RP: ISC Phoenix [Mission 5] - Anger Management

MEANWHILE...

Four figures were cloaked in darkness at a steel table adorned with slashes, cuts and a macabre throne of steel, with Cain crowning the throne. Oddly, one chair was empty...

"Ah... I... cannot see ahead..." A female figure stressed, rubbing her temples together, avoiding her cat ears, "The future is dark for us all..."
"Impossible." A masculine voice asserted as he gave her a forceful shove, ruining her concentration, "Keep at it. You are psychic, aren't you, Mindwrecker?"
That man, had deep-set, azure eyes, short, platinum blonde hair that is styled in a way reminiscent of a wheat field. His physique was lithe and limber. He seemed to have an air of charisma and aloofness about him.
And that woman was a product of the Yamataian government's military schemes, gone rogue and escaping as a mercenary and psycho-for-hire. Crimson red hair and eyes to match with a bloodstained uniform.

"Yes, Michael - but I cannot see the future ahead of us," She repeated, "There is nothing!"
"You are lying, you facetious-" He grew increasingly forceful and pulled a small knife out.

"Stop it... Stop it..." An aged-with-feminine-grace voice attempted to calm the situation down. Her 9 foot tall, octogenarian figure, and the broadsword she'd earned loomed over the arguers, "If there is nothing in our future, then that means we shall be as nothing too."
"Battleaxe, keep you and your spiritual nonsense to yourself." Michael asserted, "I cannot believe you dabble in such nonsense."
"If the spirits cannot foretell our future, then our future, and us, by extension, have ceased."

"Oh, like I care. For all we know I could be hit by a truck if I walk through the sewerage of Funky City or Kyoto-" Michael was getting impatient when he felt a knife press against his neck, from thin air. He reacted calmly to this, "Invisible Man. Stop it. I know how you ache to kill..."
"No..." The shrill, invisible voice said as he withdrew his knife, "I ache, to be, alone..."

"Ladies, Gentlemen, please, calm down for I, your master, bring news..." Cain's voice reverberated, his figure on the throne, "Look to the screen!" They looked down to the foot of the table, to the screen to see that a small craft was approaching the system, "It appears we have... guests..."

"They certainly wouldn't be holiday makers." Mindwrecker noted, folding her arms, "Probably a military unit of some sort."
"We can let the underlings deal with them when they land." Battleaxe asserted.
"And leave us to be, hah hah!" The invisible man smiled, if you could see him.
"It is more than that." Cain reprised, "For it holds our bounty. Our quarry. The only man who would dare to get in our way..."

"Pavone!" Michael remembered, he was the one who Hitori fled to, who Michael once was, "The man's as mad as a cut snake to take us on! He doesn't know who he's toying with!"
"Alone?" Mindwrecker questioned, "Or does he have dependents ... ?"

BACK ON THE DROPSHIP...

"Err..." Luca replied to Robert as he paid attention to the lecture, "No." He grinned sheepishly.

Everyone had eventually gotten the HALO jump gear on and their gear secured, and were assured dually that all they had to do was jump, and spread out.
"We're approaching atmosphere!" The Pilot's voice announced over the speakers, "Get your asses to the airlock and prepare for the jump! The doors will open automatically when we reach optimal insertion point in T-minus 5 minutes."

"Okay guys..." Luca rallied as he stood up, helmeted, pressurised and oxygenated, and getting the communication across through his headset. He, Mel, Sebastian, Arin, Vincent, Hitori, Mel and John moved to the airlock with all of their armaments secured. The captain them that:
"It's showtime. Smile for the cameras..."

"T Minus 1 minute..." The pilot announced over the speakers, again.
"Good luck." Nostrovia's voice sounded over intercom as the first set of airlock doors closed behind the crew, and the second set of doors were counting down to open...

10...

Vincent drummed a heavy fist on his chest, looking around the cabin one last time before securing all loose objects and clothing firmly to his person.

9...

He secured the last straps of the parachute cords around his thighs, waist and chest.

8... 7... 6...

He looked back at Luca and crew, and gave them a smile and a thumbs up.

5... 4...

He stepped into the space between the two airlock doors and made a last check of his equipment; securing his chaingun, pistols and other weaponry firmly in their pockets before swinging the chaingun's ammo drum around to his chest and strapping it over the chest straps on his 'chute apparatus.

3... 2...

The room fell into awkward silence as the count approached zero. Vincent stood on the precipice of his 500 foot drop to glory. He pushed all thoughts of fear, angst, etc. from his mind and focused on his altimeter and the release cord on his 'chute.

1...

The airlock hissed open and Vincent was blasted by a rush of cool air. Keeping firm on his feet, the merc braced himself for the impending sense of weightlessness-

0!

Vincent didn't even hear the pilot call out "Zero!", merely took one long step out of the shuttle and hopped clear. Within seconds, he was a rapidly descending brown/black speck in the clouded sky.

Robert gulped audibly again when Luca admitted that he'd never done this before.

10...
Robert looked over all his equipment, making sure that it was secure.

9...
He shifted nervously in his seat when Vincent gave him a thumbs up.

8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...0

Robert gave his suit one more look over, waited two more seconds then jumped out after Vincent.

The airlock opened slowly, revealing the evening sky and horizon. The view was beautiful from up here.

Rolling forests and greens, mountains that touched the skies themselves and vast deserts. All of which were laced with rivers and streams and bathed in a radiant gold by the evening sun. This was probably the ideal place to retire.

"Wow..." Is all that escaped Luca's lips as he got caught up in the view while everyone else jumped out. He then noticed the cold, grey fortress and its walls in the distance, on the peninsula of a mountain range. He frowned at the blight on the landscape and what it contained, and knew what he had to do!

(OOC) Music to listen to... said:

"Operation Intrude N313" from Metal Gear (MSX, Konami, 1989) Arranged by Januski47

Click to expand...

He jumped out into 40,000 feet of air and around 3000 feet above everyone else. The view down below, past the clouds appeared to be that of a ravine tucked snugly into the mountains.

"Grounds' coming awful fast..." Is all Hitori commented to herself as she kept going unerringly. She could only hear her own voice as the wind and atmosphere rushed past her helmeted head.

Eventually, everyone's parachutes began to release a beeping noise as the altitude was just right for parachuting. The parachutes would then pop out of the packs themselves, rattling the skydivers momentarily, and then. Floating down, somewhat peacefully. At least now they could get a good view, before the mountains rose up through their field of vision.

"Amazing... How'd they find such a place?" John commented over radio. He was wearing his headset, and his glasses under his oxygen helmet as he clutched the ropes of his parachute.
"Positively no clue..." Mel replied to the pilot, "Reminds me of when I used to go big game hunting..."
"Big game hunting huh..." Sebastian added his two cents, "A springboard for hunting humans no doubt? Beasts became too predictable?"
Mel was unresponsive to that as a cliff to land on was just below.
"Alright, just like the instructions said, don't land on your feet and allow yourself to fall over and spread out the shock!" Sebastian warned, about twenty seconds before landing in the instructed manner.

BACK AT BASE...
Jim, Crane, Laeliel, Anna and the platypus were still residing at base. It was somewhere around evening for them.
Jim was in front of the television, worried that something might come up about Luca. Hourly reports had come in about the situation and the 'failed negotiations' between the superpowers and Cain, which may have been a public ruse.

"I know he's alright..." Jim affirmed himself as Crane sat down next to him, "I'm sure he can handle this threat - especially with his dad!"
"You're right. He's a fearless guy!" Crane smiled.
"Fearless, yes, but foolish..." Laeliel commented from the kitchen table. She'd been drinking wine in a very moderate pace, "The action does seem brave, but I think he won't be capable. So what if he took on some massive beastie?" She swirled the wine in her glass and sighed, "It could have been luck that got him through."
"If it's luck that does get him through..." Crane frowned somewhat, "Then let's hope he hasn't used it all up before!"
"It's a double-edged sword." The Elysian-in-disguise illuminated, "Not all luck is good..."

"I already know what you're talking abou-"

Whumph. Vincent hit the ground with his legs bent, taking an odd running gait as he touched the ground. He managed to slow himself to a stop and immediately began detatching cords, clasps and all manner of velcro straps to get the oxygen helmet and parachute off. Finally struggling free of the pack, he turned his chaingun's ammo drum back onto his back and unclasped the chaingun's main assembly, barrels and belt feed from the straps on his bodysuit.

After unclasping the main gun, Vincent moved clear of the landing zone and crouched behind a tree, clear of the descending boots that threatened to land square on his head. He quickly attached the three barrels to the frame of the chaingun and placed the small, triangular sheet of metal that held the barrels in place over the ends, then slammed it home. Then he carefully attached the battery-operated belt feed mechanism, popped open the drum on his back, pulled out a length of coiled .30 caliber rounds and clasped the first few into the feed. He test-fired the gun by engaging the safety and allowing the feed to pull the belt of bullets through the feeder, then watched the barrel spin a few rotations before re-attaching the beginning of the chain of bullets.

"Guys, this is Vincent. Landing zone is clear, I'm ready to roll."

Arin opened her eyes to see the ground comming up to her. She panicked, thinking that her parachute failed to open but the tautness of her harness said otherwise. 'Phew'. Looking around, she noticed that while she kept her eyes closed from fear since jumping out of the plane, she had drifted far away enough from the parachuters to be unable to hear Sebastian offer his handy little tip. Cue a second round of panicking.

'20 seconds to impact' Her datapad intoned, while it had inbuilt spedometers and the pesudo-AI had correctly determined that this specific statistic was relevant to the situation, it would have been preferable if it used the word 'landing' instead.

A quick tug on her left harness guided the chute into a large tree which she hoped would break her fall. Crashing through the branches she was fortunate her mask protected her eyes from the sticks. A brief moment of pain and a sudden jerk later her free fall had stopped, but the Nepleslian was still suspended five feet off the ground, upside down and wrapped in her own parachute strings. She decided not to immediately struggle a way out of the situation, but reflect on the sancity of life, hers in particular.

Robert was holding very still as he reached the landing zone. "Oh, god. Oh, god. Oh, God." He repeated to himself as he landed, he rolled over three times and got tangled up in the parachute wires. Struggling out of the wires he got up and looked around. "God, I don't want to do that again. Ever." He stated.

"What do you mean, ever? HALO drops are my bread and butter!" Vincent said, striding over to the tree Arin was in and pulling out his knife.

"Now hold still." Vincent said simply as he sliced the knife through each individual cord and then easily caught the falling girl with his left arm.

"See? Perfectly harmless." Vincent chided as he lowered Arin easily to the ground.

"Uhm... Right!"

Arin got off Vincent's arm hurriedly and then dusted her clothes. She felt extremely uncomfortable having the muscular man hold her like that, besides, she felt that she could have wiggled her way out of her previous predicament unassisted. Blushing and ignoring his eye contact, she nonchalantly walked away from the tree to the general direction of everyone else.

"Then you are a braver man than me. I'd much rather fight a small privatized military before I'd have to do that again." Robert replied as he leaned against another nearby tree.

"Ah, small privatised militaries are nothing." Vincent said, sitting down in front of the tree. "Most of the time, mercs are ill-trained, poorly equipped and in it for the money, a combination that is pretty deadly.

"However, when you deal with a large and affluent company, one that trains its troops, you've got a problem- these soldiers can put up a fight, and they'll keep coming until the contract is nullified or they're all dead. They're like regular soldiers but with the added motivation of a big paycheck."

Hitori, John and Mel made their landings, managing to release their parachute ropes and strings with relative ease. They began to assemble their gear and check that nothing had been lost in transit.
"Quite an open area. A lot of land to cover too..." Mel said as she got a good lay of the land from the top of the ravine and out onto the forests and plains, "We should be able to get there in about an hour or two..."

"I CAN SEE THE PLACE..." A voice from above yelled, "...FROM HERE!" The voice was revealed to be Luca, who came crashing down on top of John with a loud thump.
"ACK!" John squeaked as he was knocked down to the dusty ground and his sunglasses came off. He began prodding around for them, eventually finding them, giving them a quick wipe and putting them back on.

"Got ya back!" Luca chuckled as he got up and got his gear together. John mumbled in light of this. Looks like the prank war was still going.
"We'll have none of that!" Sebastian commented as he pulled out a compass and began to plot a course through the bush, "The time for child's play is over!"
"Yeah, can't you be serious for once?" Hitori was equally confused with the captain's behaviour, "Lives are in the balance here!"
Luca just shrugged, unable to answer for the moment. It was just in his nature.

"At any rate, we better get going before it gets dark," John commented as the sun began its final descent past the horizon, "Or it'll be hell to navigate this terrain."
"Noted. Move out!" Sebastian commanded with his GP-1 put forward.
"Onwards!" Luca beckoned as he put his shotgun forward and lead the group with his Father.

(OOC) Music to listen to... said:

"Jungle" from Snake's Revenge (NES, Konami Ultra, 1990) Arranged by Tsu Ryu

Click to expand...

The eastward trip down the mountain proved fairly uneventful as dust and sand were kicked up with each step and patches gravel crunched underfoot. One could see the lay of the land through the ravine. Maybe it was worth a photo or two, which Luca took with his communicator along the way. It garnered an odd look or two, but who wouldn't have liked to preserve the view?

The occasional tree or shrubbery dotted the lonesome path. Eventually, though, more and more vegetation became apparent as the crew kept their steady descent down and through the ravine, eastwards. What also became apparent after a kilometre of ground was covered were the sounds of pitched chatter and clattering gear from afar. Possibly a battery of soldiers sent out by the fortress to investigate the landing...

Arin didn't like that there wasn't any real weight in her various bags, they way they barely sat on her shoulders made her feel uneasy, underequipped and unprepared. Compound this with the fact that this was her first mission and the noise comming from way behind made her walk facing the rear occasionally to make sure they weren't followed.

"Are we supposed to be worried or something?" She refered to the extra company they might be receiving.

"If you're not worried about enemy numbers, you're probably dead." Vincent said, hefting his chaingun into the ready position and flicking the battery power switch to "ON".

"Now if you'll excuse me, I might be able to scout their forces." Vincent's irises flicked purple (infra-red scanner) to scan the enemy formation that waited just around the bend.

"I was just being sarcastic..." Arin trailed off with a hint of worry in her voice, she whipped out her tacticooled ESG and couched near a underbush until someone told her what to do.

"Sorry, I don't do sarcasm very well." Vincent said, still scanning for enemy forces.

"Being born and bred to kill in thousands of different ways didn't leave you with much of a sense of humor, after all. Aside from the occasional one-liner I picked up in the Marine Corps, I'm about as dry as it gets in the humor department."

Robert quiped from the edge of camp. "Well, we'll just have to work on that sense of humor then, now won't we?" He leaned against a tree, closed his eyes, and concentrated on listening for anyone, or anything for that matter, trying to sneak up on them.

((I'm trying something new this post, to be on the tactical side of things. It also makes it easier for you and I to get an idea of what the standard sort of troop carries.))

"Will you two quit your yapping?!" Sebastian stressed under his breath, "They'll hear us!"
Suddenly a stray shot or two flew through the air, missing everyone completely. It was followed by frenzied yelling of "THERE THEY ARE!" and the sound of running footsteps.
"Oh for..." Sebastian said, "Battle stations, ladies and gentlemen!"

Everyone arranged into the following formation on the path, the attackers were roughly 25 metres away from the crew: The 5 soldiers ahead were obviously just a routine patrol who'd happened to see the parachutes land, or the dropship come into orbit. Either way, they weren't that happy about Luca and company's intrusion on their leader's plans.

They were outfitted in the classical uniform of the Reds faction of Nepleslia.
Riflemen 1 and 3, at the front of the group crouched down and took aim at Luca and Vincent. Missing Luca and hitting the ground, while the other managed to score a hit in the left arm, rattling Vincent somewhat.
The captain then put his shotgun forward and fired, hitting Luca in the legs with some of the spread, but mostly missing.
The support gunner aimed at John and Sebastian, firing about 12 rounds in their direction. 5 of them hit John while 3 hit Sebastian. The rest missed.

Then it was the crew's chance to return fire as the support gunner slapped a magazine into his weapon and cocked it. Luca fired his shotgun directly into third rifleman, hitting him mostly in the torso and head, and knocking him over.
Sebastian opened fire with his GP-1, firing a controlled three round burst at the support gunner. Two shots hit him in the chest and set him off balance, but he was still standing, albeit unsteadily.

From the back of the formation, Melissa took careful aim and shot Rifleman 2 in the head, sending his brains flying out the back of his head. She noticed a slight electrical crackle sound coming from her weapon after firing, but decided not to investigate, for now.
Hitori was caught unawares and fired her revolver wildly towards the captain, but missed the captain entirely.
John hit the deck, his wounds would not permit him to stand up and fire. He fired his GP-12 at Rifleman 1, hitting him and cooking him with the pulse blast.
Mitch was the last one to take aim as he pointed his crossbow forward towards the captain with the shotgun and firing a bolt at him, hitting him square in the right arm, ruining his aim somewhat.

(OOC: What, did ya forget about me?)

Robert dropped off to circle around the Reds. He crept up on the Support goon, grabbed him, and slashed at his throat.

The first thing Arin did when she saw the notorious Red colored uniforms in the corner of her eye was to hit the ground which saved her from the hail of bullets flying over her head. The people around her werent so fortunate, she knew because the new bloodstains on her coat werent hers. At first the Berelai merely laid on the ground with her non-gun arm over her head in shock, but the steady whirr of the frabicator on her back and the beat of her heart told her she was still alive.

Peeking up she let go a spray of .22s in the general direction of the enemy squad, careful to fire through the gap between Sebastian and Vincent. She wasnt aiming for anyone in particular but just to keep the enemy heads down via potential grevious harm even though the ESG's performance in that department is lacking.

When this was done, she rolled over to John to see if he was okay, and to haul him to the ditch at the side of the road to safety if he wasnt.