RP: 4th Fleet (NSN) [Mision 5.1] Operation Roundhouse

Phaedra continued to fire short bursts from her HPAR at the approaching NMX and occasionally ducked back behind cover to dodge any incoming fire.

And then she saw Bastilen charge into the oncoming hostiles.

"Wreno, what the hell are you doing?!" shouted Phaedra. With Bastilen in the way, the rest of the squad could not fire for fear of hitting him.

"Damn it," muttered Phaedra.

"Cavaliers advance. Support the Private as best you can and take those Squids out!" She started advancing down the corridor, waiting for the Private to stop bouncing off the walls before she could fire at the NMX safely.

Lisa was smiling under her helmet as barrage of plasma fire and missiles basically tore one of the Shocktroopers apart. She did not stop firing, shifting the fire at the rooms, hiding nekoes, spraying projectiles and keeping Nekoes in cover. Suddenly Bastilen bursted forward and into her field of fire.

"Motherfucker!" Lisa shouted and stopped firing. She did had to admit, that move Bastilen just did was quite amazing. It left her standing there with opened mouth for fraction of a seconds. Phaedra then called marines to advance and Lisa was taught to be good girl and follow orders.

"CHARGE!" She shouted and hit her boosters on full rocketing herself forward right behind Bastilen. Her Large chaingun was useless in Close Quarters so she just discarded it, letting it fall to the sidewall of the hallway. She unsheated VCBS and charged forward.

Since Bastilen decided to handle the shocktrooper, Lisa chose to attack Type 32, which was little back. Which meant going around nekoes too. Lisa activated her LPA, let it firing randomly ona 120° in front of herself to keep nekoes preoccupied. Her Push/Pull plating activated, locking onto armoured MIsshu and pulling it to herself. Her left hand rolled under her right forearm ready to swing with charged PPG, once Misshu gets close enough, trying to hit it right into the front.

With the increase of firepower being sent in the NMX direction Zyv slid back into cover to check his systems. Shields closer to 50% than a hundred but otherwise all good. With a final check of his gun the man moved up to support the other marines but paused, Sawyer did not look good.

With a sigh he opened his comm and reported in with his voice that seemed to suggest boredom.

- 'Romero? You might want to check on Aubrey here when you get a moment. Seems he's got problems with mobility.'

That done Zyv leaned into the corridor, LPA at the shoulder. With the others pouring a heavy volume of fire at the Nekos he opted for a more disciplined approach, letting off double taps at where he knew a target was.

Ulrich reloaded his shotgun, and peeked out of his cover, after examining the corridor for a few seconds; he ducked back into cover "I need to get further down that corridor". Pausing to take a deep breath, Ulrich tightened his grip on the shotgun and turned the corner, darting down the corridor, firing off two shells, before crashing into the cover of a nearby doorway and firing off 2 more, carefully aimed rounds.

Henry momentarily wondered how many 'catgirl scum' there were and how they just kept on coming. He'd always mulled over 'girls off the assembly line', but this was getting ridiculous. It was almost as though a cloning facility was just around the corner and they were pumping them out, clothing them, giving them a rifle and pointing them at the Nepleslian's direction without a second thought.

Can't take up issue with HR if you're a clone off the line... Henry thought to himself, not that Nepleslian services were any better at the worst of times.

"Thank god someone in this squad has a brain cell, myself not included," Henry hung a lampshade over his lack of command expertise when the chips were down and Laura entered the scene. Clearly, the presence of the medic would provide some reassurance that if things did go tits up, there was a chance that you could get your brain back.

"We can't bunker down, we need to push in." Henry said before firing a small volley of five ARROWS in a fanned arc down the hall, hoping to finish the fight and continue pushing into the corridor.

Bastilen's running and gunning got him a lot of attention from the remaining Nekos and the Shocktrooper. Particle beams that might have been aimed at other Marines were redirected towards him. As Bastilen took hit after hit, he was forced to duck into a room farther up. Landing him face to face with a wounded Neko.

Behind him, Phaedra saw a Neko go down from her bursts before the crazy techie got in the way. As she and Lisa charged forwards, the NMX Nekos changed their tactics. At close quarters, shooting would be useless when matched against the greater physical capabilities of power armor. So the ones closer to the front pulled out whatever explosives they might have been carrying while the ones farther back escorted the NMX Mishhu back. The lone Shocktrooper back-pedaled, slowly, and fired as it moved. Leon moved out of his forward position to follow the two women.

The four Nekos in the front leapt at Phaedra and Lisa. Lisa's laser pulse array burned one down but as it did, both women and Leon were hit in the backs by shotgun shells from the distant Ulrich. The kinetic force pushed both of them forwards, taking awkward steps to regain their balance. Straight towards the NMX Nekos bent on explosive suicide. A second later, a large plasma explosion engulfed the hallway. The two Marines caught in the blast were rocked. Leon, who had been following behind, had to shield himself from the blast and his shields suffered for it. "Phaedra! Simmons!" The Marine Chief called out frantically as the dust settled. He saw the two Hostiles, still relatively intact but with their armor plating melted in places. "Phaedra, Simmons, answer me!"

First he had to make sure they were alive. Because if either or both of them were not, then a certain P3C who had fired from the rear would soon be following them. Even if all the deaths were "temporary," there was still trauma associated with death and resurrection. If either or both of them had to go through it, Leon considered it fair that the man who had shot them in the back and prevented them from reacting would be alongside them for the ride.

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"I'm a medic, not a mechanic!" Laura shouted at Zyv. Even the Most Brilliant Medic in the Universe had limits. She couldn't fix stupidity and idiocy, though she always tried. Failures like Cedric Sommerville were simply doomed to be failures. Sawyer, Laura began to think, was either suffering from continuous bad luck or he was going down the same path of idiocy. This was the third time wounded in as many combats.

"They're just bloody Nekos! Don't just sit there! Move up!" she kicked Zyv from where he leaned. Impaler particle, individually, were nothing to worry about. And from the reduced volume of fire, there were only a handful and those were clearly not aimed. "Oi, Henry, I think they're running. The shots are wild. I'm just standing here and nothing's hit me."

Rita's shots felled one Neko as she ran across the hallway. But otherwise, the incoming fire was drastically reduced. Henry's ARROWs blew away the last, lingering wisps of smoke and revealed a damaged, empty hallway.

Lisa knew what she was doing was reckless, she did not care thought. Her thrusters helped her charge forward rocketing her towards the closest of the bigger enemies. The schocktrooper. Phaedra was right next to her too. It was all looking great, when suddenly four nekoes with something in their hands jumped in front of two marines. Lisa quickly shot one with PLA, but then her shields took hit. HUD told her that he shot came from behind and it was enough to distract her aim. Then the world become white.

Her HUD screamed at her warning about deadly heat outside, but her shields still took it. Force of explosion was still dangerous. It could not stop two ton armour moving forward, but it was enough to missdirect it. Lisa went to the right, still seeing white as she felt herself hit the wall. She grazed the metallic wall and her right shoulder monoeye suddenly went offline. Not stopping she pushed herself from them wall, as the suit photo-sensors finally worked out the flash.

"FUCKING FRIENDLY FIRE!" SHe shouted, as she regained her direction moving right on the shocktrooper, not caring in the world that he was firing at her because she was pretty pissed off. Lisa gritted her teeth and aimed her P/P plating on her shoulders at the Shocktrooper, she actived it pulling the monster towards it and readied her PPG and knife. "I'MM GONNA KNIFE RAPE YOU BITCH!" She shouted!

Inside the Hostile Zyv barely registered the kick, the AI did however and dutifully reported.

- 'Attack received on rear, suspected friendly fire.'
- 'I've noticed, thanks.'

He muttered to himself by means of reply but decided not to bother saying so out loud. Seeing the fire fight die down he commed in.

- 'I'm moving up, please don't shoot my ass. I'd also appreciate someone keeping an eye out for squids.'

Before he began to make his way down the corridor, checking the rooms as he passed in the hopes of avoiding any further surprises involving nekos and satchel charges or other such fun things.

Beep Beep Wrrrzt!


Snnnk! Bastilen whirred aside into cover, now being further up the hall. His warnings were blaring in his ears after catching hell from the enemy. Yet, he found a surprise waiting for him inside the room just as he skated in. A wounded Neko, who had been caught holding her side from a pretty severe burn from some source he couldn't recognize. She saw him, staring right into his mono-eye, and he saw here, staring right into those gouache eyes of hers. The lense under the cap of his mono-eye shifted just slightly as he came to a stop, rifle held in just one hand.

The moment felt like a minute as they looked at each other, but really, it hand only been a second. Perhaps Bastilen had briefly considered stuffing her in a locker or closet to keep her in place. She was already wounded, and as threatening as she might be, they didn't have to kill every one of them, right?

"No prisoners until we find an officer!"

Click to expand...

Yes. Yes they did. A moment after Bastilen had stopped into the room, his thrusters spat out an explosive burst to skate him forth in a blinding dash. His fingers balled up into a fist, and his left hand went straight for her stomach, with his PPG firing another rupturing amount of force on contact.

Rita checked the battery on her LPA and the magazine readout on her HPAR, then crouched down slightly, holding both weapons out in front of her, just in case something decided to jump out at the squad. She waited to advance after making her profile smaller, pressed up against the wall and using it as a brace for her stance.

"Orders?"

"We keep moving," Henry seemed to regain his composure after discovering that there was nothing left, "Stenton, scout ahead and report while I try and diagnose Sawyer's armour. He can't seem to move. Do not engage if it's an armour. If not, kill quickly, and don't go nuts. Romero, follow Stenton and watch her back. Everyone else, stick to me while I get this repair done and we'll regroup ahead."

He then crouched down and started inspecting Sawyer's armour, "Let's see here," He said before pulling the TEK off of his back and taking a gander at the legs, in particular, the areas near the thrusters, "Looks like your leg thrusters are buggered. I'll see if I can't get them into half-working order."

With his diagnosis complete, he removed the useless thrusters and bought up a schematic for those thrusters alone, and using his TEK, he was able to fabricate a new set that'd last for the purposes of the mission, at least. He was able to use the useless thrusters as material to be reused. In essence, he was recycling dead old parts and using a bit of new spit-and-polish to get the job done.

"There we go. Try not to overuse them." He then moved ahead to meet with Rita and Laura. "Raikowski, Stones, follow me."

Bridget frowned. "I can't get up there to help anyone! We could all squeeze into the closest room, but why give the squids an opportunity to corner us? Nope, better stay here so we cover more of the hallway." She frustratedly took a vicious swipe of a hanging carcass with her vibrosaw. The meat sloshed over the floor. Bridget sighed and took aim of her HPAR down the hallway once more.

"Patience, Birdie. Patience."

She waited for a clear and clean shot of the remaining NMX, but it was a jumble of friendlies and enemies.

"Phaedra, Simmons, answer me!" shouted Leon.

"Still here. Shields still intact," replied Phaedra with a shake of her head to clear the ringing in her ears. She quickly regained her footing, grimacing at her left arm grinding. The impacts from behind could have only come from one source: friendly.

"Seems someone has an itchy trigger finger," she said over the comm. There was no use in trying to resolve the situation while they were in contact with the enemy. But once she found out who fired upon herself and Lisa, that individual would learn a lesson they would not soon forget.

Phaedra kept her HPAR raised as she advanced, waiting for a clear shot at the enemy.

"Now that's what I'm fuckin' talking about." Rita replied, giving Morris a snappy salute. "Aye, sir!" She exclaimed before getting on her way. She put her LPA away and held onto her HPAR with both hands, aiming down the sight as she crouched down and walked parallel to the wall. She motioned with her hand for Laura to head over to the opposite side of the hallway so they could create a crossfire zone in front of them. It was the best way to deal with any unexpected gifts left for them by the enemy. Slow and cautious, like Rita always was... Until the combat actually started.

The Confusion of COmbat had stunned Rayne. The noise, even thought the filters of Hostile's sensor suite was deafening, as the firefight unfolded instincts kicked in and he began advancing, pausing to check the first of hastily breached rooms for any actionable intelligence items or documents that could prove beneficial in the long run

The repairs to Sawyer's suit were completed, though they were only a temporary fix. He could only manage 50% output and that was pushing it. Any sustained use could likely cause the thrusters to explode, the armor's Savtech cautioned. Such an explosion would most definitely require more ambulatory surgery on Sawyer's part. The kind of surgery that Laura knew little about. She was, as she claimed from the beginning, the Most Brilliant Medic, not the Most Brilliant Surgeon, in the Universe.

"You don't salute in the battlefield... It lets the enemy know who is in charge..." Laura muttered darkly when she saw Rita salute. It was like painting a bullseye on Henry and saying "He's in charge! Shoot him first!"

She followed behind Zyv, pretending to aim at his butt every once in a while.

Henry's unit moved through the hall, securing the abandoned rooms swiftly. They finally came to a halt at the sealed blast doors behind which the Nekos had obviously retreated. Laura looked to the resident engineer. How should they tackle this door?

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There was only a brief instance between Bastilen's assault and impact. Time enough for the Neko to see him coming, shut her eyes, and curl up in a defensive ball before her life was snuffed out. A full second later, the room and Bastilen's armor were covered in synthetic gore.

As he strode out to rejoin the squad, Leon saw bits of flesh hanging loosely from Bastilen's armor plating. "You might want to get that cleaned later, Private Wreno," was all the Chief found he could say as he followed in Phaedra and Lisa's wake. Despite their setback, both women were still leading the charge up the hallway.

"Blackwood, Hollister, Vater! Stop shirking and get up here on the double!" Leon ordered the three rear-most Marines. Inexperienced greenies who didn't know when to be aggressive and when to slow it down, he chided silently. They needed to be put through more simulations to realize how to go with the ebb and flow of the battle. When the intensity waxed and waned determined what ought to be done.

Ahead, Phaedra managed to fire a single burst at the retreating NMX, ripping apart a Neko, before Lisa bodily crashed into the Shocktrooper. The two tumbled in combat, taking up the entire hallway in their mortal combat. Lisa had driven her knife deep into the armored Mishhu but it was keeping itself latched onto her with its powerful tentacles. One of which, equipped with a sharp serrated knife edge, was attempting to slash back at its assailant.

With the two locked in hand to hand, the remaining three Nekos and the Type 32 Mishhu retreated behind the blast doors.

"Blackwood, Hollister, check that first adjoining hallway. Wreno, Vater, this one here!" Leon pointed to the two shut doors which marked hallway entrances.

Henry gave Laura a nod as he examined the door and the area around it, looking for panels and machinery, "The element of surprise has definitely waned by now, they'll expect an explosion." He tapped the side of his head to signal that he was now scanning the mechanics and electronics of the blast door's systems.

Typically, a well made blast door would be two large slabs of military grade metal, like Yamataium, Durandium or Nerimium. These slabs would be controlled by heavy-duty pistons positioned to either side of the door way, which in turn were controlled by electronics, typically linked to the artificial intelligence. Up and down was cool, but ultimately inefficient for heavy grade blast doors, and more suited to household roller shutters. Furthermore, the doors could bolt themselves in for further stability against an attack.

All Henry had to do was cut the wires that linked the door's systems to the AI, and then pulse the right wire that made the doors unbolt, then pulse the wire that would make the doors open.

Of course, it all sounds so simple on paper.

"Get some smoke grenades prepped," Henry ordered, "Once I crack this and open the doors remotely, we need to re-take the element of surprise." He then knelt down, "I have to concentrate on this, lest we have to do things the old fashioned way." He gave Sawyer a glance and a raised eyebrow before getting to work.

He unbolted a panel in the wall where most of the wires congregated for access and maintenance purposes. Henry was using an array of tools and applications to measure the flow of electricity and to whereabouts it went on the ship by timing how many pulses went to and from the control circuitry to the ship's relevant system. As he was doing this, a minimap was starting to appear with all of the possible connections that this one door had, and to other doors on the same circuit.

He could see the wires that went straight to the pistons to either side of the door and the bolts the door above and below, and found that the left and right doors were on separate circuits, possibly for half cover.

"Hrm... Could open one half first to throw them off guard, we roll grenades in, then I open the other half and we get to business, using Monoeyes to target..." He mused openly to the squad as he lowered his probing tools and got his pulsing tools and wirecutter out, "First, need to relinquish control."

Snip.

He then positioned three of the pulsing tools onto separate wires, one for the door's bolts, one for the door's left half, and one for the door's right half. Satisfied, he stood up with a remote control in his off hand for each of the pulses labelled using his HUD.

He looked over to the others and pulled out his LSP using his main hand, "Hurry, before they realise what's happening."

Laura armed her PLA and readied it for anti-personnel use. "I don't have smoke grenades. Do you?" she asked Sawyer.

It was like popping a balloon filled with blood. He watched it, as well. He saw her close her eyes, accepting her fate with little choice on the matter. In that short instant where his fist collided to her abdomen, he could feel a person, a fake one, but a person none-the-less. In the wake of the hemosynthetic explosion, it almost felt like she was still there, with him thinking it was hard to believe his repulsor was such a powerful weapon. Bastilen had only ever seen the repulsion weaponry used on enemy armors, and with good reason.

The results were grotesque to say the least, swift to say the best.

"You might want to get that cleaned later, Private Wreno."

Click to expand...

Bastilen spun around half-way to find Leon had already caught up with him. The soldier looked at his lieutenant as the lieutenant looked back. The young private Wreno stared down at his hand, pasted over in blood, before looking at the rest of the room, splattered in a brilliant red-ink wash. Though as Leon continued to move on, Bastilen pulled his head out of the clouds and followed commander to another split objective.

As he was ordered, Bastilen peeled off to his selected door, looking back for Ulrich, before tearing out the wall panel. There, he began hard-wire hacking the doorway

Zyv took his position and moved down the corridor, choosing to ignore the occasional potential threat to his rear from Laura despite how tempting the prospect of swatting the clone outside her head was.

With Henry making himself busy with the door Zyv took his position ready for quick entry with a heavy sigh. With the grenades detonation they would have maybe a second to clear the door, make room for the rest to enter and clear the targets before the NMX got their wits back.

Rakowski sighed again as he gripped his gun harder.