RP: ISC Phoenix [Mission 3] - The Wrong side of the Deathbed

The merchant raised his finger, "AH - Yes. For a price, sir."
He fished through his bag and produced three 2-inch thick, sandy brown discs with "DANGER" written on the top and placed them on the ground near Vincent.
"Landmines of a Nepleslian make. Good against personnel. Loud too. 100 KS a piece, please..." He pulled out a card scanner, and was prepared to take DA.

He then turned back to Luca.
"And for you sir, that number, with these two concussive shells, will equate to 770 KS. A bargain you or your crewmates won't resist! I'll throw in this Explosive shell for free too!"
"I'm sold." Luca said as he swiped his card and the transaction went through. He placed the massive pistol in his hands and put the shells in a beltpouch, "What're you doing here anyway?"
"I am simply a merchant." He explained, "I go where I find money... Now..." He stopped for a moment, "Last call if anyone wants something. I'm leaving soon."

Then Luca noticed something squirming about in his pocket.
"Huh?" He put his hand in and pulled out Peter, "Oh! Peter! I was wondering where you went!" Luca had a smile on his face as the Platypus was inspecting its new surroundings. It was thinking something along the lines of: "Crikey, it's boiling out here!" which was vocalised to "Queeeee~!"

The Merchant suddenly snapped his head up and began staring at Peter, which made Luca feel quite uncomfortable.
"What. Is that?" He asked as he leant towards Peter to inspect the features, "Such an odd creature..." He suddenly produced a pair of tweezers and plucked a bit of fur from Peter's back, putting it in a small capsule.
"What are you-?!" Luca waved his arms as he snatched pocketed Peter, "That's my Mascot!"
"For this sample, you may have your weapons for free. I think this may be a valuable breakthrough in Xenobiology."
"Xeno-whut?" Luca shrugged aimlessly as he, "Oh well. Thanks for the free weapons!"
"Not a problem. I must be going now. Money awaits me elsewhere."

He began gathering his things and began walking into the desert, to go somewhere else with a bit more call.
"What a strange person." Luca commented as he clambered onto the roof and got himself into a comfortable prone position with his new gun. He broke it open at the breech and loaded a Concussive shell inside.

It was about 15 minutes till dark. Vincent would have to work quickly.

"Alright, Jim. I need you to take the airbike and head out to that ditch while I take the Junker and meet you there. We'll set up the explosives an dhead for cover." Vincent moved towards the cockpit of the shuttle, rolling the Hand Cannon on his finger and whistling a small tune.

Hitori stood near Luca, seemingly to appear out of nowhere. That's impossible, though... at least, most people think so. She asked suddenly with introduction, "Who was that guy?" The Geshrin hadn't really meant to sneak up on him like that, but she was naturally soft-footed, so it was only Luca's fault for not being aware of her presence before she spoke.

Meanwhile...

The Junker flew low and fast over the desert, making the jaunt to the natural trench even shorer than it already was. Vincent turned the formerly Nepleslian vehicle towards the trench, flared and landed, thudding to a stop. Sand whirled around the rear thruster. Vincent looked at the half-empty keg near the back of the shuttle, thought about it, and took a long draught from the rubber tube on the top. Almost immediately, he spat back onto the floor. The beer, formerly lukewarm, was now upgraded to piss-warm, and thus not pleasant for consumption.

"Shit!" He cursed as he opened the main shuttle door and dragged out the three anti personnel mines. His bare left arm soon glistened with sweat as Vincent went about his work. For starters he located a scraggly desert bush and dug under the branches a bit, then placed and armed the first mine. For the second, he selected a small, wind-shaped rock and placed the mine half-buried in the sand on the front right side of the rock. The third and final one he placed right on the edge of the trench. Feeling satisfied with his work, Vincent moved back to the Junker. He sat down in the pilot's seat and tapped the communicator on the dashboard, which flickered to life.

"Luca, this is O'Malley. I set the anti-personnel mines on the trench. I'm gonna move the Junker to a better position and wait for the bandits to show up. I'll call you when they show up. Vincent out."

Luca, still lying down on the roof of the house patiently pulled out his Communicator and responded: "Roger that. I'll call you if anything-- WHOTHE--"
Hitori had indeed snuck on him somehow and quite well, especially considering that he was lying down on a roof in wait for the raiders.
"Sorry. I'll call you if anything pops up - Over!" Luca put his communicator away and looked at Hitori, "I have no clue. He was odd, but hey - he had guns to sell."

It was almost 7 minutes away until sundown. The tension was beginning to rise in Luca as he stared out at the Horizon.
He looked up to Mel, sitting in her tower. "Hey!" He called out, "See anyone?"
"No - Just sand, and that Vincent guy." She replied as she used the scope of her rifle to better observe the field.

Hitori nodded, "I see. Let me know when you require my services." She laid down in a not-so-feminine manner and covered her eyes with one of her arms. She could probably get a little sleep before the fun began.

"Confirmed, Mister Pavone." Vincent set the Junker down amongst some large sandstone rocks well within scanner range of the trench. Vincent looked around the trench area, constantly zooming in and out with his binoculars/eyes. He searched for a while, and the sun began to dip low in the sky.

After climbing onto the top of a building by way of its wall (refusing to make use of the comparatively easy 'stairs') Mich began to set up something of a watch point - taking his Emrys Industries Sniper Rifle off his pack he set it up with a support tripod and laid his array of other weaponry around him - pistols, knives, rifles and a considerable amount of plastic explosives and grenades. Finally he took out his rather fancy looking glasses and putting them on and taking advantage of their zooming and scanning function he began to scan the surroundings, lying on the ground to reduce his chances of getting shot or indeed seen. He was ready.

After seeing that the ditch was mined to Vincent's satisfaction, Jim circled around the perimeter with a watchful eye on the horizon, which was becoming darker every minute. Night would be upon them soon. Jim suddenly had an idea. Switching off the airbike and taking out his pack, Jim took out his chemicals and started mixing them into small vials. Capping the three vials with a small amount of plastic explosive and a radio transmitter each, Jim radioed in, "Hey, Mel. Where would you like to see best if there was some illumination to be had? I have three ground flares keyed into radio frequencies. Tell me where to set them and you can blow them when you want some extra light." Hey started up his airbike and kept it idling, waiting for some directions from the sniper.

"Nah - they're a distraction," Mel replied from her tower, slightly annoyed. "Now get hiding, they'll see you easy on that clunking thing!"
She got back to her scope and began scanning around, then she saw about 20 or 30 figures approaching the ditch, where Vincent was unknowingly stationed and ready.

"Hold that thought..." She said as she got Luca's attention, "They're coming!"
Luca gave her a nod and pulled out his Communicator, "Vincent, they're coming, get ready to hit 'em on the flank and get back here ASAP!"
Luca still laid low and kept his Grenade Launcher ready, aimed at the Ditch.

Mel began focusing the scope on her rifle and sighed. She had a feeling that she could buy something that was better with the money she got from this job.

"Roger that. Got 'em on scanners." Vincent climbed out of the Junker and took cover amongst the rocks, drawing the BAR and clutching it in his massive grip. Adrenaline flowed through his veins and his eyes flickered to black- IFF scanners so he didn't shoot Jim during the ensuing melee.

Jim had immediately shut off his airbike as soon as he heard the news over the radio, unslung his flechette launcher, chambered a needle and crouched. He could only vaguely see the shapes rushing towards the area of the ditch and Vince. He would wait until the opportune time to attack.

Hitori was just getting comfortable, too. She whispered over to Luca, "I'm going." And then she was gone. It didn't take her long for her to find her position near the entrance of the village. She was sure that no one spotted her and even more sure that she could catch the enemy by surprise if they managed to somehow get passed the others. A smirk grew onto her face as she waited patiently.

Crane decided to lay low unless he was needed. Turning away, he said, "Just let me know if there's anything I can do," to Luca and Mel. Clutching the flamethrower, he darted off behind a sturdy looking building on a very small hill and waited. From his position, he could see almost all of what was about to become the battlefield.

"Yup," Luca said as Crane rushed off to the building on the hill that overlooked the battle, "Hmm. That'll be useful."

Down at Vincent and Jim's position, they were beginning to hear the general ramblings among the raiders. Most of the voices were masculine, and gruff, but some were shrill and raspy.
"...if there's any girls, they're gonna be my bitches!"
"We'll strip the place bare!"
"All will be ours!"
This was soon followed by a bout of laughter.

They soon got to the ditch guarded by Vincent, and one of the raiders, characterised by being about 8 feet tall with hulking cybernetic arms and a torso to match and what looked like a chaingun grafted to his right arm and a very large belt of high-calibre bullets streaming from a drum on his back. His face resembled rough leather and his eyes were quite small. His hair seemed to be a small blonde tuft on the very top of his head. This guy was Mike Godfrey.
"Oh - sweet. We can put our long distance guys here. Marv! Nick! Daryl! Gene! Get your worthless asses over 'ere NOW!!"

Four figures, ill equipped with their red clothing and pistols with scopes attached jumped into the ditch, Daryl took a very wrong step and wound up becoming what those in the Mercenary business would call 'Gibs a la Land Mine'
"FUCK!!" One of them, probably Gene called out, and he stumbled and met the same fate as Daryl with a bang.

The chaingun grafted man didn't seem to react to their death while others seemed to stare in horror.
"Ah - the village is a smart bunch - but not for long!"
Mike put his left hand up to his mouth: "CHARGE!!"

Back up in Luca's position, when he heard the landmine go off, he pulled out his radio and gave the following command:
"LET 'EM HAVE IT!!"

"Hmm," Mel said as she took a look at this one guy in the back of the group of raiders, visibly startled by the explosions and wearing a pot helmet used for crowd control.
"That'll make a nice bowl for your brain." She commented with a scowl as she slid the bolt back on the GP-1 and fired, leaving him quite dead.

Body Count so far said:

3 out of 25 Raiders.

Click to expand...

"Ah, the stone, where will she land?" Vincent picked up a choice rock and chucked it hard at Godfrey, then opened up with the BAR from the cover provided by the bulletproof exterior of the Junker, designed to withstand sustained fire from a Power Armor's weaponry.

Jim leaped from his hiding spot near Vince and revved the airbike. He charged the raiders from the side at about 100kph and opened up with his flechette launcher, which had no recoil but made his arm slightly tired holding it up with one hand. The raiders had no idea what hit them as Jim swooped through them, firing spread-shot needles. Without looking at the damage dealt, Jim flew on and rehid behind a rocky outcrop. In order to make sure that he wasn't found, he shut off the airbike and waited silently.

The stone that Vincent had flung hit Godfrey squarely on the head, messing up his tuft of hair a little and annoying him slightly.
He turned to Vincent's position and raised his Chaingun Arm and gave it a moment to wind up.
"Come out wherever you are!!" He taunted as he began letting out .50 Calibre fire on Vincent's position with the unmistakable sound of
DAKKADAKKADAKKADAKKADAKKADAKKA

Holes were being put into the Junker, not enough to cause any serious damage to space flight, but enough to look considerable for repair.
Vincent's blast with the BAR then managed to take out 3 raiders who were rushing towards his position. Another who was rushing was taken down due to friendly fire from Godfrey, probably for encouragement.

"ONWARD YA FUCKIN' PANSIES!!" Godfrey roared as he let his chaingun wind down and he pointed them towards the village.

Most of them were armed with rifles and SMGs of various makes, most notably the 10mm SMG which would usually be seen in the hands of the Reds. These raiders, although armed, had no real sense of strategy other than to rush the place, loot it and level it.

Jim's blast from his Flechettes managed to take out about 3 of the charging raiders in the group. A couple of them noticed him and fired upon him with SMGs, hitting his airbike a couple of times, and getting Jim in the lower right arm.

Mel decided to assist the two by trying to get a shot at Godfrey, she slid the bolt back on her GP-1 and took aim, firing and accidentally hitting him in the arm, which would only prove a distraction.
"Shit. Off by about 4 inches." She mumbled to herself as she slid the bolt back again and got her bearings back on rails.

Luca took up his Communicator and waited before they came closer, "What're you waiting for guys?! Give 'em hell!" He considered Crane's position, "Crane, see if you can flank 'em with the Flamethrower I got you and set 'em alight! Mitch, try and disable that guy with the chaingun!"
He got the M'Cel launcher and cocked it. If those raiders came closer, they'd be history.

Body count/Injuries So Far said:

10 out of 25 raiders (1 Friendly Fire)
Jim - Lower Arm

Click to expand...

"Luca, 10 down, 15 to go; including Captain Chaingun out here. And they're scratching the paint on my ship!" Vincent turned around and fired with the BAR, aiming towards a small group near the bottom of the small hill where Vincent had put the Junker down.

”Holidays,” Laeliel decided, ”are severely overrated.”

Her time on Delsauria was supposed to be enjoyable, or at the very least mundane; instead it was quickly turning into a trip to Hell. The place was hot; the Elysian believed that if someone created a planet-sized furnace then this would have to be what it would be like; the rolling yellow of the sand dunes and moisture-stripping winds she had been subjected to since planting her feet on the planet’s surface were a far cry from the lush greens and gentle cooling breezes that she had been led to believe awaited her here.

She had been misled.

Again.

It was becoming a habit.

No doubt this latest misadventure would prove to be nothing more than a fabrication too. “Dun’ sweat it, find some transport ‘n head over to the town at these here co-ordinates,” her contact had told her, “we got a real nice place hooked up for ya...” Apart from the fact that not sweating was an impossibility here, the ‘town’ looked far too small to hold anything of interest to her, though that was because there were supposedly “less nosy people around tha’ way, easy to keep it away from pryin’ eyes.” Full of doubt, Laeliel had skulked away to find herself a vehicle to borrow.

Which led to the present, with Laeliel tearing along the road towards the ‘town’ in a rather large vehicle she had chosen for its robust appearance and four-wheel drive ability – though road was a title far too generous for the roughly defined track of sand that meandered its way in the general direction of her destination. The trip so far had been one of the single most uncomfortable things she had experienced; only the setting of the sun and the cessation of the seemingly insanely hot light it had been pumping out managing to finally bring some measure of relief to the weary driver.

So much for “Sure, you’ll be there long before nightfall.”

The many spotlights that ornamented the front of Laeliel’s vehicle threw out sharp beams of a bright white light that illuminated the ground ahead of her, looking beyond that she could make out a few lights that must be her destination; she’d first noticed it by the occasional small flashes of light that appeared there, though most of them could only be seen as reflections off the sides of buildings – whatever their source was it must be located on the other side of the village. As she drew closer Laeliel let the vehicle’s speed wind down from her usual ‘breakneck’ to a more leisurely ‘city driving’; she had long ago discovered that people – specifically, Nepleslians – did not take well to someone approaching them like they didn’t intend to stop, and in her line of work that usually meant an introduction to more high-speed lead than was generally advisable.

“’It’s this big-arse buildin’, four story high, with dis fancy thing out the front, you know, like at hotels, where you pull up and there are people who park your cars ‘n shit. ‘Cept there are none of them people...”

It had become obvious to Laeliel as she had approached that there were no buildings near four stories high, let alone one with not-valet parking out the front; the little sinking feeling in her stomach that had been her constant companion this past day sunk down to somewhere below her feet. By the time she had closed in enough to realise that the two buildings she had thought were just outlying the main part of the town actually were the entirety of the settlement the vehicle's speed had dropped off to a comfortable jogging pace; the Elysian’s mind succeeded in doing little more than spinning around in useless little circles whenever she tried to have it come up with a magical solution to get her out of this shambles of a situation.

“My... holiday....” she whispered dejectedly into the empty cabin.