<<ooc! I just noticed I never gave a location of the S.S.H.P (Super Specialized Housing Project ) Its location is in Steel Caynon.>>Glacial Mass wrote:((With the conclusion of Eshva's post, Rin and I were on the field. Nobody actually said we went to the safehouse. That's what I'm using as an out for Rin and I, if everyone is copasetic with it.))
Glacial's face had gotten hard in the years since the war. It wasn't that he had age lines, stubble, even a haggard look -- to be honest, he didn't look like he'd aged a day since his second transformation. In the pursed mouth, in the sharply protruding cheekbones, in the sunken but alert eyes, Glacial's interior softness had fled. He'd sent too many boys and girls to their deaths to stay innocent forever.
"All you boys get home with the 'porters except you, Johnson. They're going to need an escort, and I'm going to need a gunner. Rin, you're with me." He grabbed him roughly by the shirt, hauling him off the ground and making a full-out run for the nearby armored personnel carrier. He still ran like a linebacker.
"In. Now." He opened the rear door for Rin, and leaped into the driver's seat. No time for this emotional bull. If a patrol caught Eshva in that tin can unguarded, they'd be ripped apart in seconds.
Torn.
Shredded.
Like so many good soldiers.
Don't think about it. Push it out of your head. You have a job to do, Frosty. Move it.
Private Johnson climbed up to the roof to man the turret. Glacial had the start-up sequence put through in seconds. Starting up an APC was as natural to him as waking up from a nightmare.
"Listen up, Rin. I don't have time to keep saving your selfish ass like this. You try using your powers again, the Ritiki will be the last of your concerns. I'll rip through your force fields and tear your head off your scrawny little neck. You clear, superstar?"
Tough times. Tough choices.
Of things to come...(open)
Moderator: Student Council
Eshva 
Dearest Heavenly Father;
I know your awfully busy right now,
But all I ask is for one small thing now,
Please Heavenly Father,
Please take care of my friends at this time.
Dearest Heavenly Father;
I know your awfully busy right now,
But all I ask is for one small thing now,
Please Heavenly Father,
Please take care of my friends at this time.
-
Misericorde
- Posts: 1921
- Joined: Mon Mar 13, 2006 9:31 pm
- Location: Saint Joseph's School
- Contact:
They had been lucky, so far.
The escort team had evaded the Rikti patrols with minimal effort, and morale was high, which was pretty good, considering that this was a suicide mission.
They had one goal; put the "Ball" into play.
The "Ball" was a metallic spheroid roughly one meter in diameter. It shimmered faintly in the sun, and could be moved only with the directional controls carried by five of the soldiers; redundancy was an important safeguard, given the average attrition rate for a soldier these days.
It "rolled" along with the small team of men, though that wasn't accurate...it was actually dimensionally shifted, a few nuons "upwind" of the Infinity shard. Completely intangible, until it was ready to be put "in play;" in position. In the event of control device destruction, the Ball was programmed to follow the vital signs of the closest living team member.
It was programmed to open and release it's payload on two events. The first, if it was in position, at the Goal. Secondly, in the event that the entire team was neutralized, the Ball would arm itself.
Then the Event would happen. The Game would be over. The Ball would open and all hell would break loose. Whatever kind of hell it contained. All the Team knew was that it was a bomb of some sort, held some type of WMD that would target Rikti Drone tech.
The ground shook, as it had for the past three hours. That would be the artillery shelling the Rikti forward positions, keeping them buttoned up and the heat off the fireteam as they moved the ball down the "Field;" Siren's Call.
The members of the teams didn't have names; they didn't need them, and since the average soldier's lifespan on the field these days was counted in days instead of years, no one really cared.
One hundred meters from the Goal, the Drones got curious about the Ball.
They got curious, although unlike most firefights, this time, curious was Good. TOnly four drones responded to start, but the team knew it would soon grow to sixteen, to two-fifty-six, over sixty-five thousand in minutes, iif anyone exhibited Powers.
Of course, what the Drone Gestalt didn't know was that the ball was designed to get them curious.
The Team was ignored by the Drones for the time being, as they were busy assessing the threat of the anomaly presented to them...the Ball. It absorbed all sensor scans. It technically did not...exist...yet, here it was.
Fifty meters from the goal, and the Drones decided they didn't like the Ball, and opened fire on both it and the Team; three men of the twelve died in the opening volley. Six more were cut down by unfeeling alien drones in the next five minutes of the firefight.
Not one of the remaining men had a directional control on him.
There was only one way to put the Ball into Play.
The drones had not doubled past sixteen; no Powers were detected yet.
The three remaining men nodded. One slipped into a crouch, as the others lay down a suppressive fire with rifles that gave the drones pause.
The lone Team-member would have to be the one to run to the Goal, because he was closest to the Ball. Already, it slid towards him hungrily....eagerly.
The man signalled to his partners; one, two, three fingers up, and he was off, sprinting towards the goal as he had done in High School at SJS.
Biff Hannigan raced towards the drones, the Ball sliding along behind him effortlessly. Drones converged on him, eight of them; he smashed through them easily, his Powers in Play on the Field. His Heads Up Display sounded an incursion alarm, as thousands of drones began to flood the area. Eight red blobs became a single pulsing red mass that grew and grew on hius HUD.
Twenty meters, and the focused blasts of the Drones slowed him a bit; a thousand hornets bit into him, but he ran past the pain, shouldering aside drones as he ran like some Titan. He was inevitable and unstoppable now, momentum gathered with every step. He was a missile; he was a freight train. Just like old times.
Biff had the Ball.
Ten meters, and he dipped his shoulder low; a wall of Rikti had appeared before him, antlike. Arms reaching out for him, he was too fast for them to bring rifles to bear. The Headman unlucky enough to be in front of him was smashed like the insect he resembled in that armor.
Five meters, and he struggled against a hundred armored antlike hands, surrounded by Rikti smart enough to know that they needed to stop Biff Hannigan for whatever reason, at no thought for their own safety. Each step he took felt like an eternity, and he lay about him with a superhuman strength that was rarely seen in these grim days. The Ball moved through the Rikti soldiers, who could not stop it. The Drones could not target him amongst the swell of Rikti Soldiers about him.
One meter, and he would not be stopped.
He had the Ball. He was at the Goal. The Rikti swarmed over him. They clawed and slashed and clutched and tore at him. Biff remembered a story from English class. Leiningen versus the Ants.
He and Michael had been assigned as partners for an assignment by the English teacher. Neither had been thrilled, but in class, rules were rules. They had actually done pretty well together. Biff remembered talking to Mike about how he couldn't see how anyone would run two miles through a sea of man-eating ants just for some Plantation. Mike had said..."It's about using everything you've got to protect what's yours." Something in that moment had allowed him to see Michael Corde as something other than the slender kid with a bad past.
Just for a moment. Then the moment of truth was upon him. This was it. He had the Ball. He crossed the Line. He placed one foot at the Goal.
Biff Hannigan almost collapsed beneath the weight of the Rikti soldiers atop him, dragging at his legs. He craned his head to look at the Ball. He hoped it worked. He knew it was a bomb of some sort, a weapon, and that it selectively targetted Rikti tech. Humans had learned a thing or two from the Drones.
The Ball hummed dissonantly, then split in two with a hiss and an outpouring of slightly phosphorescent green liquid; revealing a dark-haired, nude young man who slowly uncurled from one of the sectional Hemispheres and stood. Somehow, he looked familiar.
Everything was still for a moment; even the Rikti gave pause. Thousands of Drones knew something was wrong before the Rikti soldiers did. They fired upon the new "Arrival," but he was not where he had been, and the Rikti troops standing confusedly where he had been were vaporized.
Biff felt the weight of those clutching, scrabbling insectile armored hands falling away from him, as something moving so fast that it could hardly be seen took the Rikti surrounding him apart. They just...fell away...in pieces. There were noises as the fell apart. Sharp noises.
The Drones surged in then, and something knocked Biff to the ground. He heard someone whisper something in his ear (Touchdown, and the crowd goes wild) and a voice (Mike?) and then the Drones converged on the new Arrival and Biff couldn't see him anymore.
From the center of the swarm of buzzing "Bees," a green light flared and grew, nearly blinding Biff in it's intensity. It grew, expanded, enveloped the Drones and Biff and everything within five miles.
It consumed.
The nanovirus..."Knives"...were released. The Ball was in Play. It deconstructed and assimilated the Drones instantly, devoured and ate and ate and created itself anew, fuel to create itself, to...duplicate. As more Drones were deployed to the area, the green wave recreated itself, threatening to spread through the portals to the Hangars they were kept in. Somewhere across the dimensional tides, The Drone Gestalt sensed the intruder, and was forced to immediately switch to Autistic mode.
Left to their own devices, the Drones became confused.
The signal was passed along the human forward lines across Paragon and the U.S., and the counteroffensive began in earnest. They didn't have long before the Drone Gestalt resumed control, maybe hours, maybe a days; but they could advance, and they did.
Not a War won, but certainly a battle.
When the eerie green light faded, Biff stood carefully, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his forearm. He replaced his helmet (when had it been knocked off?) His HUD no longer read the solid red mass of a Drone Rapid Response. In it's place was...green. So many human life signs that it appeared to be one solid lump.
He stood, shielding his eyes from the sun, and saw a thousand thousand dark haired youths, male and female. All slightly different, but each bore the same resemblance.
"Mike?" Biff asked.
A thousand thousand smiles answered him in the sun.
"Nice play, Biff," they answered in unison.
The escort team had evaded the Rikti patrols with minimal effort, and morale was high, which was pretty good, considering that this was a suicide mission.
They had one goal; put the "Ball" into play.
The "Ball" was a metallic spheroid roughly one meter in diameter. It shimmered faintly in the sun, and could be moved only with the directional controls carried by five of the soldiers; redundancy was an important safeguard, given the average attrition rate for a soldier these days.
It "rolled" along with the small team of men, though that wasn't accurate...it was actually dimensionally shifted, a few nuons "upwind" of the Infinity shard. Completely intangible, until it was ready to be put "in play;" in position. In the event of control device destruction, the Ball was programmed to follow the vital signs of the closest living team member.
It was programmed to open and release it's payload on two events. The first, if it was in position, at the Goal. Secondly, in the event that the entire team was neutralized, the Ball would arm itself.
Then the Event would happen. The Game would be over. The Ball would open and all hell would break loose. Whatever kind of hell it contained. All the Team knew was that it was a bomb of some sort, held some type of WMD that would target Rikti Drone tech.
The ground shook, as it had for the past three hours. That would be the artillery shelling the Rikti forward positions, keeping them buttoned up and the heat off the fireteam as they moved the ball down the "Field;" Siren's Call.
The members of the teams didn't have names; they didn't need them, and since the average soldier's lifespan on the field these days was counted in days instead of years, no one really cared.
One hundred meters from the Goal, the Drones got curious about the Ball.
They got curious, although unlike most firefights, this time, curious was Good. TOnly four drones responded to start, but the team knew it would soon grow to sixteen, to two-fifty-six, over sixty-five thousand in minutes, iif anyone exhibited Powers.
Of course, what the Drone Gestalt didn't know was that the ball was designed to get them curious.
The Team was ignored by the Drones for the time being, as they were busy assessing the threat of the anomaly presented to them...the Ball. It absorbed all sensor scans. It technically did not...exist...yet, here it was.
Fifty meters from the goal, and the Drones decided they didn't like the Ball, and opened fire on both it and the Team; three men of the twelve died in the opening volley. Six more were cut down by unfeeling alien drones in the next five minutes of the firefight.
Not one of the remaining men had a directional control on him.
There was only one way to put the Ball into Play.
The drones had not doubled past sixteen; no Powers were detected yet.
The three remaining men nodded. One slipped into a crouch, as the others lay down a suppressive fire with rifles that gave the drones pause.
The lone Team-member would have to be the one to run to the Goal, because he was closest to the Ball. Already, it slid towards him hungrily....eagerly.
The man signalled to his partners; one, two, three fingers up, and he was off, sprinting towards the goal as he had done in High School at SJS.
Biff Hannigan raced towards the drones, the Ball sliding along behind him effortlessly. Drones converged on him, eight of them; he smashed through them easily, his Powers in Play on the Field. His Heads Up Display sounded an incursion alarm, as thousands of drones began to flood the area. Eight red blobs became a single pulsing red mass that grew and grew on hius HUD.
Twenty meters, and the focused blasts of the Drones slowed him a bit; a thousand hornets bit into him, but he ran past the pain, shouldering aside drones as he ran like some Titan. He was inevitable and unstoppable now, momentum gathered with every step. He was a missile; he was a freight train. Just like old times.
Biff had the Ball.
Ten meters, and he dipped his shoulder low; a wall of Rikti had appeared before him, antlike. Arms reaching out for him, he was too fast for them to bring rifles to bear. The Headman unlucky enough to be in front of him was smashed like the insect he resembled in that armor.
Five meters, and he struggled against a hundred armored antlike hands, surrounded by Rikti smart enough to know that they needed to stop Biff Hannigan for whatever reason, at no thought for their own safety. Each step he took felt like an eternity, and he lay about him with a superhuman strength that was rarely seen in these grim days. The Ball moved through the Rikti soldiers, who could not stop it. The Drones could not target him amongst the swell of Rikti Soldiers about him.
One meter, and he would not be stopped.
He had the Ball. He was at the Goal. The Rikti swarmed over him. They clawed and slashed and clutched and tore at him. Biff remembered a story from English class. Leiningen versus the Ants.
He and Michael had been assigned as partners for an assignment by the English teacher. Neither had been thrilled, but in class, rules were rules. They had actually done pretty well together. Biff remembered talking to Mike about how he couldn't see how anyone would run two miles through a sea of man-eating ants just for some Plantation. Mike had said..."It's about using everything you've got to protect what's yours." Something in that moment had allowed him to see Michael Corde as something other than the slender kid with a bad past.
Just for a moment. Then the moment of truth was upon him. This was it. He had the Ball. He crossed the Line. He placed one foot at the Goal.
Biff Hannigan almost collapsed beneath the weight of the Rikti soldiers atop him, dragging at his legs. He craned his head to look at the Ball. He hoped it worked. He knew it was a bomb of some sort, a weapon, and that it selectively targetted Rikti tech. Humans had learned a thing or two from the Drones.
The Ball hummed dissonantly, then split in two with a hiss and an outpouring of slightly phosphorescent green liquid; revealing a dark-haired, nude young man who slowly uncurled from one of the sectional Hemispheres and stood. Somehow, he looked familiar.
Everything was still for a moment; even the Rikti gave pause. Thousands of Drones knew something was wrong before the Rikti soldiers did. They fired upon the new "Arrival," but he was not where he had been, and the Rikti troops standing confusedly where he had been were vaporized.
Biff felt the weight of those clutching, scrabbling insectile armored hands falling away from him, as something moving so fast that it could hardly be seen took the Rikti surrounding him apart. They just...fell away...in pieces. There were noises as the fell apart. Sharp noises.
The Drones surged in then, and something knocked Biff to the ground. He heard someone whisper something in his ear (Touchdown, and the crowd goes wild) and a voice (Mike?) and then the Drones converged on the new Arrival and Biff couldn't see him anymore.
From the center of the swarm of buzzing "Bees," a green light flared and grew, nearly blinding Biff in it's intensity. It grew, expanded, enveloped the Drones and Biff and everything within five miles.
It consumed.
The nanovirus..."Knives"...were released. The Ball was in Play. It deconstructed and assimilated the Drones instantly, devoured and ate and ate and created itself anew, fuel to create itself, to...duplicate. As more Drones were deployed to the area, the green wave recreated itself, threatening to spread through the portals to the Hangars they were kept in. Somewhere across the dimensional tides, The Drone Gestalt sensed the intruder, and was forced to immediately switch to Autistic mode.
Left to their own devices, the Drones became confused.
The signal was passed along the human forward lines across Paragon and the U.S., and the counteroffensive began in earnest. They didn't have long before the Drone Gestalt resumed control, maybe hours, maybe a days; but they could advance, and they did.
Not a War won, but certainly a battle.
When the eerie green light faded, Biff stood carefully, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his forearm. He replaced his helmet (when had it been knocked off?) His HUD no longer read the solid red mass of a Drone Rapid Response. In it's place was...green. So many human life signs that it appeared to be one solid lump.
He stood, shielding his eyes from the sun, and saw a thousand thousand dark haired youths, male and female. All slightly different, but each bore the same resemblance.
"Mike?" Biff asked.
A thousand thousand smiles answered him in the sun.
"Nice play, Biff," they answered in unison.
Last edited by Misericorde on Tue Jul 18, 2006 1:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Origin: 1200–50; ME misericorde lit., pity, mercy, an act of clemency
misericordia pity, equiv. to misericord- (s. of misericors) compassionate
(miseri-, s. of miserēre to pity + cord- s. of cor heart) + -ia -y 3
misericordia pity, equiv. to misericord- (s. of misericors) compassionate
(miseri-, s. of miserēre to pity + cord- s. of cor heart) + -ia -y 3
-
palilla
The two vehicles ground to a halt. From here, the three of them in the HUM-V could see the fighting. It was a bad situation. Occaisionally, some hotshot pilot would fly in, and napalm a stretch of Rikti, or fire a ful pack of Wasp 4's into a group, only to be hit by a Rikti Flyer. Paula's blood boiled.
"Okay, hombre's. Dis is it," she said with a tone of finality. "I never promised we would make to sunset, so no whinin', okay?"
"Sure thing, Palilla," Julius smirked.
"Yeah. We got unfinished turf issues to resolve," Flux said with a grin. "Me, Julius, and our boys are gonna go straighten this out. Seems the Marines have their hands full, and need some help. Right, Jules?"
"You got it, Flux! We tough," the Troll chuckled.
The two were just starting to get out of the vehicle when a purple-white beam of energy slammed into the truck bearing the Trolls and Outcasts, vaporizing it in a massive flash and glow. Before the latin woman could do anything, her two partners were out, and after the flyer that shot the beam. Julius dug a huge boulder up, and hurled it at the flyer, while Flux threw caution to the wind and flew after it, drawing several drones to him in the process.
Paula nailed the gas, and pulled into a nearly intact building, and was floored, when she saw two dozen marines hiding in there, with weapons at the ready. Suddenly, she was jeked out of the vehicle, and tossed over to the side, and orders were being barked as three men jumped into the vehicle. Getting back up, a soldier drew his shot gun on her, and Palilla looked annoyed, before being dumbfounded by the forcefield generator cranking up on the Hummer.
The vehicle drove back out, with Marines suddenly yelling a charge, and firing rockets and grenades at the flyer, whild Flux drew more drones, ever closer to him. When he had nearly ten, it looked like, in close proximity, he suddenly became an electrical ball, exploding in three almost nova like bursts (Electrical Field, Ball Lightning, and Short Circuit). In no time the drones started taking damage, and eventually even fell.
A cheer and shout went up, and the Marines charged off, with the vehicle. Paula looked around, and saw Julius, kneeling beside Flux. A sudden wave of pity, shock, and sadness went through the woman as she approached, seeing the Troll holding his friend. She knew this sight. It was show over for Flux.
"Jules," he coughed and sputtered. "Did I get 'em?"
"Yeah, Flux. You da Outcast," the wirey Troll said nodding his head. "Flyer and seven drones! We help Marines big!"
Flux smiled and shivered a little. Paula watched for a few moments, then turned away. Flux had been er confidant, and even supplied her with gear when she needed it. And now she had led him to his death. But, she knew he would have bragging rights in that alleyway in the sky. And, that helped a little. Julius stepped up, and placed his hand on the hispanic's shoulder and nodded gruffly.
"We got job to do," he said. "Let's give Rikti beat down."
"Yeah," she nodded. "For Flux!"
"For Home," he corrected.
"For Home," she smiled and agreed.
"Okay, hombre's. Dis is it," she said with a tone of finality. "I never promised we would make to sunset, so no whinin', okay?"
"Sure thing, Palilla," Julius smirked.
"Yeah. We got unfinished turf issues to resolve," Flux said with a grin. "Me, Julius, and our boys are gonna go straighten this out. Seems the Marines have their hands full, and need some help. Right, Jules?"
"You got it, Flux! We tough," the Troll chuckled.
The two were just starting to get out of the vehicle when a purple-white beam of energy slammed into the truck bearing the Trolls and Outcasts, vaporizing it in a massive flash and glow. Before the latin woman could do anything, her two partners were out, and after the flyer that shot the beam. Julius dug a huge boulder up, and hurled it at the flyer, while Flux threw caution to the wind and flew after it, drawing several drones to him in the process.
Paula nailed the gas, and pulled into a nearly intact building, and was floored, when she saw two dozen marines hiding in there, with weapons at the ready. Suddenly, she was jeked out of the vehicle, and tossed over to the side, and orders were being barked as three men jumped into the vehicle. Getting back up, a soldier drew his shot gun on her, and Palilla looked annoyed, before being dumbfounded by the forcefield generator cranking up on the Hummer.
The vehicle drove back out, with Marines suddenly yelling a charge, and firing rockets and grenades at the flyer, whild Flux drew more drones, ever closer to him. When he had nearly ten, it looked like, in close proximity, he suddenly became an electrical ball, exploding in three almost nova like bursts (Electrical Field, Ball Lightning, and Short Circuit). In no time the drones started taking damage, and eventually even fell.
A cheer and shout went up, and the Marines charged off, with the vehicle. Paula looked around, and saw Julius, kneeling beside Flux. A sudden wave of pity, shock, and sadness went through the woman as she approached, seeing the Troll holding his friend. She knew this sight. It was show over for Flux.
"Jules," he coughed and sputtered. "Did I get 'em?"
"Yeah, Flux. You da Outcast," the wirey Troll said nodding his head. "Flyer and seven drones! We help Marines big!"
Flux smiled and shivered a little. Paula watched for a few moments, then turned away. Flux had been er confidant, and even supplied her with gear when she needed it. And now she had led him to his death. But, she knew he would have bragging rights in that alleyway in the sky. And, that helped a little. Julius stepped up, and placed his hand on the hispanic's shoulder and nodded gruffly.
"We got job to do," he said. "Let's give Rikti beat down."
"Yeah," she nodded. "For Flux!"
"For Home," he corrected.
"For Home," she smiled and agreed.
-
Eric Copper
- Posts: 569
- Joined: Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:49 pm
- Location: Back in Paragon. Yay!!!!!!!
- Contact:
Eric crouched in the rubble of what used to be a supermarket, in Boomtown. A few hundred yards away, he could see the Rikti drones and soldiers moving about. Somewhere out there, a mile or so in the distance, was one of the Rikti's major portals back to their home world. He was surprised he'd been able to get this close without being detected. Then again, he hadn't used his powers yet.
Settling down in a well-concealed corner, Eric pulled out a hypodermic needle filled with a bluish-gray liquid. As he prepared his arm for the shot, his mind wandered.
"When you get in position, you'll need to inject this into your arm." Glacial Mass handed Eric a hypodermic needle in a protective case. "It'll greatly amplify your powers, letting you reach the objective and complete the mission. It'll also give your body a high regeneration factor."
"If it amplifies powers, then why isn't it being used by everyone?" Eric asked as he slipped the needle into a pocket in his jacket. He would be dressed casually for this mission, and it was chilly out there this time of year.
Glacial looked down at the floor awkwardly. "It's... lethal. It continues amplifying your powers over time. After a while, your body and mind will start to feel strain from it. The regeneration can keep up for the first hour or two, but afterwards..." His voice trailed off, not wanting to finish the thought.
Eric frowned. "Don't worry. I'll have met the objective long before the drug becomes a problem."
Grimacing, Eric slipped the needle into his arm and pumped the drug into his blood stream. He then sat back to wait, letting the drug start taking effect.
A few minutes later, he crept out of hiding and looked out in the distance again. The Rikti were still crawling all over the place, as he knew they would be. "This isn't gonna be easy..." he muttered to himself. He then closed his eyes and opened up his kinetic senses, letting them reach out as far as he could. He was shocked to realize he could sense things several times further away than he had before... and the range seemed to be still growing. Off in the distance, he finally found what he was looking for: the Rikti portal.
His eyes sprung open and he leaped out from the rubble and took to flight. Already the drones were flying at him. As he neared them, he came to a stop and reach out his hand towards the closest drone and pulled, draining energy from the drone into himself. He gaped as he watched the drone fall from the sky and thud to the ground. He'd drained all its energy. He felt it coursing through him, more than he'd ever taken in before. A grin popped on his face as he quickly drained the other half dozen drones that had come to neutralize him.
The grin faded quickly as dozens more drones came racing towards him. He concentrated for a moment, and powerful pulses of kinetic force started emanating from his body. Anything within 50 yards of him suddenly found itself flung violenty away, landing several hundred yards away. He began flying towards his destination as more and more drones tried to get to him, only to be flung away again and again. Flying faster than he believed possible, he periodically reached out and pulled in more energy to keep himself and his defenses going.
It didn't seem to take very long before Eric was penetrating the main Rikti defenses. Laser beams shot through his kinetic pulses, and Eric was as surprised as the Rikti when he easily absorbed the energy into his body. He felt nearly invincible as he plowed through the soliders and drones, coming finally to a stop a mere dozen yards away from the portal. He intensified the pulses, easily clearing out anything within a few hundred yards.
As he paused looking at the portal, the pain in his body finally registered in his mind. His powers were still amplifying, and now his body was starting to bear the cost. He frowned, but realized it wouldn't matter for much longer. In defiance of protocol, he flicked on his comm, then whispered, "I love you, Alex." He then flung himself towards the portal.
Settling down in a well-concealed corner, Eric pulled out a hypodermic needle filled with a bluish-gray liquid. As he prepared his arm for the shot, his mind wandered.
"When you get in position, you'll need to inject this into your arm." Glacial Mass handed Eric a hypodermic needle in a protective case. "It'll greatly amplify your powers, letting you reach the objective and complete the mission. It'll also give your body a high regeneration factor."
"If it amplifies powers, then why isn't it being used by everyone?" Eric asked as he slipped the needle into a pocket in his jacket. He would be dressed casually for this mission, and it was chilly out there this time of year.
Glacial looked down at the floor awkwardly. "It's... lethal. It continues amplifying your powers over time. After a while, your body and mind will start to feel strain from it. The regeneration can keep up for the first hour or two, but afterwards..." His voice trailed off, not wanting to finish the thought.
Eric frowned. "Don't worry. I'll have met the objective long before the drug becomes a problem."
Grimacing, Eric slipped the needle into his arm and pumped the drug into his blood stream. He then sat back to wait, letting the drug start taking effect.
A few minutes later, he crept out of hiding and looked out in the distance again. The Rikti were still crawling all over the place, as he knew they would be. "This isn't gonna be easy..." he muttered to himself. He then closed his eyes and opened up his kinetic senses, letting them reach out as far as he could. He was shocked to realize he could sense things several times further away than he had before... and the range seemed to be still growing. Off in the distance, he finally found what he was looking for: the Rikti portal.
His eyes sprung open and he leaped out from the rubble and took to flight. Already the drones were flying at him. As he neared them, he came to a stop and reach out his hand towards the closest drone and pulled, draining energy from the drone into himself. He gaped as he watched the drone fall from the sky and thud to the ground. He'd drained all its energy. He felt it coursing through him, more than he'd ever taken in before. A grin popped on his face as he quickly drained the other half dozen drones that had come to neutralize him.
The grin faded quickly as dozens more drones came racing towards him. He concentrated for a moment, and powerful pulses of kinetic force started emanating from his body. Anything within 50 yards of him suddenly found itself flung violenty away, landing several hundred yards away. He began flying towards his destination as more and more drones tried to get to him, only to be flung away again and again. Flying faster than he believed possible, he periodically reached out and pulled in more energy to keep himself and his defenses going.
It didn't seem to take very long before Eric was penetrating the main Rikti defenses. Laser beams shot through his kinetic pulses, and Eric was as surprised as the Rikti when he easily absorbed the energy into his body. He felt nearly invincible as he plowed through the soliders and drones, coming finally to a stop a mere dozen yards away from the portal. He intensified the pulses, easily clearing out anything within a few hundred yards.
As he paused looking at the portal, the pain in his body finally registered in his mind. His powers were still amplifying, and now his body was starting to bear the cost. He frowned, but realized it wouldn't matter for much longer. In defiance of protocol, he flicked on his comm, then whispered, "I love you, Alex." He then flung himself towards the portal.
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Glacial Mass
- Posts: 215
- Joined: Thu May 25, 2006 1:18 pm
- Location: Back in Paragon!
- Contact:
Glacial Mass stood on top of a building in Steel Canyon. Many years ago, when they were still in high school, this had been one of their favorite places to hang out at, alone, way up above the city. He had his comm switched on, knowing that Eric cared little about protocol, hoping against hope that he'd hear something that would somehow miraculously make everything okay again. The comm suddenly burst into static, then Glacial heard the whispered voice that he knew so well. "I love you, Alex". No, please, no, he thought.
"I love you too, Er--" The sky then exploded with blinding light, blazing brighter than anything he'd ever seen before. A shock wave followed, almost causing Glacial to lose his footing.
"Eric."
Glacial hadn't felt cold in so long it took him a moment to realize that was what he was feeling. His skin wasn't prickling to goosebumps, but this feeling was cold, arctic, a living animal of cold with icicles for teeth, gnawing him hollow. There was no more future, lacking Eric; only the present, a nightmare, and the past.
He remembered for a moment Eric's warm, soft arms around his bare chest, breath from Eric's nose tickling his neck. Eric had come to not mind the cold after two years of living together after graduating from college. The day was warm and sweet, and they had each other. He would make Eric breakfast, eventually, but first a little more time in bed, a little more time spent listening to his sleeping love's breathing.
An alarm shook him from his reverie. Warning, blared a synthesized voice into his ears. Approaching containment breach.
He glanced into the corner of his HUD. -65 degrees Celsius. He had slipped. Lock it down, Alex. He did. His temperature started to climb. The siren in his ear stopped.
His superior was surprised to see that he had reverted to his ice form. "The portal is destroyed, sir," he told him. He was frozen-eyed, frozen-skinned, and he would not permit himself to thaw again.
"I love you too, Er--" The sky then exploded with blinding light, blazing brighter than anything he'd ever seen before. A shock wave followed, almost causing Glacial to lose his footing.
"Eric."
Glacial hadn't felt cold in so long it took him a moment to realize that was what he was feeling. His skin wasn't prickling to goosebumps, but this feeling was cold, arctic, a living animal of cold with icicles for teeth, gnawing him hollow. There was no more future, lacking Eric; only the present, a nightmare, and the past.
He remembered for a moment Eric's warm, soft arms around his bare chest, breath from Eric's nose tickling his neck. Eric had come to not mind the cold after two years of living together after graduating from college. The day was warm and sweet, and they had each other. He would make Eric breakfast, eventually, but first a little more time in bed, a little more time spent listening to his sleeping love's breathing.
An alarm shook him from his reverie. Warning, blared a synthesized voice into his ears. Approaching containment breach.
He glanced into the corner of his HUD. -65 degrees Celsius. He had slipped. Lock it down, Alex. He did. His temperature started to climb. The siren in his ear stopped.
His superior was surprised to see that he had reverted to his ice form. "The portal is destroyed, sir," he told him. He was frozen-eyed, frozen-skinned, and he would not permit himself to thaw again.
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palilla
Palilla and Julius hustled their way through the husks of buildings and fallen skyway toward the fighting. Along the way, she picked up a Council rifle, and noted it had some sort of energy cell, reading 83%. So long as she could point and shoot, she didn't care. Once it became useless as a ranged weapon, she would use it as a melee weapon.
She considered, for a moment, that her invulnerability, so long as she kept it to the passive stuff would be usefull, but, that ramping it up to be unstoppable would be both suicidal and futile, if there were more drones. Shouting of joy, and renewed morale was heard, meaning the hummer and reinforcements had gotten to the battle.
Arriving at the scene, it was utter chaos, but the soldiers were fighting admirably, mainly due to the superior weapons that had been supplied by their recent Council allies. Indeed, it helped to give the Humans a defensive edge to use the higher technology, and may ater have other consequences, but for the moment it was the only viable way to fight this seemingly losing war.
Looking around, Pally suddenly felt cold in the pit of her stomache, when she realized that Julius was no longer there. Where had he gone? Not getting much time to think on it, she came under fire, and began in earnest to fight back against her attackers. From out of manholes she saw swarms of Lost rising to join the fray!
"Mierda," she exclaimed as she blasted a Headman Rifleman. "Go back down da toilet, joo sewer rats!"
She considered, for a moment, that her invulnerability, so long as she kept it to the passive stuff would be usefull, but, that ramping it up to be unstoppable would be both suicidal and futile, if there were more drones. Shouting of joy, and renewed morale was heard, meaning the hummer and reinforcements had gotten to the battle.
Arriving at the scene, it was utter chaos, but the soldiers were fighting admirably, mainly due to the superior weapons that had been supplied by their recent Council allies. Indeed, it helped to give the Humans a defensive edge to use the higher technology, and may ater have other consequences, but for the moment it was the only viable way to fight this seemingly losing war.
Looking around, Pally suddenly felt cold in the pit of her stomache, when she realized that Julius was no longer there. Where had he gone? Not getting much time to think on it, she came under fire, and began in earnest to fight back against her attackers. From out of manholes she saw swarms of Lost rising to join the fray!
"Mierda," she exclaimed as she blasted a Headman Rifleman. "Go back down da toilet, joo sewer rats!"
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palilla
From out of manholes she saw swarms of Lost rising to join the fray! It had been no secret, really, that the Lost were merely the puppets of the Rikti, and as such often were the first wave of any assault. However, this was different. These guys had waited to attack until after both sides were deeply engaged.
"Mierda," she exclaimed as she blasted a Headman Rifleman. "Go back down da toilet, joo sewer rats!"
A swordsman knocked the still youthfull looking latin woman back, and hopped over her to deal a death blow, but was saddly mistaken, when she hauled the mace out of its D-Sheath, parrying the blow. Hopping back to her feet, the surprised mutate ran, like a coward. Rage surged through her veins, and Paula ran after him, bashing any of the other twisted former humans who dared try to slow her persuit.
Soon she had him cornered, and he grinned, well that's what it looked like, as he turned. From several well hidden spots Rikti Conscripts stepped out, and leveled their rifles. Before anyone could say a word, a boulder smashed down on top of the Swordsman, and several roaring yells were heard, as Julius and a handful od Trolls wearing the remnants of police or military uniforms charged into action.
In the confusion and chaos, Palilla was hit in the head, and dazed. As she stumbled about, the whistles of artillery rounds, and the sizzles of heavy laser fire were heard, as the scene became even more hellish. Somehow she had gotten caught in between the two juggernauts of battling Armor Units. A blast sent the latina flying, and a nearby service entrance to the tram system began looking inviting. What the hell was she doing here?! Maybe she just needed to sit down for a second, and sort it all out... Meanwhile, the battle raged all around the dazed civilian volunteer.
"Mierda," she exclaimed as she blasted a Headman Rifleman. "Go back down da toilet, joo sewer rats!"
A swordsman knocked the still youthfull looking latin woman back, and hopped over her to deal a death blow, but was saddly mistaken, when she hauled the mace out of its D-Sheath, parrying the blow. Hopping back to her feet, the surprised mutate ran, like a coward. Rage surged through her veins, and Paula ran after him, bashing any of the other twisted former humans who dared try to slow her persuit.
Soon she had him cornered, and he grinned, well that's what it looked like, as he turned. From several well hidden spots Rikti Conscripts stepped out, and leveled their rifles. Before anyone could say a word, a boulder smashed down on top of the Swordsman, and several roaring yells were heard, as Julius and a handful od Trolls wearing the remnants of police or military uniforms charged into action.
In the confusion and chaos, Palilla was hit in the head, and dazed. As she stumbled about, the whistles of artillery rounds, and the sizzles of heavy laser fire were heard, as the scene became even more hellish. Somehow she had gotten caught in between the two juggernauts of battling Armor Units. A blast sent the latina flying, and a nearby service entrance to the tram system began looking inviting. What the hell was she doing here?! Maybe she just needed to sit down for a second, and sort it all out... Meanwhile, the battle raged all around the dazed civilian volunteer.
I am an American soldier.
“ GO GO GO!!” a shout from one of the commanding soldiers, it was chaos Ritiki Human, those where the only two forces on the battlefield. It didn’t matter anymore, if you where American, Council, Gang, a Capo, Nemesis. Ritiki energy weapons fire busted around Sgt. Plutonium as she sprinted her gun held up on her chest. She skipped over a foxhole full of chard remains. The smell that could be described as death, the skies blacked out by smoke. The sound of a heavy machine gun roared like a dragon spewing flames of depleted uranium, the air parts around the shells screaming out indiscriminant of what kind of life it takes, once unleashed the shells almost longed to take life.
“MOVE UP MOVE UP!” soldiers leaped out of foxholes and from behind walls and began to push up the human lines. Weapons fire sprayed out the Sgt. knelt and brought her rifle’s barrels down range a soldier ran in front of her and dropped to his knees not even waiting to hit the ground before he let lose. She gritted her teeth knowing that she almost put a group of three in his back “Friendly fire is not”. Once her view was clear she let lose. Rounds tatted off, muzzle flash and then it was get up and move hitting her knees and then dripping to the ground. Over her head a blast from a Ritiki rifle zoomed past her and then the body of a Ritiki. It was so disorientating so much going on so many different uniforms agents one alien menace. A shell blast almost knocked her out. She looked around not recognizing any of the people around her. She had lost her squad when they started to receive fire on the way down, but she wasn’t alone and that was good.
She scrambled to her knees then to her feet several soldiers running past her. She watched the fire squad move up on a house. Her eye was on that of one of the soldiers carrying a tank on his back and a long pipe looking weapon with a blue flame coming out the tip. Ritiki infantry where held up in the home they where advancing on she helped lay suppressive fire on one of the windows. “BURN EM OUT!!” she herd as the flamethrower moved up two the door one of the soldiers slammed his foot on the door and then two tossed grenades into the open door, a loud bang shook the house and weapons fire stopped and the flame thrower went in there was nothing more to see as flames bleached out form the innards of the house. She moved on and meet up with the heavy gunner of one of the attacking squads. A small dirt burm was the only thing separating an enemy fire line from them.
I am a warrior and a member of a team.
Her green eyes scanned the field for a moment. To her right and left soldiers where pinned down with Ritiki troops halting the advance. She turned to the gunner next to her and yelled at him. He did not respond to her the loud sound of the weapon droned out her German accent. Angrily she slammed her hand on his helmet he stopped and looked at her as if it say “WHAT!?” she pointed to the troops on the left “Supporting fire on that team!” he nodded and readjusted his weapon to support forward troops being held up. She looked back and saw a corporal behind a wall she waved him up and turned and put her hand back on her weapon and released three rounds into a Ritiki soldier. She herd a thump next to her over the weapons fire the corporal laid next to her squinting and panting from the rush of adrenalin from the fight.
“Sergeant!?”
“Take what’s left of jor squad and redirect v’weapons fire to zeh left flank!”
The corporal nodded and got up sprinting back to his last position. She stood and waved more soldiers to the right flank of the line. Though medium weapons fire breaking and exploding energy weapons erupted when the soldiers started to run, behind her about five soldiers fallowed up each finding cover and firing as more moved up creating a fire squad that was able to make it to a large ruined structure. Her weapon looked around the side of the building and she was able to see out of her gun cam. The cams crosshairs zeroed on a soldier and let loose. It went down in a spray and then another, the Ritiki took cover and more troops made there way along the safety of the side of the building that Sgt. Pluto occupied. The corporals fire squad was in position as she noticed the attention of the Ritiki started to stray form her troops and then to the squad. She noticed also the machine gunner wasn’t firing his weapon anymore.
A few moments passed and with the Ritiki’s attention almost fully of the other troops A Lt. taped her arm and she moved away form her position along the wall. He looked around the corner quickly and all of the troops behind him poised ready for a charge. He signaled for a three man team, looking back at the situation still going in there favor. Then his hand signals 2 fire teams around the building. The Sgt was leading the second fire team from her position. It was almost time. Here it came. Her stomach clenched and she could hear herself breath if she listen closely her heart pounded in her chest below the reflective armored polymers. The Lt. made a finale look and then called up his support fire soldier’s one of them a council soldier they lend around the corner then aimed and let loose getting the attention of the exposed flank of the Ritiki held up behind some walls and debris. The first three did nothing but haul ass around the support fire team charging the ducking Ritiki shots where fired back but resulted in the death of the ones trying to counter the blitz. The first member stopped knelt and let loose. The second one ran past and made it to cover. The Second was received by the third and he knelt and covered the first. Then the third moved up. First team made it now it was The Sgt.’s turn. She clenched and run this time the Ritiki where able to return more fire. Her squad mate ran past her then as the second came up she felt a tap on her shoulder and as she went to get up she felt a snag and weight on her back looking back to see what it was the burnt cauterized face of the third member of her team was dead and crispy from energy weapons fire.
She jumped in horror as she tried to get away but as the dead soldiers weight held her in its grasp. She yelped and screamed flipping out on the ground trying to get away from him kicking and screaming. There was a tug on her jacket still focused on the body she was being pulled away from the body her weapon still laying out in the field between the building and an overturned truck where she came under cover. In front was a soldier with a medical arm band and a red cross on his helm.
“Are you alright are you hurt?” He screamed over the weapons fire.
Her heart was pounding harder almost as if it was going to leap out of her chest. Her hands searched herself not feeling pain focus came back after a moment as a slap across her face from the medic
“HEY Are you ok!?” he asked again and looked up at him surprised. Taking notice to who it was, PFC Simmons. It was good to see a familure face. His was gritty and dirty and blood soaked, but it was still a face. She nodded and was pulled to her feet by Simmons who as she was about to asked shoved her weapon into her hands and then turned to return fire around the other side of the truck. The Ritiki weapons fire dented and sizzled the metal around the truck. The low pounding thuds of the impact managed to shake dust from the over turned truck.
They positioned agent for another rush up to the actual wall where the Ritiki where, there numbers where dwindling in this area but the fighting was still fierce on the battle field.
“FRAG OUT!” As one of the men tossed a HE grenade he lobed the thing over the trucks frame and the arch was amusing. It was not surprising that he could throw everyone became familure with grenades and landmines when it came to urban war.
After the blast another solder came sprinting up slamming agents the frame to a dead stop he carried and interesting looking weapon. It was a large caliber and had this large drum that made it look like a stubby oversized shot gun. There was an M-8 over slung and his pack looked heavy. He adjusted his high tech helm and motioned for cover fire. One of the soldiers leaned out and started to let loose. Then there soldier with the large weapon step out and leveled his weapon. Holding for a moment he pulled the trigger and a thump came from the barrel and he ducked back down.
The grenade was a devious weapon called airburst Sgt. Plutonium was familiar with its inner workings as the explosion was herd the soldiers took the opportune moment to form another fire squad and move up there position from the truck. She knew once the grenade arched over the wall it would explode into many, many bits of AP schrapnaled raining down over the Ritiki hiding behind it mercilessly eliminating what it could.
There was more running and stopping and shooting. Then the soldiers slammed agents the wall on the left and right where breaks and low points where they saw energy weapons level and fire behind them they could hear the native tong of the aliens barking orders and as much chaos that the human side was enduring. There where 6 people along the wall and they could see the rest of the soldiers fallowing up. Simmons was right next to her looking left at the other solders panting and waiting for some kind of order. Panting and confusion took place as Sgt. gave the order to push on.
On of the breaks seemed to silence and that was the break they all gathered near the 4 foot opening in the wall and the grenadier lowered his mighty weapon and brought up his assault rifle. Simmons clenched his and two others lobed there grenades over the wall to the other side. Loud thuds and then a weapon landed in front of there position and they charged in Pluto getting in second taking the right side the fire team broke the Ritiki hold and pierced though like a dagger through skin. It was almost a turkey shoot as the foreign soldiers scattered to find new cover. There must have been a whole platoon behind this wall.
Pluto dropped a clip slamming another in her weapon shook with furry as it unleashed death upon her foes. She happened to take her eye off her covering position looking over at Simmons who had his eye off his. A Ritiki conscript charged at him with one of those energy blades. In its eye a furious rage that couldn’t be stopped. She brought barrel of her assault weapon to bear and let loose a round of three into its chest. That didn’t stop the zealous conscript. It took three more before he plowed dead into Simmons knocking him over into Sgt. Pluto. The squad moved around them to provide cover fire till they could get on here feet. This time it was Sgt. Plutonium helping the medic to his feet.
I will always place the mission first.
She knew that she was important, so did they. She stuck out like a sour thumb to the Ritiki headmen being the only soldier with all black and the most advanced display of armor and weapons. She was no good to the humans dead but she had to get though this line to get to the forward command. The objective must be achieved. I must live. I do it for mankind and I do it for my squad mates, for my home, for my friends, for my people.
I will never accept defeat.
The Grenadier brought his weapon to bear again the large weapon almost made it to success but was silenced by his users abrupt death, they didn’t have cover even though the Ritiki had there minds off the reinforcements it wasn’t enough time. She needed to buy more time. 6 became 4 as another was hit hard by the concussive blast of an energy rifle and was sent flying a few feet to the ground. The wall was 10 feet from a partly intact structure. She screamed for the rest of the member s left to take cover as they darted into the building she dragged Simmons behind her by the vest. Not wanting to let go. The doors where all but taken off but once they entered the fire stopped for a moment two of the soldiers fallowed the Sgt. and the medic into the building they made there way around the corner in the lobby behind a fallen beam.
Conventional weapons fire was echoing off the walls from the two coving the medic she was on her knees her gun to her side her breath heavy she was weekend from the rush, longing for the days where she would sit at her desk staring out into the courtyard of the school at St. Josephs. She couldn’t go back.
“This is my future I have to keep going, I wont lose to them…never…” she mumbled words of self confidence. “Get up you can do it. You know you can, get up and keep going you made it this far! Don’t quit.”
The PFC looked at her then back at the two soldiers holding the door. No activity but there was a lot of weapons fire outside. She only hoped that the sacrifice of the men was enough to give the flanking maneuver a chance at breaking the line. She stood up, both men looking at her the looks on there faces where grimace. Worry fear, they where young, they have seen more than there fair share of this war. They like her longed for peaceful days that would never come.
“Alright” she said confidently. “There still out there and we are not safe. There are only four of us but it’s out duty to do this. I v’ant Jo two take point me unt, zeh PFC will fallow jo out I v’ill cover jo and we can split zeh line long enough for reinforcement.”
They nodded and so did she and they advance on the door again. Once at the openings to the building they could see the Ritiki taking there defensive positions once again from either side.
“Grenades?” she asked and her small team shook there heads and she mumbled “Damn”
Looking out she noticed 5 feet from the door was the grenade launcher full of the airburst grenades. This would take out 5 or 6 at a time it was what they needed. She looked at them they looked back there was a nod and they stepped out. Glory and guns fired there was a silence as the world slowed the two leads dropped prone on the ground. There weapons fired and they started breaking up the lines. From either side they where out numbered heavily. It wasn’t good but it was something. PFC Simmons leaned out of the buildings opening using it for cover as he shot and dodged the slow moving bolts of energy. Pluto did the same. There was a moment of confusion as if they where just forgotten about. There IFF codes prevented any more area friendly fire because it would only take one grenade to take out these heroes.
They could hear friendly units moving up they where close just a little more her gun cam locked onto a familiar target. There was a Chief Soldier standing there on the right side his rifle out and his alien tong barked orders. Soon aware of the failing lines he turned and noticed the intrusion from the Sgt.’s team. Pluto locked on and under heavy fire and let lose the bullets tore down range screaming but only dented and ricochet off the heavy battle armor. Again she let more off little to no effect on the Ritiki. It did however anger him as he reached behind him and unlatched the blood splattered energy sword he roared and started a charge summoning a charge of the others around him they all brought there weapons to bear and started to run seeming like the whole right flank of the defense was bearing down on them in a 10 foot clearance.
Her gun clicked dry, it was time for some fast thinking she ducked back behind the wall and then looked over noticing the black steel grenade launcher still sitting there calling for her to use its brilliance. She pulled back then dove into the fire and landed next to the weapon reaching out, grabbing it, rolling on her back, leveling the barrel, trigger pulled the grenade thumped from the barrel and a loud explosion shot super heated schrapnaled over the chargers. The Chiefs whole line was decimated but he stood still her armor not so shiny. She could see shards of the grenade imbedded in the advanced chromatic polymer armor. Knocked over the alien stood then charged again his word to bear. Leaping into the air she couldn’t do anything the grenade launcher would kill them all at this range. “Oh SHIT!” she tossed the weapon and scooted back as much as she could before the blade crashed and fractured the concrete between her legs.
I will never quit.
She scooted back some more rolling to her side next to a Ritiki sword. She ducked back down feeling the edge of the blade knick her helmet taking a chuck of the Kevlar off. To close. She struggled to her feet her and on the handle of the blade feeing a metallic foot drives into her side. She was sent a few feet with the sword in her hand. Disoriented she rolled to her back seeing this menacing battle armor fury and rage his sword over his head executioner style. With all the armors strength the weapon came down, she brought the one she had to deflect it they both meet the swords clashed sparks shooting out like fireworks. Her own blade driven down into her chest, his bouncing back, sending him a few steps back. She struggled to her feet and wile he was still recovering lunged into his mid section knocking him back more. She stumbled back a few feet and reached back gripping the very heavy blade with two hands and started to swing it slowly in a horizontal slash.
“DIE!” She screamed in a blood lusted furry however futal her atemps may have been. The Ritiki recovered and blocked shoving her own blade away and swung his with deadly precision back. Pluto was knocked off balance and stumbled to her side and once she looked back up, she barley got her blade in the way of the Chief Soldiers she was clearly out matched.
A feminine yelp came from her as she fell to the ground almost knocked cold. One half of her blade landed on one side of her and the rest of it in her hand. She looked with grimace at the broken weapon and gritted her teeth and looked over her shoulder and rolled to her side. Again the Soldier brought his weapon above his head. The sword was lighter looking back at it she saw it broke. Desperate she reached for her bayonet on her chest and with the quick release straps it broke open and she jabbed out into the breaks in the mid section of the soldier’s armor. It went strait though more difficult than she had thought but immediately the Ritiki lost his motivation and let loose a horrid howl. It stepped back a moment looking down at the blade then her. She stared back at it in defiance.
Angrily the Ritiki was more enraged than anything going to swing his weapons again there was a pause in its movements as it was knocked slightly over by a volley of heavy weapons fire. Sparks light and sounds of tings and metal tearing open into flesh. It stood stunned as half of its suit looked as if it had been ripped into. Then again another final volley of depleted uranium salvoes tore out into the air and into the Ritiki, this time the volley didn’t stop till there was nothing but a discolored gooie body in a metal husk. She laid there on her butt one hand holding her up, her arm lowered from her face. Looking at the mangled Ritiki, her breath heavy and she panted her heart about to leap though her thought.
I will never leave a fallen comrade.
She looked over hearing a groan and saw one of the soldiers that had fallowed her out he was in bad shape hit a few times still alive. She struggled to her feet weapons where still discharging all around her. She struggled over to him and looked him over; she knew he was safe to move he needed to be moved. She struggled to get him into the building. Soldiers where lined up agents the wall she had cover fire. Agents her better judgment she moved the other three dead soldiers out of the line of fire between the two sides there right flank decimated.
She took a moment to look at PFC Simmons. His eyes where still open no pulse. “So many losses….” She said silently and took her fingers closing the lids and gently stroked his check. She regretted never telling him thank you for the kindness that he showed her. She didn’t know if it was because he was just doing his job, or he really did care. It didn’t matter, kindness always went along way with the Sgt. She looked down and said a small prayer for him and then stood up noticing a field medic was already on him from the reinforcing soldiers.
I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills. I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.
The Sgt ran over to her weapon, picking it up and dropping the clip to the ground and shoving another into the gun she checked the weapon knowing she dropped it carelessly a few times in the past. Everything seemed to work, her pockets where empty. She looked down at the corps of Simmons. She leaned down and took what clips he had left, then the other dead member of the group. She ducked out of the building and joined the rest of the fight.
I am an expert and I am a professional.
The fight was dying down by this time. The Ritiki offense dwindled as it reached there position and the human counter offensive was about to start. She needed to get to the Forward command and she could not afford to waste more time. She ran with soldiers for a moment and ducked into an ally heading south east. Around each corner her gun lined up along the wall her cam showed her what was on the other side. A communications officer and a few conscripts. Her thumb switched to single fire mode and lined up the shot. One, Two……….Three, they went down each a bullet to there head. She darted across the street. Stopping in the middle she herd the low hum of an enemy tank.
Armor …
She darted back into one of the alleyways. And down another street, she knelt behind a dumpster turned over in the street and looked to her computers display. Flipping it open the LCD display opened up static and obvious damage and abuse from the fighting has taken its tole on the display unit. She was able to make out the skyway map and her current location. She nodded to herself and started off correcting her cores.
The yelling and the screaming of both sides where herd down every street, down every corner, though the air and in the sky, the blaze was rising from a building this sector seemed to be the place a battle recently took place. Corps lined the streets both sides. Soldiers of both sides and all creeds lay. It was a graveyard no living soul existed here but her. She walked slowly to the south more fighting could be herd. Overhead shells fired from rear positions zinged and screamed overhear head. She stood a moment in front of a downed Comanche attack helicopter. Her gun held tight agents her chest ready for anything she looked at the energy blasts that scorched the hull of the stealth chopper. The damage was extensive and the fire belching form the cockpit was a clear sign no survivors.
Something caught here ear. In one of the fox holes groaning, her hopes where high she hated being alone. She trotted to the near by crater and a soldier was lying on top of a Ritiki. She scrambled down the two foot burm and into the hole reaching down and grabbing the shoulder of the soldier pulling him on his back. He was dead… Below him the Ritiki its eyes blinked and a knife shoved in its chest. They both starred at each other for a moment, both silent her weapon clinked onto burst mode. The soldier knew what was coming his leg busted with bleeding holes and his chest carved up by a knife but he was still clinged to life.
I stand ready to deply, engage and destory the enemies of the United States of America in close combat
“You know I should kill you now...” she said with great hate.
“I have a feeling zeh suffering is enough alone…”
She shot a death glare at her opponent and started to move away. She stopped and her eyes went wide as its eyes shot one back and with its remaining strength it reached out grabbing an energy blaster. It was a split moment there weapons came at each other both pointed at each other at the same moment his bleeding hand pulled its finger back and her black clove retracted on the trigger. 4 sounds rang out on the empty field. Three conventional tearing into the soldier’s chest a spray of alien blood and bone cracks as the bullets slaughtered there target. The blast form the plasma pistol busted with full charge on her sides. The fabric from her uniform incinerated as it struck her. She fell back onto the opposite side of the burm. The plates from the energy absorbing armor glowed and scorched, below that her skin exposed from the point blank blast a wound burned into her skin cauterizing any bleeding but singeing and scorching the flesh into crisp. She screamed and fell back dropping her weapon, pain flowing though her she was on the edge couldn’t hold on as she winced and cried over the wound. Her hear beat slowed and finally her body could not take the abuse anymore. She fell there on the battlefield.
This cant be it… I must survive…
She fumbled into her pack. There it was the key to life. She stabbed it into her leg, the pain she did not feel the burn was to much the smell of boiling flesh and the feeling of blood boiled nerves being burnt off like that of millions of needles stabbing her side. Her eyes wide her teeth clenched a tear dropped from her eye. I have failed…She could not feel her body anymore…this was it… She went limp then only black.
I will never give up
I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.
I am an American Soldier.
“ GO GO GO!!” a shout from one of the commanding soldiers, it was chaos Ritiki Human, those where the only two forces on the battlefield. It didn’t matter anymore, if you where American, Council, Gang, a Capo, Nemesis. Ritiki energy weapons fire busted around Sgt. Plutonium as she sprinted her gun held up on her chest. She skipped over a foxhole full of chard remains. The smell that could be described as death, the skies blacked out by smoke. The sound of a heavy machine gun roared like a dragon spewing flames of depleted uranium, the air parts around the shells screaming out indiscriminant of what kind of life it takes, once unleashed the shells almost longed to take life.
“MOVE UP MOVE UP!” soldiers leaped out of foxholes and from behind walls and began to push up the human lines. Weapons fire sprayed out the Sgt. knelt and brought her rifle’s barrels down range a soldier ran in front of her and dropped to his knees not even waiting to hit the ground before he let lose. She gritted her teeth knowing that she almost put a group of three in his back “Friendly fire is not”. Once her view was clear she let lose. Rounds tatted off, muzzle flash and then it was get up and move hitting her knees and then dripping to the ground. Over her head a blast from a Ritiki rifle zoomed past her and then the body of a Ritiki. It was so disorientating so much going on so many different uniforms agents one alien menace. A shell blast almost knocked her out. She looked around not recognizing any of the people around her. She had lost her squad when they started to receive fire on the way down, but she wasn’t alone and that was good.
She scrambled to her knees then to her feet several soldiers running past her. She watched the fire squad move up on a house. Her eye was on that of one of the soldiers carrying a tank on his back and a long pipe looking weapon with a blue flame coming out the tip. Ritiki infantry where held up in the home they where advancing on she helped lay suppressive fire on one of the windows. “BURN EM OUT!!” she herd as the flamethrower moved up two the door one of the soldiers slammed his foot on the door and then two tossed grenades into the open door, a loud bang shook the house and weapons fire stopped and the flame thrower went in there was nothing more to see as flames bleached out form the innards of the house. She moved on and meet up with the heavy gunner of one of the attacking squads. A small dirt burm was the only thing separating an enemy fire line from them.
I am a warrior and a member of a team.
Her green eyes scanned the field for a moment. To her right and left soldiers where pinned down with Ritiki troops halting the advance. She turned to the gunner next to her and yelled at him. He did not respond to her the loud sound of the weapon droned out her German accent. Angrily she slammed her hand on his helmet he stopped and looked at her as if it say “WHAT!?” she pointed to the troops on the left “Supporting fire on that team!” he nodded and readjusted his weapon to support forward troops being held up. She looked back and saw a corporal behind a wall she waved him up and turned and put her hand back on her weapon and released three rounds into a Ritiki soldier. She herd a thump next to her over the weapons fire the corporal laid next to her squinting and panting from the rush of adrenalin from the fight.
“Sergeant!?”
“Take what’s left of jor squad and redirect v’weapons fire to zeh left flank!”
The corporal nodded and got up sprinting back to his last position. She stood and waved more soldiers to the right flank of the line. Though medium weapons fire breaking and exploding energy weapons erupted when the soldiers started to run, behind her about five soldiers fallowed up each finding cover and firing as more moved up creating a fire squad that was able to make it to a large ruined structure. Her weapon looked around the side of the building and she was able to see out of her gun cam. The cams crosshairs zeroed on a soldier and let loose. It went down in a spray and then another, the Ritiki took cover and more troops made there way along the safety of the side of the building that Sgt. Pluto occupied. The corporals fire squad was in position as she noticed the attention of the Ritiki started to stray form her troops and then to the squad. She noticed also the machine gunner wasn’t firing his weapon anymore.
A few moments passed and with the Ritiki’s attention almost fully of the other troops A Lt. taped her arm and she moved away form her position along the wall. He looked around the corner quickly and all of the troops behind him poised ready for a charge. He signaled for a three man team, looking back at the situation still going in there favor. Then his hand signals 2 fire teams around the building. The Sgt was leading the second fire team from her position. It was almost time. Here it came. Her stomach clenched and she could hear herself breath if she listen closely her heart pounded in her chest below the reflective armored polymers. The Lt. made a finale look and then called up his support fire soldier’s one of them a council soldier they lend around the corner then aimed and let loose getting the attention of the exposed flank of the Ritiki held up behind some walls and debris. The first three did nothing but haul ass around the support fire team charging the ducking Ritiki shots where fired back but resulted in the death of the ones trying to counter the blitz. The first member stopped knelt and let loose. The second one ran past and made it to cover. The Second was received by the third and he knelt and covered the first. Then the third moved up. First team made it now it was The Sgt.’s turn. She clenched and run this time the Ritiki where able to return more fire. Her squad mate ran past her then as the second came up she felt a tap on her shoulder and as she went to get up she felt a snag and weight on her back looking back to see what it was the burnt cauterized face of the third member of her team was dead and crispy from energy weapons fire.
She jumped in horror as she tried to get away but as the dead soldiers weight held her in its grasp. She yelped and screamed flipping out on the ground trying to get away from him kicking and screaming. There was a tug on her jacket still focused on the body she was being pulled away from the body her weapon still laying out in the field between the building and an overturned truck where she came under cover. In front was a soldier with a medical arm band and a red cross on his helm.
“Are you alright are you hurt?” He screamed over the weapons fire.
Her heart was pounding harder almost as if it was going to leap out of her chest. Her hands searched herself not feeling pain focus came back after a moment as a slap across her face from the medic
“HEY Are you ok!?” he asked again and looked up at him surprised. Taking notice to who it was, PFC Simmons. It was good to see a familure face. His was gritty and dirty and blood soaked, but it was still a face. She nodded and was pulled to her feet by Simmons who as she was about to asked shoved her weapon into her hands and then turned to return fire around the other side of the truck. The Ritiki weapons fire dented and sizzled the metal around the truck. The low pounding thuds of the impact managed to shake dust from the over turned truck.
They positioned agent for another rush up to the actual wall where the Ritiki where, there numbers where dwindling in this area but the fighting was still fierce on the battle field.
“FRAG OUT!” As one of the men tossed a HE grenade he lobed the thing over the trucks frame and the arch was amusing. It was not surprising that he could throw everyone became familure with grenades and landmines when it came to urban war.
After the blast another solder came sprinting up slamming agents the frame to a dead stop he carried and interesting looking weapon. It was a large caliber and had this large drum that made it look like a stubby oversized shot gun. There was an M-8 over slung and his pack looked heavy. He adjusted his high tech helm and motioned for cover fire. One of the soldiers leaned out and started to let loose. Then there soldier with the large weapon step out and leveled his weapon. Holding for a moment he pulled the trigger and a thump came from the barrel and he ducked back down.
The grenade was a devious weapon called airburst Sgt. Plutonium was familiar with its inner workings as the explosion was herd the soldiers took the opportune moment to form another fire squad and move up there position from the truck. She knew once the grenade arched over the wall it would explode into many, many bits of AP schrapnaled raining down over the Ritiki hiding behind it mercilessly eliminating what it could.
There was more running and stopping and shooting. Then the soldiers slammed agents the wall on the left and right where breaks and low points where they saw energy weapons level and fire behind them they could hear the native tong of the aliens barking orders and as much chaos that the human side was enduring. There where 6 people along the wall and they could see the rest of the soldiers fallowing up. Simmons was right next to her looking left at the other solders panting and waiting for some kind of order. Panting and confusion took place as Sgt. gave the order to push on.
On of the breaks seemed to silence and that was the break they all gathered near the 4 foot opening in the wall and the grenadier lowered his mighty weapon and brought up his assault rifle. Simmons clenched his and two others lobed there grenades over the wall to the other side. Loud thuds and then a weapon landed in front of there position and they charged in Pluto getting in second taking the right side the fire team broke the Ritiki hold and pierced though like a dagger through skin. It was almost a turkey shoot as the foreign soldiers scattered to find new cover. There must have been a whole platoon behind this wall.
Pluto dropped a clip slamming another in her weapon shook with furry as it unleashed death upon her foes. She happened to take her eye off her covering position looking over at Simmons who had his eye off his. A Ritiki conscript charged at him with one of those energy blades. In its eye a furious rage that couldn’t be stopped. She brought barrel of her assault weapon to bear and let loose a round of three into its chest. That didn’t stop the zealous conscript. It took three more before he plowed dead into Simmons knocking him over into Sgt. Pluto. The squad moved around them to provide cover fire till they could get on here feet. This time it was Sgt. Plutonium helping the medic to his feet.
I will always place the mission first.
She knew that she was important, so did they. She stuck out like a sour thumb to the Ritiki headmen being the only soldier with all black and the most advanced display of armor and weapons. She was no good to the humans dead but she had to get though this line to get to the forward command. The objective must be achieved. I must live. I do it for mankind and I do it for my squad mates, for my home, for my friends, for my people.
I will never accept defeat.
The Grenadier brought his weapon to bear again the large weapon almost made it to success but was silenced by his users abrupt death, they didn’t have cover even though the Ritiki had there minds off the reinforcements it wasn’t enough time. She needed to buy more time. 6 became 4 as another was hit hard by the concussive blast of an energy rifle and was sent flying a few feet to the ground. The wall was 10 feet from a partly intact structure. She screamed for the rest of the member s left to take cover as they darted into the building she dragged Simmons behind her by the vest. Not wanting to let go. The doors where all but taken off but once they entered the fire stopped for a moment two of the soldiers fallowed the Sgt. and the medic into the building they made there way around the corner in the lobby behind a fallen beam.
Conventional weapons fire was echoing off the walls from the two coving the medic she was on her knees her gun to her side her breath heavy she was weekend from the rush, longing for the days where she would sit at her desk staring out into the courtyard of the school at St. Josephs. She couldn’t go back.
“This is my future I have to keep going, I wont lose to them…never…” she mumbled words of self confidence. “Get up you can do it. You know you can, get up and keep going you made it this far! Don’t quit.”
The PFC looked at her then back at the two soldiers holding the door. No activity but there was a lot of weapons fire outside. She only hoped that the sacrifice of the men was enough to give the flanking maneuver a chance at breaking the line. She stood up, both men looking at her the looks on there faces where grimace. Worry fear, they where young, they have seen more than there fair share of this war. They like her longed for peaceful days that would never come.
“Alright” she said confidently. “There still out there and we are not safe. There are only four of us but it’s out duty to do this. I v’ant Jo two take point me unt, zeh PFC will fallow jo out I v’ill cover jo and we can split zeh line long enough for reinforcement.”
They nodded and so did she and they advance on the door again. Once at the openings to the building they could see the Ritiki taking there defensive positions once again from either side.
“Grenades?” she asked and her small team shook there heads and she mumbled “Damn”
Looking out she noticed 5 feet from the door was the grenade launcher full of the airburst grenades. This would take out 5 or 6 at a time it was what they needed. She looked at them they looked back there was a nod and they stepped out. Glory and guns fired there was a silence as the world slowed the two leads dropped prone on the ground. There weapons fired and they started breaking up the lines. From either side they where out numbered heavily. It wasn’t good but it was something. PFC Simmons leaned out of the buildings opening using it for cover as he shot and dodged the slow moving bolts of energy. Pluto did the same. There was a moment of confusion as if they where just forgotten about. There IFF codes prevented any more area friendly fire because it would only take one grenade to take out these heroes.
They could hear friendly units moving up they where close just a little more her gun cam locked onto a familiar target. There was a Chief Soldier standing there on the right side his rifle out and his alien tong barked orders. Soon aware of the failing lines he turned and noticed the intrusion from the Sgt.’s team. Pluto locked on and under heavy fire and let lose the bullets tore down range screaming but only dented and ricochet off the heavy battle armor. Again she let more off little to no effect on the Ritiki. It did however anger him as he reached behind him and unlatched the blood splattered energy sword he roared and started a charge summoning a charge of the others around him they all brought there weapons to bear and started to run seeming like the whole right flank of the defense was bearing down on them in a 10 foot clearance.
Her gun clicked dry, it was time for some fast thinking she ducked back behind the wall and then looked over noticing the black steel grenade launcher still sitting there calling for her to use its brilliance. She pulled back then dove into the fire and landed next to the weapon reaching out, grabbing it, rolling on her back, leveling the barrel, trigger pulled the grenade thumped from the barrel and a loud explosion shot super heated schrapnaled over the chargers. The Chiefs whole line was decimated but he stood still her armor not so shiny. She could see shards of the grenade imbedded in the advanced chromatic polymer armor. Knocked over the alien stood then charged again his word to bear. Leaping into the air she couldn’t do anything the grenade launcher would kill them all at this range. “Oh SHIT!” she tossed the weapon and scooted back as much as she could before the blade crashed and fractured the concrete between her legs.
I will never quit.
She scooted back some more rolling to her side next to a Ritiki sword. She ducked back down feeling the edge of the blade knick her helmet taking a chuck of the Kevlar off. To close. She struggled to her feet her and on the handle of the blade feeing a metallic foot drives into her side. She was sent a few feet with the sword in her hand. Disoriented she rolled to her back seeing this menacing battle armor fury and rage his sword over his head executioner style. With all the armors strength the weapon came down, she brought the one she had to deflect it they both meet the swords clashed sparks shooting out like fireworks. Her own blade driven down into her chest, his bouncing back, sending him a few steps back. She struggled to her feet and wile he was still recovering lunged into his mid section knocking him back more. She stumbled back a few feet and reached back gripping the very heavy blade with two hands and started to swing it slowly in a horizontal slash.
“DIE!” She screamed in a blood lusted furry however futal her atemps may have been. The Ritiki recovered and blocked shoving her own blade away and swung his with deadly precision back. Pluto was knocked off balance and stumbled to her side and once she looked back up, she barley got her blade in the way of the Chief Soldiers she was clearly out matched.
A feminine yelp came from her as she fell to the ground almost knocked cold. One half of her blade landed on one side of her and the rest of it in her hand. She looked with grimace at the broken weapon and gritted her teeth and looked over her shoulder and rolled to her side. Again the Soldier brought his weapon above his head. The sword was lighter looking back at it she saw it broke. Desperate she reached for her bayonet on her chest and with the quick release straps it broke open and she jabbed out into the breaks in the mid section of the soldier’s armor. It went strait though more difficult than she had thought but immediately the Ritiki lost his motivation and let loose a horrid howl. It stepped back a moment looking down at the blade then her. She stared back at it in defiance.
Angrily the Ritiki was more enraged than anything going to swing his weapons again there was a pause in its movements as it was knocked slightly over by a volley of heavy weapons fire. Sparks light and sounds of tings and metal tearing open into flesh. It stood stunned as half of its suit looked as if it had been ripped into. Then again another final volley of depleted uranium salvoes tore out into the air and into the Ritiki, this time the volley didn’t stop till there was nothing but a discolored gooie body in a metal husk. She laid there on her butt one hand holding her up, her arm lowered from her face. Looking at the mangled Ritiki, her breath heavy and she panted her heart about to leap though her thought.
I will never leave a fallen comrade.
She looked over hearing a groan and saw one of the soldiers that had fallowed her out he was in bad shape hit a few times still alive. She struggled to her feet weapons where still discharging all around her. She struggled over to him and looked him over; she knew he was safe to move he needed to be moved. She struggled to get him into the building. Soldiers where lined up agents the wall she had cover fire. Agents her better judgment she moved the other three dead soldiers out of the line of fire between the two sides there right flank decimated.
She took a moment to look at PFC Simmons. His eyes where still open no pulse. “So many losses….” She said silently and took her fingers closing the lids and gently stroked his check. She regretted never telling him thank you for the kindness that he showed her. She didn’t know if it was because he was just doing his job, or he really did care. It didn’t matter, kindness always went along way with the Sgt. She looked down and said a small prayer for him and then stood up noticing a field medic was already on him from the reinforcing soldiers.
I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills. I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.
The Sgt ran over to her weapon, picking it up and dropping the clip to the ground and shoving another into the gun she checked the weapon knowing she dropped it carelessly a few times in the past. Everything seemed to work, her pockets where empty. She looked down at the corps of Simmons. She leaned down and took what clips he had left, then the other dead member of the group. She ducked out of the building and joined the rest of the fight.
I am an expert and I am a professional.
The fight was dying down by this time. The Ritiki offense dwindled as it reached there position and the human counter offensive was about to start. She needed to get to the Forward command and she could not afford to waste more time. She ran with soldiers for a moment and ducked into an ally heading south east. Around each corner her gun lined up along the wall her cam showed her what was on the other side. A communications officer and a few conscripts. Her thumb switched to single fire mode and lined up the shot. One, Two……….Three, they went down each a bullet to there head. She darted across the street. Stopping in the middle she herd the low hum of an enemy tank.
Armor …
She darted back into one of the alleyways. And down another street, she knelt behind a dumpster turned over in the street and looked to her computers display. Flipping it open the LCD display opened up static and obvious damage and abuse from the fighting has taken its tole on the display unit. She was able to make out the skyway map and her current location. She nodded to herself and started off correcting her cores.
The yelling and the screaming of both sides where herd down every street, down every corner, though the air and in the sky, the blaze was rising from a building this sector seemed to be the place a battle recently took place. Corps lined the streets both sides. Soldiers of both sides and all creeds lay. It was a graveyard no living soul existed here but her. She walked slowly to the south more fighting could be herd. Overhead shells fired from rear positions zinged and screamed overhear head. She stood a moment in front of a downed Comanche attack helicopter. Her gun held tight agents her chest ready for anything she looked at the energy blasts that scorched the hull of the stealth chopper. The damage was extensive and the fire belching form the cockpit was a clear sign no survivors.
Something caught here ear. In one of the fox holes groaning, her hopes where high she hated being alone. She trotted to the near by crater and a soldier was lying on top of a Ritiki. She scrambled down the two foot burm and into the hole reaching down and grabbing the shoulder of the soldier pulling him on his back. He was dead… Below him the Ritiki its eyes blinked and a knife shoved in its chest. They both starred at each other for a moment, both silent her weapon clinked onto burst mode. The soldier knew what was coming his leg busted with bleeding holes and his chest carved up by a knife but he was still clinged to life.
I stand ready to deply, engage and destory the enemies of the United States of America in close combat
“You know I should kill you now...” she said with great hate.
“I have a feeling zeh suffering is enough alone…”
She shot a death glare at her opponent and started to move away. She stopped and her eyes went wide as its eyes shot one back and with its remaining strength it reached out grabbing an energy blaster. It was a split moment there weapons came at each other both pointed at each other at the same moment his bleeding hand pulled its finger back and her black clove retracted on the trigger. 4 sounds rang out on the empty field. Three conventional tearing into the soldier’s chest a spray of alien blood and bone cracks as the bullets slaughtered there target. The blast form the plasma pistol busted with full charge on her sides. The fabric from her uniform incinerated as it struck her. She fell back onto the opposite side of the burm. The plates from the energy absorbing armor glowed and scorched, below that her skin exposed from the point blank blast a wound burned into her skin cauterizing any bleeding but singeing and scorching the flesh into crisp. She screamed and fell back dropping her weapon, pain flowing though her she was on the edge couldn’t hold on as she winced and cried over the wound. Her hear beat slowed and finally her body could not take the abuse anymore. She fell there on the battlefield.
This cant be it… I must survive…
She fumbled into her pack. There it was the key to life. She stabbed it into her leg, the pain she did not feel the burn was to much the smell of boiling flesh and the feeling of blood boiled nerves being burnt off like that of millions of needles stabbing her side. Her eyes wide her teeth clenched a tear dropped from her eye. I have failed…She could not feel her body anymore…this was it… She went limp then only black.
I will never give up
I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.
I am an American Soldier.
The answer is and always will be.......42-
palilla
Paula wandered for hours through the combat, in a daze. Until, finally she was aware she was seeing the faces of the living around her. They wore uniforms. Not all matched. Some wore the tattered remains of suits. Humans. They tried to get the latin woman to help them destroy some machine and some Rikti, but, she remembered promising her ex that she would get reinforcements to their position. Even if she was the only one.
She stumbled around, and her mind cleared. The smoke was so thick that one wasn't capable of discerning hte time of day, without a watch. Pally's was busted, and had been for a week. But, she never took the birthday present from her best friend off. She had no idea if Amy was in Paragon, anymore, but she would never forget her, nor would she part with the watch.
Nearby there were shots fired, and she proceeded to investigate. An alien and a well equipped soldier fought, with what appeared to be mutual termination as the result. The female soldier fumbled into her pack. She pulled out a nanite med-injector, then stabbed it into her leg, the pain she felt seemed to be incredible. Looking about, Paula saw a downed medic, and pulled his field medical unit from his now plasma charred hands. Wiping it off she saw it still worked. Excellent! Jean would get reinforcements, after all. She noted the soldier stiffen, and then went limp.
"Oh, no joo don't! Joo're helpin' me, punta," Pally swore as she rushed to the soldiers side, and activated the radiant healing beam of the unit, showering the soldier with it's green glow. "Joo're gonna eat radiation, get better, an' help me! I'm sick of dis town, dammit!"
The soldier was revived, but only just. Palilla reached down, and hauled the soldier up to her feet. Looking around, the latin woman saw a plasma rifle on the ground and smirked. Time to take the fight back to the Rikti, using their own tech. Picking up the rifle, she also saw a few very well defensible hiding spot, which were good for sniping, and not directly linked to the trenches which sprawled like a maze around them. Dragging the unconscious soldier and the rifle into the cubby hole, she set up camp, and broke out a granola bar. This was going to be a long nap for the injured soldier. In the meantime, Palilla could get better at riflery, by keeping watch, with the plasma rifle.
She stumbled around, and her mind cleared. The smoke was so thick that one wasn't capable of discerning hte time of day, without a watch. Pally's was busted, and had been for a week. But, she never took the birthday present from her best friend off. She had no idea if Amy was in Paragon, anymore, but she would never forget her, nor would she part with the watch.
Nearby there were shots fired, and she proceeded to investigate. An alien and a well equipped soldier fought, with what appeared to be mutual termination as the result. The female soldier fumbled into her pack. She pulled out a nanite med-injector, then stabbed it into her leg, the pain she felt seemed to be incredible. Looking about, Paula saw a downed medic, and pulled his field medical unit from his now plasma charred hands. Wiping it off she saw it still worked. Excellent! Jean would get reinforcements, after all. She noted the soldier stiffen, and then went limp.
"Oh, no joo don't! Joo're helpin' me, punta," Pally swore as she rushed to the soldiers side, and activated the radiant healing beam of the unit, showering the soldier with it's green glow. "Joo're gonna eat radiation, get better, an' help me! I'm sick of dis town, dammit!"
The soldier was revived, but only just. Palilla reached down, and hauled the soldier up to her feet. Looking around, the latin woman saw a plasma rifle on the ground and smirked. Time to take the fight back to the Rikti, using their own tech. Picking up the rifle, she also saw a few very well defensible hiding spot, which were good for sniping, and not directly linked to the trenches which sprawled like a maze around them. Dragging the unconscious soldier and the rifle into the cubby hole, she set up camp, and broke out a granola bar. This was going to be a long nap for the injured soldier. In the meantime, Palilla could get better at riflery, by keeping watch, with the plasma rifle.
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Stasis Kiss
- Supreme Commander of teh Intarwebs
- Posts: 2403
- Joined: Sun Jan 29, 2006 1:24 pm
- Location: just left of center
- Contact:
... i just want to say, this is NOT my story but Mimi's in its entirety. she did let me write it though.
_______
"Kiss?"
He's a half dozen meters ahead, crouching next to a hulking mass of metal. Probably an overturned truck, maybe even the leftover remnants of a Titan. It's kind of hard to tell with the rust and overgrowth, not that it really matters.
"Yeah?"
"I think I've got something."
Something in the way he says it this time, comm crackling in my ear, tightens my gut. Damn it. Damn it. Five days we've been crawling over this sector, one shattered street at a time and so far we've been lucky enough not to find anything larger or badder than us. I guess it was too much to expect it was going to stay that way.
"You don't say. What you got, Bandaid? More dogs?" Yeah, that's me. Eternal optimist.
Nearly a week on bait patrol has given the greenie this much; he's got his head down and he's not peering around like a prairie rat just waiting to get shot. The scanner in his hands is waving slowly, trying to get a better fix on whatever it's found. Sniffing.
"Nah, Kiss, I really got something this time. We've got action two, two fifty south of us. I got spikes in the twenties."
I start picking my way up to where he is, ignoring the the deep ache in my leg. With the armor on nothing heals like it used to.
"Say again?"
My own damned fault, this time. Misjudged the terrain like a damned rookie, sliding into a pit when a section of street gave way, hollowed out forever ago by whatever concussive force broke the buildings. Took us an hour to get me back up again, both of us sweating and swearing by the end.
That was three days ago and at least I'm not limping anymore. Not running either which is why Bandaid is point and telling me he's found something to spike his needle when I really didn't want to find anything at all. Damn it to hell and back.
Not for the first time I think about taking off the Crey armor.... but that'd be suicide. Any drones in the area would have me in heartbeat and I'm not willing to bet three minutes of uninterrupted healing that there aren't any lying dormant in the wreckage. That much of an optimist I'm not.
Ghost carefully up to his shoulder, skirting the rubble and crouch down to look at the numbers myself. Shit. "Somebody's fighting. Somebody's fighting hard."
"We going?" He looks up at me, unsure. Under his helmet Bandaid's young, barely out of his teens and pure human. I keep forgetting what it's like to be that young. Feels like I've been fighting my entire life, what with one thing or another.
"What, you think HQ sent us out here just to map the scenery? We're not packing daisies, you know. C'mon." Tap him on the helmet, just above the little piece of tape that gives him his nickname. "Let's go check it out."
Brave words. I can feel the presentiment of cold in my bones.
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Don't let anybody tell you different, there's a real art to walking through the disputed zones.
I mean, you gotta watch everything. Everything. Don't get me wrong, Rikti can hide damned near anywhere, their shields fooling even the scanners sometimes. Not the drones though; we don't have to care about them. They'll ignore Bandaid as useless and me.. well, unless I get stupid, the only thing they'll flag me on is ambient temperature and the armor takes care of that.
No, it's more that you've got to watch that nothing is going to fall on you, drop out from underneath you, or contain a nasty surprise from ten years ago when they were mining the streets to stop the advance. Harry's Shakers got themselves smashed when a strip planting went off near what used to be the north end of Kings. Nothing but much left of the entire platoon but what you could scrape together in a baggie. If all I do is fuck up my leg on this run, I'll count myself lucky.
The hotspot on the scanner is our lodestone. Fade and slide through what was probably a nice little commercial area, once upon a million years ago. A shopping mall maybe, who knows. Teenagers and soda pop and sock hops.
A drunkenly leaning sign catches my eye, paint faded into obscurity. The artwork is all but choked with scrubby grass. Something in the shape teases my eye though and I think I could almost remember what it said if I thought about it. A haircutting place maybe, or a restaurant. A piece of faded cloth caught at one edge flaps in a random breeze before settling.
Funny, what memory can do. The sign, the cloth. His favorite sweater was red, black with a bull's head. For a moment the dust and sweat meld and I can smell spice and lime, taste cool water. For a moment his dark serious eyes swim in front of mine.
Jai Marchan. God I haven't thought of him in years.
Shred the memory almost as fast as it hits me because it's just that - memory, and an old unimportant one at that. Marchan left years ago to go back to Trinidad and his family, before the war even started. An argument, same old story, over something I can barely remember anymore. I don't even know if Trinidad is taken or not, still on the map or not. He's probably not even alive anymore, not if there was fighting. He'd have been front line.
"We're getting close." Bandaid crouches down, hunkering over the scanner. I follow and for a couple of minutes we stagger advance, using any cover we can find. When the coords hit red he motions us down and we worm into a position to see what we're up against, scraping ourselves up over a concrete tumble to peer down the slight incline.
The metal spikes of equipment on his back stick up weirdly, like his helmet grew roots. He's got most of the scanning and communication gear but he's also got the tripod for the weapon I'm carrying. There's still some advantage to not being human even now - Bandaid couldn't have carried this load an hour before collapsing.
"What the hell is that?"
For a moment I can't answer. I don't believe it. I don't fucking believe it.
Thirty, maybe forty feet away they're fighting.
I haven't seen one of those in ten, maybe twelve years; so long ago it's like another lifetime. The energy is pouring off him in waves as he fights, the Rikti soldiers swarming like ants. Tracers of light like fireflies streak across my vision.
Beautiful. So beautiful.
So fucking doomed.
The massive stone hammer swings, takes a gunner in the side in an explosion of bone. The body careens to the side to join others but there are more, too many more as energy guns splash against his augmented hide. Blood, his and theirs, spatters.
"....troll."
"What?"
Clear my throat and try again. "It's a supatroll. What, you never...?" Yeah, I guess he never has. They got taken out fast, at the beginning. "Take a good look, Bandaid. Take a good look and hope t'hell you never see one again."
The troll screams with fury as another Rikti soldier gets too close and a skull shatters as one massive fist crashes down. He roars with approval, arms cording with effort. He turns and I see that one eye is already gone, lost in the ruin of his face.
Red and black. Ice and pain. The hammer swings up even as we watch and carves a deadly arc in the air in front of the massive body. Nothing dies this time but it's only a matter of time before it's him. He doesn't have much left.
I'm squirming past Bandaid to slide down the concrete face in front of us. Why? I don't know. The troll is dead. He just hasn't fallen down yet.
"Kiss! What are you doing?" His voice is a sibilant whisper like they're going to hear us. "Kiss!"
I'm sliding towards level ground in a barely coordinated fall, listening with everything I've got for the whistle that says incoming. The frantic cursing in my ear is suddenly chopped off and the noise behind me is him scrambling to catch up.
Good kid. Stupid, but then again, they don't send you on disputed recon for having all your marbles packed tight.
So what the hell do I think I'm doing?
"History lesson." Is that my voice? Yeah, I think it is. "That's a troll. You capiche 'troll', Bandaid? I'm sure they showed you pictures in Basic." His breath whistles through the comm. "Only this one's hopped up on 'Dyne. Supatroll."
I remember, I remember. Stone gods in their day, pumped up, juiced out, kings of their earth. God in his blasted heaven, I remember.
My brain is freeze framing, grabbing everything I know, everything I see.
Thing is, Superdyne's injected, blood borne. This one must have found an old cache, a hospital not entirely ransacked, a gang's horde, something. Cut himself open, poured the drug into his veins in an lethal dose. I can almost see it. A smashed window, the glass embedded in his skin, opening himself to the invasion. Ampule after ampule, directly into his massive heart.
Lethal dosage because as soon as any of it hit his system he was dead. Couldn't have been more than a half hour ago too. Just long enough for the change to happen, to stagger out into the street, the supernatural energy roiling over his skin calling his enemies to the fight.
Maybe trying to find a way to suicide that feels like it's worth it.
Oddly enough there's no pain in my leg anymore. As soon as I hit a stretch of ground that's long enough, flat enough, has cover enough, I ship the weapon. He's a heartbeat behind but then the maglocks that hold the tripod to his pack webbing release and he's bracing it on the ground even as I crank the pieces together.
"Shit! Kiss? What are we doing?" His whisper is panicked.
"Fighting."
"Why? Command just wants us to map this area, report..."
"Shut up. We've got about a minute before drones show up. Less."
Which is true. I'm just surprised they're not here now.
The weapon is so new tech I can almost smell the factory on it. A prototype that's supposed to be able to take out the drone shielding and any patrol with a super on it carries something like it in the half assed hope that maybe it'll do some good if one triggers.
Since I run recons that usually consists of me and some poor greenie who's in trouble with the brass, I make sure I've always got the latest tech going. It's not like anybody else out here is going to save my ass.
We have the weapon shipped and mounted in thirty seconds which isn't half bad considering Bandaid's probably never done this in the field before. Settle behind, leaning back nearly to the ground with my legs braced to the side, hands to the grips. Low target, just the muzzle pointing out towards the battlefield.
He's swearing under his breath in a high voice, slamming in the payload.
The supatroll's decimating the Rikti squad. He hasn't seen us, probably doesn't see anything at all. He had to have known, right? Had to have known what he was doing. You don't fall on that many 'dyne needles by accident.
Fucking doomed.
The chilling whine hits my ears like a knife.
"Where?" Bark it out, sighting. Bandaid looks up, his face shiny. Slides the HUD over his eyes. I've been there and I know. His vision is green numbers now, distances, vectors.
"Mark six niner niner, up and easy!" At least his voice is steady.
Swing the gun and there they are, arrowing in over the horizon, just skimming the rubble. Just two this time, not even going to question that fortune. The first swings wide to survey and I turn to follow, shifting weight. Fucking seekers. Don't even engage the enemy to save their own side until they've assessed and taken the damned data.
Target down the rear aperture to the sight post. Breathe out.
The troll destroys the last remaining soldiers like I knew he would. He's not feeling anything, they never did. His bellow of triumph shakes the sky, arms upraised and dripping with blood, thicker things. So furious.
Fire.
The tracers flare out, looking. Finding my target.
The second drone hasn't hesitated. The snaking advance is suddenly an arrow bright flash in the corner of my eye.
Yet somehow he sees the danger. Energy explodes over his skin as he turns, charges to meet his maker. The stone hammer arcs back to meet the assault. The seeker is firing even as it goes for the kill and green blood explodes. The hammer bounces harmlessly off the shields.
"Up two up, left one! Kiss!"
The first is already finishing its sweep, turning to lock in as well. But this one I have. This one is mine.
Flick the sighting, fire again. The world is halo bright.
"Left left two! Acquired!"
The recoil kicks as I fire the main gun, the gyrojet launching.
Perfect. So perfect. The rocket wakes up halfway to its destination, sensing its mission. The shriek of hyperacceleration rings in my ears even as the rocket enters its murderous spiral.
The drone streaks for the sky but this is its own technology turned back on itself. We stole this from the Rikti. Used what they learned, built the guns that went for the EMP shields without hesitation.
The drone explodes in a roar of blue flame.
Yes. Oh fuck me, yes.
No.
Not destroyed. Damn it. Damn it. It spins the air, listing dangerously to the side but still turning, now reorienting back towards us. Aiming.
"Reload! Damn it John, reload!"
"On it, on it!"
He fumbles, frantically feeding the next belt in. I can feel the cold settling in my bones, arctic memory. Everything is clear.
The troll roars, still standing somehow, still undefeated. Rips a chunk of asphalt from the ground and hurls it against his seeker. Power rips crazily down his arms, imbuing the car sized concrete slab with kinetic force. The shields still hold on the drone but they flicker. Another thread of energy lashes out and the troll bellows as it impacts his side.
"Fire!"
And I do. Tracers spin out.
"Acquired!"
The weapon jerks again with a satisfied movement. The seeker can't dodge this time, too damaged on the first hit. The 'jet takes it square and it spins backwards like a toy.
The explosion is like sex, deep and tight. Shrapnel arcs like a fountain.
"Got it!" That's Bandaid. "We fucking got it!" But I'm already swinging to rough target, feeling the triggers under my thumbs as keen as blades.
"Again, damn it, reload!"
The supatroll. He's swinging around, traitor shrapnel buried deep in side. Deep, so deep. I can see the blood pouring around the wound. Mortal for sure, if that matters.
Oh no, no. He's ignoring the drone in front of him. Turning. The hammer tries to rise. Takes one step towards us.Two.
Forgotten, the seeker rises behind him. Tilts down.
I'm screaming and I don't even know what.
The blood sprays like a decoration. He's on his knees without intervening motion.
Fire.
The tracers streak out. I hear the numbers, rotate the cylinders.
Fire.
Acquired.
Destroy.
He must have done something. He did something because the shields break without hesitation, shatter. The second drone tumbles backwards, out of sight. A heartbeat later flame rises and a deep concussive tremble confirms what I need to know.
On his knees, he sways. Keels over like a slow motion film. Rolls onto his back. I can see the massive chest panting as alien metal pulses obscenely with each breath.
Bandaid is yelling. Cheering. I'm gripping the gun so tight I don't know where I end and it begins.
"... did it, we did it!" Bandaid knocks my helmet, right above where the word KISS is carved in, reminding me always that I hate that name, I've always hated that name. "We fucking got them!"
It takes hard effort but I release my fingers one at a time, pull back with a tearing sense of loss. Standing up takes more energy than I have.
Listen but I don't hear more. Not yet. Did we get them fast enough? Maybe. Maybe.
I'm walking before I realise what I'm going to do.
The troll is still making sounds of rage in his throat. His hands are flexing. Still reaching for his hammer, I think. This close I can smell copper, offal, the sharp sizzle of Rikti metal that's almost a taste more than anything else.
I pull my helmet off to run a hand through the short white stubble. My hand is a distant shake.
Have the crazy, insane knowledge that this is Skyway. He's dying and this is Skyway again and I'm the one that killed him, taunted him, made him die while he danced, while others tore his life away.
The memory overlaps this one until vision is superimposed. He glares up at me from then and from now, his eye flaring with hatred, with need. He's not done. He still needs me. Still wants me.
His eye.
His eye.
"Mother?"
"Yeah, Ranger?"
"You know anything about trolls?"
Roll over on my side and stare curiously at her. She's watching the stars it looks like, leaning back on her hands. The grass is cold under my side.
"Well, yeah. Apparently you all smell funny or something."
She doesn't laugh like she's supposed to, looking up. "No. I mean, about what happens." She hesitates. "Supposed to happen."
"Huh?" Prop my head up on one hand. "What do you mean?"
She sits up then, picking some grass between her feet to flick the small threads away. "I mean. I read this, okay? There's some scientist somewhere that says trolls just.. I mean. They just all turn into trolls. Later on." Her skin is dark enough to be black under starlight. I can barely make out her expression.
"Barrier, you're making no sense." And she's not. "Sure you're kind of a troll already. That's sort of indisputable. You got the cute horns and everything. Didn't they figure your dad was some sort of ogre or something?"
"Mother, don't you read anything they give you for homework?" Her voice is exasperated. I shrug.
"Only when they make me."
Her voice deepens until she doesn't sound like anything, like anybody I know. Like rock would if it had a voice. "Trolls are said to end up all the same. All the same." She shifts a little to looks at the sky again, I can just make out her tilting profile. "No boys. No girls. Just the 'dyne mutation taking over everything. At the end they're... we're... just trolls."
Takes a minute but then the sense of it sinks in. I'm already shaking my head, sitting up in a hurry.
"Oh no, Ranger, that's not true. Totally not true. Not gonna happen."
"Yeah? You think?" She looks at me or at least I think she does. "Like you know. You don't even read your homework."
"Don't need to. Barrier, it ain't gonna happen. Trust me on this, okay? You got a little troll in there, sure. But you got freckles and your horns are wrong color and stuff. You even got.., uh, tits. You are not going to turn into some weird thing, honest."
"Yeah? You know this."
"Well, yeah. I know this. Trust me." Reach out and grab her hand, curling my littlest finger around hers. "Totally trust me. Pinky swear. You're a girl and you're always gonna be a girl. Even if you don't like it much."
She laughs then finally, like she's supposed to, and pushes me away.
"Mother, you don't know anything at all."
His eye.
Her eyes.
"....Saskia?"
There's no recognition there, not anything at all. There's a cold tremble in the pit of my stomach.
Relief.
Then I realise it's because he's dull with death, glazed over. Nobody home anymore. No understanding.
No name.
"Kiss?"
Look down at the dead hulk. Barrier?
"Kiss?"
Take a deep breath and pull my gaze away. "What?"
"Look, we totally kicked ass and everything but can we get out of here now?" He looks excited, freaked out, scared.
Look around and he's right. The dead Rikti, the sprawled corpse of the supatroll. The flaming wreckage of the two drones. We're sitting targets. We've got to get distance between us and here as fast as possible. This is a demilitarized zone but it's far from fucking empty.
"Yeah. Yeah." Look down once more though, can't help it. There's nothing there though. Just a dead, stupid troll. We're going to be right with him if we don't get moving.
"Mother, you run the play or you sit on the bench."
Yeah Ranger, I know. I'm going.
Turn away, back toward the gun.
Realise even as I walk that Command needs to know. One 'dyne freak could mean more. More power signatures means more drones which means more Rikti activity. Start to move faster. More activity means more need for the grounders, hit and run. This whole zone could light up in a matter of days.
If my leg hurts still I'm not paying it any attention.
Leave the troll to cool on his improvised bier, already forgotten. We've got to get out of here.
There is only one direction anymore and that's forward.
Look backward just gets you killed.
_______
"Kiss?"
He's a half dozen meters ahead, crouching next to a hulking mass of metal. Probably an overturned truck, maybe even the leftover remnants of a Titan. It's kind of hard to tell with the rust and overgrowth, not that it really matters.
"Yeah?"
"I think I've got something."
Something in the way he says it this time, comm crackling in my ear, tightens my gut. Damn it. Damn it. Five days we've been crawling over this sector, one shattered street at a time and so far we've been lucky enough not to find anything larger or badder than us. I guess it was too much to expect it was going to stay that way.
"You don't say. What you got, Bandaid? More dogs?" Yeah, that's me. Eternal optimist.
Nearly a week on bait patrol has given the greenie this much; he's got his head down and he's not peering around like a prairie rat just waiting to get shot. The scanner in his hands is waving slowly, trying to get a better fix on whatever it's found. Sniffing.
"Nah, Kiss, I really got something this time. We've got action two, two fifty south of us. I got spikes in the twenties."
I start picking my way up to where he is, ignoring the the deep ache in my leg. With the armor on nothing heals like it used to.
"Say again?"
My own damned fault, this time. Misjudged the terrain like a damned rookie, sliding into a pit when a section of street gave way, hollowed out forever ago by whatever concussive force broke the buildings. Took us an hour to get me back up again, both of us sweating and swearing by the end.
That was three days ago and at least I'm not limping anymore. Not running either which is why Bandaid is point and telling me he's found something to spike his needle when I really didn't want to find anything at all. Damn it to hell and back.
Not for the first time I think about taking off the Crey armor.... but that'd be suicide. Any drones in the area would have me in heartbeat and I'm not willing to bet three minutes of uninterrupted healing that there aren't any lying dormant in the wreckage. That much of an optimist I'm not.
Ghost carefully up to his shoulder, skirting the rubble and crouch down to look at the numbers myself. Shit. "Somebody's fighting. Somebody's fighting hard."
"We going?" He looks up at me, unsure. Under his helmet Bandaid's young, barely out of his teens and pure human. I keep forgetting what it's like to be that young. Feels like I've been fighting my entire life, what with one thing or another.
"What, you think HQ sent us out here just to map the scenery? We're not packing daisies, you know. C'mon." Tap him on the helmet, just above the little piece of tape that gives him his nickname. "Let's go check it out."
Brave words. I can feel the presentiment of cold in my bones.
____
Don't let anybody tell you different, there's a real art to walking through the disputed zones.
I mean, you gotta watch everything. Everything. Don't get me wrong, Rikti can hide damned near anywhere, their shields fooling even the scanners sometimes. Not the drones though; we don't have to care about them. They'll ignore Bandaid as useless and me.. well, unless I get stupid, the only thing they'll flag me on is ambient temperature and the armor takes care of that.
No, it's more that you've got to watch that nothing is going to fall on you, drop out from underneath you, or contain a nasty surprise from ten years ago when they were mining the streets to stop the advance. Harry's Shakers got themselves smashed when a strip planting went off near what used to be the north end of Kings. Nothing but much left of the entire platoon but what you could scrape together in a baggie. If all I do is fuck up my leg on this run, I'll count myself lucky.
The hotspot on the scanner is our lodestone. Fade and slide through what was probably a nice little commercial area, once upon a million years ago. A shopping mall maybe, who knows. Teenagers and soda pop and sock hops.
A drunkenly leaning sign catches my eye, paint faded into obscurity. The artwork is all but choked with scrubby grass. Something in the shape teases my eye though and I think I could almost remember what it said if I thought about it. A haircutting place maybe, or a restaurant. A piece of faded cloth caught at one edge flaps in a random breeze before settling.
Funny, what memory can do. The sign, the cloth. His favorite sweater was red, black with a bull's head. For a moment the dust and sweat meld and I can smell spice and lime, taste cool water. For a moment his dark serious eyes swim in front of mine.
Jai Marchan. God I haven't thought of him in years.
Shred the memory almost as fast as it hits me because it's just that - memory, and an old unimportant one at that. Marchan left years ago to go back to Trinidad and his family, before the war even started. An argument, same old story, over something I can barely remember anymore. I don't even know if Trinidad is taken or not, still on the map or not. He's probably not even alive anymore, not if there was fighting. He'd have been front line.
"We're getting close." Bandaid crouches down, hunkering over the scanner. I follow and for a couple of minutes we stagger advance, using any cover we can find. When the coords hit red he motions us down and we worm into a position to see what we're up against, scraping ourselves up over a concrete tumble to peer down the slight incline.
The metal spikes of equipment on his back stick up weirdly, like his helmet grew roots. He's got most of the scanning and communication gear but he's also got the tripod for the weapon I'm carrying. There's still some advantage to not being human even now - Bandaid couldn't have carried this load an hour before collapsing.
"What the hell is that?"
For a moment I can't answer. I don't believe it. I don't fucking believe it.
Thirty, maybe forty feet away they're fighting.
I haven't seen one of those in ten, maybe twelve years; so long ago it's like another lifetime. The energy is pouring off him in waves as he fights, the Rikti soldiers swarming like ants. Tracers of light like fireflies streak across my vision.
Beautiful. So beautiful.
So fucking doomed.
The massive stone hammer swings, takes a gunner in the side in an explosion of bone. The body careens to the side to join others but there are more, too many more as energy guns splash against his augmented hide. Blood, his and theirs, spatters.
"....troll."
"What?"
Clear my throat and try again. "It's a supatroll. What, you never...?" Yeah, I guess he never has. They got taken out fast, at the beginning. "Take a good look, Bandaid. Take a good look and hope t'hell you never see one again."
The troll screams with fury as another Rikti soldier gets too close and a skull shatters as one massive fist crashes down. He roars with approval, arms cording with effort. He turns and I see that one eye is already gone, lost in the ruin of his face.
Red and black. Ice and pain. The hammer swings up even as we watch and carves a deadly arc in the air in front of the massive body. Nothing dies this time but it's only a matter of time before it's him. He doesn't have much left.
I'm squirming past Bandaid to slide down the concrete face in front of us. Why? I don't know. The troll is dead. He just hasn't fallen down yet.
"Kiss! What are you doing?" His voice is a sibilant whisper like they're going to hear us. "Kiss!"
I'm sliding towards level ground in a barely coordinated fall, listening with everything I've got for the whistle that says incoming. The frantic cursing in my ear is suddenly chopped off and the noise behind me is him scrambling to catch up.
Good kid. Stupid, but then again, they don't send you on disputed recon for having all your marbles packed tight.
So what the hell do I think I'm doing?
"History lesson." Is that my voice? Yeah, I think it is. "That's a troll. You capiche 'troll', Bandaid? I'm sure they showed you pictures in Basic." His breath whistles through the comm. "Only this one's hopped up on 'Dyne. Supatroll."
I remember, I remember. Stone gods in their day, pumped up, juiced out, kings of their earth. God in his blasted heaven, I remember.
My brain is freeze framing, grabbing everything I know, everything I see.
Thing is, Superdyne's injected, blood borne. This one must have found an old cache, a hospital not entirely ransacked, a gang's horde, something. Cut himself open, poured the drug into his veins in an lethal dose. I can almost see it. A smashed window, the glass embedded in his skin, opening himself to the invasion. Ampule after ampule, directly into his massive heart.
Lethal dosage because as soon as any of it hit his system he was dead. Couldn't have been more than a half hour ago too. Just long enough for the change to happen, to stagger out into the street, the supernatural energy roiling over his skin calling his enemies to the fight.
Maybe trying to find a way to suicide that feels like it's worth it.
Oddly enough there's no pain in my leg anymore. As soon as I hit a stretch of ground that's long enough, flat enough, has cover enough, I ship the weapon. He's a heartbeat behind but then the maglocks that hold the tripod to his pack webbing release and he's bracing it on the ground even as I crank the pieces together.
"Shit! Kiss? What are we doing?" His whisper is panicked.
"Fighting."
"Why? Command just wants us to map this area, report..."
"Shut up. We've got about a minute before drones show up. Less."
Which is true. I'm just surprised they're not here now.
The weapon is so new tech I can almost smell the factory on it. A prototype that's supposed to be able to take out the drone shielding and any patrol with a super on it carries something like it in the half assed hope that maybe it'll do some good if one triggers.
Since I run recons that usually consists of me and some poor greenie who's in trouble with the brass, I make sure I've always got the latest tech going. It's not like anybody else out here is going to save my ass.
We have the weapon shipped and mounted in thirty seconds which isn't half bad considering Bandaid's probably never done this in the field before. Settle behind, leaning back nearly to the ground with my legs braced to the side, hands to the grips. Low target, just the muzzle pointing out towards the battlefield.
He's swearing under his breath in a high voice, slamming in the payload.
The supatroll's decimating the Rikti squad. He hasn't seen us, probably doesn't see anything at all. He had to have known, right? Had to have known what he was doing. You don't fall on that many 'dyne needles by accident.
Fucking doomed.
The chilling whine hits my ears like a knife.
"Where?" Bark it out, sighting. Bandaid looks up, his face shiny. Slides the HUD over his eyes. I've been there and I know. His vision is green numbers now, distances, vectors.
"Mark six niner niner, up and easy!" At least his voice is steady.
Swing the gun and there they are, arrowing in over the horizon, just skimming the rubble. Just two this time, not even going to question that fortune. The first swings wide to survey and I turn to follow, shifting weight. Fucking seekers. Don't even engage the enemy to save their own side until they've assessed and taken the damned data.
Target down the rear aperture to the sight post. Breathe out.
The troll destroys the last remaining soldiers like I knew he would. He's not feeling anything, they never did. His bellow of triumph shakes the sky, arms upraised and dripping with blood, thicker things. So furious.
Fire.
The tracers flare out, looking. Finding my target.
The second drone hasn't hesitated. The snaking advance is suddenly an arrow bright flash in the corner of my eye.
Yet somehow he sees the danger. Energy explodes over his skin as he turns, charges to meet his maker. The stone hammer arcs back to meet the assault. The seeker is firing even as it goes for the kill and green blood explodes. The hammer bounces harmlessly off the shields.
"Up two up, left one! Kiss!"
The first is already finishing its sweep, turning to lock in as well. But this one I have. This one is mine.
Flick the sighting, fire again. The world is halo bright.
"Left left two! Acquired!"
The recoil kicks as I fire the main gun, the gyrojet launching.
Perfect. So perfect. The rocket wakes up halfway to its destination, sensing its mission. The shriek of hyperacceleration rings in my ears even as the rocket enters its murderous spiral.
The drone streaks for the sky but this is its own technology turned back on itself. We stole this from the Rikti. Used what they learned, built the guns that went for the EMP shields without hesitation.
The drone explodes in a roar of blue flame.
Yes. Oh fuck me, yes.
No.
Not destroyed. Damn it. Damn it. It spins the air, listing dangerously to the side but still turning, now reorienting back towards us. Aiming.
"Reload! Damn it John, reload!"
"On it, on it!"
He fumbles, frantically feeding the next belt in. I can feel the cold settling in my bones, arctic memory. Everything is clear.
The troll roars, still standing somehow, still undefeated. Rips a chunk of asphalt from the ground and hurls it against his seeker. Power rips crazily down his arms, imbuing the car sized concrete slab with kinetic force. The shields still hold on the drone but they flicker. Another thread of energy lashes out and the troll bellows as it impacts his side.
"Fire!"
And I do. Tracers spin out.
"Acquired!"
The weapon jerks again with a satisfied movement. The seeker can't dodge this time, too damaged on the first hit. The 'jet takes it square and it spins backwards like a toy.
The explosion is like sex, deep and tight. Shrapnel arcs like a fountain.
"Got it!" That's Bandaid. "We fucking got it!" But I'm already swinging to rough target, feeling the triggers under my thumbs as keen as blades.
"Again, damn it, reload!"
The supatroll. He's swinging around, traitor shrapnel buried deep in side. Deep, so deep. I can see the blood pouring around the wound. Mortal for sure, if that matters.
Oh no, no. He's ignoring the drone in front of him. Turning. The hammer tries to rise. Takes one step towards us.Two.
Forgotten, the seeker rises behind him. Tilts down.
I'm screaming and I don't even know what.
The blood sprays like a decoration. He's on his knees without intervening motion.
Fire.
The tracers streak out. I hear the numbers, rotate the cylinders.
Fire.
Acquired.
Destroy.
He must have done something. He did something because the shields break without hesitation, shatter. The second drone tumbles backwards, out of sight. A heartbeat later flame rises and a deep concussive tremble confirms what I need to know.
On his knees, he sways. Keels over like a slow motion film. Rolls onto his back. I can see the massive chest panting as alien metal pulses obscenely with each breath.
Bandaid is yelling. Cheering. I'm gripping the gun so tight I don't know where I end and it begins.
"... did it, we did it!" Bandaid knocks my helmet, right above where the word KISS is carved in, reminding me always that I hate that name, I've always hated that name. "We fucking got them!"
It takes hard effort but I release my fingers one at a time, pull back with a tearing sense of loss. Standing up takes more energy than I have.
Listen but I don't hear more. Not yet. Did we get them fast enough? Maybe. Maybe.
I'm walking before I realise what I'm going to do.
The troll is still making sounds of rage in his throat. His hands are flexing. Still reaching for his hammer, I think. This close I can smell copper, offal, the sharp sizzle of Rikti metal that's almost a taste more than anything else.
I pull my helmet off to run a hand through the short white stubble. My hand is a distant shake.
Have the crazy, insane knowledge that this is Skyway. He's dying and this is Skyway again and I'm the one that killed him, taunted him, made him die while he danced, while others tore his life away.
The memory overlaps this one until vision is superimposed. He glares up at me from then and from now, his eye flaring with hatred, with need. He's not done. He still needs me. Still wants me.
His eye.
His eye.
"Mother?"
"Yeah, Ranger?"
"You know anything about trolls?"
Roll over on my side and stare curiously at her. She's watching the stars it looks like, leaning back on her hands. The grass is cold under my side.
"Well, yeah. Apparently you all smell funny or something."
She doesn't laugh like she's supposed to, looking up. "No. I mean, about what happens." She hesitates. "Supposed to happen."
"Huh?" Prop my head up on one hand. "What do you mean?"
She sits up then, picking some grass between her feet to flick the small threads away. "I mean. I read this, okay? There's some scientist somewhere that says trolls just.. I mean. They just all turn into trolls. Later on." Her skin is dark enough to be black under starlight. I can barely make out her expression.
"Barrier, you're making no sense." And she's not. "Sure you're kind of a troll already. That's sort of indisputable. You got the cute horns and everything. Didn't they figure your dad was some sort of ogre or something?"
"Mother, don't you read anything they give you for homework?" Her voice is exasperated. I shrug.
"Only when they make me."
Her voice deepens until she doesn't sound like anything, like anybody I know. Like rock would if it had a voice. "Trolls are said to end up all the same. All the same." She shifts a little to looks at the sky again, I can just make out her tilting profile. "No boys. No girls. Just the 'dyne mutation taking over everything. At the end they're... we're... just trolls."
Takes a minute but then the sense of it sinks in. I'm already shaking my head, sitting up in a hurry.
"Oh no, Ranger, that's not true. Totally not true. Not gonna happen."
"Yeah? You think?" She looks at me or at least I think she does. "Like you know. You don't even read your homework."
"Don't need to. Barrier, it ain't gonna happen. Trust me on this, okay? You got a little troll in there, sure. But you got freckles and your horns are wrong color and stuff. You even got.., uh, tits. You are not going to turn into some weird thing, honest."
"Yeah? You know this."
"Well, yeah. I know this. Trust me." Reach out and grab her hand, curling my littlest finger around hers. "Totally trust me. Pinky swear. You're a girl and you're always gonna be a girl. Even if you don't like it much."
She laughs then finally, like she's supposed to, and pushes me away.
"Mother, you don't know anything at all."
His eye.
Her eyes.
"....Saskia?"
There's no recognition there, not anything at all. There's a cold tremble in the pit of my stomach.
Relief.
Then I realise it's because he's dull with death, glazed over. Nobody home anymore. No understanding.
No name.
"Kiss?"
Look down at the dead hulk. Barrier?
"Kiss?"
Take a deep breath and pull my gaze away. "What?"
"Look, we totally kicked ass and everything but can we get out of here now?" He looks excited, freaked out, scared.
Look around and he's right. The dead Rikti, the sprawled corpse of the supatroll. The flaming wreckage of the two drones. We're sitting targets. We've got to get distance between us and here as fast as possible. This is a demilitarized zone but it's far from fucking empty.
"Yeah. Yeah." Look down once more though, can't help it. There's nothing there though. Just a dead, stupid troll. We're going to be right with him if we don't get moving.
"Mother, you run the play or you sit on the bench."
Yeah Ranger, I know. I'm going.
Turn away, back toward the gun.
Realise even as I walk that Command needs to know. One 'dyne freak could mean more. More power signatures means more drones which means more Rikti activity. Start to move faster. More activity means more need for the grounders, hit and run. This whole zone could light up in a matter of days.
If my leg hurts still I'm not paying it any attention.
Leave the troll to cool on his improvised bier, already forgotten. We've got to get out of here.
There is only one direction anymore and that's forward.
Look backward just gets you killed.
"So pay attention to me; I don't talk for my health."
"I want you on my team."
"... So does everybody else."
"I want you on my team."
"... So does everybody else."