RP: YSS Kaiyō Mission 32: Uchū Kaubōi

[Ametheliana]

Caldera Base, Level 1
Abandoned Hallway - Hangar

The shortcut Charbon had opened for William was faster than going through the equipment room and then to the hangar. When he got to the large hangar door, he could see mechanisms to open it and also a porthole to look through where he saw a handful of NMX Neko in the entire room: two at a console near a starship, one operating a trolley vehicle about fifty feet away from them, and three standing at a starship's open cargo bay ramp looking over a manifesto or data pad.

Holding Pen

Kasa and Sif entered the holding pen with ease. Not only did they know the route since they had just come from it, but the NMX forces that had been clambering after them seemed for the most part gone. There were some idling in the far hall, absorbed in some discussion with their backs to the garage door that the pair had to prop open by a foot to slide under. Further into the holding pen, though, was a guard. Not an NMX Neko, but an Advanced type with a gashed chitinous set of bleary, clouded eyes whose oldest scars were in the dozens and who sported a new, revolting wound that leaked from pustules dotting its edges. Around its maw and between its tentacles was a cage-like contraption meant to stop it from taking meals. To its left was an empty corral where old cow patties littered the ground; no doubt where the cattle the Kaiyo trio had brought would have ended up. To its right, a pile of NMX Neko bodies whose chests rose and fell sporadically but remained unconscious.

 

[Ametheliana]

Caldera Base, Level 15

Its curiousness at the server room’s open door having done it in, the first enemy beast had fallen—unfortunately on top of Molli. Then the brown Mishhu clipped into by Morgana and Hoshi had Molli back up with renewed vigor and bludgeoning its wounds fatally, pushing out the life of the creature that had thrown its brethren into Rio. With the princess’ focus on utilizing the combat control room against its normal inhabitants, the chains and pulley systems had been embedded in and used against another of the Mishhuvurthyar, sinking it into the hot magma below.

After a few long seconds, a flare of fire erupted between the downed creature. The deep tar-like colors of the magma alighted into crisped reds and sunny yellows around it as more flashes of fiery blazed sparked around it, combusting around the Mishhuvurthyar as it sunk almost imperceptibly lower into the molten liquid. The macabre sight taught the Neko that saw from above what could have happened to Molli or Rio had they been against the slow moving magma longer.

Hoshi looked about and was gratified to see only two Mishhuvurthyar left, both currently occupied by Morgana’s and Molli’s attacks. One of the fuchsia terminals close to them flickered, overheating as it was wrought with the same torridness that two of her crew had been exposed to. The captain felt her heart thump in her chest as her peripherals took in a source of swinging sparks coming from one of the wires that would otherwise led to the terminal below it.

Her teeth bared between her rosy cheeks, Hoshi sucked in a breath and turned to regard Rio. The NMX Nekovalkyrja was charred but not broken, brought to the extreme threshold of what her body could bear. It pained the captain, but she had to ask more of the enlisted crewmen in order for their mission to have any merit at all. Or perhaps more truthfully, in order for the suffering to have any meaning.

“We have to get back in there. Help me at one of the terminals, if you can.” Hoshi said to Rio, her voice soft in a way that did not carry the inflexibility of a typical order.

“Interesting. They’ll resleeve anyway.” To Morgana, Hoshi responded in her digital mind with an equally terse tone devoid of the warmth Rio had been given. “After we’ve downed them all we’ll heal them with the Mishhu’s hemo then.”

Morgana’s shots hit into the leader, but it quickly moved behind the Advanced accompanying it as a shield. A round hit the monster and it turned to face the server room just as Molli struck into that Advanced Mishhu with a ferocity all her own. It was taken aback, pulling away from its boss nearest it as Molli tore into it, making it possible for Morgana to land a shot on the room’s leader. But quickly it righted itself back where it had been.

NMX Nekovalkyrja were not built to be able to take on a Mishhuvurthyar alone. If anything, their creation aligned with subservience to the Mishhuvurthyar overlords. Unlike Molli’s last target, his one had remained mostly untouched so far and there were minimal breaks in its chitin to take advantage of with her weapon. The Mishhu’s closer side of tentacles swarmed upwards, ripping Molli off of it with the full strength of its appendages. The momentum of being extracted alone put G-forces on her Neko body as she was pulled rapidly in one direction.

 

[Gunhand4171]

Caldera Base, Level 1
Abandoned Hallway - Hangar

William stopped well before the hanger door as he led the herd forward, trying to stay far enough away that the animals didn't get him spotted too early. Dismounting, he crept up to the porthole and peered inside. There were six combatants he could see. Many would balk at the idea of a six-on-one fight. But for the Kaiyo veteran, this was just par for the course. However, he did wish that he, too, had brought some heavier firepower. Taking stock of his ammo reserves, he reloaded both revolvers. He could make short work of this had he brought his Cyclops armor. Or maybe a machine gun...

Several plans raced through his mind, though he realized this would all hinge on one thing. Whether or not he could quietly crack the door open or if the damn thing would swing wide and creak the whole way. Moving to the mechanism, he said a silent prayer before he attempted to quietly crack the hanger door slightly. If it opened silently, he would try to make his way inside slowly. If not... he had explosive rounds loaded and ready to go.

 

[Nameless]

Caldera Base, Level 1
Holding Pen

It might have been the chaos of the fight breaking out, but nobody seemed to have paid her much mind as she made her way to the pen. With the invisible SAINT agent now following her, she could at least count on not being alone if her cover was blown. It was nice of Kasa to take the Aether rifle off her hands since while no one would question why she had it, they would question why she had it and heading for the holding pen. Not to mention the plasma cutter on her as well. Can't really claim she was doing repairs.

For a blessing they didn't catch any attention when they popped out from under the garage door, but looking around, the challenge might be coming up.

"This might be trouble," she telepathically told Kasa when she spotted the Advance Type. Was this the one William shot? If it was, then surely she'd be recognized. But she kept calm. She just needed to get past him. Just act like she was there for repairs. Her eyes had drifted to the Neko bodies. She couldn't get a good look, but she hoped that Hihja wasn't there in that pile, and she didn't look to confirm lest the Mishu question what she was looking at.

"... where a guard is dropping sedated food."

Charbon's words rang in her ears. She couldn't have mean those Neko...?

"Please tell me this isn't what she meant by sedated food... If that's the chute we need to go through... I could make a break for it. What do you think?" she asked her invisible companion. If needed, Cynea could talk her way in. She had a tool in hand, and she could handwave her guns for pest control. But her blood was starting to boil, thinking about the unconscious nekos. Surely they weren't being used for food... right?

 

[Megabirb]

Caldera Base, Level 15

Sahty's entire body hurt. The pain was easily the worst she had experienced in her short life. Every movement and every breath brought a new wave of agony, the few surviving nerves of her scorched side practically screaming. Beaten and burned, all she wanted to do was curls up somewhere safe. To heal. Hoshi's request stopped Sahty's unsteady flight towards the relative safety of server room. She was asking Sahty to keep going. Her duty was not yet over. "Understood. What do you need me to do?" Sahty asked Hoshi wirelessly as she turned to face her small captain.

 

[Gles]

Although the former Nepleslian was now of the same race as her heroine, the princess, that didn't make her the same caliber of warrior. That clarifying thought rushed to the forefront of Myga's mind as the Mishhu's appendages wrapped around her waist and effortlessly flailed the young woman through the air like a helpless ragdoll. The chaotic sound of battle distorted into surreal and distant trills, and her vision narrowed as though she was forcibly pressed against a thin lens -- evidence of the extreme force that her body was being put through. Though she maintained an iron grip on her rifle -- her only hope of defense by this point -- it was impossible to strike the mishhu with any degree of strength.

Myga threw herself in the opposite direction that the Mishhu yanked her, causing her torso to fold forward. Mouth agape and teeth bared, Myga bit down hard on the tentacle circling her waist and shook her head from side to side like a rapid dog. The taste of the creature's rancid flesh and blood made Myga want to vomit, but she didn't relent in her savage assault.

 

[raz]

Caldera Base, Level 15

The Kaiyō team's sudden surprise attack had much to even the odds down from the five Advanced Types who'd moments before stood in the way of their mission, but the two angry Mishhuvurthyar left after that initial burst of fury remained terrifying obstacles each able to rip through the wounded Nekovalkyrja infiltrators with little effort. Unaware yet of the full extent of Molli's burn injury, Aiko's decision to help the body-swapped Nepleslian was thus without question as it thrashed the girl about. The other enemy would need to wait its turn, exposed as it was to gunfire without a friendly in its clutches.

The princess dashed through the air toward Molli and the Mishhu, drawing her reclaimed Yamataian katana as she vectored her approach. Its worn steel blade still held some polish—enough to mirror the dim orange-red glow of the lava below—whose reflection formed a flat blur as Aiko swung the sword in the sliver of space between Molli and the Mishhu's bulk.

"Together!" the Ketsurui shouted at her comrade right when her blade severed the Mishhu's tentacle. The appendage didn't immediately release Molli, but squeezed even tighter about her torso as it spasmed when its nerve impulse control was terminated. But soon enough, Molli found herself holding the detached limb aloft in her teeth like an alley cat feasting on a prized cephalopod meal.

Aiko, for her part, pressed the attack and slashed at their foe again. From any vantage it looked almost as if she was bouncing off and away from it with her Neko inertia control to come in at a new angle with every strike, each one accompanied by a ghostly arcing glow through the heat's shimmering haze when her katana caught the magma's gleam.

"Target clear!" she called to the others, ready with their rifles, now that Molli was no longer entangled. "Take this one down!"

 

[Sunny D]

Caldera Base, Level 1
Holding Pen
“Slow and steady.” Kasa replied “You are an NMX Neko, you’re meant to be here. You’re moving with purpose, and you know exactly where you’re going.” She continued, coaching Sif. “Its fine, you see the squids eating your still living comrades every day.” Her inflection became sardonic and strained for a moment before continuing in a more supportive cadence. “Just don’t think about it. Head to the chute, I’ll roll up on him from another vector and give him something else to think about if he starts looking at you too closely.”

A couple of footsteps formed in the dust in the direction of the Mishhuvurthyar before ceasing as Kasa floated above the ground. She took position so the pile of bodies was between her and the Mishhu, wincing slightly as her peripherals caught sight of the still live mass of NMX Nekos.

“If they are going to eat them its simply sadistic. They have an NH 29 facility here. They could grow new ones and not upload a personality matrix. Or you know, make some dumb living meat.” Kasa commented idly “Instead, they’ll eat the live ones and grow a new one. Some kind of productivity incentive?”

Caldera Base, Level 15
Even as her Mishhuvurthyar target ducked behind its comrade, Morgana kept firing. She aimed low, to the soft flesh under its carapace hoping that the rounds would pass through. She caught her breath as Myga crossed close to her field of fire, having to force her finger off the trigger.

She kept her eye down the length of the barrel, waiting for her opportunity to shoot, her finger hovering over the trigger. A few came, but she was too hesitant to shoot with an ally so close to her target. With Aiko joining the fray her finger extended all the way out. She took a few deep breaths through her nose as she gritted her teeth, keeping the weapon pressed against the doorway alcove so she was stabilized for when her chance came.

It was only when Aiko said she was clear did she fire again. The metallic penetrators sliced through the air, Morgana keeping to her tactic of shooting them in the face as best as she could muster.

 

[Ametheliana]

Caldera Base, Level 1
Hangar

The large door opened quietly, obviously of a newer design than the ones deeper within the abandoned hallway. Nobody seemed to take notice or were at bad angles to really notice the movement at the door William was at.

Holding Pen

“Bill don’t care so much,” the Mishhuvurthyar said in an unsteady, but uncomfortably Mishhuvurthyar psionic as he twisted away from the pile of bodies he had been staring at to look at Kasa.

“Can’t eat you, but Bill would.” His words grew sharp with hunger as he tapped the contraption at his maw with a sticky barbed tip of his tentacle.

Level 15

Morgana’s short-lived shots with the mass driver into the purplish leader did little to dissuade it from working at its console somewhat smugly ignoring the fight around it. It gingerly laid the NMX Neko it still held on top of one of the monitors at its station. She bent awkwardly at the hip, but stayed securely there.

With half of the captain’s attention still on the fight, she was able to hear Aiko’s call to action. But the other half remained split between finding a console sequestered away from the fighting near the chute and guiding Sahty. She wanted to put a hand around her hip and let the injured Neko lean on her, but there was no doubt she would aggravate the injuries that way.

So she held back and spoke wirelessly. “See if you can log in to this terminal. Or at least fake credentials as best you can.”

Instinctively and out of a diligence instead of any cognizance, she raised her M4 and took conservative shots, knowing she had finite ammo now that the NMX flak vest was off of her and in the magma below. Splaying the heavy shots from the barrel of the pistol, Hoshi barely looked at her target as she shot into it with precision. Her eyes were split between Myga and Sahty. Seeing Aiko toting the NMX with its prized catch between her fangs, Hoshi relayed the scientist’s idea.

“Faelan-shoi believes we can use the hemo in the tentacles on their burns.” Hoshi sent out to Aiko and Molli.

When Morgana began shooting into it again, the leader Mishhuvurthyar found cover behind the monitor it had laid the unconscious NMX Neko on top of. Though her emerald eyes were closed and her hair dlopped in front of her face, it was obvious to Myga who this was. No doubt Hihja had been put on the top of the pile of bodies to be eaten next by the Mishhuvurthyar that controlled this base when she had been knocked out by Molli.

With its tentacles free, the Advanced had opened a drawer below the console, pulling from it an Impaler Rifle and a service pistol before it dove slightly to catch its comrade just after Aiko had sliced into it. Aiko’s flurry of attacks and Hoshi’s shots into the Mishhuvurthyar that had been holding Molli hadn’t done it in, but had severely limited its abilities. It had so few tentacles with which to fight that the the purple leader had few options in what to grab. But it did so and was now using its brethren as a secondary meatshield. It held the bracklish-colored Mishhu with its central tentacles so that its chitinous top was a shield while its side appendages held the guns, shooting simultaneously at the server room where the mass driver rounds were coming and at Aiko and Molli.

 

[Gunhand4171]

Caldera Base, Level 1
Hangar

Luckily, the door slid silently open allowing the ID-SOL to slip into the hanger. Placing his revolvers back into their holsters, he pulled his kusarigama out.

It was times like this he wished he'd still had his old jacket. The one with optical camouflage. Still, he'd have to make do. He kept to the shadows as he moved towards the closest NMX Neko, the one operating the trolley. Once he was close enough, he would eliminate the neko.

Once she was eliminated, he could use the trolley to create a little diversion. He would send the trolley careening up the ships ramp and into the three nekos checking the manifests. Then he could eliminate the two at the console during the chaos. He had to be ready to improvise though. Plans rarely survived first contact with the enemy.

 

[Megabirb]

Caldera Base, Level 15

Looking at the terminal she had been directed to, Sahty questioned it's just home much longer it would function with no coolant. Despite her reservations she took up position in front of the terminal. Would her credentials even allow her to access NUCLEON from this terminal? With her face lit by the flickering fuchsia glow of the terminal Sahty attempted to log in. Her effort was met with immediate rejection. She did not have the required clearance.

After several more fruitless attempts with various names Sahty decided to try one more set of credentials before asking for assistance. As she typed Lija's name Sahty thought hard about what her passcode might have been. After a few moments she typed in the one thing that Sahty knew Lija had adored on a personal level. To her surprise the terminal chimed as it accepted the hijacked credentials at a basic level.

"It is basic access but I am logged in Taisa. But this terminal is dying. We need to hurry before it dies or find a new terminal." Was the short message Sahty sent Hoshi over wireless even as she partially turned to take in the battle across the room along with her Captain.

 

[Gles]

The moment Myga felt the lack of inhibition in her movements, the NMX neko believed in her half-conscious haze that biting into the tentacle had actually worked. It was only when her vision stopped swimming and her ears stopped ringing that she could see and hear her savior cutting away at the squid below. Myga grunted from the exertion of unwrapping the severed tentacle around her waist and let it fall to the lava. Her eyes turned to her next target, which had just taken cover, and the urge to launch another reckless, ill-advised assault crossed the young woman's mind. Then Myga saw something that made her freeze in place.

Hihja, one of her erstwhile companions, and the first stranger she'd tried to discretely convert to the Yamatain way of thinking, was lying motionless atop a monitor. Lying-

Dead? No, that couldn't be-

What else could you call it?

Myga's heart, which had been pounding like a drum from her adrenaline, felt like it'd stopped. Hihja was dead -- probably killed in the hangar above -- and with that, any hope of saving anyone from the Kaiyo's rampage. Hihja was dead because Myga, in her foolishness, hadn't told anyone to try and spare her. What was the point of it all, then? To blow up yet another base among the infinitesimal bases just like it in the galaxy?

In that moment, Myga truly understood. The failure wasn't in her physical limitations; it was her inherent foolishness and incompetence. A pall of despair washed over the young soldier, who fished for the last magazine from the pocket of the vest that had melted into her flesh, and loaded it into the rifle with the methodical ease of a machine. All she was good for now was pointing a gun and killing a target.

Without regard for cover or subterfuge, Myga floated in a wide arc that put her on track to flank the leader Mishhu. Luckily for Myga, the rifle appeared to function properly despite its ruined stock, as its retort sounded off with the same terrifying boom as before. The kick felt harder to manage with a mishappen lump of plastic painfully slamming into her shoulder, but Myga's inherent neko strength allowed her to keep most of the bullets on target: namely, the chitinous shell that protected it. Everything was numb, and her mind had drifted beyond concern for her wellbeing or grander tactics.

All she could do was act on the one thing her instincts said to do: shoot the enemy until it died.

 

[Nameless]

Caldera Base, Level 1
Holding Pen

For a moment, Cynea's blood ran cold when the Advance Type spoke. Was it over? Should she just jump into the chute and hope they didn't have anyone guarding down there? It wasn't turning towards her, but it seemed to be looking off into space. Did it detect Kasa perhaps? It could have intercepted the conversation they were having, but so far it didn't seem to be alarmed. And who was this "Bill?"

There was no time to ponder that, she'd just have to take her chances and sneak by, Kasa was likely able to make use of her invisibility to maneuver around this guy. Still, even when the Mishu wasn't looking at her, it might hear her sneaking up so it was time to do a bit of hovering, an ability she doesn't make use of often enough, preferring to keep her feet planted. As such, her movement wasn't the most graceful as she floated up from the ground behind the Mishu and ducking into the chute, at which point she felt and heard the pack for the plasma torch scrape against the ceiling.

Not waiting to figure if the Mishu heard her, she dropped her control and let gravity take her down the chute, planning to slow down once she felt she had already slid down a few meters out of reach. All the while holding her breath.

 

[raz]

Caldera Base, Level 15

Aiko tore through the air toward the ceiling again when the Mishhu she'd been attacking began descending under the weight of its injuries. Though she was of the mind to finish that one off, its lavender leader's chaotic flurry of fire made her think better of a deathblow in favor of the sparse cover afforded above. With the dying Advanced Type now used as a meat shield by its vile commander, the princess by necessity aimed to come around and strike it from above.

For all her expert flying and split second routing, though, a shot from the Mishhu boss' M1 service pistol clipped Aiko in her left bicep as she piloted her body above it. Whether by this last enemy's skill with his gun or the statistical luck granted by his rapid fusillade, the blast connected and sent the Ketsurui warrior spinning off course. Had she more space to maneuver, Aiko very much could have recovered and adjusted without incident, but the tight confines sent her slamming into the wall over near where the chute dropped off Mishhu meals. She scrambled on the chitinous Mishhu paneling for a moment as she grasped and dug her sharp black fingernails into the organic architecture, and quickly stabilized herself as smoke rose up from her flesh and through the new hole burned into her jacket.

"Better than the others," Aiko seethed—very nearly shouting despite her clenched fangs—while staring bitterly toward the purple Advanced Type. The chamber's sinister magma glow caught in her crimson eyes as more of the beast's pistol shots impacted on the wall right beside her. Nonetheless, she knelt unflinching on its sloping surface without regard for the verticality of its grade. "But you are far from good enough to match the YSS Kaiyō."

Then the princess pounced, jumping directly back toward the violet Mishhu who remained hovering there turtled behind its disabled underling. Flying straight up above the final foe instead of slicing at it, Aiko stopped a couple of meters over its head and then stomped down at full speed onto its shell with both of her boots. She knew it wouldn't hurt the monster, but hoped she could at least distract it so the others could breathe.

"Overwhelm him with fire! Now!" Aiko demanded, squatting down to make herself small against the blind spot on Mishhu's shell while she grasped along the edge for stability. "Even one Nekovalkyrja would be too much for this one, and we are five!"

 

[Ametheliana]

Caldera Base, Level 1
Hangar

Though William had dealt with four of the NMX Neko, the two at the console outside of the starship started shouting and pulling out their service pistols once he sent the trolley into their comrades. They took a few quick shots, hitting the ground at first, then clipped his leg with the next and better-placed shot.

Holding Pen

When Sif dropped her inertial control and went down the chute, Bill must have heard. He turned from Kasa and looked at the pile of bodies near the opening and grumbled as he closely regarded it. He started moving them about, sure one of them had awoken and made some noise as he gave them his full attention, intent on finding the conscious suspect of his search.

Level 15

Bouncing down the chute and then slide that hugged one of the command center's walls, Sif settled against the crisp sinew of the landing. Happening to have fallen in just after Aiko had found purchase along the wall nearby. From her vantage, the new arrival could see the smoldering leather of the princess' guise and faintly make out the wound beneath it. The rest of the room came into view shortly thereafter: Molli flanking the last standing Mishhu, the ruined corpses of the four dead ones slowly sinking into lava or in flames below them, Hoshi and Rio at the console feverishly working, and Morgana shooting from an egress.

Myga's flanking attack was wide and telegraphed to the Mishhuvurthyar well enough that he pivoted easily like he was being turned on a lazy susan and raised his meat shield. Proudly soaking Myga's rifle shots into his comrade, the Mishhuvurthyar cackled an unwavering, "Huhuuhuu."

Molli's attack took his attention and he raised his pistol and rifle to focus her. From above, Aiko dropped into him, though. The pressure from her plummet wasn't enough to push him into the lava or somehow down him, but that wasn't her intention. Its attention shifted from Molli and she was able to angle her shot and shoot past the now-dead Mishhuvurthyar he was using as a shield. When the rifle blast that had gotten through hit its chitinous shell once, then twice, an ignoble psionic scream erupted from it. Aimlessly, it shot its own rifle at Molli while with its pistol-wielding tentacle, shot above its head at the unseen force that was tormenting it from above.

Hoshi from her position kept her focus on both the battle and the mission objective. To deal with the former, she hastily listened to Aiko while taking a quick peek at their enemy. Shooting into the side of the beast, she clipped one tentacle then took another shot. The appendage with which it held its pistol chunked off and both tentacle and gun bounced off of its own writhing mass before falling in the lava below.

To deal with the mission objective, which Rio had furthered, the captain said, "Logged in, good work. We have to get NUCLEON to grant us access to one of the starships in the hangar to eject the aether core." She spoke as she tapped at the terminal. "This one does look like it's dying, you're right. The next best terminal is the one the NMX is on top of but the Mishhu's too close. Follow Aiko's orders and down him then see if you can log in to that terminal, Rio-hei."

She didn't stop working at the station she was at, though, except to take a quick shot at the leader. Truly, Hoshi didn't want to take any chances with the primary mission goal.

 

[Sunny D]

Caldera Base, Level 1
Holding Pen

Kasa’s lips thinned as she watched ‘Bill’ rifle through the bodies. Her finger which hovered over the trigger twitched. She kept perfectly still for a moment, hovering in midair with her weapon locked to the creature.

After that moment the operative took a deep breath and relaxed her finger. She slowly began drifting towards the chute, forming an arc around the Mishhuvurthyar with her weapon locked on him all the way. She used her ICS to slip into the chute silently feet first, rather than clamber in.

Level 15

As a hail of fire from the Mishhuvurthyar Commanders gun hit the alcove around her, Morgana pulled back into the server room, taking cover behind the threshold even as it chipped away. She took a moment to check her weapon and listen to the back and forth over telecoms.

“Sahty, I’m sending you some access pivot scripts I developed whilst hiding out here.” She said, dropping her weapon for a moment and letting it be caught by her strap. The officer then looked down at her wrist with the holographic wristwatch and began typing in commands with the other hand. “The Brute force mode you’ll see is a theoretical attack I developed based of the architecture I encountered while probing. Has a much higher chance of success with access credentials to serve as a ‘beach head’ but will still set off alarms. Fortunately, I don’t know how that could escalate the situation further at this point. Select the payload, give it your access credentials and send it.”

Once the package was sent she checked the shields on her suit were active before collecting her weapon again. The penetrator rounds in the magazine were depleted. She dropped it and let it fall to the floor while sliding in one of the cryo mags, then set to fire plasma. Following Aiko’s command she rounded the corner and pushed into the room, through the fire. Her shields flaring with each shot striking it as she replied with high energy particles of her own. Once she was clear of the doorway she used her ICS to push her sideways, around the commander's cover to flank him.

 

[Gles]

Level 15

With Hihja's apparent death festering like a fresh wound, Myga's salve was to cut herself off from emotion entirely. With the failure of her personal mission came newfound focus on what she'd come to know best: following orders and pulling a trigger. Aiko's impressive maneuver registered as nothing more than a new opening of attack, and her order came through as clear as a command prompt in a machine. A machine. That's what Myga needed to be right now -- efficient and prompt.

The problem with this newfound clarity was realizing how poor her flanking attempt had been, despite the lucky grazes to its shell. Seeing her shots blocked by the dead mishhu sent Myga's digital mind to the realm of rapid-fire assessment. Imitating Aiko's overhead assault was unwise, given the rifle that was trained in her direction, and going under likely wouldn't have fared much better. Worse still, the clicking of her rifle made a ranged assault infeasible now.

A flash of inspiration struck Myga as she stared into the dead eyes of her target's corpse shield. Flying so that the leader's shield would block his angle on her, Myga found an approach that brought her face to face with the corpse. Morgana, Aiko, and Hoshi's assault felt like sufficient cover for Myga, who drew a knife from her vest's shoulder sheathe and slipped beneath the corpse. Emerging into sight of one of the leader's many eyes, Myga knew she had to act fast -- her knife swung for the tentacle that was wrapped around its rifle's trigger. She'd intended to sever it in one or two clean cleaves and seize the weapon for her own destructive purposes. Namely, blasting it in the face point-blank.

 

[Nameless]

Level 15

Cynea counted the seconds she was sliding down the chute and as her acceleration ramped up, she triggered her inertial control back on so she could manage how fast she was going. When she heard some commotion coming from below, she knew she was coming up to the exit. She had no idea what the situation was going to be, but she grabbed her impaler rifle and prepared to come out blasting.

As the end of the chute opened up to her, Cynea adjusted her inertia to allow herself to slide out and land crouched. Her eyes quickly scanned the room, taking immediate notice of the fight happening, centering around a single Mishu with its brother taking fire for him. Or rather forced to. Aiko's apparent injury meant that they had been at this for a while.

"Ignemar reporting!" she announced as she trained her rifle on the Mishu, but hesitated in firing upon seeing Myga being too close. She adjusted her fire off to the side, aiming to clip the Mishu instead while keeping the particle beams as far away from Myga as she could manage, even if it meant missing a few shots. If anything that could draw attention towards her and further splitting the creature's attention. The shots were controlled rather than shooting in a burst. She was aiming to suppress and annoy rather than do any real damage, that is until she could get a clear shot without risking friendly fire.

"Over here you overgrown tumor!" Cynea taunted just for good measure, rising to her feet with the rifle still trained on the Mishu. Her bravado was fueled by the sleeping forms at the mouth of the chute. While it was fun to joke around with the idea that undesirable soldiers were sent off to be eaten, being confronted by the sleeping forms on her way down here just made her feel sick. At first she thought that they were just saying that to tease and threaten the newcomers, but now knowing it had some actual truth just lit a fire under her.

Just how many did they cannibalize?

 

[Megabirb]

Caldera Base, Level 15

Despite Hoshi's orders to engage the Mishhuvurthyar commander Sahty remained focused on the terminal, showers of sparks raining down upon her and wisps of smoke beginning to come from the terminal's cooling vents as she worked. The longer Sahty worked at the dying terminal the more frustrated she grew. Not just with the terminal but with herself. She knew it was only a matter of time before the adrenalin driving her body faded and operating the volumetric keyboard with just one hand was a slow, troublesome process.

Despite Sahty's best efforts to complete her task the terminal suddenly gave a series of warnings before flickering off for a final time, black smoke rolling from it's cooling vents. The terminal was no more. "This one just died but thank you Faelan-Shoi. These should speed things up at the next terminal." replied Sahty as she received Morgana's data package while finally focusing her attention on the chaotic assault on the last of Mishhu.

With a decent grasp of the situation Sahty grabbed at the sling of her rifle. It thankfully was still attached to the tattered remains of her uniform and vest but as she pulled the impaler rifle up her frustrations only further grew. While it had survived her close call with the magma below it had not survived the being used as a shield. The entire rifle was nearly folded in half after taking the initial impact of the projectile Mishhu body. With as much a scowl as she could manage Sahty unclipped the rifle sling from the remains of her vest and let it fall to the magma below as she once more unholstered her ever reliable radiant pistol. Armed once more Sahty went low, taking slow, aimed shots at it's more venerable underside.