its attack with a pounce.

---

The quahhg holding Serra stopped for a moment as Kokuten's plasma shots sailed harmlessly towards the ceiling. This momentary pause was quickly forgotten, however, as the quahhg began to open its mouth wider, the voracious jaws leaning over Serra's body ominously, waves of hot breath fogging her visor.

---

Dragging both Lenny and Blake towards its lair, the quahhg did not notice Blake's sudden act of courage as he began to fire at the large animals center body mass. A handful of plasma bolts collided with the side of the quahhgs belly with a series of hissing thuds, causing the creature of recoil and jerk to the side in surprise and pain. In a knee-jerk response, the quahhg lifted the leg that was clutching Blake and slammed it downward into the ground, hard. Luckily, the CSS suit combined with the modest amount of snow between the hard tile floor and Blake's body meant he wasn't dead, but he definitely wouldn't be able to ignore it either. Once it had pounded the poor man, the creature withdrew its grasp around Blake's waist and quickened its pace towards the dug-out tunnel, Lenny still in confused two behind it.
 
Amber gave a quick nod and raised her CSS:VW to point. Reclaiming an abducted team was a straightforward mission in most cases, but this, this reeked of something 'fun'. She looked to the man-in-charge, giving a quick and curt nod to acknowledge prepared status, then looking over towards Sgzyr she gave a secondary nod. The sounds of a series of chirps from a creature inside she felt her skin chill, shrill noises, quick reactions, this was going to be a fun fight.
 
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