RP: YSS Eucharis [Mission 25 - Part 2] The Chopshop (YE 38)

In The Air...

Warm relief began to flood through Jax's veins as he watched his crew bail one by one- and in some cases, two by two. The icing on the cake was when Umeshu, although utterly defeated, managed to get out with Hanako. If- no, when- they got out of here, he'd make it up to her, somehow. How? He didn't know but he would. Even if she hated his guts for what he'd said to the Kuvexian, he would do whatever he could to show his appreciation for her decision.

"Oh, thank go-!" Jax began to whisper under his breath, but was cut short when he stopped gaping at his girlfriend and once again remembered how high he was off the ground.

*MEW!*

The sudden fear and shock caused him to momentarily forget how to Minkan. He fell like a brick for several feet, clawing at the air with wide, horrified eyes. He managed to collect himself and stop once more. He hovered for several moments, limbs shaking, heart racing, reminding himself over and over that he could have died.

Unfortunately, an odd/hilarious series of events began to unfold. It was at that moment that the shuttle impacted, creating a massive fireball that rattled his bones and made him believe they were under attack.

*MEW!*

He plummeted even further, whimpering terrified curses as he once more caught himself unsteadily. Then, the Eucharis unleashed Hell with its anti-fighter guns, and a bolt came way too close for his liking. Okay, not exactly close by any means, but for some odd reason being in the air at the same time as the projectile made the engineer uneasy.

*MEW!*

Closer to the ground he went. At last he was at an altitude where he could begin to comfortably descend. Unfortunately, that's when the clone's flare lit up the sky and caught him off guard. He fell, and began to quickly utter prayers to every god on the list, so he wouldn't accidentally choose the wrong one. He closed his eyes and waited for the painful impact, but instead he found that he'd landed in a soft material in which he quickly sank.

He disappeared from view into the pile of futon cushions. All was quiet. There was no indication that Jax had survived.

Absolute, total silence...

And then, from somewhere within the pile, muted by the cushions:

*...MEW!*

Open Air

The pair of them dropped like a stone compared to the others, even with the added velocity. No way around it. Marcus' body was on the red line of the type 33 nekovalkyrja's recommended lifting limits, and that was standing on the ground.

"Two of you is better." Tsuguka made a grunt of effort whilst responding to the man's selfless remarks, seemingly having none of it regardless. It wasn't that she disrespected his care for her well being, it was her distaste for sentimentality. She was not just going to watch a man die. "We have a mission, and I'm going put my everything into improving our chances. Sometimes I get hurt. That's what I was created for. It changes nothing."

Wind rushed past. The smog-swept beige-orange landscape below was almost beautiful in a unique sort of way. At least from up above, in the pristine clear air. Nothing but the transparent dome of her space helmet between her face and the sky.

Intense squeezing. Tsuguka's musculature seemed determined to drive the air not just out of herself, but of her passenger as well. A gravity organ on overdrive. Pulsing rapidly was the only way to avoid burning itself out too quickly. Directly because of that, however, the resulting alternation of negative g-forces felt like being hit in the chest with a jackhammer.

The ground was gaining features now. No longer so pristine and washed out, it had formed into the peaked roofs of countless rusted hangers, and mountain ranges of trash likely big enough to hide an entire fleet of plumeria gunships.

Mercifully, the pulses were beginning to reside now, solidifying into one constant drone. They had slowed. Maybe not something that Tsuguka could keep up for long, but they had been demoted from living meteors at least.

A weird flash from above one of the ramshackle vehicle pits. Not massively far from a large smoking crater, presumably resulting from the shuttle they had just ejected from... Some kind of Rixxikor alarm signal?... Hard to tell.

Marcus was somewhat upset that she hadn't listened to him, though he wasn't surprised given what he knew of her. The explosion from the shuttle crashing had been expected. The Eucharis blasting its way through the hangar had not. Of course, he didn't know, for certain, that it had been the Eucharis that shot through the doors, until he saw the small battle ensue and the signal his counterpart sent up.

He shouted to his living parachute. "That's an alert orb! Ayenee technology! That's them! I'm gonna remove my alpha block! When we get to 200 feet, let me go! I'll be fine at that height!"

Graxlat Salvage Yard

Hanako made for the roof of the hangar and landed on top of it. The whole base was in chaos. Thousands of Rixxikor were rushing out to fight the Star Army invaders or to fight fires, but their efforts were being slowed by the sheer destruction wrought by the shuttle's impact. It had hit like a bomb, destroying buildings and collapsing some of the scrap mountains. The air was thick with dust and smoke. Hanako has intended to lay down covering fire for her crew but she could barely see anything. Realizing that wasn't going to work, she decided to slip into the blazing interior of the hangar and make her way onto the ship. She closed and sealed her Emrys suit's emergency helmet and slipped into the smoked-filled hangar, calling out to her crew there.

In a moment, a woman wearing a Mindy armor suit grabbed Hanako. "Captain! It's Victory."

"Get me to the bridge," Hanako ordered. "There are warships in orbit that are going to be very uphappy in the very near future."

"Aye aye!" Victory replied, sweeping Hanako off her feet and heading towards the ship's airlock.

Once Hanako was back on the Eucharis, she raced to the bridge and removed her helmet and went to her control panel. "Charisma, this is Hanako. Unlock the bridge controls. Authorization Hanako J519822."

"Controls unlocked. Welcome back, Shosho," Charisma replied.

"Power up all systems to combat status and open a channel to crew," Hanako ordered. Next, she sent out, "Eucharis crew, this is Hanako. Please make your way to the ship. We are leaving as soon as we can. Feel free to take souvenirs or intelligence trinkets for later study."

Futon Pile...

Dark. Very dark. And quiet.

Was he dead?! Had he chosen the wrong god?! Was he in Hell?!

No, too squishy and comfortable for Hell. Which meant...

"Whoa..." Jax groaned, patting his helmet with a stupefied expression. "That happened."

Wes said:

Graxlat Salvage Yard

"Eucharis crew, this is Hanako. Please make your way to the ship. We are leaving as soon as we can. Feel free to take souvenirs or intelligence trinkets for later study."

Click to expand...

"Oh crap!" Jax yelped, suddenly becoming anxious with the thought of being left behind. His eyes darted to and fro in an effort to find a way out of "Tacky Furniture-Hell".

Up above! A splinter of light!

His first attempt to climb ended up with him slipping. He growled and tried again, this time managing to fight his way to the top of the cushions. His helmet protruded from the top of the pile, and he cheered triumphantly and raised his fist to the air. With a final push, he was out and tumbling to the ground.

"Right," Jax muttered to himself with a nervous laugh. He pulled the rocket launcher off his back and loaded up a missile. "Operation: Get the Hell Back to the Ship! is a go!"

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where the ship was. Jax sprinted in that direction, and as the sounds of chaos grew louder, the familiar surge of adrenaline from yesterday's battle returned.

Maybe it was his weapon, and the fact that he was covered in slime, but he blended in quite well with the locals.

He hid himself behind a crate and observed a small gathering of short, toad-like creatures trying to put out a blaze. For a moment, he thought of just running around them. They didn't look as vile as the Rixxikor.

Unfortunately for them, three armed bugs ran in to help. All of them were sticky, charred pieces shortly afterwards.

Jax loaded another missile and charged forwards, steering clear of hostiles and using the confusion to beeline it for the ship, firing off rockets as he went and adding to the cacophony. The head rush kept him from mulling over one small fact: he was enjoying this way more than he should have.

Finally, he pressed himself against the walls of the hangar. Just beyond this door would be his ride out of here, and plenty of baddies! With that in mind, he steeled himself, took several breaths, and then went in.

His heart stopped.

Directly ahead, not facing him, were two Rixxikor. One with a rifle, the other with a shoddy prison-shank. Both turned at the same time, and both glared at him venomously.

Time slowed to a crawl, and Jax's world became his opponents, himself, and the sound of his breathing. One charged, while the other raised his gun. First, Jax hurled his launcher at the one with the knife. That at least slowed it down long enough to reach onto his belt and pull out his NSP. The one with the rifle had a burning hole where his face had been.

As his buddy sank to the floor, the other continued his charge. The nekojin was too slow. He was tackled to the ground. The two combatants rolled around on the floor, fighting for control of the shank. The bug was strong, but Jax wanted to live more. At last, he found his opportunity. He rolled them over once more so that he was on top. He slammed his helmet into the bug's face, yanked the blade away, and then gave it back- right through an eye socket.

As the bug screamed in pain and tried to remove the razor sharp piece of metal, Jax dove off of him and scrambled on the floor for his pistol, which had been knocked away. Once it was retrieved, he stepped over to the bug, raised it, and fired once, twice, thrice, the rest of the clip.

At last he stood, victorious, covered in the blood of his enemies, with little holes burned in his suit. His hands shook, and he breathed heavily. He spent quite some time starring at the corpse as it smoked. Once he'd regained proper control of his emotions, he picked his launcher back up and continued on his way, this time being much more careful, and avoiding contact. He stuck to the shadows, moving cover to cover, occasionally stopping to allow the toad-things and bugs to scramble past.

After an eternity, he was back in the beautiful confines of the Eucha- home.

He was back in his home.

He was back in his element.

With a renewed sense of purpose, he flew through the corridors, with one destination in mind.

Engineering

"Cherry! New guy! We need to get our baby airborn!" He yipped anxiously as he swooped into the space.

In the sky

Natsumi didn't actually aim for the mountain of futons like Wazu had suggested, rather she angled their descent for the same hangar rooftom Hanako had landed on. She had seen the swarms of bug men massing all around the ground below and had no desire to wade into them.

She focused every ounch of energy she could into slowing their descent, biting back a comment that Wazu was heavier than he looked as the rooftop rushed up at them. She landed, her feet skidding on the roof, heels digging into the roofing materiel as she faught to slow them, her eyes squeezing shut. At the last moment, they went tumbling, twisting around and finally came to rest.

Natsumi wason her back, splayed out, her rifle having skittered a few meters away. She felt a weight on her chest and opened her eyes, seeing Wazu had landed on top of her. She had broken his fall, as it were.

"Well.... That was fun, wasnt it?" she managed to say as she collected herself and waited for the scientist to get off of her.

Natsumi's Chest, Rooftop

Natsumi was a soft, warm, respite from what was going on, the thought of submitting to that piercing pain that demanded he sleep for just a moment was ever present.

"Lets stick with Karaoke." He replied.

He would roll to the side, ending up on his back beside Natsumi, pulling the head and gloves of his jump suit on to better protect him from the thick smoke rising up from the hanger they had landed on. He then checked the Rixxikor rifle that Aikiko had given him, taking aim at some of the Rixx below before deciding against drawing more attention to himself. He then looked down through one of the holes punctured through the roof by the ship's guns. They were so close to the Eucharis... maybe 30 or 40 meters up, which was still a fatal fall for someone like him.

"Got one more in you? If you can get me to the ground I can make it to the ship."

He strained to get back up, pushing the butt of the rifle against his shoulder and taking aim at the Rixxikor below. He could at least shoot the ones that were taking aim at the crew as the descended.

*POP*

His first shot just missed a Rixxikor with a rocket launcher.

*POP*

His second hit the creature in the arm.

*POP-CLICKKCK*

His third jammed up the weapon entirely. He tried pulling the slide, then wiggling one of the mechanical bits sticking out of it, hoping for the best.

Hangar Rooftop

Natsumi rolled onto her feet and grabbed her rifle. She moved next to Wazu, looking down into the hangar through the hole that had been blasted by the ships guns.

Just seeing the Eucharis below made her heart skip a beat. It was so good to see the ship again! The ship had done a number to the hangar and she could see the familiar shape of DAISY power armor causing havoc below.

"Yeah, I can do one more" she replied as she sealed her own helmet and readied herself foone more, thankfully shorter, jump.

She raised an eyebrow as Wazu tried to take out a rixxicore, wounding him yes, but otherwise only succeeding in jamming his rifle.

"Forget shooting for now" she said and slung her rifle over her shoulder and scooped him up in her arms. "hang on!" she advised and jumped through the hole.

Her anti grav abilities had been strained on the way down and were less effective now as she gritted her teeth. She landed on the Eusharis's starboard wing with a loud thud and felt something snap and her right leg give out under her, sending them both crumpling onto the cold hard hull of the ship.

The neko grunted as she tried to scramble back to her feet, but the right one was no good, her ankle was broken. She winced and went back into hover, just enough to keep herself upright and her right foot of the ground.

She looked strnage as she finally 'stood'. Her left foot firmly planted on the hull, right helf up awkwardly.

"Alright, lets get to the airlock" she said, the pain evident in her voice.

Above The Junkyard

Tsuguka didn't actually land outright, wary of the random gunfire that was now strafing towards them in sporadic arcs. The gigantic burning hangar doors loomed just ahead of them now. The two of them made a rather large target, through, so she chose instead to increase her speed and drop Marcus off within reasonable distance of the center of the commotion. Hopefully his legs could take the impact of landing. The soldier had no way of really knowing Rodia's specifications, but he did tell her to drop him off at about three times the height that she eventually did, so...

Hanako's transmission brought a whole new fierceness to the forefront. No longer limited by supply concerns, Tsuguka brought her pistol up to full output power and began sniping multiple unsuspecting targets in high-speed bombing runs. Most of them went to ground, others were obscured by debris, only one was an actual visible chest impact fatality. Didn't matter about the effectiveness. As long as the enemy was suppressed and pinned down long enough for the others to make it back to the ship, that was adequate.

Inside the hanger now. She could see Yamashiro and Wazu on one of the upper decks, but the red lynx's darting about was drawing so much enemy fire in the confined space that it was impractical to assist them. Staying mobile was of the absolute essence.

Whilst they made the short hop onto the actual hull, Tsuguka swooped down and kicked a machinegun-wielding bugman directly in the face, pitching it not a small distance backwards before it fell into a crumpled heap.

Hanger

Wazu held onto Natsumi again, being lowered to the ground like Natsumi was taking her bride over the threshold.

Then came the snap of her ankle.

"Sor, I mean, Thanks for getting me down safely."

He would do his best to get back up, again, trying to help Natsumi to her feet and support at least some of her weight while making his way along the wing,

"Next time I promise I will stay on the ship."

Wing of the Eucharis

Natsumi flashed Wazu a strained smile. "Don't worry about it" she said as they started off acrosd the wing, towards the main hull and the airlock.

"We'll have to float again to get over to the airlock." she said as they neared the wing root. At least being atop the ship's hull, they had some protection from the bug men.

"Charisma, Mr. Wazu and I are approaching the main airlock" she said wirelessly to the MEGAMI. "Be ready to let us in"

As soon as they were close enough, she grabbed Wazu up again and floated off again, propelling them forward as quick as she could towards the airlock.

As they sped towards it, the hatch hissed open just in time for them to dive through, a spattering of poorly aimed rixxicore gunfire chasing them in. The hatch slammed shut before any of the bug men could give chase and board the ship.

Natsumi ripped her helmet off and took a deep breath, the familiar and comforting scents of the Eucharis's clean ship board air filling her lungs.

"Let's get to the bridge!" she said, untangling herself from Wazu and quickly floating into the main passage and up to the bridge level.

She arrived just moments later, joining Hanako in the ships command center. She smiled at the Shosho briefly and dropped into the auxiliary station chair. She would monitor systems and prepair for lift off until Umeshu arrived, or, if she didn't make it, handle the flight systems herself, but the snowy haired neko didn't want to think of her fellow operator getting killed out there.

"I got Mr. Wazu aboard, ships log reports that Jax is in engineering as well" she announced to Hanako as she brought up a volumetric image in the space before Hanako's command chair that started plotting out the location of all the ships crew based on external sensor data.

Outside hangar, mid-fight

Marcus released his alpha block the moment Tsuguka let him go. Instantly, his body started pumping natural chemicals. He swallowed a full handful of the emergency ration pills, which began to pass through his digestive system almost immediately. Those were nutrients he would need in order to fuel his systems without the alpha block to regulate things. Every physical system began to operate at over five times its "normal" enhanced capacity. Muscles, bones, circulation, vision, everything improved. His mental functions tripled in effectiveness. The genetically enhanced warrior that he had been on UX-1 wouldn't last ten seconds in a fight with the person he currently was. The world slowed to a crawl in his perspective. He could have crushed marble in his hand.

As it was, he settled for Rixxikor exoskeletons and Graxlat bones. He moved like lightning. Shots were fired at him. Or rather, shots were fired at the places he previously occupied. By the time the projectiles reached the place he'd been, he had already moved on to another target, and another still. He intended to draw the attention of every possible enemy he could. The crew of the Eucharis had to get to their ship. That ship had to be allowed to leave this planet. They had to be successful.

Heavy weapon carriers began to make their way to the group, set on destroying the Eucharis before letting it escape. Marcus had something else in mind. Grenade and rocket launchers, gatling guns and pulse weapons all fell from their carriers hands with a scream a moment before Marcus silenced them. They would be successful. They had to be.

Outside hangar, nearer to the ship

The data-clone of Marcus Rodia fought with the same tenacity as his progenitor, but with a fraction of the physical and mental prowess. He'd anticipated having to activate all his modifications at once, just as the original Marcus had in the previous fight. However, there were more crew members fighting this time, and with the first Marcus fighting as fiercely as he was, his clone found it unnecessary to push himself to dangerous limits.

"He's going to kill himself!" Marcus shouted, not really paying attention if anyone was listening or not.

The alpha block on the genetic modifications had never been removed before. Neither of them had any real idea what was going to happen when it did. Now, he could see exactly what was happening. Yes, the physical and mental abilities skyrocketed, just as they figured they would. And, he was quite certain that most of the predicted consequences were going to take place. They would have to get him back to Ayenee to stand a chance of any of them being fixed. But, there was one thing going on that they hadn't seen coming. As the clone of Marcus fought, he could watch; and, as he watched, he saw the sheer aggression pouring out.

Marcus, the original Marcus, was a single minded killing machine. His father had intended for him to be the protector of his family. He'd always had a guardian-style instinct. That came with a leaning toward more aggressive behavior, which Marcus had learned to control, mostly due to his chosen religion. Now, though, it was like he'd completely forgotten about control. The full effect of the modifications were like a powerful drug. His mind was focused on only one thing. In this case, that was killing the enemy. He showed no restraint, no remorse, no other thought.

The data-clone made his way closer to the other Marcus. The only comfort the clone had was that he knew the other Marcus couldn't last much longer. Even if he had enough nutrients to fuel himself, his body wouldn't be able to handle the strain for long. He would collapse, and if he was going to live, the clone Marcus had to be close at hand when he did.

Outside Hanger

After seeing the flare Candon adjusted his free fall with the thrusters on his Environ suit to get him closer to the hanger. He began using his gravity organ to level out 10 meters from the ground and switched his vision to thermal. In three seconds he was able to peer through the smoke and began searching for heat signatures. He saw thousands on the ground. But only a handful at the top of a small tower, his target.

As far as he was concerned Eucharis what is just a ship, even its destruction would not make a difference so long as it was still in Yamataian control. Candon wasn't infantry, ship recovery was not his job. Once all this was over he would have a lot of explaining to do and needed something to justify the actions of himself, Hanako, and the crew. Unfortunately the programs needed to hack and data-mine their records only present on his Mindy. Fortunately the homing program he made for his Frisbee FAR was saved on his datapad which could be accessed by Victory and downloaded to his Mindy.

Candon telepathically reached out to the ship, "Victory, I need my primary M2-2D ASAP. Access my datapad and transfer the file '1337X_HOMING'. Run the program immediately, then open the PA bay door.. I'm counting on you."
Candon pushed the thrusters to their maximum output as he rocketed toward the traffic control tower.


Aerospace Traffic Control tower
Candon made his approach fast and high enough to stay in the smoke and free of bullet holes. The exertion of using his gravity organ so much was beginning to exhaust him, like an Olympic swimmer he longed for solid ground. Kuvexian faces shouted in panic as the Minkan sized missile dropped out of the sky at a distance from the window that was most likely a transparent metal

Candon slowed himself to gain stability and emptied his HHG into the window in a rapid succession of deadly thunder in a pattern to create a hole.
Armor-piercing. Punched right through top left corner of pane.
Hollow point. Created fractures in center of pane.
Armor-piercing. Punched right through top right corner.
Hollow point. Made fractures in center worse.
Armor-piercing. Punched right through bottom right corner.
Hollow point. Left center of pane looking like a spider web.
Armor-piercing. Punched right through bottom left corner.
Hollow point. Destroyed a shuttle ten minutes ago.
"It's just one of those days," he thought to himself has he realized he never loaded another round into his chamber after destroying the hydraulics on their shuttle. Shoving the large pistol into his holster he sped back up and unhooked the strap holding the fire bomb to his back a moment before decelerating rapidly. Candon nearly came to a stop in front of the window but the heavy osmiridium cylinder didn't. It slammed the window with enough force to explosively shatter what was left of the dense pane.

Entering with the little velocity he still carried Candon drew his NSP and opened fire at every heat signature he saw. Two bodies hit the floor as several others ran through the single door into the stairwell in the center of the simple structure.

Wes said:

"Eucharis crew, this is Hanako. Please make your way to the ship. We are leaving as soon as we can. Feel free to take souvenirs or intelligence trinkets for later study."

Click to expand...

"This is Suites. I've reached the traffic control tower. This data must be extracted. If I'm not back in time please proceed without me, I'll catch up or hide out. Over," he responded as he dumped his shells and loaded a single red-tailed bullet into his revolver.

Grabbing the firebomb by the strap he dragged it to the door leading to the staircase, quietly whistling a durge. The angry sounds of heavy feet against metal grating echoed through the hollow interior as more dangerous aliens came to replace the harmless white collars. Peering over the railing he could see the armed foes ascending, he couldn't help but remember the days when he'd have fought them head on in battle. He even began to long for a straight fight but playing dirty was just so damned effective.

"Heads up," he shouted as he haphazardly tossed the bomb over the railing. The tube banged and clattered as it managed to hit handrails several times before hitting the floor. It was a fine distraction, giving the old sharpshooter the second he needed to aim. The hammer fell and the bullet leapt from the barrel riding the pressure waves of exploding gunpowder, spinning with engineered coordination as it spiraled it's way on a straight path for the bomb, embedding itself into the osmiridium in a beautiful orchestration of artistic precision...
followed by a violent explosion.

A spray of flaming liquid burst from the entrance of the tower and the stairwell was engulfed in flame as the chemical slew blazed on the floor. The door hissed shut behind Candon as he walked back into the control room to await the arrival of his armor.

Eucharis

Wazu let Natsumi run ahead, taking off the plastic bubble of a helmet from his jump suit before heading off toward his room.

The first thing he did was pick up a fresh Datapad from his bag. Being able to look up information again was like a rush of fresh air after having been stuck under water. He'd make a few quick searches, and dismiss a bunch of unread messages before running to the medical bay.

Upon arrival he quickly searched through the supplies, grabbing a handful of Atrophine injectors, Pyridostigmine Bromide tablets, an ankle brace, and some flip flops.

He'd deal with the angry Taharial later.

---

A few moments later Wazu would join Natsumi and Hanako on the bridge, going right to Natsumi and laying down beside her chair,

"Foot"

His voice was very deliberately to the point, his hand taking off her shoe, setting it aside and then afixing the ankle brace in place on the injured foot.

While laying there he then pulled out his datapad. It was time to go save Marcus.... and then it dawned on him that he didn't really have any way of messaging him.

"I got to go stop Marcus Prime from burning himself out. I take it you two have things handled up here?" Wazu asked.

Graxlat Salvage Yard

Once she had gotten Hanako out of the shuttle and airborne, Umeshu's anti-gravity immediately kicked in and she performed a mid-air roll dodging a sudden burst of what seemed like aether turret fire from the Eucharis' anti-armor guns that pierced several holes in the hangar roof that the Shosho and the XO were soon making a beeline for. It didn't take much to figure out that Charisma was making a path for them to return to their beloved ship, though the way there was still far from safe.

The operator touched down with a wince, her still-healing legs protesting the G forces suddenly exerted on them. She could see the exit points of the gunfire now up close, as heat and smoke billowed up through them while the Rixxikor and their unknown alien mechanics were running around in a frenzy from the shuttle's destructive re-entry right into the middle of their little spaceship chop-shop. At least the ramshackle craft they commandeered was good for something in the end. There was also quick dart of her head towards the futon pile that Jax had hit, concern flashing through her features... but her hearing soon picked up the sounds of the engineer's struggles, who from the looks of it had chose the best landing spot of them all.

Umeshu followed Hanako's example by sealing the pressurized bubble of the jumpsuit over her head, taking a deep gulp of the relatively fresh air provided. It had thirty minutes in store, more than enough. She wasted no time bravely slipping into the fiery hell that was the hangar holding the Eucharis, shadowing the others of the officer cadre.


Inside Hangar

"Ikuzo....!"

The soft-spoken Taii that entered the chaos was suddenly now all business, dropping into a time-slowing warrior's haze and activating her hemosynthesis-driven thermal eyesight in the process. With all the heat from the fires burning nearly out of control, she searched instead for the patches of humanoid-shaped coolness running around would be easy to spot and target. Umeshu drew her NSP from its holster, that by the samurai code of honor, it would spill blood and kill before it once again could rest.

"Ichi!"

It didn't take too long for this to be satisfied, as an armed Rixxikor that came too close to Hanako's charge soon found itself without a mouth to curse her with, as its head rolled to the floor bereft of a neck to prop it up with.

"Ni!"

Another one farther off that was taking aim with a big, overcompensating rifle got a blast right in its croch, as white sperm-mist mixed with acidic blood erupted out before it collapsed in two separate pieces, torso and legs.

"San!"

A third bug-man that nearly shot a rocket launcher at the Mindy-clad Victory, who was now scooping up Hanako back to the bridge, had its chest shot clean through... its deliberately offensive "Fuck Yamatai!" T-shirt making an excellent (and indeed satisfying) target, now reduced to ashes along with many of its vital organs.

A group of Graxlat technicians that had been attempting to tear through the airlock a moment ago were now trying to organize and block the way to it, but they were taken unawares as Hashimoto-taii flew past them in a blur and one let out a scream. Embedded in its flabby chest was the folding utility knife from the survival kit, apparently tied to a length of the matching heavy expedition cord that traced back to the suited officer... who was now running literal circles around them. The cord wound tightly as a result, as the smelly lot of goons were yanked PAINFULLY together like a bushel of culled wheat, rendered helpless as they stared down the metallic barrel of the kyuudoka's NSP that was ominously pointed right at them.

Vengeance would be had for what they tried to do to the Eucharis... for putting the Shosho.... everyone, through so much pain and suffering...

"Shiiii!"

A full trigger pull by her wisteria-colored fingers sent a trio of heavy purple-white beams that mercilessly shredded the technician's green flesh, followed by another and another. In the space of two seconds, the ex-samurai had emptied her NSP's battery magazine entirely. She returned it to its holster once again, sage green eyes looking upon the death she had wrought upon the unfortunate Graxlat with a moment of regret. Thankfully, Hanako's voice came over the communications calling for all hands to get aboard. It seemed like the Ketsurui Princess had made it successfully, and that meant that Umeshu needed to return to her station to lift off...

The colorful Neko wasted no time slipping into the airlock behind Natsumi and Wazu as it locked up tight and flying through the zero-G passageway to the bridge. The grey-paneled jacket, tattered as it was, hung proudly about Umeshu's shoulders as she paused to respectfully salute the EO and XO, her breathing still rapid from the intense combat. "Hashimoto-taii, reporting as ordered -- Hanako-sama, Natsumi-sempai!"

YSS Eucharis - Bridge

As if to confirm Natsumi's observation on the whereabouts of the resident thing-fixer, a transmission came through Charisma shortly after.

"Howard here, Shosho. Looks like they didn't do anything too severe to our baby. All systems green; we're ready to fly. Say the word!"

Hangar -> Eucharis -> Traffic Control Tower

Watching Marcus throw himself at the enemies, pushing himself beyond any sensible barriers... It was clear to Tsuguka that he had no intention of surviving. She wondered if he was not already a dead man walking, with the damage such strain was putting on his system. Through still skirting around the edges, putting holes in the odd sniper to lent him her support, fighting for a man who had made it adamantly clear he had zero intention of making it back...

Well, it was a illogical effort. There was more than the both of them at stake here. Candon was after the information that the Kuvexians had taken, it was obvious by his current movements, acting alone as always... It made her heart burn for the man she never quite knew, and she wished that there had been a time and a place to get through to him, but...

Staying here was just madness. Tsuguka had told him she would complete the mission at all costs, but there was no competing with a man determined to throw it all away. It was a forgone conclusion. The Marcus Rodia that they had known on UX-1 had chosen martyrdom.

"One of you would have been better." She spoke to herself. The flight path allowed her to take a few more shots in support, but it was on the way to an airlock on the upper portion of the Eucharis' hull. "Empress forgive me..."

Power armor bay was just around the corner. The cheap civilian space suit was practically torn off. Victory saw a side of Tsuguka that few ever had the opportunity to witness, the true fire and rage that the red nekovalkyrja displayed mid-battle, a fury normally obscured by the pleasantries of faceless armor and electronic communication.

Flying Suite's mindy by AI was redundant, and probably a hap-hazard time to be testing out such a temperamental contraption anyway. Quickly sliding into her own armor, and then giving the both of them basic teleport units, the same airlock she had entered the first time around gave them a small vacuum chamber to teleport from.

The re-entry location was not airless, however, resulting in a mid-air explosion large enough to rock the entire fractured air control tower.

Dragging it through the broken window, Tsuguka just let the spare armor fall to her feet between her and Candon. A blank helmet visor could not hide her body languages' ambivalence over the situation. She had told him to inform her about such plans exactly like this twice now. But, his self-given task was indeed important, and so here the red lynx was.

"~Two Mindys are deployed, Shosho. Some kind of control tower. Please support Mister Rodia if you can...~" A simple transmission back to command and control. This entire errand was as far from obeying orders as they could get, but the least the Joto Hei could think of doing was to offer a little clarity on their situation. "~We'll meet you in orbit via teleport.~"

Outside hangar, ground battle

The battle raged on, for Marcus. His focus was singular. His purpose was well defined, in his own mind. Within a span of minutes, he'd taken out hundred of Rixxikor and Graxlat combatants, all one at a time. His gun was empty, the makeshift weapons he'd brought along had been worn out. There was nothing left but his bare hands, and those were more than enough.

His opponents were beginning to figure out that fighting him was a lost cause. They couldn't shoot him, couldn't hit him and could barely even keep track of him. He was too fast. All they succeeded in doing was shooting each other from time to time. They started to back off, to find other things or opponents to occupy their time. The space between enemies widened, forcing Marcus to run further between his targets. The circle of destruction widened, as a result. Then, it happened...

Feeling as if a five ton weight had been dropped on his body and a grenade had gone off in his skull, Marcus collapsed, mid-run. He was done.

His clone saw it happen. Thankfully, he was close. The Rixxikor and Graxlat fighters that had been trying to get away from their deadly foe slowly stopped and began making their way back to him after he hit the ground. That is, until his clone showed up and stared them down. Several profanities were uttered all to the effect of 'How can there be two of them?! Run!'

And that, was precisely what they did.

With a retreating legion, Marcus the second was free to heft the limp body onto his shoulders and start running back to the ship. With his weight doubled, he was slower than how fast he was accustomed to running, but he was still about twice as fast as any average athletic human. With the performance given by the original Marcus on the battlefield, he was mainly left alone. They weren't all that far from the ship, anyway, and it wasn't like they were the only things to focus on in the area.

The man who would take the place of Marcus Rodia boarded the Eucharis as quickly as he was able. There was no question in his mind where they needed to go. The medical bay wouldn't do. Nothing these people had could help, at this point. Set on ignoring any attempt to slow him, he headed for cabin 5. Once he got there, he put his living cargo down on the bed and immediately got the supplies he knew he would need. Marcus was quickly injected with a green tinted liquid, then had a pair of small computerized panels placed on the front of his forehead and left side of his skull, next to his ear.

"Foolish, Marcus. I never once thought this would be a good idea...looks like I changed my mind."

Graxlat Salvage Yard

Amidst the chaos, the turreted guns of the Eucharis suddenly turned upward and took precise shots through the smoke and fire to hit the load-bearing supports and connections holding the roof up. The hangar began to collapse on itself. Large pieces of burning roof slid off of the Eucharis' top as the gunship lifted up into the air, rising from the flames like a phoenix. A new volley of bright yellow energy blasts erupted from its guns, filling the air with thunder-cracks and further devastating the ground forces unsuccessfully attempting to mount a counterattack. Then, the ship rocketed into the sky.

YSS Eucharis - Bridge

"Target one of the Kuvexian Navy ships with our main cannon," Hanako ordered. "We want to strike them before they strike us. Get us out of the atmosphere and raise shields."

Meanwhile sensors showed the Kuvexian ships had launched fighters, raised shields, and were charging their weapons in return.

YSS Eucharis - Bridge

"Bu....." Wazu bit his lip before he could get a word out. Publicly arguing with the ship's captain wasn't the best of plans. Instead he would ask Charisma where Marcus was, and excuse himself from the bridge.

Once he was outside, he would quickly type up a message to Hanako

Escalating to planet-busting weapons may cause them to respond in kind. You may want to confine the beam as much as possible while the target is still planetside.
-Wazu

Click to expand...

He went ahead and sent the message before he realized he didn't know for sure if the gunship was still using an Aether Shock Cannon as its main cannon, but if it was anything like he remembered if the beam wasn't stopped entirely by the enemy ship it would travel all the way through the planet and out the other side. The super-heating of so much of the planet would likely tear open the crust and trigger an extinction level event.

Wazu stopped for a moment, leaning against the wall of the ship. Everything still hurt, and there was too much to think about. He pushed the thoughts of star-ship battles out of his mind and focused on what he was originally planning to do.

Cabin 5

"How is Marcus Prime?" Wazu asked as he entered, moving over to the bed and fishing out his Atrophine injectors and Pyridostigmine Bromide tablets. As he looked over the patient he realized that part of his head was opened up and showing off a lot of electronic bits,

"Dang... How much of the overclocking is mechanical anyways? ... Nevermind... that should not matter. His neurotransmitters are going crazy right? Atrophine injected into the thigh should shut that down and prevent him from doing any more damage to his body. Pyridsgomine tablets will help refresh that system too... mechanical stuff is on you Marcus 2." Wazu was slurring his words just a little bit... and had botched the pronunciation of Pyridostigmine pretty badly. He was brushing up against his own limits, though not quite in the same way as Marcus.

It had been nearly two decades since he had nearly killed himself trying to overclock his body, and was likely the only person on the ship who had an idea of what was going on inside of Marcus Prime.