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

[Blizzard]

Eucharis- Engineering

And then the ship started moving. Everyone in the space should have felt their "techie-senses" tingling. Someone was about to put many holes in the ship.

A low groan escaped Jackson's lips as he slipped into an AMES.

"I'll head out on damage control," he called back. "Becker, you want to come?"

He didn't wait for a reply before leaving.

 

[Gunsight1]

YSS Eucharis - Bridge

"Thank you" Natsumi said to Wazu as he put the brace on her injured foot. She gave him a quick smile before returning to her duties.

As Umeshu piloted the ship up, Natsumi went to work designating targets for the weapon systems, as per Hanako's orders. s

"Locking targets" she announced to Hanko as she fed targetting data for the anti armor guns and heavy cannons to the MEGAMI, but data for the main weapon she fed to Umeshu's station since the pilot would be aiming the entire ship to bring the aether shock cannon to bear.

"Sending you target options" she sent wirelessly to Umeshu.

 

[paladinrpg]

♫ Most Wondrous Battle Music Ever: The Ascent

YSS Eucharis - Bridge

Hashimoto-taii nodded to the Captain and took her place at the helm of the Ketsurui princess's flagship, the NH-33 Neko arching her plum haired head back and closing her sage green eyes for a moment, feeling the SPINE connection of the chair embracing her body's senses one by one. A singular breath in, and head floated back level. A smile crept across her features, awash with the almost euphoric warmth of the MEGAMI and all the systems of the majestic Plumeria hooked into her being...

The target and arrow were one.... but, ship and pilot were also one. Eyes opened now with a twinkle of determination, as Umeshu started willing the Eucharis to rise up into the atmosphere, breaking through the remains of the roof of the chopshop with a satisfying *SMASH*. The blade on its prow sliced through the clouds as it ascended rapidly, a shining sword of the Empire drawn from its tomb of rubbish. And a blade thus drawn must taste blood, so sayeth the way of the Samurai... and, it seemed, Hanako as well.

"Hai, Shosho... charging Main Weapon Array!" responded the wisteria skinned officer, as she began the aether power transfer, and received the target information from Natsumi's station. "Targetting Kuvexian vessel... adjusting course declination by 5°." As the gunship rushed spaceward, the new course would take it just shy of a collision with the enemy's blockade, but allow a direct hit of sustained beam fire with the heaviest guns as it closed the distance...

In those precious few seconds, Umeshu also began the process of bringing up the CFS system to full power, also initializing the prepared 'Dynamic Shielding' routines via WARMS she worked on with Jax. This was the time for them to be tested. Additionally, the Taii booted up the Type 31 Electronic Warfare Suite, keying in the most likely frequencies and wavelengths to target with white noise that Charisma had learned from their first battle with the Kuvexian cruiser, as well as the Rixxikor colony ship. "This time, it's going to be different..." she murmured, hoping it would be enough to stymie the fighters for their point defense guns to do the job.

Soon, the systems were reading green as the last rings of the upper atmosphere's cloud cover dramatically parted before the Eucharis's prow, glowing white-hot and crackling ominously with accumulated scalar energies. Hashimoto-taii could feel the warmth building in her own chest as well... the fear, anger, love... it all rose to a fever pitch, crying out to be released as space and time itself was rending asunder.

Her lips parted and formed the words: "Aether Shock Cannon..... Hassha!"

 

[Rhysis]

Eucharis, Cabin 5

"The only mechanical part of his brain is a translation matrix. What you're seeing are actually external panels melded with the flesh."

The clone moved over to the Ayenee computer and accessed a peculiar looking program. "If it's anything like regularly over-exerting the modifications, the moment he lost consciousness, they shut down. The problem is, I've never..." He paused for a second, remembering that it wasn't, actually, his own memories he possessed. "he's never removed the alpha block before. I don't know if the same rules apply. I've given him an injection to stop the process, just in case. He's still alive, for now. I'm accessing his brain to trace what went on in his body after he removed his alpha block."

Marcus looked at the screen of the computer, and his jaw dropped. "...unbelievable."

He didn't wait for a response, but slid out of the way and turned the screen toward Wazu. "Our normal physical function is about four times that of a normal human. Mental is double without activating all the modifications at once." He pointed to a section of the screen that showed activity lines for both mental and physical. Then, he tapped a set of keys and the screen's display slid to the right.

"The alpha block acts like a vehicle governor for the modifications. Basically, when he removed the alpha block, he removed the safety switch. His mental and physical function tripled that of our normal abilities." He moved the display, again, to see current activity levels.

"The mods didn't return to normal when he lost consciousness this time. They completely shut down. I haven't...he hasn't been without the mods since he was in preschool. His body and brain are panicking."

Marcus moved quickly, got another panel out, and placed it on the side of his own head. It merged with his flesh just as cleanly as those on the original Marcus. "I'd estimate he's got a day, at best, before everything shuts down." He typed a few commands into the computer, then touched his hand to the panel on the first Marcus' head. His eyes closed for a couple seconds, with the muscles in his neck twitching. Then, he opened his eyes and looked at Wazu.

"I've just transferred the memories he had after setting the cloning program until just before removing his alpha block. On his behalf, thank you for the help you've given, Heram. Now..." Marcus typed a few more commands into the computer and looked at his patient. "we have to get him back to Ayenee. What he needs doesn't exist in this universe."

 

[Zack]

Cabin 5

“So basically human? I canwork with that,” Wazu said, just dropping the injectors and tablets down on the floor as he looked over Marcus. Wazu's voice had changed, he was losing a bit of the air of careful consideration, his words starting to flow together as his rate of speech increased. “What doyou mean shuttin down? The cellsare dieing off? Or is he unable tocontrol his internal organs? Like is hisheart just turning offand if we turned his consciousness back on would hebe able to take care of this problem? Alternatively ifwe turned his head back on, would we need to shut down his mods toensure normal function?

You know we havegot a working copy. Wecould scan Marcus 2 in at the medbay and use the hemosynth tubes toswap out components that donot match the template. Worse case scenario he just needs a fewdays in the tube to recover.

…

Come on, letus take him to the medbay. Even if you really must gethim back home we can at least slow the damage properly”

 

[Rizzo]

Aerospace Traffic Control tower

"Arigato," he thanked as he stood by the door to the stairs. One of the surviving enemy soldiers apparently knew the passcode for the control room door and had been trying to get in. Each time he entered it the door would start to open and he'd hit the button to shut it. It had been a fun little dance but Candon's Environ suit was getting uncomfortably hot from his proximity to the door. "I'll be right with you."

The doors slid open but this time Candon step into the opening. He grabbed the barrel of a Rixxicor's SMG and smashed the stock into the user's face as a Graxlat charged into the room, bulldozing the bug like creature. The spy smoothly sidestepped the beastly alien, leaving it to the care of his ally, and grappled the shotgun toting Kuvexian behind it as he unloaded his newly acquired SMG into the small crowd trying to get in, retreating back into the control room with the troublesome bat thing. He tossed the empty gun at the button next to the door making it close as he passed through. The banging of the hopeless other enemy soldiers would soon fade into the quiet growl of the raging fire below.

"Don't move, please," he requested with neutral politeness and shoved him to his ally's feet.
He removed his Environ helmet and replaced it with his Mindy's helmet. The screen came to life upon recognizing its users brainwaves. In moments his Mindy began data mining every piece of information it could acquire from the computer in the control tower. "Thanks for the assist, I can't return empty-handed," with gentle, patient movements Candon removed himself from the cooked Environ suit and stripped down, "I owe you one, Tsu."

"You'll never get me to talk you bastard!" shouted the Kuvexian as Candon was storing his pistols in the cramped compartment between the PA's shoulders.
"No matter what you do to me, I'll just come back!"
Candon removed the SMG from the weapon holder on his armor's shoulder.
"Do you hear me!? You'll never really kill me! You ca-" POP-POP-POP his SMG cracked out as it sent white-hot beams of scalar into the door's controls. "Your free to go," Candon responded nonchalantly, "I just wanted you to quit opening the door. You can bite the capsule too if you want. I really don't care."

After flipping the armor onto its back he opened it up, slipped in, and stood up. I'm the distance he could see Eucharis ascending with fighters hot on its tail. "We need to destroy this facility," he stated as he stared out the window. Below them the enemy had assembled with a fire truck and soldiers. "If we move fast and low we could probably wreck some key equipment - maybe even nuke a reactor," he turned his head towards Tsuguka, "we're already breaking dozens of laws. Care to make it count?"

 

[Primitive Polygon]

Aerospace Traffic Control Tower

"Owe me? This is the way it is supposed to be, isn't it, Heisho?" Tsuguka just responded gruffly, keeping one foot steady on the Kuvexian's back. When Candon ordered him to get lost, it changed into a lazy boot up the backside, watching the alien scurry off with a wrist weapon bared upon it. Trying to reconcile exactly why she was doing what she was doing only made the foreboding woman shrug deeply. "...We were already outlaws the minute we decided not to report any of this. I mean... the Shosho was out of her jurisdiction, it's no secret..."

Candon was still her Heisho, and Hanako was still her Shosho, despite all the murky dealings that had happened. Perhaps something more, that she didn't have a name for. The stoic woman couldn't completely rule out that she was still simply chasing that naive ideal of the perfect partnership, the perfect team, but... As dysfunctional as it always seemed to end up, the here and the now was what mattered beyond any technicality. Candon's failings were no excuse for ignoring the brilliant fighter and strategist that he had continuously proven himself to be... It was just keeping up with him that was the hard part.

"Heisho, we haven't got much time... Our ship is going to get intercepted in orbit any minute." As she spoke, a 3D model of the terrain they were standing in was beamed over to his HUD. Some rather dispersed heat spikes neatly demonstrated their problem; There were dozens of half-constructed and half-destroyed Rixxikor ships laying about, and those were just the ones they could detect. "I can appreciate your intentions, but is there really any way of knowing where data on the Eucharis would have been kept? Despite all of their primitive nature, the Rixxikor have quite an extensive computer inter-ship network..."

"...There might be some kind of way doing this with a virus, I guess, but..." A shrug. Not wanting to abandon her duty, but fearing getting left behind, was a difficult feeling. "Well, I'm just a soldier, you are the intelligence expert. All I can really do in that respect is defend you, Candon-Heisho..."

 

[Rhysis]

Cabin 5

"By shut down, I mean the mods have stopped completely. There's no way to reactivate them safely without Katarina. Our father designed our mods to work together. She got the mental, I got the physical. Right now this Marcus is, for all intents and purposes, a normal human whose entire body and mind is in a lethal state of trauma."

Marcus removed the panel he'd placed on the side of his own head, then entered a few more commands on the computer and observed the results. He shook his head at Wazu's suggestion. "Your plan is solid, but that would, effectively, turn him into a clone. There have always been errors in any copying process. Copy an old fashioned key, you get a slightly wider gap. Copy a printed paper, the lettering is off just slightly. Clone a person, minor genetic errors pop up. Using me as a template would take away something from him. He risked his life coming to this universe, sacrificed a small fortune and a small portion of his mental health helping to escape from UX-1, and then risked his life, again, to get you all back on this ship. I'm not about to reward all that with changing who he is."

He thought for a moment. "If this ship has a stasis chamber, we can put him in there. That could extend the waiting time a bit, but we still need to get him back to Ayenee."

 

[Rizzo]

Aerospace Traffic Control tower

"I like this one," he thought as Tsuguka spoke her piece. He could see the insight of a leader in her along with great humility, the underrated personality trait that keeps people alive by letting one fully understand the danger both enemies and allies possess.

"Please, I'm just Candon right now. There's no rank or government in this situation. You're right, the enemy does have information about the capture of Eucharis and that jeopardizes the reputation and honor every member of its crew. I can't just erase the information they've collected.. it must be destroyed, all of it. Every sentient being on base must die. If anyone were to hear about this the rumors would undoubtedly spread, eventually reaching the ears of criminals who would see it as a vulnerability. There would be an increase in piratical attacks on Yamataian vessels. Come to think of it, the entire crew should have to die as well, but that it would be counterproductive," his attempt to joke didn't come out right at all.

"Look, I can't order you to do this with me, odds are it will result in us being left behind. Dixie to wiping out this case is laying right over there," he declared as he pointed out the window at the rear half of an NMX battle carrier, "I vaguely remember those ships from the second war but I know for sure that its Aether reactor could wipe out this base 3 times over. I won't hold it against you if you just want to return to Eucharis."

 

[Primitive Polygon]

Aerospace Traffic Control Tower

Tsuguka was quiet for several paces, just staring at the scheming man through her blank blue-chrome faceplace. Embers were starting to flow in from the burning stairwell, but the chatter of the Rixxikor firefighters scrambling around on the floors below was an agitating enough sound to drown out the groans of smoldering metal. Memories of lying cocooned in Taharial's soft red wings always came to her when she was the furthest possible from them, it seemed.

With a small glimmer, her faceplate then suddenly became transparent, allowing Suites to observe the enduring forceful gaze within.

"Just tell them to leave then!... Don't you know who I am by now? I've already made my fucking decision!" Removing the formality from the crimson woman's voice turned it into a cinder block. Being forced to abandon a comrade once already today had galvanized it into a sheer wall of Zesuaium. "If we are going to do this, then let's get them out of the line of fire, and give ourselves the time to do it properly!"

Welcome to Toyoe Tsuguka. The nekovalkyrja who expresses dedication by looking like they want to kill you.

 

[Zack]

Cabin 5

“The Hemosynth tanks are as close as we can get to stasis tanks. We can throw Theseus-Prime into the tank and let it maintain his organs without replacing anything. It would be like really, really good blood doping.” Wazu replied, “It is far better than leaving him here untreated. Just what is it you need from Ayenee that you can not replicate here?”

 

[Rizzo]

Aerospace Traffic Control tower

The fiery stare through his ally's holographically transparent helmet said it all. She was exactly what he was looking for in an armor team leader. His helmet went clear, uncovering his admiration.
"Your going to go far, Kid."

"Eucharis, this is Suites-Heisho. As a matter of national security this shipyard and all personnel must be destroyed. As the only two assets planetside Tsuguka-Hei and myself must accomplish this objective and rendezvous at a later time," he began his broadcast in a professional manner but it was futile. This would most likely be the last time they would ever be seen, "This is our choice, Hanako. Please, get the crew to safety for us so we can rest easy."

His holographic projection system cloaked his armor and he marked the junked battle carrier on their HUDs. "Alright, Tsu. Let's do this."
With that he launched himself out of the breached window he'd come in through.



Wrecked NMX battle carrier, 1km out

Candon soared only a meter above the ground as he approached the massive hull. It was a bittersweet sight to see such an impressive feat of engineering half buried in the ground, surrounded by heaps made from the hulls of countless other ships who'd probably fallen victim to the once mighty carrier who was in the process of being rebuilt.
"Fat chance, Mish-head."

Despite the major bend in the frame the renovation appeared to be coming along well.
"Let's wreck this bitch."
Candon lined up his trajectory with a breach in the armor that was apparently being used as an entrance.

 

[Primitive Polygon]

Traffic Control Tower -> Approaching Wrecked Cruiser
♫ACVD - Vendetta♫

Tsuguka simply followed Candon for now, activating her own stealth system and leaping out of the tower alongside him. The burning junk-city around them was in chaos. Good. If they survived long enough, there was always a chance that they could scrounge another shuttle like they had done on UX-1 I, and the frenzy of escaping Rixxikor could grant them cover.

It was funny, after all her friends and comrades had been through, this stupid little plan was the closest they had actually been to her naive childhood dreams. The girl-oni wasn't really that bloodthirsty, but... Instead of standing around biting their tongue in the presence of this grotesque bugmen, they were finally actually going to do something serious in response.

Shosho Ketsurui probably wouldn't react well to them both effectively going AWOL. It wasn't like they could be demoted considering this entire escapade was something that didn't happen in the first place, but she hoped her Shosho understood the reasoning. It wasn't like they could be promoted either.

"Take point. You know what you're doing. I'll cover you like I said."

Looking at the empty space that Candon's location icon occupied made her feel weird. Solidarity made her feel like a baleful little electron. Necessity made following him a matter of survival, as the man was moving at speeds that would make sheer whiplash dangerous. No massive tower shield slowing her down this time. Breakthrough speed.

"Is that... a Mishhuvurthyar ship?..."

 

[Rhysis]

Marcus looked at Wazu and nodded at his suggestion. "Then let's get him to the Hemosynth tanks." He removed both of the panels from the original Marcus' head and carefully lifted him off the bed, cradling the limp man like he was a child. He motioned for Wazu to lead the way.

As they moved, he continued to speak. "As far as what Ayenee has that this universe doesn't, it's more a matter of who it has that this one doesn't. Katarina is expecting him back, in whatever condition he can be delivered. Our father's research partners are still alive, and they have access to a lot of his records as far as the modifications are concerned. Beyond that, Equilibrium has a record of who contacted them. When the Pliable shuttle transmitted, Captain Hasumi made it clear that she was from Yamatai. They have plenty of connections, and Katarina has a great deal of influence with them. If Marcus doesn't make it back, I wouldn't put it past them to send someone to retrieve him. You've been to Ayenee. There are plenty of creatures there that this universe simply isn't prepared to combat. I can think of a few, specifically, who would likely volunteer for the assignment. Getting him back to Ayenee is best for him, and Yamatai."

 

[Wes]

Unnamed Star System - NMX Designation 87D

The Eucharis, with its sword-like prow glowing an angry pink, rocketed out of the planet's atmosphere and back into space. On Umeshu's command, the energy consolidated into a lance of destruction that surged forward and slammed into the Kuvexian Navy ship in a furious blast of energy. The ship spun out the path of the blast with its shields flickering and then collapsing. As the Eucharis closed, it began firing turreted aether weapons back at Eucharis.

YSS Eucharis - Bridge

"Fire at will," Hanako ordered. "Finish off the one we hit first before it can recover. Set aether engines to flank speed." She gripped her armrests as the ship was rocked by incoming fire hitting the shields. "I want to get back out into FTL space where we can get away if we need to."

Meanwhile they could see the enemy fighters were starting to close in on an attack run.

YSS Eucharis - Engineering

"Coming!" Becker said, following Jax. Becker was already in his AMES suit. "Where are we going?"

Meanwhile Cherry stayed in engineering, making sure everything was good to go.

Graxlat Scrapyard

Tsuguka and Candon saw the Eucharis disappear into the sky, or they would have if the sky hadn't been filled with thick black smoke.

Hanako's soft voice came to the pair. "I am not sure I agree," the admiral replied to Candon. "Are we sure this shipyard is a military target? It seems to be only Rixxikor civilian ships being made here. I am worried about you. Also have you been able to find Mao? I am not sure she made it out of the shuttle before it crashed. Over."

As the two approached the Mishhuvurthyar ship, they could see Graxlat salvagers running into it for cover, sealing themselves inside its spiral hatches.

The Rixxikor near it started shooting at Candon, and at least one of them knew how to aim alright because a plasma burst mangled his right foot pretty badly. There were about ten of the insectoid defenders mobilized so far, but Candon knew that Rixxikor always multiplied over time.

 

[Zack]

Cabin 5

Wazu would lead the way back to the medical bay,

"Hanako is very attached to this ship. She look on her face when it got taken was the kind you have during a messy breakup... I am sure she will not let anything bad happen to the ship or Marcus prime between now and when we get Marcus Prime back to Ayenee."

When they arrived, Wazu would open up the hemosynth tanks by politely asking Charisma to do it for him.

"I do not see any straps or anything to hold him in place... I suppose we just dump him in and ask Charisma not to replace anything on the body... just to keep his organs and cells as healthy as possible... Who's still got it out for Yamatai on Ayenee anyways? The Reptiles? The Assassin's Guild?"

 

[Rhysis]

Medical Bay

Marcus carefully placed his predecessor into the tank and watched as the process was started.

"Most of those who were actually around for the wars wouldn't bother. The Assassin's Guild is still around, but they've got so many grudges I think they've lost track. The main concern is that I...he...." Marcus sighed. "You know what, the memories were given to me. I'm gonna use them like they're mine."

He cleared his throat, then continued. "I've got a few friends that don't usually hang out around Ayenee Capitol City. The Ayenee universe still manages to maintain a peculiar balance between scientific advancement and arcane energies. Most of these friends prefer the more mystical areas of the world. One, in particular...well...let's just say that, had he been here for the Eucharis being stolen, we could have retrieved it within a matter of seconds. He's traveled to several different universes, and his loyalty to his friends is amazingly powerful. If he thought it were necessary to come get my progenitor, he wouldn't hesitate for an instant."

 

[Rizzo]

Graxlat Scrapyard


Tsuguka and Candon saw the Eucharis disappear into the sky, or they would have if the sky hadn't been filled with thick black smoke.


Hanako's soft voice came to the pair. "I am not sure I agree," the admiral replied to Candon. "Are we sure this shipyard is a military target? It seems to be only Rixxikor civilian ships being made here. I am worried about you. Also have you been able to find Mao? I am not sure she made it out of the shuttle before it crashed. Over."

"Whether it's a dedicated military target is unknown, but what we do know is that they have information proving the capture of Eucharis. If this data were to be leaked it could exploit a weakness in us. It could also damage your fame. Your an icon to the SAoY Ma'am. Your honor must be protected or the entire Star Army will lose face.. if it makes you feel better, I'm scared, over."
He could only hope that bit of feeling could help.
When you're scared you're careful.

Graxlat Scrapyard


As the two approached the Mishhuvurthyar ship, they could see Graxlat salvagers running into it for cover, sealing themselves inside its spiral hatches.


The Rixxikor near it started shooting at Candon, and at least one of them knew how to aim alright because a plasma burst mangled his right foot pretty badly. There were about ten of the insectoid defenders mobilized so far, but Candon knew that Rixxikor always multiplied over time.

His foot exploded with pain as 1 bolt in a swarm of plasma shots showered his flight path. With his cloak active the attackers must have been firing at the only thing they could see, his silhouette.
"Some smart bugs."

His armor was fine but he already knew his foot would be useless. Once more he would have to accept that he could not do this as a man, only a machine would be able to accomplish this mission.
Breaking left in to a barrel roll Candon dropped his camouflage but simultaneously switched his holographic projector to show three other Armors flying in a formation around him, each one moving independently and strategically. To add a bit of lethality to the deception he also released his support drones which began flying within each holographic decoy's forearm and returned fire at the expendable soldiers with precise volleys.

With his armor stabilized and drones providing cover Candon closed his eyes as his HUD went dark. The world around him came quickly into focus with perception far greater than his own eyes could perceive. He could no longer feel his cooked foot, or anything for that matter. Only the knowledge of damage remained. He had again become his armor.

He began to perform evasive maneuvers to keep safe but it was obvious that the front door was blocked. A different approach was needed. The back of his mind accessed the schematics that had become available on the obsolete carrier after the war and located the control room for the aether reactor along with the appropriate hacking software he would need.

The plan came together.
He telepathically sent to Tsuguka his plan:
First she would take control of the three decoys and then pretend to press the assault for as long as possible while Candon would fake a crash and explosion using his teleporter to access the control room and begin the process of destabilizing the reactors containment field.
Next he would Tsuguka would leave and head towards the crashed shuttle to look for Mao where Candon would rendezvous via teleporter if needed. If not, he will teleport as far as possible to safety.
Lastly, Tsuguka would retreat from the blast radius via teleporter with Mao if possible.

 

[Blizzard]

YSS Eucharis - Wardroom

Thinking tactically, Jax decided to post up in the Wardroom, in the middle of the vessel and closest to everything. For the time being, he crashed on one of the couches that he'd missed oh so dearly.

In front of him, on his communicator, was a 3D model of the ship with real-time damage updates. So far, everything was green. The plan was to simply wait for any real damage to occur.

"Patience, Becker," he muttered, not taking his eyes off the screen to calm his nerves as the ship bucked from incoming fire. "Wait for it...! Wait... For... It...!"

 

[Primitive Polygon]

Graxlat Scrapyard

Tsuguka just grunted loudly as Candon suddenly ordered her to take control of his drones, still distracted by viewing the damage report on his armor. She didn't normally use such devices, preferring to keep a lower profile and focus on singular decisive actions. This was a completely different kind of warfare than she was used to, but an effort was made to adapt to his orders quickly and efficiently.

"Okay. Just give me the heads up when you are inside."

More like panthers than wasps now, the drones flowed organically with her leaps and bounds, using the random fragments of trash and rusted superstructure strewn about as cover. Anything they hid behind was almost immediately obliterated by a hail of plasma, of course, but dodging fire could be aided by momentarily projecting additional cloaked mindys going in alternate directions. When the lynx chose to actually focus forward and try her luck, raking the gribbly alien defender's position with A/S SMG fire in scalar mode, it was within a rotating kaleidoscope of false images that would at least theoretically make immediate retaliation difficult. Continued survival mattered more than actually causing significant casualties at the moment, so this undedicated harrying would just have to do.

No time for considering who counted as a civilian or not now. This entire situation had been beyond the luxury of such morality from the start. As they grew closer, Tsuguka only hoped that Candon acted quickly enough to avoid the certain coming landslide of Rixxikor reinforcements that could happen at any moment. The uncanny aiming ability of these unfamiliar rat-faced things was bad enough.