RP: YSS Eucharis [Mission 25] Stolen Pride (YE 38)

Canyon Battle Grounds

BOOM!

"Friggin hell?!" As she got slammed to the ground from the blast wave and pelting of small rocks; bits and pieces of Rixxikor and shrapnel. If it weren't cowards running from battle, now it was someone trying to blow her up. At least she was out of the blast kill range, and the terrain to her advantage. She remember Jax mentioned having a rocket launcher. Via Telepathy to Jax, ~~ " Kitteh finally can roar like the rest of us adults? Let me hear you sing out your battle cry, Kitten Tech!" ~~ It was filled with warmth of friendship of the tease she sent Jax.

The momentary respite as she regained her breath, gave her time to appraise the situation. Spotting a new weapon near a dead mangled Rixxikor. She darted forward, colliding with another Rixxikor who had lost its weapon and had the same idea as her. She quickly stuck the barrel of the now useless weapon deep into the Rixxikors eye. Dissuading it from going after the weapon. She grabbed it, literally pulling arms off the bug and flipping it over to revile the power pack that went with the weapon. "This is so friggen great." She was losing her battle momentum as she stripped the power pack off the Rixxikor and slipping it on.

Once the weapon system was free; cleaned of bug limbs and goop, Aikiko prayed and squeezed the trigger, sending out a deadly 'Hello!' of plasma fire, as she spun a full 360 degrees, frying any Rixxikor that was foolish to be in the line of fire. The molten dust that the plasma fire ripped through dripped to the ground to land on even more Rixxikor that were behind cover from the side effect of the super heated plasma fire lancing through the dust laden air.

Aikiko smiled widely as she advanced, now she was the hunter, not the one fighting for survival. It was now time to move with precision. Maneuver and fire with well aimed fire. Unbeknownst to her, the power pack that supplied the plasma weapon was nearing empty.

Frizzzzzzzpt!

Another group of Rixxikor learned the hard way as they went up in flames, superheated juices causing them to explode to rain their gore upon each other.

Never staying in one place for long in her disoriented way zig-zagging and circling through the settling dust, Aikiko moved with surety, pausing to pick up another functioning rifle of the Rixxikor and ammo for it in their carry-all satchels they preferred, when she had the chance to.

Frizzzz >sputter< zzzpt!

Alerted her that the power pack was dangerously low. She hung the plasma weapon on the hook of the pack when it wasn't in use. Switching over to the rifle. With a quick glance to make sure it was functioning, she rejoined the battle again as it became hunter vrs hunter. She ached from the multiple wounds she had received and the close quarter fighting. It felt as if she was on fire.

She was losing concealment of the settling of the dust to gravity and the wind, making it harder to stay concealed, yet she blended in with the light layer dusting to dull her clothing and skin to blend in even more with her surrounding till she had to move again, then it was with speed to her next objective. Or kill an exposed Rixxikor.

Canyon

The dust and debris were falling all around Hanako, which made it difficult to see. "Does anyone have a shuttle yet? Are all three fighters down yet?" Shosho Hanako asked. The pain her her torso was incredible. She tried to block it out but it made it difficult for her to move, although she really did have to move, as the continuing waves of Rixxikor were aware of her position and starting to dump whatever explosives they had in her direction. She could tell she'd lost a non-trivial amount of blood. She went to wipe the sweat off her brow and found her hand made a scratching sound on it because there was so much sand stuck on it. Hanako used her captured rifle as a cane and hobbled deeper into the canon. "Stay in teams," she ordered. "If you cannot watch your back you will find yourself alone and surrounded."

Such was the case with Aikiko. One of the Rixxikor carefully aimed and shot her power pack, and a rapidly-growing jet of flame started spilling out the side of it. A second shot hit Aikiko in the left knee.

Meanwhile, as Marcus approached the shuttle, its lone guard, a Rixxikor in full-body protective armor and carrying a large energy gatling gun, stepped out and unleashed a hailstorm of bright blue streaks at him. One of them hit Marcus's arm so hard that Marcus spun 360 degress around like a drunken ballerina before regaining his balance.

Back where Wazu was, an unarmed bug-man emerged from the dust behind him and slugged him in the face with a razor sharp exoskeletal fist, followed by making a attempt to grab him under one arm. Rixxikor arms were like paper cutters. If they could get someone's neck in there, it was over with a quick scissor snip action.

Lighthouse

The entirely of the Rixxikor invasion force in the lighthouse seemed to be stuck in the bottom floors trying to figure out to best ascend the upper levels to take out the three Star Army soldiers. Meanwhile, the shuttle doors on the top level were now open to look down on barren landscape around the lighthouse, including the empty Rixxikor shuttle and its lone guard. Mitsuko had a clear view of them.

Shuttle Landing Site

The solitary guard had surprised Marcus. That shot hurt. And to add insult to injury, it was another hit on the same side as most of his other injuries. There weren't any large rock formations around where the shuttles had landed that he could use for cover. That was precisely why they'd landed in those spots. When his balance was regained, he shouted a quick instruction "Do not fire that weapon at him, Jax!" Jax only had a rocket launcher, so far as Marcus knew. Any explosion of that magnitude so close to the shuttle would destroy it. That could not be allowed to happen.

As he yelled, he began to run, much like a rabbit trying to dodge predators. Marcus moved from one side to the other, in a random pattern, all the while advancing, and keeping an eye on where the gatling gun wielding Rixxicor was pointing its weapon to avoid another hit. He was quite certain he wouldn't survive another strike, particularly considering he was getting closer.

When he was finally within close enough range to capitalize on his idea, he fired a shot at the creature's clawed hand. Once again thankful for the focus his mind could obtain in its enhanced state, the bullet struck the intended target, and Marcus dropped the gun. Even in armor, the force of the bullet was shocking enough to cause a break in the Rixxicor's hold. It didn't drop the weapon, but it fumbled with it for a moment. That moment was all Marcus needed. He leapt at the bug and delivered a knee to the head, followed by an open handed swipe to the back of the head as his momentum carried him behind the creature. Again, the armor would prevent true damage, but the knee surprised the Rixxicor for a moment, and the swipe removed the latch from the back of the helmet. Marcus rolled and grabbed a handful of sand then turned and found the guard spinning to him just as he regained his footing. He could thank the extra weight from the armor for that little delay in movement speed. The human followed up with another blow to the head, this time an upward palm that sent the helmet tumbling backward, then tossed the sand in the bug's face. It flinched and blinked for a couple seconds. Marcus took the opportunity to grab the thing's big round eyes and squeeze with all the force his enhanced muscles would generate.

As the creature panicked, Marcus drew the second rifle and calmly fired a shot to the thing's head, then tossed the rifle to Jax and picked up the gatling gun. "Hope you can fly this thing, Jax. I'll have a difficult enough time firing an energy weapon with one hand."

Marcus waited for Jax to join him before boarding the shuttle and setting himself up near the door to fire on the fly. There were still a lot of bugs, and a heavy weapon of this sort was just what would be needed to give them cover as they flew.

Shuttle Landing Site

Jax had laughed at Aikiko's jest, but felt his head explode with pain shortly afterwards. He stumbled while running with Marcus, but caught himself before he could face plant. His vision cleared up, and he came upon the shuttle. His heart stopped when the Rixxikor with the Gatling gun stepped out. When Marcus had gotten hit, he'd instinctively dived behind the shuttle itself. This gave him time to look back at his comrades. His heart pounded in his chest out of sheer terror at the horrible turn of events. His world became quiet, the only noise being the blood rushing in his ears and his ragged breathing.

Marcus need not have warned him. He couldn't have peeled his eyes away if he'd wanted to. He watched Wazu get decked, watched as Hanako retreated further as her position was overrun. Then, Aikiko...

Part of the reason he liked her so much was because he saw her as a sort of older sister. She reminded him of Jackie in many aspects. Their banter, her fighting spirit, everything. Watching her get hit caused his eyes to mist up, and a painful lump formed in his throat.

They were all family, make no mistake. Wazu was the cool cousin whom he'd just met, Hanako was a sort of mother-figure, in a weird way, with her guidance and leadership. Natsumi was the cool aunt you looked forward to visiting every summer. Mao was... Mao. He'd have to get to know her better, but after he saw how well she treated Umeshu, he was positive he'd hate to see her get killed just the same.

"No..." he whispered, reaching a hand out as if to help them. He couldn't. Hot tears began to form and roll down his cheeks. Once more, a little louder:

"No..."

"No!" he repeated, louder still, scrambling to his feet. His vision was blurred from the downpour. Pure, seething hatred began to burn his insides. He tried to calm himself, come up with a plan, but it was all too much to bear. He heard a snapping sound, and his vision turned an evil shade of red, and began to tremor.

Jackson had finally lost his cool.

"NO! YOU WON'T TAKE THEM FROM ME! YOU HEAR ME, MOTHER FUCKER?!" he roared venomously at the armed Rixxikor around the corner of the shuttle. He charged out of his cover, uncaring that he may get torn to pieces, focused solely on ending the guard's life in the most painful way possible.

To say he was shocked was an understatement. After taking a hit that most people wouldn't get up from, the human had managed to take down the guard and steal his weapon. It caused him to recoil a bit, but he soon got over it. He wiped his eyes on his forearm and sniffed.

"Let's kill them." he replied gruffly, storming into the cockpit of the shuttle. Truthfully, he had little to no training in flying. Just whatever he could figure out through his own observation. Thankfully, these shuttles were obviously designed for a species as dumb as the Rixxikor, because the controls were very basic. There was a large, blinking, red button which read "Turn On Fuckin' Shuttle". He hit it and felt the engines roar to life.

Soon enough, they were airborne and screaming towards the battlefield. Jackson breathed heavily, not bothering to contain his blood lust.

"Get that gun ready!" he barked back at Marcus before hitting the shuttle's P.A. system.

"BURN! ALL OF YOU! BURN!" Jackson spat at the bugs bellow. With a feral roar, he opened up with the shuttle's own guns, taking great care not to accidentally hit his crew mates. Large plumes of dirt began to explode within the horde, sending little pieces of bug everywhere.

"...DIE!"

Wes said:

The dust and debris were falling all around Hanako, which made it difficult to see. "Does anyone have a shuttle yet? Are all three fighters down yet?" Shosho Hanako asked. The pain her torso was incredible. She tried to block it out but it made it difficult for her to move, although she really did have to move, as the continuing waves of Rixxikor were aware of her position and starting to dump whatever explosives they had in her direction. She could tell she'd lost a non-trivial amount of blood. She went to wipe the sweat off her brow and found her hand made a scratching sound on it because there was so much sand stuck on it. Hanako used her captured rifle as a cane and hobbled deeper into the canon. "Stay in teams," she ordered. "If you cannot watch your back you will find yourself alone and surrounded."

Such was the case with Aikiko. One of the Rixxikor carefully aimed and shot her power pack, and a rapidly-growing jet of flame started spilling out the side of it. A second shot hit Aikiko in the left knee.

Click to expand...

Aikiko went down as she felt the heat of the rupture of the pack on her back. Quickly using the straps quick disconnects she was able to get it off of her and flung as far as she could from her kneeling position and fell forward to be as prone to the ground when the power pack exploded.

As for her leg, it was useless with a blown knee. Even her natural enhanced healing would still take time to give her mobility she needed. But by the sweet deities, she could still fly. With poorly aimed Rixxikor fire pinning her down, She used another strand of t5-50 cord for her own tourniquets above the wound to cut down on the blood loss.

As she was finishing up with the tourniquets and a make shift bandage of the ruined shirt she wore; wrapped around her destroyed knee. A new sound entered the fray that drove terror even into her. An Active craft with weapons blazing, raking the grounds with deadly fire, kicking up more dust and super heated molten droplets of rocks, sand and other ferrous metals that the soil was composed of. Even bits and pieces of the Rixxikor. Even if she paid with her life, it was the grandest thing she ever saw with best seat right in middle of the action.

And she was right in the path of the armed shuttle heading her way, chewing up the ground and the Rixxikor horde. Only thing that gave her away to those airborne that she wasn't Rixxikor was her brown bare torso with pure white lacy bra and semi-white exercise shirt around her knee which was slowing turning red. She gave a wave of a circler motion to whomever was flying the Rixxikor Shuttle. An Enemy of her enemy was a friend indeed. She gave a circler motion to provide her cover so she could escape her pinned down position that the Rixxikor had her in.

Canyon


A rifle had suddenly appeared in her proximity and Natsumi grabbed at it. With everything going on around her and her focus so intense on trying to keep the Rixxikor at bay, she had not noticed Hanako being wounded. She had grabbed up the ugly bug rifle, stuffed her pistol back into it's holster and gone to work with the much more powerful weapon. She sent fire downrange, trying to take down as many of the bugs that got into her shooting range as she could.

They were getting closer and closer, explosives raining down on their position now. She was forced to duck down and behind a not quite big enough boulder as an explosion went off mere feet away, showering her in rock and sand. Out of the side of her eye Natsumi spotted Hanako beginning to fall back and noted the mass of red on her torso and her leaning on her own rifle. She mentally kicked herself for not having paid more attention to her shosho and rushed to aid the admiral.

"Hanako!" she blurted as she slipped an arm around the Shosho to support her and help her deeper into the canyon. If Hanako had protested to the assistance, Natsumi either did not notice or did not care to react to it. Hell, if need be she would carry Hanako to safety. "You're wounded" she stated a fact that was more than obvious to Hanako and at any other time, had she not been under so much stress herself, she never would have pointed out "I need to stop the bleeding as soon as we get back far enough" she glanced back over her shoulder as she helped Hanako farther and farther along. She hoped there would be somewhere safe, though with how many of the bug men there were coming, there was little hope for that.

"Just a little farther!" she said through gritted teeth as they moved along. She could also feel the burning hot tears threatening to well up in her eyes. Seeing Hanako, her Shosho, someone she had looked up to her whole life and served, someone who was the mother figure in her life, wounded, had struck deep. Wounded on her watch, feet away, and she had failed to prevent it and failed to note it's occurrence! Natsumi admonished herself for her lack of situational awareness. She forced the tears back and urged them along. She knew the bugs were not far behind and they needed a better defensible position.

Then Mao was there. The first thing she noticed was the lack of the samurai's usual attire, but any comment she might have made about that was forestalled by the sheer amount of gore that the neko had splattered all over and dripping from her sword.

"Yes, I can" she replied to Mao with a nod. She shouldered her rifle and glanced at Hanako. "If you will excuse me, Shosho" she scooped Hanako up in her arms "Shoot anyone who gets too close"

Making sure she had the Shosho held securely in her arms, Natsumi turned her attention back to the samurai. "Ready, Mao-"

There was a roar as the Rixxikor shuttle roared overhead, it's guns blazing, strafing the bug men. "Looks like our ride is airborne!" she yelped.

Rixxicor Shuttle

~"Don't play the hero, Marcus."~ The voice of Katarina, Marcus' older sister, rang in his head. ~"It'll get you killed. I can't stand to lose another family member."~

Despite his sibling's advice, Marcus always managed to find himself in a dangerous situation. Of course, the majority of the time that situation revolved around her, as well. Still, it couldn't be helped.

Marcus was keenly aware of the extent of his wounds. He'd been clawed, burned, grazed by a bullet, pelted with stone shrapnel, and blasted with the same gatling gun he now wielded aboard the shuttle. He was losing blood. That, combined with the damage he was doing to himself by maintaining an extended focus on his mind, would take a large amount of time to fully recover. He could have played it safe. He could have hidden and waited and prayed. That wasn't him. It never had been. Now, here he was, stuck in a foreign universe on board an enemy transport ship wielding an energy-based heavy weapon to try and save the lives of people he didn't know, at all...not very businessman of him.

He would have laughed at himself, but there wasn't time. Targets had to be prioritized, and with Jax in the raging mindset he currently displayed, Marcus would have to be the one to maintain that priority. First things first, there were other shuttles in the immediate area of where they'd taken off, and they had guards who each had a weapon just like his. Those guards were the first to go. He made sure to leave the shuttles in tact in case something happened to their current piece of transportation. That meant they ran the risk of one of the other shuttles being used to give chase, but he made a point of checking for anyone boarding those shuttles often enough to keep them away. Then, he turned his attention to any other heavy weapons. There were only a few other rocket launchers, a grenade launcher or two and a handful of automatic weapons of one type or another. They were easy to spot. The Rixxicor carrying them were cocky, and didn't back down. Marcus made sure every one of them was dead the moment he saw them.

With that accomplished, the human turned his attention to the swarm of bugs, easily the heaviest concentration of them, surrounding an obviously injured Hanako. "Looks like the admiral is their primary target! Clear any groups around your crew members, I've got the admiral!" Marcus had no choice but to trust that Jax could do his part. He was enraged, but it was caused out of concern for his crew mates. Marcus had to be careful not to hit anyone other than the Rixxicor, especially once Natsumi began helping her. Still, with the rate of fire he had at his disposal, he made quick work of the horde.

"Jax! Hanako's injured! Put it down close to her! I'll try and clear the field for the others to board so we can get to the lighthouse!" He fired a few bursts with the gatling gun to force a large opening around the shuttle, then switched to the rifle as they waited for the others. They were still gravely outnumbered, even with the amount of damage they were doing. They would have to be fast.

Canyon

Wazu could feel the sharp pain across his face, rolling onto his back to see the Rixxikor above him, its claw covered with a lot of blood that used to be inside of him.

He then jabbed BlackBerry's pistol into the creature's joint, letting the creature's scissor like arms crunch into the pistol, biting into the metal so that they couldn't close around his neck to pop his head off.

"Gallbbh, blugggb!"

His jaw wasn't co-operating, and he could taste blood... Walking wasn't looking too viable in the short term and he couldn't see any of the rest of the crew between the dust, explosions, and the bug trying its best to kill him.

He lifted his good leg and aimed a kick right at the rixxikor's knees joint while his other hand picked up a handful of gravel and threw it into the creature's eyes.

... Then he felt around for a rock.

He tried not to think about how chasing Aikiko was a mistake. He had not been able to cover her, and He had just left himself exposed. Luckily, he didn't have time to feel sorry for himself.

The Rixxikor then jabbed his shoulder, cutting in deep, Wazu's left arm going limp.

... And he was just starting to enjoy feeling like a team again.

Canyon Battle

Aikiko rummaged in the Rixxikor Ammo Satchel to see what she could find to use. While the Airborne shuttle held the Rixxikors attention, for another reprieve, but she didn't know how long she had. Seeing round spheres that resembled grenades, she smiled. She didn't care what they were as long as she had a way to take large amounts of them out. Or be mobile again with the concealment of smoke.

For now it seamed that the horde of them were going after Shosho, Natsumi and the Samuria who ran from battle. She shifted her vision and saw Wazu go under one of the biggest Rixxikor Roach man.

She aimed and fired a three rapid shots of aimed fire right into the Rixxikor that had Wazu pinned. Disintegrating the roach's' head into a pulverized mess. She used the smoke canisters to conceal her movement as she rose off the ground and focused moving herself with her good leg to push herself along to rejoin up with Wazu and the group of them. She stayed low as possible to make herself a harder target to hit within the smoke screen.

Rixxikor Shuttle

Jax acknowledged Marcus' order and nodded, not turning his venomous, almost manic gaze from the battle below. Aikiko and Wazu were still alive, a fact that sent great shivers of relief through him, but they weren't out of the woods yet. Once he was sure they were together, he sent forth another barrage of heavy laser fire, blasting a path for them through the chaos that led straight to the commanding officers and Mao. He wasn't leaving anyone.

Aikiko would soon hear a grainy message via telepathy. It sounded pained, as if it had taken a lot of effort to broadcast. It was also full of protective rage and hatred and sadness. It said, in simple terms:

'Run.'

Jackson gritted his teeth against the pain and urged the shuttle forward once more, blasting away at whim at the sea of vermin, and relishing in every pained scream and explosion he caused. If they tried to take his family, he'd take theirs!

He set the shuttle down roughly near Hanako, Natsumi, and Mao. Hopefully Aikiko would take his words to heart and get there soon with Wazu.

"Everyone on! Now! Hurry!" he called out over the shuttle's external speakers for the rest of the crew to hear, in a voice that was uncharacteristically dark of him.

Bisen, Level 3

Umeshu saw Candon quickly head topside and move to the exterior, and a furtive look out the window from her vantage point made her realize what they would have to do to get out of this mess. The only shuttle fit to fly was the disgusting one that their uninvited guests had rode in on. It was a hard pill to swallow, but considering the dire situation the safety of her fellow crew outweighed any objections about the sanitary conditions of said spacecraft.

Then the little image of Tsuguka appeared in the corner of the display as she was about to lock it down as well, as the operations officer responded over telepathy as she used the surveillance system. "It looks like Suites-hei has moved to deal with the enemies on the exterior of the building, and commandeer the Rixxikor shuttle. One of them had a high-powered chaingun..." There was a brief pause. "That craft is the only way out of here back to the Shosho. I've trapped the main force on the lower level... we need to defeat them first. I have a plan. Stand fast, please."

Bisen, Level 2

Hashimoto-taii slid down the ladder into the storage area where Tsuguka was standing, and gave a purple-hued smile to the equally colorful red-skinned infantrywoman. "I know you want to protect your superiors, but I wish to protect you as well, Tsuguka-hei. Charging into fire is not the best way. Use your enemies weaknesses against them first... then strike unopposed." The samurai trainee glanced to her right where the storeroom was located, and entered, producing a box of Emrys Emergency Rations that were tucked away on a shelf near the door.

Dodging a hot spot on the floor where the plasma from rifle shots below hit a little too close, Umeshu then hurled the crate stuffed with preserved meats and snacks right down the ladder access hatch with surprising strength and a loud CRASH! As she did so, she yelled down in her best impression of the Nepleslian gunner Stark-san's Trade:

"Hey you fuckers, I found some food!"

The Taii held a hand up to her mouth for a moment as she glanced Tsuguka's way, a little surprised at how crass that actually came out. Was hanging out with Jax rubbing off on the proper girl a bit too much? Hopefully it would stop the random fire and put their enemies right where they could conveniently take all of them out at once.

Canyon

"GNNNGggg..."

The Rixxikor fell backwards after its head had been turned into a fine mist by Aikiko, causing its body to toppel over backwards, yanking the claw out of Wazu's shoulder. He could feel his shoulder getting slick with blood, and quickly moved to press his towel against the wound.

He then tried looking around, there was still dirt everywhere, choking out his vision. The sounds of gunfire were coming from every direction. His ears were already ringing, and he couldn't tell the difference between NSP shots and whatever it was the Rixxikor were using.

Then he heard Jax's voice over the speakers,

Wazu rolled over so that he was facing towards the sound, and started worming his way in that direction, limply dragging his arm along beside him as his legs pushed his upper body along the ground.

Bisen, Level 2

The Rixxikor never quite seemed to be quiet, but the patches of heat-warped metal on the floor finally seemed to stop growing in number and cool off a little. Tsuguka just regarded Umeshu with a blank expression for a moment, still on her back, her once-pristine uniform now frazzled with the acidic blood of at least three different enemies. More than anything, it seemed to just take an exerted effort to bring the logical part of her brain back into working order, and decipher exactly what the fey purple Taii was even doing down here.

"...M-My apologies, Taii Hashimoto." It was a look of sudden realization, as if she had never quite seen the samurai in the lithe pilot neko until now. Tsuguka would have outright kotowed in apology for not taking her leading officer seriously, but that feeling would have to be put on a shelf for now, given their current situation. "Sometimes feeling like a blunt instrument gets the better of me. The others must be fighting for their lives right now."

It was an uneasy pause, as the red thing waited for the next stage in Umeshu's plan to become unveiled, the sound of clambering chatter bellow only periodically interrupted by random gunfire now. She hoped most of it was coming from Candon, and not towards him.

A couple of new rounds were clicked into the breach of the soldier's weapon, before she briskly stood up once more, and held out the supply satchel Mitsuko had given her in one hand. "A suggestion, Taii..."

"Still have most of my rounds. It's only buckshot, but half of these obscene things are covered in grenades and plasma magazines anyway." Tsuguka didn't move, but nodded towards the ladder access shaft to make the intention of her sudden new plan obvious. "Problem is it might take a bit of persuasion to set the entire thing off at once, and all of the bug's guns fell back down to the lower level. It will probably only work if one of us throws, and the other one shoots it. What do you think, ma'am?"

Canyon / Battle

Once she gotten her speed up and going in the direction she wanted to go in a random zig-zag pattern to throw off the aim of the Rixxikors wanting to end their antagonist that disrupted their grand plan.. To the last known position of Wazu. She took random well aimed shots at the few Rixxikor separating her from her objective.

A Rixxikor Rocketeer gunner popped up settling his launcher on his shoulder. Aikiko snapped fired at the Roach Rocketeer, watching him jerk a few times as he fell forward. But the muscle/nerve reflex triggered the rocket launcher to send the rocket on its way, passed the nose of the Shuttle, right into the Horde that was closing in on Shosho, Natsumi and the Samurai.

Coming up on Wazu on his belly, "Don't tell me you lost your eye contacts," As she dropped next to him. Taking a good look at him. She sighed softly and gently cleaned the mud from his eyes and face. She pressed her service pistol into his hands. "I need ta use you as a crutch."

Canyon

Hanako hobbled into the Rixxikor shuttle, making a sickened face as she found it was full of disgusting Rixxikor shit pellets. She took a moment to find the cleanest seat and strapped herself into it. "Get as many people as you can and then head to space," she ordered. She pulled out her communicator and tried to raise Umeshu on the subspace channel. "How is your team?" she sent.

Bisen Lighthouse

"Thanks," a Rixxikor voice said. At this point the Rixxikor on the bottom floor seemed to abruptly disappear from it, rapidly dispersing from the lighthouse's vicinity in a rather rushed fashion.

Canyon

Wazu half coughed, and half laughed, spitting a bit of blood from his mouth in the process. There was a deep gash in his left shoulder, his arm still hanging by his side and unable to do much. Another deep gash was along the side of his face, his jaw looking quite damaged. There were bruises all along his left leg from internal bleeding, and spots all along his lower body where Rixxikor acid had started eating in.

He'd need to drop his grip on the towel to take the service pistol into his hand.

Wazu would point over at the shuttle,

Then back over to the tarp they had hidden Blackberry under.

Rixxicor Shuttle

Hanako was clearly injured. He assumed nearly everyone was in a similar state. As he feared, the moment they landed the Rixxicors' attention was on them. The rifle wasn't going to cut it. As the dust was settling, he was able to make out a larger portion of the canyon. He could make out Wazu and Aikiko, and could see they weren't taking advantage of the path Jax had cut through the crowd of bugs and, like any swarm of insects, the gap was quickly closing. He wondered if they weren't in worse shape than he'd been able to see from the air. Things weren't moving as quickly as they needed. As Jax fired the ship's guns around the ship, Marcus got back on the gatling gun and fired a few bursts to clear the path around them, again.

"That sounds, to me, like the admiral just ordered everyone to the ship, Jax! We've got stragglers! Relay the message or we're going to be overrun!"

Marcus fired a few more blasts to clear a larger area where he was able to see, then brought the gatling gun over to the Shosho. He knew she wasn't in the best condition to handle the weapon, but neither was he. For that matter, he didn't know if any of the crew were in ideal condition for handling a heavy weapon. "Hanako, I need to get medical supplies or half the people that make it onto this ship will die before we get anywhere productive. Do what you can with this."

The human realized he was probably the only one of their little band that would have the guts to give her an instruction, but then he was also the only one who wasn't somehow connected to her in a military fashion. Even Wazu, though a civilian, was temporarily assigned to her crew.

He didn't wait for her to counter. He left the gun within her reach and readied the rifle and pistol. He saw Wazu point toward the tarp. There was something the scientist needed, but those medical supplies took priority. Marcus made his way over to the rock formation. Thankfully, it wasn't far away, and between the mass of bugs he'd killed with the gatling gun, and the rocket Aikiko had fired, there were only a couple in that particular area left. Two quick shots took them out. That would make life much easier. He was already running with a limp and only one arm. It would be quite impossible for him to carry the medical supplies and fire a weapon at the same time. He hefted the container with his good arm and made his way, as quickly as possible, back to the shuttle.

On the way, he ran right into a surprise attack from a Rixxicor that had been hiding earlier. The thing clawed at the case as Marcus was running. He stumbled back a step then dropped the case, lifted the rifle, and fired. The creature fell. Marcus relieved it of the grenades it was carrying, then retrieved the medical case, again, and hurried back to the shuttle, seeing Taharial headed their way, as well, thankful that she appeared, at least mostly, uninjured.

Canyon

"Come on! They aint gonna wait." Aikiko grabbing the towel. then ripping into strips and tying it into place around the worse of his wounds along with extra strips of cloths wadded up to form a pressure dressing for shoulder. Once she gotten Wazu somewhat stop bleeding from the visible wounds and as for the acid marks. And cleaned up to see at least to move.

She frowned, realizing that Blackberry needed to get aboard also. Then she seen the the newcomer dart from the shuttle killing a few Rixxikors to grab a case of medical supplies and make his way back to the shuttle.

========

Then Taharial appeared looking like an avenging angel with a nasty gleam in her eyes and expression to match. She had succumbed to her nightmares of her past just to survive. She had a lot of burnt and singed feathers. Uniform holey with acid burns. Her medical satchel was strapped in back between her damaged wings. Then she tripped over the camouflaged tarp covered Blackberry. She growled as she ripped the tarp away to decimate the Rixxikor hiding there, but to hersurprise, Seeing Blackberry unconscious. She blinked and rolled Blackberry onto the tarp, She took off, dragging Blackberry behind her on the tarp towards the Shuttle. Other hand was her NSP popping off shots and dropping Rixxikor, like ducks in a shooting gallery. While muttering strange words in her native tongue.

========

Aikiko sighed with relief when Tarahial took care of Blackberry and began to drag her towards the Shuttle. "Come on Wazu. Our turn!" Helping him to his feet and began to make her way to the Shuttle with all possible haste.

Wazu and Aikiko arms around each other for support and her innate ability to make herself and Wazu a bit lighter to relieve some of the stress of putting weight on theior legs. Her hopping as she dragged her incapacitated leg. His wounded arm around her shoulders and hers around his waist like lovers on a walk, yet with a lot more haste and purpose.

They both took several more hits, nearly knocking them over as they returned fire. Aikiko rifle fire was wild and suppressive as she had to fire it with one hand. Wazu with the NSP was a bit more accurate. At least hitting the Roach bugs to send them scurrying for cover and making them mad.

Rixxikor massed for one last charge and came out of every depression and from behind rocks to a mass charge as Aikiko and Wazu stumbled onto the ship to collapse on the deck of the Shuttle, just seconds after Tarahial and Blackberry.

::Semi-JP :: Wazu, Tarahial, Aikiko (with permission from the players)::

Shuttle


With Hanako aboard, Natsumi helped cover the shuttle, laying down surpressing fire to make sure the bugs didn't try to get aboard. The last thing they needed was for them to crowd back into the small ship, their only means of escape.

She saw Marcus bolt out to get the medical supplies and angled her fire to try and keep his path clear. A few of the rixxicore got past her fire, just tmeet their demise by the hands of the man from another dimension.

He was soon back with the supplies and Natsumi lowered her rifle, passing it to Marcus. "Help cover the others on their way back!" she commanded and drew her NSP, cracking off a shot at a bug man that got too close, the blue bolt from the pistol burning into the Rixxicore's side and vaporizing some of his innards.

They needed to cover the last few stragglers. She spotted Taharial dragging Blackberry's limp form towards the shuttle. Wazu was with them as well. They rushed in and the bugs made their final assault, getting cut down by combined weapons fire, but not making enough headway as Taharial and Wazu dragged Blackberry up the ramp.

Natsumi leaned out, grabbing the unconscious operator and helping pull her aboard the shuttle.

"Welcome aboard" she said to Taharial and Wazu. " Mao, it's time to go!" she called out to the samurai and put her attention back to shooting down charging rixxicore.

Canyon

Hanako was secure. She was aboard the shuttle and safe. Mao could have called it good. But for the first time in her life she'd drawn blood on her saber in real combat and she'd found she enjoyed it. With her charge secure on the captured vessel and more members of the crew trying to make their way to its safety, Mao jumped from the transport, and straight into the oncoming horde. In one hand was her Type 33 and in her other was the blade as long as she was tall. In the blink of a bug's eye she had seemed to disappear again and only the quickest eyes could track the floating weapons as they danced from left to right and came ever closer. When she was almost on top of the first of them she appeared again with her blade held high over her head.

The bug in front of her called out some curse-filled warning to his friends and then the metal met his temple. He was down and Mao was over his body to deal with the next. She turned herself into a scythe. The body count wasn't her end goal: just their attention. With members of the crew limping or leaning on others for support or simply bleeding all over the place Mao found herself the best functioning of the whole lot so years of combat training on top of that left her the best choice for a moment's distraction. It was a flurry of blades and pistol fire. When the Type 33 clicked empty for the last time it became a pivot for the toss of one enemy before being buried handle-first in an unfortunate soul's eye. Hands reached out for her but she'd be gone before they could secure their grasp.

When Natsumi called out, Mao took the cue, and quickly broke away. The Rixxikor could run quickly but they couldn't fly as fast as she could.

Mao arrived at the ramp and nearly tumbled in. She was covered in gore and there was the lingering singes of acid burning on her calves, an arm, a shoulder, and even down her back. It had even scarred her hair with the smouldering strands that had come free from her braid. But if she felt it then it was an amazing cocktail of fight-or-flight chemicals running through her brain that stopped her from registering it. She was probably just too busy trying to get deep enough breathes with the way her chest was heaving as she stumbled through the bay with frantic eyes scanning the room until she finally settled on the wounded and still seated Admiral.

"Hime-sama!" She exclaimed as she took a knee in front of the senior woman as she eyed the bandaged wound, "I am so sorry for my failure. Please forgive me." She bowed her head.