RP: NSS Altomir [Mission 1.2] Bal'Sharok Boogie

John desperately tried to maintain control of the truck as he drove, trying to pick up the speed necessary to leave the pursuing crabs behind. It didn't help that some had already made it to the back of the truck and were in the process of trying to rip it apart, along with the marines who were fighting them off.

Still, it was impossible for him to assist his fellow soldiers, as doing so would cause them all to crash. So, as best as he could, he tried to ignore what was going on behind him and buy the team enough time to fight off the current threat by outrunning the future one.

"I do say that these bastards are most keenly dogged in the pursuit of our backsides! They will not cease!"

Flint raised his pistol once more, letting loose a round at the giant crab-type trailing behind the truck. The shell thudded into the front of its carapace, piercing the shell but ultimately appearing to do nothing more. Flint scoffed at its ineffectiveness, turning his attention to Autumn while keeping his eyes on the large creature behind them. "As far as I know they see light the same anything else would. Would be worth a shot, although something more lethal might be our best bet."

Elsewhere on the bed of the truck, Saveli's surgically-proficient slicing of his vibrosaw knife yielded desirable results; the creature, innards and brackish liquid spewing forth from the piercing of its body, began to spasm and ultimately unclenched its claws from Violetta De Luca's left leg. The Admiral, drawing in sharp breaths and wincing through the painful wounds, sighed in relief as her limb was removed from the clutches of the NMX beast. The removal of the claws revealed mangled and raw flesh wounds on her calf and thigh, more than enough to justify why she didn't immediately stand back up and thank her saviors. The female officer merely continued to grit her teeth, her hands wavering over the afflicted areas of her leg but never going so far as to touch them, her palms shrinking back with each surge of new pain.

---

Behind the speeding vehicle, the largest of the crab-type NMX surged closer to the vehicle. The other smaller counterparts scuttled deftly inbetween the giants large legs, a veritable surge of shelled terror still hot on the heels of the marines and their small compliment of civilians. Flint Vanderhuge cast his gaze over the group once more. "I got nothing," the Grand Admiral said with a half-hearted smirk, waving his now-useless firearm in explanation. "If we're going to do something, it better happen fast. Did I hear something about a bomb?"

"Alright, Burn Hard, the bug is free!" called Saveli as he picked away the mandibles from Violetta's leg, dragging the carapaced creature across bed of the truck away from her. He was still having a bit of trouble with Nepleslian names, considerably due to some of their compound word natures like, Big Gun, Mo Speed, and Very Huge.

Was it Very Huge or VANDR Huge? Each one hinted something that was abnormally tall, but the latter one seemed so unlikely.

The Cohronl turned his attention to the approaching monster bug and decided that the issue was very much moot at that point. His blood turned cold as he watched scuttle its why over. Saveli turned his attention onto the hard bug carapace still in his hand, most of the entrails still inside of it. With a momentary glance to his PPG, he got a silly idea.

He held up the gloopy mess on his hands and pointed his PPG at the beast, and then threw the bug corpse up in front, like a ball up for bat. With a sharp strike with the PPG he 'punched' the carapace back out to the beast, hoping to either damage it with some sharpnel, or at least glop up its vision with bug juice.

"Grand Admiral, I said something about a bomb! Demolistions Specialist 2nd Class Wilde, sir! I can rig something in a couple of minutes and I still have some regular grenades left. How concerned are you about blowing this tunnel behind us? I can do it!" Demolitions Specialist Wilde replied quickly as she squashed what smaller crab types happened to get in her way as she hurried over to the cabinet she had pulled for her makeshift bomb.

"I can distribute the flash bangs that I have out to whomever has a good throwing arm and from there, we can throw the phosphorous behind us to distract them from swarming the bomb that I need to throw to blow the tunnel. Our other option is to kamikaze this thing into the freak bug... which will only put us down a Marine and an armor that we can't afford to lose. I estimate that this should blow the tunnel behind us and bury the ones following us but, I don't know if there are any more above us," she continued to talk quickly, explaining as simply as she could as she quickly pieced together the materials for her bomb, twisting wires together and tying pieces together with string and spare telephone cables.

"I just need your permission before I try to detonate this," Autumn said gravely as she skillfully worked to put the bomb together.

"De Luca is in charge of this operation, soldier," Flint reminded Autumn, nodding his head over to the fallen admiral. Violetta was still fighting for consciousness as her injuries were tended in the slight lull that followed the previous wave of crab-type NMX. After taking a closer glance at her predicament, however, Flint concluded to drop the charades. For the moment.

"... but in lieu of her current condition, you have my permission," the massive ID-SOL stated, holstering his enormous combat knife for a moment as he reached onto the broad chest of his combat armor. He produced a large square object, the shape, size and heft of a clay brick. It appeared to be wrapped tightly in a dull black tape as well. Flint Vanderhuge reached down and handed the object to Autumn. "I keep a thud charge handy. Never had to use it though, usually if I need a door breached, I breach it myself. It won't kick up much fire but it should mix well in tandem with the rest of your gear."

Autumn grinned from inside of her armor as she took the thud charge from the Grand Admiral. Vanderhuge's donation to the "bug bomb" was just what she had wanted for her device. She skillfully and quickly wired the eclectic mix of materials together and held up a oddly shaped device that was roughly the size of a basketball.

"This isn't pretty but this should blow the tunnel behind us. I don't know if we will be able to outrun the shockwave in this rig but, we'll have to get the civilians to lie down to minimize the chance that they will get hit by the more dangerous debris," she stated rather quickly. She was excited and exhausted, her hands were shaking as she held the improvised device.

"Okay! I need everyone to pull the pin and throw these grenades as HARD as you can at the crab types, I only have one shot at this! On the count of three!" She said as she quickly distributed the canister shaped white phosphorus grenades to the Marines and the civilians at the back of the truck. They would illuminate the area and burn through anything that they touched but it would have the side effect of blowing out their power armor's thermal sensors for a moment. They would also lose visuals but it was the best solution Autumn could think of at the moment.

She took a deep breath and thought of her friends elsewhere in the Nepleslian territories, she hoped that she would get the chance to see them again. Her heart felt tight in her chest but that pain reminded her that she was still alive. I can do this!

"1.....2.....3! GOOOO!" She shouted and waited a second as the grenades were lobbed in mixture of sloppy and skilled arcs of brilliant white light behind the truck.

The Geshrin Demolitions specialist hurled her bomb with as much force as her armor allowed at the monstrosity of the crab type that was coming towards them. Her armor sent the detonation signal to the bomb as the bomb hit the height of its arc within the tunnel.

Autumn held her breath as she waited for the explosion.

Nodding once and looking back at the fallen Admiral and the civilians they had collected, Grand Admiral Flint Vanderhuge moved himself back just a hair, centering himself at the rear end of the truck. He turned back towards the enemies behind them, shoring his body up and sternly crossing his arms across his broad chest, awaiting the fruits of Autumn Wilde's explosive labors. He had heard Autumn's warnings. However, Flint was, unsurprisingly, unconcerned.

The crab-type NMX did not react to the thrown objects in any fashion; they seemed far too intent on catching up to the speeding vehicle before them to give notice. As the gaggle of grenades and the large jury-rigged explosive device hurtled towards the swath of creatures, they were swept away in the stomping chitinous digits for a second or so... until the detonation occurred. Several flashes of bright white light illuminated the area behind the truck, filling the sparsely-lit subway tunnel and causing quite a stir, the crab-type NMX screeching in surprise for the second or so they were allowed. Following the phosphorous explosions was Autumn Wilde's coup de grace.

Skilled as she was with the fine art of crafting explosive elements, Autumn's cocktail of components turned out to be a smashing success. The frazzled group of stampeding crab-types had little time to react, the sudden and incredibly intense surge of heat and force obliterating a large majority of them instantly in a haze of brazen red and orange. The largest crab reared up as the explosion engulfed him, screeching loudly as its form disappeared in the cloud of fire. The force of the explosion rocked the earth around them, shattering support pillars along the subway tunnel as intended. All at once, the weight of the thousands of tons of thick Rok'Veru soil and sediments rushed to exploit the weaknesses that the explosion had revealed, sending chunks of concrete and wrought metal spraying outward from the area of impact.

Some quick motor skills from John Davis allowed for the soldiers and their transport to avoid a majority of the more threatening bits of debris. A shower of cracked stone and cement sprayed at the truck from the rear, a majority of it rushing to make contact with Flint Vanderhuge, who continued to stand, unflinching, a witness to the mayhem beyond the tracks. Even as he was being pelted by small bits of debris, Flint remained stoic. Violetta, conscious and aware of the explosion, was prepared to experience some slight fragmentation... however, Flint was positioned in a ways to where his enormous frame absorbed almost the entirety of what flying debris would have threatened her or the civilians behind him. Intentional or not, it was effective enough for Violetta to rest easy, continuing to distress over her leg as Bernhard assessed the damage done.

"Not bad, Wilde!" Flint yelled with a smirk over the din of the collapse, a fist-sized hunk of rock bouncing off his chest plate as he spoke. The plan had worked for the moment; as they sped along, there were no longer any pursuing crab-type NMX hot on their heels. It was doubtful, however, that the survivors would give up the chase, even when presented with the daunting obstacle of several tons of fallen earth blocking the track. Crab-types were notoriously good at finding their way through Nepleslia's nooks and crannies. "Should keep them off our ass. For a little while anyway."

It was an ugly wound, he considered as he knelt beside Admiral De Luca atop the truck's flatbed. It would have helped if the Grand Admiral didn't keep shouting right above him. Bernhard popped open the holster with his Light Submachine Pistol and slid it over to the ID-SOL. He ought to be able to handle that weapon, given his immense size.

The crab had torn away into the flesh of the Admiral's leg and it was bleeding badly. He had never quite seen anything like this before. It was either gunshot wounds, open and close surgeries, blunt force trauma or simple illnesses. Never something where part of someone's flesh had been eaten away. Without being in a surgery, he had no way to tell if anything more important than her flesh had been damaged.

So he relied now on instinct. Bleeding profusely. That was the key to her stability. The loss of flesh was secondary and, in itself, not life threatening. The bleeding complicated matters and so demanded his attention. Bernhard dug around in the medical kit that Alex Mayhew had given him. Gauze, no. Would just soak up the blood and then it would keep spilling out. Quick Clot Sponge, possible but with a wound that size he'd have to use the whole thing. And it was a rather crude fix.

Half used bottle of liquid bandage and a pressure bandage. "Aha!" Bernhard called out triumphantly. Next, the medic quickly weighed the advantages and disadvantages of using the last autoinjector of Brother Clem. The Admiral would likely be distressed by the application of things into her flesh. It would not hurt, per se, but it would be very uncomfortable. Bernhard was not sure if dulling the pain receptors would affect her ability to feel that discomfort, which probably came from her nerve endings. Well, it was worth the risk.

A second passed as he pulled out the autoinjector and let the Admiral know his intentions. "Admiral, I'm going to inject you with some Clem and then seal your leg wound. The Clem is dull the pain while keeping you active." There was no request. He was the medic here. She had to trust him. He wondered if he'd trust himself if the roles were reversed.

The autoinjector worked perfectly. Then he poured in 10cc of the liquid bandage to stop the bleeding in her wound. Bernhard tried to keep the application as even as possible but time was of the essence. Whether or not the Admiral felt anything now, he didn't care. Completing this procedure was the most important. Next, he slapped the pressure bandage over her wound and hoped to God, Laura Romero and the Cookie Monster that he had done things properly. "Done; how does it feel, Admiral?"

"ที่น่าประทับใจ!" exclaimed Saveli as the bomb went off, shaking not only the truck, but the entirety of Bal'Sharok around them. He had to marvel at the brutal efficiency of such an engineered solution, but he wouldn't get long to marvel at that, before had to marvel at the results. Several organic bits went up in flame, and crags of Bal'Sharok came down in terror. As the world came down to greet them, Saveli's spine curled up into a chilled icicle, turning all the sweat on his body cold.

Luckily, their driver was apt enough to pull them out of the fire, albeit with a few bumps. For a moment, Saveli had to collect himself, gripping the edge of his truck as he struggled to sustain his armors weight in one position. When it was evening out, he almost turned to congratulation Wilde, before soft-ball sized chunk struck his Hostile in the face-plate. He turned half a way, before looking back seeing more earth and rock collapsing behind them, along with a torso sized piece barreling towards him.

"ตายห่า!" wailed Saveli aloud as his PPG fired up, the air around the forearm warping all up into a revved position. The soldier threw his fist forward into the clump, and fired off the repulsion rod. With a dull hum and a thrump, the rock was launched back to whence it came in a magnificent spiral, and sent the unbraced marine onto his back.

Autumn let out a sigh of relief, as she collapsed to her knees. The adrenaline from the chase and the explosion had finished running its course through her veins. She was exhausted from the constant momentum but she smiled from behind her visor at her success and at the Admiral's praise, "Thank you, sir!"

The demolitions specialist very desperately desired sleep but did not see a chance in her immediate future to do so. She removed her power armor's helmet and looked at her fellow Marines for the first time without the haze of her head's up display. Her deep green eyes scanned the faces of the civilians in the bed of the truck and the armored Marines around her. "How long have you been planetside? I lost my boys about 2 weeks ago, I was hoping to regroup with them before I ran out of supplies and ammunition."

Violetta De Luca watched helplessly through clenched eyes and gritting teeth while Bernhard performed his patch-up. It was still quite tender to the touch, but luckily the officer kept her consciousness up until the end, heaving a sigh of relief at the end of the procedure. Bernhard Greer's work was good, but without the proper tools to diagnose beyond the external bleeding, it was unsure of what further damage had been done to the woman's leg.

For the moment, however, Violetta was content with not having her insides spilling onto the truck bed. She nodded once, running a slightly bloodied hand over her brow, pushing a few stray locks of hair past her ear. "Starting to dull some. Good work, Greer," the female officer forced a weak smile, although it was quite obvious that there was still some lingering hurt surging up her extremities.


---

Flint turned his head to the center of the truck again. The civilians were still there, shaken by the crab-type NMX assault but otherwise unharmed. The mother and infant were paired and safe, thanks to Violetta De Luca's efforts. The three would-be hooligans were unharmed as well, save for the one braver of the trio who had vainly attempted to beat the crab off of Violetta with his bare hands. His knuckles were scrapped and a bit bloody, but he seemed content with the pats on the back and knuckle-bumps his friends were giving him for his momentary triumph. The Delsaurian was the only one paying attention to Flint Vanderhuge's words, from the looks of it, his cybernetic eyes glowing white with subtle whirrs and clacks. The lizard-like Nepleslian turned away when Flint caught sight of his stare, however, eyes cast to the blurring scenery as he sat quiet in his thoughts.

With things calmed for the moment, Flint cast a wary glance up at the subway tunnel ceiling, as though expecting more crab-type NMX to come pouring down on them at any moment. The idle chatter of the soldier behind him didn't seem to matter. "... we need to get somewhere. We stay on this tunnel track and we're going to be seeing a lot more of these things; they probably already have units moving to block us further up these tunnels. Those crabs aren't going to give up the chase so easily, either."

The ride remained silent for a few moments, the sounds of the threaded tires skidding across the subway tunnel drowning out the hum of the engine. What the Grand Admiral said wasn't incorrect; it wasn't too far of a stretch to believe that the crab-types were communicating with one another to organize some manner of cutting them off from wherever they were heading. If they didn't keep moving, they would no doubt be rediscovered in an instant. If they kept going along the tunnel, it wasn't that much of a stretch to expect another attack. Going back was obviously not an option. Even Flint was a bit stumped as to the direction they should take; he remained relatively speechless as he watched the tracks beneath him whir on behind him.

These moments of nervous silence lasted until a quiet cough turned a few sets of eyes in the direction of its hacking owner. It was the Delsaurian, his cybernetic eyes clacking in a bright blue light as he elicited the attention of those around him with his strange coughing sound; a short, raspy breathing noise, sharp and brief. An alien noise to those not familiar with the reptilian race's vocal constitutions. The Delsaurian male seemed to shrink away when Flint Vanderhuge turned himself to see what the much smaller Delsaurian, but a moment of reassurance, spoke his piece.

"I... know where we can go," the Delsaurian said, a notable amount of tension and uneasiness shrouding his raspy tone. He seemed to prefer looking towards Violetta De Luca and the other marines to staring at up Flint's impressive physique. "There is a bunker. A hidden IPG bunker, very close, a mile or so along the tunnel. The subterranean systems beneath Bal'Sharok are riddled with them."

Violetta's eyes widened a bit at the hints of truth that the Delsaurians words struck. She knew that the IPG was fairly entrenched on Rok'Veru as a whole, but as an Admiral herself, she knew very little about the facilities of the IPG; her peers were, for the most part, on a fairly small need-to-know pick list. Flint must have also been a part of that list, as he also seemed intrigued by the Delsaurians sudden claims. His interest, however, sparked caution as well. "And how exactly do you know about this bunker, scales?" Flint said, the slight derogatory term coming off laced with skepticism. The Delsaurian didn't seem to immediately care for the name, although it did notable bother him enough to turn his head to the Grand Admiral. Not nearly enough to make a cross face, however. Nobody was that stupid.

"I am Jott Sarkis Yu, of Yu Clan," the Delsaurian continued on, suddenly pointing a single clawed digit to his plain brown coveralls, at the small emblem. "The subway maintenance company I work for is a front for this bunker. I am a technician and maintenance worker there. I can direct you to the entrance, and if I am there, the automatic scanning system will allow us access."

Flint Vanderhuge paused for a moment, considering the Delsaurians words as he shot another short glance as the blurring subway tunnel behind him. It seemed to be their only alternative, although the ID-SOL remained quite skeptical about the Delsaurian's place and stake in this... and the fact that, if it was as safe as he described it, why he was here with them and not tending to his duties there in this time of crisis. "Alright. You two," Flint shot a pointing gesture at two of the marines closest to the cab of the truck. "Touch base with our driver. We'll see how this plays out. Stay alert."

Further down the tunnel, Jott Sarkis Yu gave a short, husky word of alert, his cybernetic eyes widening as he caught sight of the landmark indicating the entrance to his secret workplace. John Davis slowed the truck down as it approached a series of graffiti images, not unlike the scores upon scores they had passed before. These must have been special, however, as when the vehicle had come to a slow enough speed, Jott hopped down from the bed of the utility truck, his eyes scanning the painted asphalt and cement of the subway tunnel wall. He ran one of his clawed hands across the surface, his cybernetic thumb clinking against the rough exterior, until he stopped at a large depiction of a hooded figure in green and black street attire. Several indecipherable strings of unfamiliar letters encircled the hooded figure. The Delsaurian stood in front of the image for a solid minute or so, remaining motionless and facing the wall.

Nothing happened at first; soft, distant sounds of the city above them falling to pieces in the midst of war carried down the winding tunnels, once or twice accompanied with the faintest of vibrations rocking the very sediments of the city. Both Flint and Violetta watched intently at Jott Sarkis Yu's stillness, Flint's face remaining completely stolid while Violetta watched between slight winces. Her leg wound continued to agitate her, even after the triage she had received. After a few short minutes of standing in silence, motion erupted from the wall, startling the Delsaurian a bit as he drew back in surprise. A large section of the wall receded to the sides, revealing what appeared to be a large service elevator platform; large enough to easily accommodate the maintenance truck that the soldiers had commandeered.

Flint Vanderhuge raised his eyebrows slightly and donned a short smirk, obviously pleased to have the Delsaurians words proven true. After the hidden doors of the elevator platform had finished moving, Jott scrambled back up into the bed of the truck, allowing John to drive the vehicle onto the platform. The asphalt passageway behind them quickly slid to a close after they had entered, the rear end revealing not concrete, but what appeared to be several well-maintained steel mechanisms, a stark contrast to the gritty, dank subway tunnels.

As soon as the doors closed, the elevator platform began to descend.

The idea of going down even further into the Rok'Veru was unsettling to Saveli. In Iroutl, the surface of the ground, and the stars were areas to exploit and live. The Book of Dreams, the sacred text of the Dreamer Vigil, stated that the ground was where the Saints rested, the dead and the dreaming. Nothing about the Vigil said that the underground must go unspoiled, but those who followed the text closely, and had truly visited below the surface of Maekardan knew the truth. Subway tunnels and systems were nothing, simply basements to buildings, but true depth below the ground?

Unmentionable things lived underground, things that could see and hear in complete darkness and silence, and have lived all their lives scraping and killing a barren blackness to survive. The underground was no place for surface walker, no place for a living, breathing body, unless one was seeking to be anything but.

The Cohronl put a hand up to his chest as they seemed to be sinking deeper and deeper into the facility.

"A-... are we sure... are we sure this is safe?" spoke Saveli shakily as he saw what he could think was the last of the surface disappearing above them. He turned to Autumn, gripping her shoulder, hoping to find assurance in another soldier, "Unspeakable things live underground, don't they? Horrors of celestial skies are one, but the deep ground seals everything that sane beings are not meant to see!"

Thomas stared intently as the hidden doors grew smaller while the elevator descended. The marine checked the remainder of the ammo on the current magazine for his LSP, then stashed the gun away until he needed it again. He had known Rok'Veru had been occupied, but it only hit him how bad it was once he had seen how infested the subways were.

His attention shifted to the rest of the truck, more specifically at the blood that pooled on the floor.

"I remember a bedtime story about this giant worm that lived in the subways like this and could eat a whole subway train as it drove right into its mouth." Thomas said, shifting his look towards Saveli. "Good thing it was just a story, because the crabs are scary enough as it is."

Alexandra hanged back a bit look at the rubble. Bernie was taking care of the wounded and she wanted to check none of the craps made it trough. Her LSP was ready in her hand and she was curious where did the Autumn lady in the Raider learned to handle explosions, because she did a magnificent job. Most of ID-SOLs she saw handling Aggressors were lousy compared to her. And they had rocket-launchers at the ready.

"Okay we are really in the clear for now," she said walking back to others. "Nothing can possibly get through all that rubble. Do you need help Bernhard, or do you have it covered?" She asked in the end, walking to the young medic.

Kokuten said:

"A-... are we sure... are we sure this is safe?" spoke Saveli shakily as he saw what he could think was the last of the surface disappearing above them. He turned to Autumn, gripping her shoulder, hoping to find assurance in another soldier, "Unspeakable things live underground, don't they? Horrors of celestial skies are one, but the deep ground seals everything that sane beings are not meant to see!"

Click to expand...

Autumn placed an armored hand over top of Saveli's and smiled. Her deep green eyes sparkled in the dim light despite the exhaustion that wore worry onto her delicate features. "There is nothing certain in this life, friend. On this planet, just know that everything here means to kill us and it's our job to kill them all."

"Don't be afraid, we are not sane beings." With a light toss of short black hair, the demolitions specialist pulled her helmet back on with a hiss of displaced air as the airtight seal reconnected to the RAIDER armor. "We are the horrors descended from the celestial skies to make the earth quake and split open the ground deep beneath the seals- we are Marines."

Private Second Class Autumn Wilde continued to grasp the Cohronl's hand. "We will survive this, have faith." The Geshrin woman's spoke with reassurance and unshaking resolve, she had survived on her own for what felt like eternity until she had joined these Marines. She was low on ammunition and grenades, but she had not run low on the will to survive- to give into fear would have been a form of surrender which always meant death on Rok'Veru.

John quietly looked over everything in the front seats of the truck, his hands still tightly gripping the steering wheel, his adrenaline slowly draining from him as it dawned on him exactly what they had survived.

The Nepleslian looked over his shoulder to assess how everyone else was doing, the first time he could actually do so during this hectic chase. He found himself unable to speak for some reason. Maybe it was nerves, or perhaps the marine just valued these precious moments of relative silence that seemed so few and far between.

Jackson woke up, his head foggy from yet another night of restless sleep. He got up, grabbing at the tanktop on the floor nearby his bed, and putting it on. He looked up, hearing the sound of the elevator, the dull mechanical clanking drawing ever nearer. Perhaps Jott came back, maybe with good news, maybe with bad news.

Perhaps it wasn't Jott at all.

Jackson sprung from the bed, grabbing his ESG, quickly replacing the existing clip with a fresh FMJ one, thumb turning the safety off, and selecting automatic. He didn't have enough time to hop into his armorsuit, and he'd much rather have something instead of nothing. He kept the gun at his hip as he walked from the spartan bedrooms of the bunker to the entrance room.

He kept his gun readied and balanced, his adrenaline slowly, but certainly increasing as the noise grew ever louder. He moved to the side, pressing a red button on a small box, causing a small crackle and hum, activating a two way radio set in the box, and the elevator itself. He swallowed nervously. "Attention. This is Jackson Stevens. P3C of the Star Military of Nepleslia. Please identify yourselves, I am armed, and not hesitant to fire."

For the most part, Yuriko had been sitting quietly in the truck bed. Her Hostile's helmet had been down the entire time save for now. Now the woman's helmet was up and scrounging in a little pack at the suit's hip. Finding what she wanted. A small piece of peach-flavored hard candy, or 'Combat Candies' as they were called. It looked a little awkward for the suit's large metallic hands to go about unwrapping it, and then popping it into the Geshrin's mouth but she managed with precision.

"All I want is a large bourbon, on the rocks, a rack to sleep in for about twelve hours. And so help me if I have to kill every damn tentacled horror on this spinning rock to get what I want, I will."

She rolled the candy around in her mouth, crumpling the wrapper and tossing it overboard.

" 'cause doing this shit sober and tired just ain't cuttin' it anymore." Her knee fidgeted, the hand on it tapping. "And I picked a fine ass time to quit smoking."