RP: YSS Heartbreaker [Mission V] Whole World Askin' How I Does That

Shortly After...Near Engineering...

Just like Isao had promised, his path to Engineering was free and clear. If rather roundabout. The service tunnels and side passages had been cramped for the ones wearing freshly charged armor, enough even for Edtoto to notice. The two I'ee were perfectly happy scittering about, of course, and Trendsetter found herself able to wiggle along after them without any difficulty. And, soon enough, Engineering was in sight.

A few dozen feet below them.

The team was squashed into one cramped final service duct above the home of the alien power source, struggling to move viewports, cameras and antennas close to the multi-slitted 'grating' in the ceiling. Below, the large room was full of more slick, unfamiliar metal that rose upwards into several small towers and squat walls. These seemed to be controls of some sort, by the way several NMX Neko were poking and prodding at them, chattering with each other and eyeing images projected by some sort of device they'd rigged up to 'translate' the alien controls for them. In the center of the room, unfortunately far from their current perch, a silver tower rose from floor to ceiling, glowing with that same eerie golden light they'd seen before...which helped illuminate the infected Vekimen crawling on or around the structure, apparently instinctually drawn to the light and heat...

Service Duct

Well, Skade thought, as she sat in the duct with her knees near her chin, Could be worse. I could not have my PA up and running. But it would be better if we weren’t all stuffed in here. Not she minded being close to either of her neighbors, Corgan in front of her, back in his recharged armor as well, and Takeshi behind her. She just hated any place where she couldn’t stand up. Edtoto is probably in love with it. Uggh, why did I agree to follow her in here?

"So," she said over the, hopefully secure, comms, "How are we going to deal with all of that?" At this point, I'd go with a suicide charge if it got me out of here.

Service Duct

Isao looked down and began hoping there wasn't actual mishu guards in Power Armors even though he knew they were there somewhere. "Okay, odds are that they still do not know how to operate the doors so as long as we kill everything not us, we can kill the ship's weapon unopposed." He looked at the NMX Neko and then the hybrids running around. If they could keep one of the NMX cats alive, they could prod her for information. "Secondary objective is to keep one of those Neko's alive, the NMX ones. I might be able to get her to cave and give information if we wound her enough." He looked at the hybrid lizards next,

"They seem like the heat, so once we have the upper hand, we could blow the core with weapons fire if need be if they stay at their heat source," He closed his eyes for a moment behind his helmet, "And Emperor willing, we don't have to use our soul transfers if we have to blow it."

He primed and checked his Aether SMG one last time before making sure the bayonet was well attached. "I'm going to open up this grate if no one else has questions. Are there any?" Isao basically had unknowingly tried to take command, which he didn't really mean to. He was just trying to make sure that whatever that they were trying to shoot at wasn't going to be shot at.

Service Duct

The I'ee pilots remained quiet, listening to the others discussing their options and staring down at the enemy position below. The two of them signed to each other briefly, then began stripping off their vacuum suits, presumably for extra mobility. Soon, the two of them were naked, still clutching their weapons close. One of the Thi-Thi pilots was missing her left antenna at the base and bore a nasty scar across the front of her face. The other wore a necklace of sorts hung over both of her antennae so that it lay across the centre of her face; made of what seemed to be brass with a jet stone set into it. Now uncovered, the two wasps chattered to each other, frustrated that they could not speak to their alien allies, before going quiet again.

Corgan

Corgan looked down at the engineering bay, trying to get an idea of the enemy's numbers. He wasn't too concerned about the Vekimishu, but the Nekos could be a problem. "I've never had to fight a real Nekovalkyrja. Might be better if I hold off the Veks and let you Star Army people handle the Neko types." Corgan said.

He checked his HPAR to see if it was working properly. "I do have one question. Why don't we just take control of the ship and use the big gun on that big space squid? I hate to blow up something we might be able to use."

Takeshi

Saba looked straight ahead, enjoying the view of Skade from behind. "I do not mind the view from back here." He admitted. "I have no questions. I'm just ready to kill some of those disgusting parasites."

While their communications were silent inside of their suits, and Trendsetter had yet to speak up, the chittering of the two I'ee was audible inside the cramped space. And, apparently, outside of it as well. Below, one of the NMX glanced around, her long, furred ears twitching and perking up. The giant ? over her head was practically visible, as she excused herself from her current conversation and began floating upwards, a curious look on her face. "What was that? Something stuck in the vent?"

She loomed closer and closer to the slittled grating that Isao had his hands on, ready to remove. The Neko tried to squint through the slits, into the unlit space behind....eyes suddenly widening as she let out a gasp.

!

The two I'ee's chattering stilled when they noticed the neko from below floating upwards, shuffling into the darkness with their guns held ready. There, they waited, wholly focused upon the Neko below and apparently forgetting the presence of their allies with them. The gasp from the NMX Neko below provoked a violent response from the two Thi-Thi pilots, who lurched towards the grate and jammed the barrels of their two guns between the bars, firing at point-blank in an effort to kill the Neko. At the same time, the I'ee let out furious screeches of defiance, almost certainly blowing any cover they might have had left.
However, the two pilots proceeded to pry the grating away once their guns were clicking dryly, dropping down into the room below as a pair of angry, buzzing yellow blurs, hissing and screeching with hatred. Their complete lack of subtlety might have ruined any chance at stealth, but did provide a useful opportunity for either attack or escape while they distracted the enemy with their blades, mandibles and stingers.

Service Ducts

Isao sighed internally, too late to stop the I'ee from shooting the first Neko. All he could do was open the grate and barking through the communications line, "Keep one of the Neko alive, target the abominations first!"

He moved his SMG forward in time to get the barrel pointing at the Vekimen hybrids sitting around the device. He fired is short bursts using the suit's onboard guidance to aim for the necks. After he thought half the team at least was through to vents, he swung his SMG towards one of the remaining Neko and gave an audible callout in Yamatai and then Trade,

"Halt your actions! Surrender to the Star Army of Yamatai!"

His SMG was giving him a warning of extremely low power, but the bayonet on the end of it didn't need energy to wound and incapacitate.

Behind the Vent

Trendsetter switched her eyes off for stealth when she saw the Neko approaching. At least she didn't need to hold her breath! To some small extent it spared her the sight of what happened next though the camera in her forehead was still rolling, She had no trouble analyzing the start of the firefight, aside from being entirely unequipped to think about combat damage in real terms. She raised a finger and waved it at the NMX Nekos.

"Excuse me, but yes, I have to agree! If you surrender this will be much more peaceful." She observed the first one as it fell. "See, staying to fight really is bad for your skin. Those burns look terrible."

Service Ducts

Corgan sighed. The I'ee could be cute but they always rush in without thinking. "Move out!" He yelled, kicking the grate beneath him free and dropping down. He aimed and fired as he charged forward. The HPAR sprayed a hybrid with a burst of molten semisolid metal spikes and he moved on to the next target.

The android followed Corgan's lead, smashing through the grate and dropping to the ground. He landed on one knee with his faceplate up. Takeshi looked like a real Oni as he stood and charged. He sprayed bursts of purple-white energy at the hybrids from his right palm. When he was close enough, he thrust his left palm forward and a cone of white hot glowing gas flew towards a group of infected.

Service Ducts/Engineering

Bad decision, Sister, Skade thought as she followed her fellow boarders to the floor. She slowed her fall to fire a pair of mini-missiles at the NMX Nekos farthest away from the translating equipment. Hopefully any damage the ships’ system takes keeps it from firing. Edtoto went about her work as well, firing her rifle into the hordes of Vekimishhu.

Pushing away distracting thoughts, the technician drew her Saber-rifle as she landed, firing her own burst at the infected lizards as she rose. She then turned her attention to her NMX counterparts, taking a few pot shots as she rushed them, igniting her weapon’s aether blade as she closed the distance. Though she didn’t call for their surrender, her message was obvious. Surrender or die.

Engineering

Most of the surprised Neko's head was gone, as its gravity manipulation failed and it landed on the floor with a heavy, squishy thud. All eyes in the room turned upwards, before Neko began diving for cover left and right. Some of the NMX were fleeing, heading for the exits on either end of the large room, while others had made for a small cache of weapons set up on some sort of table near one corner. Many of the NMX were cut down before making it very far, pounced upon by the irritated I'ee or blown to bits by missiles. Enough made it to the firearms to take cover behind the metal outcropping, beginning to return fire towards the armored invaders...although the I'ee were small enough to be obscured by almost all of the cover in the room, it turned out.

The infected Vekimen fared worse. Somewhat content with the heat source they were clustered around, they were slow to react at first. Bodies falling from the glowing pillar, which seemed unaffected by the weapons fire, before the creatures began to scattered. Crawling along the floor and ceiling, they began to slither around cover or pounce on their targets. They were having less effect than the fire from the NMX Neko, only the ones sporting tendrils able to do much to hinder the team, mostly grasping for weapons or encumbering limbs. One wave of Vekimen were charred to a crisp by the android, more thinned out by the sputtering fire from Corgan and the others.

So far the alien equipment seemed to be standing up to the hurt being pumped out by both sides...although the tech the NMX had added wasn't quite so sturdy. Skade could see displays flickering out and portable devices exploding or shattering apart as the firefight continued. Their options for interacting with the alien ship were disappearing fast.

Meanwhile, Trendsetter poked her head out of the ceiling, now that the others had exited and left her with plenty of room to move about, helpfully encouraging the enemy to hurry up and surrender. From her point of view, things didn't look so good for them, after all.

Engineering

The two I'ee were quickly lost in the chaos of the battle, keeping low and out of sight for the most part, though occasionally a glimpse of one of the pilots skittering on all six legs could be seen. Their general tactic was to remain hidden, attempting to get behind the enemy and then drag them to the ground for a multitude of blows from blade, stinger and mandibles. The addition of the skittering Vekimish to the conflict soon had the two quite literally tangled together; screeches of defiance from the I'ee echoed through the room as the pilots wrestled with the flexible, reptilian monsters.

Engineering

The medic was delighted that the insertion went quiet well, despite blowing their stealth. They had to get the weapon offline, that was still priority.

Isao switched from a dead magazine to one which was about a quarter charged. He saw a small group of NMX Neko moving into cover with weapons. He took advantage of their movement to close his own distance to them. While he was a medic, he had been forced to adapt to combat onboard the vessel that had become his prison.

He fired at one and then moved a hand to grab another. He was going to pull the one he could into his chest after firing in hopes the move would get her to drop her weapon. Afterwards he planned to rocket back and keep her alive while the rest of the team cleaned house.

This Neko was going to be a key to a few things, and Isao hoped the weapon would be one of those things.

Engineering

While I admire the tenacity, Skade thought, juking to the side to avoid being an obvious target, I could admire it more if they weren’t firing at me. Running towards the opposing Nekos, she aimed her gauss cannon and fired a burst of shells at the opposing Nekos that were still firing. Once she raked the area, she took the last few steps, flipping over the outcropping and slicing the remaining hostiles to bits with her aether blade. Deal with the thoughts later, she thought, as hemosynth splashed against her visor. Just finish the job.

Edtoto wasn’t held back by anything resembling restraint. Rifle forgotten as she flew towards her tainted brethren, her power armor augmented arms and jaws moved like dervishes as she tore through the non-Neko hostiles. She screeched in the battle cries of her species, almost sounding like a symphony played by nails on a chalk board.

Engineering

Corgan didn't see the two hybrid Vekimen until they were right on top of him. One of the creatures knocked the gun out of his hands while the other wrapped a tentacle around his leg and dragged him to the ground. He punched the thing with the Impulse's charged knuckle spikes. It was stunned, yet it held tight. The one that knocked his weapon free clamped its jaws down on his left arm's joint and started to pull.

The armor started to bend, and then suddenly the creature bent it backward. Corgan screamed as he felt his arm break with a snap. He growled and pulled his monomolecular blade free in his right hand, and jammed it up to the hilt into the eye socket of the creature that still tugged at his broken arm.

It collapsed instantly but didn't release him. He pulled the blade free and slashed at the tentacle wrapped around his leg until the limb came free. His armor's thrusters fired a short boost that launched him across the floor, away from the Vekimen.

During the scuffle, Takeshi was busy in melee with a group of hybrids, vibroblades on each arm sending limbs, tentacles, and hemosynth flying. He was covered in the fluid almost from head to toe. The scream drew his attention and he dashed towards Corgan, holding off the last group of the hybrids by himself so the Nepleslian could get back on his feet.

Engineering

The unarmed NMX Neko fell quickly enough. Hamstrung and chomped apart, or pounced on and slashed by the vengeful I'ee. Others ineffectually returned fire before Skade's powerful cannon exploded chunks of their highly advanced bodies into red mist. Soon the table was overturned, weapons tumbling away as the Engineer stabbed and stabbed at the wounded enemies until they finally stopped moving. Isao wrestled his captive to the side, the Neko wriggling and kicking, but somehow more concerned with the others she saw fleeing. "Cowards! Where are you running to!? Commander Fhion was already dead!" Her struggles were slowly fading, as the armored soldier held her in place.

The infected Vekimen came to life even as the Neko ran for theirs, the creatures clearly not possessing much more rational thought than the parasites that had transformed them. The beasts fell upon Corgan and did their best to tear his suit apart and get to the vulnerable man inside, but he escaped without extensive damage, as the android fulfilled its purpose and methodically cut down the Mishhuvurthyar hybrids. After the Nepleslian was freed, the overeager I'ee were next to be rescued, the pair furiously stabbing and biting at the infected that had temporarily managed to halt their fury. More than one insectoid leg was left behind with the severed tendrils, and one would have a new scar to display once their damaged eye healed, but they were in better shape than the twitching remains scattered around them.

As things went quiet, the captured NMX finally went still. "We pulled in everything we had left, just to combat the insects and scavengers. Sticking our noses where we didn't belong. All for revenge?" With several variously sized figures looming around her, covered in gore, the lone Neko slumped, defeated and abandoned. While Skade could clearly see the large, filling bar that indicated the weapon nearing proper charge for a close-range burst, other information displayed on one of the few projectors left undamaged was difficult to quickly parse, until the sullen prisoner began reluctantly and sulkily assisting with translation...

Engineering

With the battle over, the two I'ee trudged over to join the others and their captive, appearing tired. Both of the pilots had lost a limb during the fight; one had lost one of her rear legs and was now forced to crawl. The two hissed at the captive neko with hate, spreading their jaws and buzzing their wings in a threatening display. The only thing that seemed to keep them from tearing the neko apart was the presence of their alien allies. Instead, the I'ee began tending to one another once they had calmed, examining their wounds before cuddling against each other to rest.

Service Ducts/Engineering

Trendsetter still hadn't joined the fight in earnest, and made her reasoning for this apparent when she called down, "Would someone please help me down? All this gravity seems very dangerous." She was holding one of her chakrams as if she were still preparing to throw but having trouble judging the angle. Given she still had all four, it would seem this had been an issue for the duration of the fight.

Engineering

Skade took a couple of deep breaths as she stood over her broken NMX sisters, more out of an effort to not puke then to catch her breath. Overkill? Sure. Vengeful? Probably. Would I do it differently if I knew they’d surrender? She thought, wiping hemosynth off her visor. Maybe? Ahh, come on, girl. Second guesses are after mission stuff.

Shaking her head, the Neko went over to the damaged controls, listening to the defeated soldier as she explained the controls. Hopefully I can thank you later, she thought, moving a few of the sliders and pressing a variety of buttons. “Hopefully that works,” she said, turning the final dial. Some really weird controls.

Edtoto, seeing that the technician was doing an adequate job, was content to flick the infected Vekimen’s blood off her power armored claws. “That all?” she asked, “I was just getting warmed up.”