"Well, he basically threatened to kill me because I was involved with his cousin's disapearance, Mia. She was part of a family of nobleman, Jack's Family. She basically got sick of her family pride and arrogance, especially from her father, and decided to move out - so to speak. I shipped her off to Asgard, where she's currently living with a close friend of hers. Though between you and I, I think its something more than a "close friendship"
"Wait a sec...that's not a kidnapping, that's getting smuggled willfully." Sullivan grinned. He couldn't help but be impressed by the task this man had done. "I've only just met you and I already like your style. You don't seem to care too much about what that nobleman thinks, or anyone else, for that matter. If you have anymore stories, feel free to tell them."
"I've only just met you and I already like your style. You don't seem to care too much about what that nobleman thinks, or anyone else, for that matter."
"You flatter me." Deck chuckled, and raised a hand. "But I'm certainly no hero. I've done questionable things, but I can safely say most of them were for the right reasons. I do what I feel is right."
"If you have anymore stories, feel free to tell them."
"Oh, I do... But perhaps another time, if we get a chance." Deck promised. "Right now, we have a job to do."
Deck was about to walk out of the cockpit, but stared at the control panel. Azreal seemed to be handeling the piloting of the ship okay. He continued onward, to the ship's main area where Evans was hanging out.
"I assume we've got some type of strategy planned out?"
(apparently I'm on the ship so please just bare with me here)
Sam listened to the banter of the group. He laughed at some of the things and stood up to go to the armory. He liked to know what they would be using.
Upon entering the armory, he saw Null in there. Paying him no heed, he went over to the weapons locker which was already open, and gazed at the selection.
"Hmmm, nice choices, eh?" Sam asked Null. Sam grabbed his personal rifle off the rack.
"With this puppy I could hit a Plague soldier in the center of his head from five- no, six hundred yards. I know, because I did back on Zar-" Sam cut himself off there. No point in talking about the past.
"Well, anyways, I count my bullets, so don't get any funny ideas about my little baby here." Sam said.
Ares interjected, " Sir, I hope you know that your rifle isn't actually your-"
"Yes, Ares, I know, It's a type of human personification, I'm really attached to it, it's like how you call my Helmet home when really your home is the hou-" Sam cut himself off again. He stepped out of the armory to sit back down at his seat.
Null looked over at Sam and nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, the one thing Eridanus did for us."
He took notice of what Sam tried to say but decided against it.
"Come on Larson, let's head back and go over the plan so everyone's crystal clear on what to do...and I know what you're feeling, trust me."
He left the armory and made his way back to the others.
"Alright everyone gather up!"
Jack turned his chair towards Null, putting his palms together. He didn't care what the others thought of him, he would prove in the forthcoming battle how he hade earned his rank. He thought about one time, when he had almost gotten killed, but when he did that, he saved the lives of the whole squad. He smiled and waited for Null to speak.
"Alright everyone gather up!"
Sullivan looked towards the main quarters from the cockpit. "Well, looks like we'll might be fighting soon," he said to Deck. "I'd put this thing in auto-pilot if I were you. Oh, and just in case I don't get the chance after the briefing, I'd like to say good luck. I've got a feeling we're going to need it." With that, Sullivan walked towards where Null and the rest of the crew were gathered.
"I'd put this thing in auto-pilot if I were you
"Technically, its already in autopilot." Deck pointed out. "That Azrael AI has full control over the ship, from my understanding."
Deck sat down on a near-by chair for the debriefing, focusing his attention on Null the Master Sergeant. He waited patiently for everybody to gather around.
Deck sat back in his chair, layed back and relaxed.
"I assume we've got some type of strategy planned out?"
Evans snorted, "knowing what this group appears to be like, I'd say that's a bad assumption." He paused. "In fact, this feels like one gigantic problem just waiting to happen."
"Alright everyone gather up!"
"Oh, goody, we're finally getting a plan made." Evans said dryly. "I assume you have a plan that's more than: Run towards the enemy and hope to not get killed?"
"Oh, goody, we're finally getting a plan made." Evans said dryly. "I assume you have a plan that's more than: Run towards the enemy and hope to not get killed?"
"With all due respect sir the current plan will work, perhaps you've just been away from the real action for far too long... sir." Null stated being slightly irritated.
Null walked around for a few seconds before beginning.
"I'll state the plan one more time. We fly towards the Plague Recon Cruiser until it detects us. We quickly kill all power so all the ship scans is a dead ship. They will begin to send a boarding party while we put on our zero gee armor and exit our ship. Azrael will have a surprise waiting for the boarding party. We cut a hole where The Plague connected our two ships and enter from there. Once inside Azrael will jam their communications which will prevent them from signaling help. We will have our own private frequency on which to talk to so they won't be able to hear us. Once inside we split up into two groups. Group 1 will covertly take out any enemies that get in our way while they head to the bridge. Group 2 will head to the engine room and plant as many explosives as they can. Group 1 will secure the bridge and Azrael downloads as much info as he can. Once he’s download everything we send the ships back in the direction it came and trigger its distress beacon. We regroup and head back to our ship and fly back, and The Plague recieve a nasty surprise.”
(I feel as if Forever's comments were directed towards me...)
Sam leaned forward, interested in the plan they had.
Sam quietly whispered to Ares "Calculate odds of sucess."
Ares was silent for three seconds then responded " Sir, much of this is based on chance. That you stop the ship in time to be deamed a dead ship, that none of you do something stupid in the vacuum that sends you into a zero gee tumble, that-"
"Odds, please."
" Very low, 1 to 5 I'm afraid. Your all well trained soldiers, but at least two of you haven't seen action for over a year, I know you haven't seen anything for at least five years. But you're among the best, or else you wouldn't be here. That ups it to 1 in 3, still stacked against you I'm afraid sir." Ares finished.
"With all due respect sir the current plan will work, perhaps you've just been away from the real action for far too long... sir."
Evans raised an eyebrow, it looked like he'd be taking a stroll through Null's file if he survived this, any Master Sergeant who felt that he could talk to an officer like this had to be special. Though he was slightly miffed, mainly because the sergeant had heard the comments and not put them in their proper context.
["]Once he’s download everything we send the ships back in the direction it came and trigger its distress beacon. We regroup and head back to our ship and fly back, and The Plague recieve a nasty surprise.”
Evans looked at Null blankly, waiting for something else to appear, something.... helpful. As it was, he did not like the plan, it left far too much to fate, who was a conniving, vengeful bitch that would just as likely screw you over as help you. Damn him having command. He raged within the safety of his own mind, not that he'd have a better time of it, but he'd like to think he'd put together a plan with less.... complications and chances...
"You mean to say master sergeant that we're relying on chance to see us through?" Evans looked at the his hands again before looking up, his thoughts ordered. "We're going to get within the detection range of a Plague cruiser -which we don't know yet, considering we've never captured one- shut down everything quickly and play dead ship while hoping they don't do an infra-red scan and see that, our engines are running?" Evans shook his head. "Not only that but we're going to try and board a cruiser? Just us? You've fought against the Plague Master Sergeant, just like everybody else here, it's never that easy."
Evans looked at the Master Sergeant, hoping that he'd see something in the younger man's eyes to betray what he was thinking, to get an idea of how far he could trust him with his life...
((Not meaning to be confrontational CN; and I think I've rp'd with enough Sam Larsons by now to get their general feel Jedi :xp:, actually they weren't it was more just what a 40 year veteran would think after seeing such a rag tag group go forward with next to nil planning.))
"You mean to say master sergeant that we're relying on chance to see us through?... "Not only that but we're going to try and board a cruiser? Just us? You've fought against the Plague Master Sergeant, just like everybody else here, it's never that easy."
"I dont like the idea of dying either..." Deck added. "But I'm sure you were already that our odds of survival heavily relied upon chance, before you accepted this mission."
He rested his arms behind his head. "Besides, there are a few ways to avoid infrared. Like using the IES stealth system, which absorbs heat caused by shipboard operations - including crew members. That heat gets stored into the Lithium sinks stored within the Hull, rendering us "invisible" to infrared detectors."
Like most people, the average joe wouldnt understand a word he just said. But Deck didnt care; as long as the plan worked, nobody would care.
"So who goes on whose team, out of curiosity?" he queried Null.
Jack gave heavy thought to why the mission was relying so heavily on chance, even though he knew this when he signed up for it.
"Besides, there are a few ways to avoid infrared. Like using the IES stealth system, which absorbs heat caused by shipboard operations - including crew members. That heat gets stored into the Lithium sinks stored within the Hull, rendering us "invisible" to infrared detectors." he heard Deck say. He nodded.
"Yes, but does our ship have it?" Jack asked, trying not to sound cocky or angry.
"So who goes on whose team, out of curiosity?"
Jack turned to Null and nodded.
(I know, it just felt like that. And My character is smarter now, he's an adult! *Insert cheesy superhero music*)
Sam sighed, everything was looking grim.
"Not to ruin your dreams, but I doubt that we have an IES stealth system. They are highly expensive, and would more likely be found on the ship of a diplomat or some millionaire, trust me on that." Sam said, and he knew, his old ship was equipped with one.
"If we have anything, it's probably a radar deflecting shield, but we would still generate enough heat to trip sensors on every ship with in fifteen or more clicks." Sam continued.
"But turning the ship off, letting us drift for a while with only the most essential life support systems and then opening the ship up to the vacuum so we could get over to the Plague ship, that would let the ship cool off rapidly, so nothing looks like its been used in a while." He finished.
Null looked around at the group. He could tell some if not most of them were concerned about the plan.
"To answer you sir the plan is risky but I assure you it won't be by chance. While this ship does not have an IES stealth system, it does have a little something like that. On my command Azrael will put up what looks like some sort of shielding around our dead ship. In reality our ship will have the appearence of one of their's. During my last mission with Azrael, we were able to learn the Kandoid's language...well he was at least. He'll send out a distress call in the Kandoid language where the ship will pick it up and make its way for us. We pretend our engine's have failed, our troops are injured, we're about to lose communication, and we found something to help "The Path".
"So who goes on whose team, out of curiosity?"
Null was beginning to learn the other team member's personalities and how they would do in combat.
"I'm glad you asked. Clearly Captain Evans and I will lead both groups. I will be on Group 1 and he'll lead Group 2. Deck, Tech, and Sullivan will come with me which means Jack, and Larson are with you Captain."
"I'm glad you asked. Clearly Captain Evans and I will lead both groups. I will be on Group 1 and he'll lead Group 2. Deck, Tech, and Sullivan will come with me which means Jack, and Larson are with you Captain."
"Glad to hear it." Sullivan replied. Although he had qualms about leaving this mission up to chance, he was sure that things could be much worse, and besides, the rest of the crew answered most of his questions. "I realize that we're going to put on zero-g suits, but what's to stop them from seeing us before we board their ship? Our ship might change appearence, but we won't."
"I'm glad you asked. Clearly Captain Evans and I will lead both groups. I will be on Group 1 and he'll lead Group 2. Deck, Tech, and Sullivan will come with me which means Jack, and Larson are with you Captain."
Evans nodded, it appeared that the sergeant did come up with 4 when he added 2 and 2. Great, a noble. That thought however wouldn't leave him. He didn't know when the noble class had appeared, but they hadn't been there on Earth and they'd done just fine without them.
"So, where's group 2 headed, and how many doors will we need to create on our way in?" Evans asked Null after Sullivan worked in his question.
"Well, I'd suggest overwhelming firepower," Evans added, directing the comment towards Sullivan. "Seems to take care of most of the Plague related problems." He cracked a grin to at least give the impression of a joke.
Damn, a bloody noble, a soldier suffering survivor's guilt and me. Evans mentally sighed, doing his best to keep the despair off his face. This is going to be one hell of a long mission, isn't it?
"I realize that we're going to put on zero-g suits, but what's to stop them from seeing us before we board their ship? Our ship might change appearence, but we won't."
"The suits themselves will be black which makes us very hard to spot in space especially if you're more concerned about the ship. There is a huge blindspot in The Plague cruiser where they can't see anything. We'll launch ourselves there and make our way to their airlock."
"So, where's group 2 headed, and how many doors will we need to create on our way in?"
"Group 2 is going to sabotage the engine room sir. Larson's AI should be able to guide you to there and should be able to sabotage it as well. If not a few bombs that Azrael can detonate will do the trick."
Null felt a slight ringing in his head, like he did during his first fight with the Plague. He quickly shook his head and tried to rub it but remembered that his helmet was still on.
"Group 2 is going to sabotage the engine room sir. Larson's AI should be able to guide you to there and should be able to sabotage it as well. If not a few bombs that Azrael can detonate will do the trick."
In a way, Deck was glad he wasnt on Group 2. He wouldnt have to go through the hassle of setting off explosives; the whole process was messy. Plus, Deck could see a reason why Null chose him to be on his team - the conflict between Deck and Jack may compromise the mission. But still, there was one problem.
"Well those are some fine choices you made, Master Sergeant." Deck added. "But I sincerely hope one of the Captain' team members have good enough skill with demolitions. Otherwise, it be worth sending one of us Tech Experts over to the other team. But apart from that, if everything goes well, I have no complaints."
"But I sincerely hope one of the Captain' team members have good enough skill with demolitions.
"I can handle demo just fine. The, uh, plunger goes down and the explosives go off, right?" Evans chuckled a little. "I've used explosives enough in the past, may not be my specialty, but I can make due, unless these are old enough to predate the exodus by a decade or so."
"The suits themselves will be black which makes us very hard to spot in space especially if you're more concerned about the ship. There is a huge blindspot in The Plague cruiser where they can't see anything. We'll launch ourselves there and make our way to their airlock."
Sullivan nodded, understanding what Null had told them. Good, nothing can go too wrong, he thought.
"Well, I'd suggest overwhelming firepower. Seems to take care of most of the Plague related problems."
Sullivan chuckled a bit, getting the joke. "Well, that's always a good option," he laughed.
Ares said over the TEAMCOM, " Yes, my skills are sufficient to sabotage their engines. For a good time, unless they should happen to guess the new password into their system." Ares made a chuckle.
Sam smiled, enjoying the idea of being able to do some good in this war.
"I can handle demo just fine. The, uh, plunger goes down and the explosives go off, right?"
This actually got Null to let a laugh out.
"Yes, my skills are sufficient to sabotage their engines. For a good time, unless they should happen to guess the new password into their system."
"Excellent, we'll make sure we don't The Plague that chance then."
Null was about to speak again when Azrael cut in.
"As much as I enjoy such basic human dialogue I must interrupt this little "chit chat". I've calculated we'll be seeing the Plague Cruiser in exactly 11 minutes and 7 seconds. I would suggest getting over to the armory now and getting yourselves set with the suits and weapons...Oh and I hope you enjoyed your flight." Azrael said over the PA system.
"You heard him, let's get a move on." Null said as he made his way towards the armory.
"You heard him, let's get a move on."
Sullivan made his way to the armory. He already had his weapons and ammo, but he figured getting some extra gun magazines wouldn't hurt. After inspecting the armory's stock, Sullivan took a zero-g suit, and decided to just go along with the weapons and ammo he had now - having two pistols plus a shotgun and a sniper rifle was probably more than enough needed. Sullivan put on his zero-g suit, loaded, cocked, then holstered his two pistols, inserted a drum magazine into his shotgun, cocked it, held it at the ready and slung his sniper rifle behind his back. Sullivan cracked his knuckles in anticipation. He couldn't wait to crack a few Plague heads.
"Alright, let's get this show on the road."
Evans shed his duster and fedora and sighed in frustration as the hardened plastic/metal replaced the flexible cloth that he preferred. He selected a basic assault rifle and logged it with the suit along with his revolvers. His HUD was in the process of booting up and all he could see at the moment was his fireteam's vitals, rounds remaining in all 3 guns and suits nearby.
He keyed the TEAMCOM. "Team 2 report in."
"You heard him, let's get a move on.
Jack smirked and quickly put on his helmet as he walked to the armory. The HUD booted up as Jack took a Battle Rifle and two pistols from the rack. He grabbed a few mags and holstered the pistols. Good to go, he thought.
"Team 2 report in." Jack heard from Captain Evans over the TEAMCOM. He located Evans with the HUD and quickly ran over to him.
"Sergeant Jack Adelt, reporting sir."
Sam stood up and went to the armory. He oepened the locker and pulled out his rifle and a few mags. He thought for a second, then he grabbed the pistol. He may be heavily proficient with his rifle, but they always had stealth generators that could make them nearly invisible. He wanted something that he could grab and use in fights under five feet in distance.
Sam aimed through the scope and smiled as the reticle came to life at his touch. Putting the rifle down, Sam started putting on his armor, trying to remember all the specifics that the tech guy had said back at base. After three minutes of fidgeting, he was in, and Ares did a diagnostic.
"Your suit is vacuum sealed, you'll be alright in space, sir."
Null made his way to the armory as quickly as he could. He took a look around before picking up an smg with a scope and silencer attachment. He grabbed three stun grenades, and a silencer for his custom made pistol. He gave his knife a quick sharpening before returning to the group. He placed the pistol at his side and had he smg on his back.
"Alright then, Azrael send out the signal and activate the holo image."
"Our ship now looks like there's, and a very lovely distress signal has been sent. They should be here in 10 minutes."
------------
Titon looked over at his crew. He could tell they were all tired as was he, however they could not let the Plague down. The insectoid captain rubbed his antenna to keep him going. Suddenly a loud beeping was heard through the cruiser. An image was displayed on a holo screen in front of the captain. It was another Kandoid and by the looks of it he was injured.
"Attention anyone, this is Corporal Hanun. Our ship has been attacked. Our engines are dead and our shields are down. We have 7 dead and 16 wounded, we need help asap. Our coordinates are 140, 65..."
The message ended there. Titon scratched his head for a few seconds. He could never leave a fellow Kandoid in danger like that.
"Make those coordinates our new priority, we're getting are brethren out of there."
Deck joined the others in the Armory, where he walked up to the locker marked with his name. He undressed himself down to his underwear. He slipped on one of the Vacuum Sealed Zero-G suits, and placed his helmet on.
"These damn helmets make my ears uncomfortable..." he mumbled. He flicked the HUD system on, which displayed his status and radiation levels. He strapped the holster containing his Revolver around his leg, and attached his Automatic Sniper Rifle to his back. "Just incase..." he thought, noting the Silencer attachment.
He joined Null and the others outside of the armory to await for the next phase.
"Sergeant Jack Adelt, reporting sir."
"I hear you Sergeant." Evans replied, already adding Adelt's vitals to his HUD's readout. After realizing that Larson wasn't going to answer anytime soon, Evans keyed in his vitals as well.
Damn, mental activity is above normal, must be going through some damn bad memories. Evans thought to himself, watching the MASR readout.
With the addition of Larson's vitals, the 'radar' in his HUD showed where Larson and Adelt were relative to him.
"Alright people, make sure your suits are vaccum ready and prepare for hot LZ." Evans said into the TEAMCOM before keying Team 2's frequency and thowing a line to Null.
"Anybody have the floor plans of a cruiser at all?" He asked. "While I know my way around, roughly, I always like having some idea of where I'm going."
He idly played with a revolver while the unknown Cruiser approached.
"Well, lets see is Ares has anything. Ares?" Sam said.
"Sir, using the sounds and mathematics, the floor plan is somewhat crazy. But, I can guarentee a 90% correctness on this map." Ares responded, putting a map on Sam's and everyone else's HUD.
"There, are you happy sir?" Sam asked Evans.
Sullivan joined the others and saw the fast approaching ship. "This is where all the fun begins," he said to no one in particular, relishing the fact he'd get to crack a few Plague heads.
"Sir, using the sounds and mathematics, the floor plan is somewhat crazy. But, I can guarentee a 90% correctness on this map."
Sullivan looked at the map that appeared on his HUD. "That floor plan is crazy. I'm surprised that the crew doesn't get lost. Oh, and what's the other 10%?" he asked Ares, feeling a bit apprehensive of getting lost himself in the ship.
Evans looked at the map in displayed on his HUD. "Well," he said over the TEAMCOM to Team 2, "at least it's pretty much a straight line from our projected entry point," he highlighted a point on the ship's port. "To the Engine Room," he highlighted another point.
"Looks like we're going to need much more explosives than I thought." He muttered as he bent down and grabbed several pounds of what looked like old Plastic Explosives. "Compound D," He said, "Gotta love this stuff."
"Sir, using the sounds and mathematics, the floor plan is somewhat crazy. But, I can guarentee a 90% correctness on this map." Ares responded, putting a map on Sam's and everyone else's HUD.
"There, are you happy sir?"
Azrael couldn't help but laugh over the groups team chat.
"Fear not Mr. Sullivan, for you have a real AI with you. Don't use a common connection to do an entire network's job is what I always say, metaphorically that is. I'm downloading and updating your maps as we speak. There we go, not only is it 100% correct but it covers the every level of the ship, including each and every object. I've also updated your motion trackers."
Null shook his head as Azrael one upped the other AI. That's one thing Null couldn't stand was how everyone was beneath him, even his own kind.
"Well before Azrael decides to do something else we better head to the airlock."
"The other ten percent would have been soldiers, sir, or other anomalys, seeing how Azreal put out one better then me, I yield this round."
Sam chuckled, he'd paid millions of dollars for that AI, and it had been beaten.
"There's always one better."
Null made his way to the airlock just as quickly as he gave the order. That cruiser would be here any minute and he needed to be ready. His leg gave a slight twitch but he shook it off.
"Alright Azrael, cut off all power."
The engines stopped moving and the lights went out. Null's visor kicked in within a matter of seconds. Another good thing about the Torakian battle suit was the helmets ability to have a variety of different visor settings including night vision.
"Alright men, once Azrael gives the signal, he'll open the airlock and we make our move to the bottom of the ship. Remember, we have 30 minutes of air supply inside the helmets so we need to move fast."
"Alright men, once Azrael gives the signal, he'll open the airlock and we make our move to the bottom of the ship. Remember, we have 30 minutes of air supply inside the helmets so we need to move fast."
Evans sighed. He hated time constraints like that, never allowed for the proper work.
He checked the assault rifle and flicked the safety off, the click was unnaturally loud in the silenced ship. After patting the explosives he had in his pack he moved over to the airlock, ready for quick boarding ops. "Just nobody hit my pack for now, okay?" He said over the TEAMCOM to everybody.
"Alright men, once Azrael gives the signal, he'll open the airlock and we make our move to the bottom of the ship. Remember, we have 30 minutes of air supply inside the helmets so we need to move fast."
Jack nodded and started doing standard military stretching. In thirty seconds, all stiffness had dissappeared from his body.
He grabbed his battle rifle again, flicking the saftey off. He laid it casually on his shoulder and waited.
The plague cruiser darted through space as quickly as it could. Titon nervously watched out the window looking to see anything other than stars. His brethren were out there somewhere and needed his help. He thought he saw something in the distance so he leaned forward to see if it would help. It looked like Plague technology but it was too hard to tell.
"Sir, our radar has picked up and object with life on it."
"That's them, take us over there now!"
"Yes sir!"
---------------------
"Looks like the Plague has gotten my invitation for tea. Thank you for traveling Azrael Air. You are now free to exit the ship."
Null shook his head at Azreal's odd sense of humor. If it wasn't sadistic it was just random.
Null heard a crack as the air lock opened up. He nodded to his team before jumping out into space. He let his body float for a few seconds before pushing himself downward using the ship to move. He continued on this path until he wad underneath the ship. He attached a cable from his belt to the ship to prevent him from floating away.
"We wait here until Azrael tells us its okay to move through our teamchat. Has everyone got their cables hooked up?"
Sam smiled and hooked his cable to the socket in the wall.
He cocked the action on his rifle and flicked the safety off. He sighted in the scope, ensuring accuracy. Then, he sat down and said a prayer, finishing with the Lords Prayer.
"Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be they name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day...."
"We wait here until Azrael tells us its okay to move through our teamchat. Has everyone got their cables hooked up?"
Sullivan connected his cable and then followed Null's lead. He checked the safety on his shotgun and set it to semi-automatic. Sullivan wanted to put it to fully automatic, but he figured that as this was a stealth mission, the fewer shots, the better. He also removed the safety on his sniper rifle and pistols, just in case.
"We wait here until Azrael tells us its okay to move through our teamchat. Has everyone got their cables hooked up?"
Jack hooked his cable and stood readily, eager to move inte the other ship.
Evans found a cable and quickly tied it onto the anchor point on his suit using a quick release knot, it just wouldn't do if the knot was still strong when he was moving to board.
He braced himself against the walls of the airlock, when the air left, it wasn't going to be pretty...
"We wait here until Azrael tells us its okay to move through our teamchat. Has everyone got their cables hooked up?"
Deck hooked his cable up to his suit, and made sure he secured it. He leaned against the wall and waited patiently.
""Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be they name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day...."
Deck glanced over at Sam, who was muttering his prayer. He rolled his eyes. "Crap... We've got a religeous fanatic on board..." he muttered under his breath. He stared up at the ceiling. "He better not preach us with his "Jesus" Words, I hope..." he thought.
"When is this door gonna open already?" Deck yawned.
The cruiser was now in plain sight. It took only a matter of minutes for it to get near the human ship. A large cylinder extended from the cruiser to the human ship. Azrael heard the doors open up and felt the rescue party board it.
"The Plague have taken the bait and now the rest is up to you, don't screw it up." Azrael said in his sadistic tone.
Null nodded to the group and made his way to the top once more. He floated his way towards the cylinder and pulled out a small laser. The aimed it at the top of the cylinder and created a hole. Null detached his cable and pushed his way inside. He created a larger hole in the door and tossed the remains aside. He rolled through the door and pulled out his pistol.
"Split up into your groups, Team 1 behind me."
Sam looked at Deck, smiling. "Religous, yes. Fanatic, no. But, You can believe it won't get in the way of the mission." He said. He pulled out his rifle and flicked off the safety, and then he did the same to his pistol. He got into his team and called up the map.
"Sir, the Plague is sending us a hail. They don't see us, the soldiers, but they seem a bit cautious." Ares said over TEAMCOM.
>Plague Recon Squad 418<
Char'ock looked at his reflection in the holographic mirror. His eyes were sunken in, bags hanged under them. He'd fought in wars before, but he'd never had to interrogate a... Human. He shivered at the thought of it. He'd been trained in guerrila warfare, it was his life, but he new how to make a man talk. He'd used in skills of persuasion not but three days ago. Normal interrogation on his kind was different. He hadn't expected the mans innards to fall out. The sight wasn't as bad as the smell, and he was still catching wiff's of it randmomly.
And the blood, it was repulsive, it was sticky and it felt as if it was still on his hands. It was unbearable, he hadn't had much sleep since then. He looked at his sword, a large blade, five feet long and wider than a foot. It was a fearsome sight to behold, and not many people were able to recount tales of it in a fight.
He put the blade back in its sheat and looked at his rifle. His instincts never failed him, something told him a fight was coming.
"Split up into your groups, Team 1 behind me."
"Team 2 with me." Evans whispered into his mic as Null gave his orders. "We're using the old fallback, force and surprise. Don't stay to kill as many as you can, don't hang around and try to fight them, follow me in and guard my back as I blow open walls to get at the engine core; we're trying to stop this ship dead with as few holes as possible, on the outside."
"Sir, the Plague is sending us a hail. They don't see us, the soldiers, but they seem a bit cautious."
"Damn right they're cautious." Evans grunted, he still had issues with Nulls plans, this felt like something that would fall apart with only a slight nudge. He opened up a channel to Null through the TEAMCOM. "Team 2 is ready to blow walls as we make our way to the Engine Core. How do you want it, rare? Medium? Well-Done? Extra-crispy?" Evans was grinning slightly behind his face mask, it was a joy to be able to take the fight openly to the plague instead of simple assassination and terrorism.
<40 years ago, Boston Massachusets. Friday, July 3rd>
Mark Evans looked up at the sky in fear. His young body was too short for the BlasTek body armor he wore and his arms weren't the right length to heft the FN-MAR he was grasping, but still he had them. He looked at the rest of his 'company', 104 14 to 17year olds, just like him... and he was in command.
"When we see them, throw everything we've got at them!" He yelled out to his company over the TEAMCOM. "We're going to take casualties, I'm not going to lie, some of you will wake up in Valhalla today, but we shall not let them take this spacehead!" It wasn't until he heard the roar of the many companies around his position that he knew his TEAMCOM was broadcasting on the public frequency.
"Cadet Evans, please refrain from doing that again." The tinny voice of his assigned AI whispered over his TEAMCOM's private channel. "UNWDC doesn't like it when people say such things to other people's command."
"Of course, Nike, of course." It was impossible to tell with the distortion of the 2nd Generation AI's voice, but he swore up and down that his AI was a she.
With a rumble that shook the very Earth, the large ovaloid troop transports floated down to the ground, landing near the wreckage of the Space Elevator that had been destroyed 3 months ago, in the opening stages of this invasion.
The doors on the transports opened, disgorging thousands of Plague soldiers. Elsewhere the event was going on as well, Boston, Cairo, Murmansk, Melbourne, Kyoto, Rio, every major city or data node in the world was being invaded.
The soldiers opened fire upon the few exposed soldiers of the UNWDF, but that was it as they advanced towards the child soldiers.
"I need artillery and CAS now!" Evans yelled into his TEAMCOM, on the supervisor's channel.
"CAS is inbound from the UNSS Columbia, ETA is 5 minutes." Nike said in her tinny voice into his ear after conferring with the Supervisor AI. "Now you can answer the ages old question, what would you do with five minutes to live?"
Bringing up his rifle so the Iron Sights could be used, Evans took aim on an approaching soldier and fired off his rounds, the thing shrugged off the first 4 rounds, but the fifth and sixth killed it. Instantly, 3 others turned to face him.
Then Hell erupted around him. The X-Ray pumped lasers on the Plague ships in orbit struck all around Evans' position and the positions of everybody in the area. Tanks that had been engaged in a vicious battle with Plague Armor, simply disappeared in a nuclear hell, arty positions simply ceased to exist. "How long?" He choked out to Nike, surveying the destruction around him, and the destruction that continued to pour out.
"Four minutes, twenty seconds."
Cursing violently, Evans fired off all his rounds at Plague Soldiers within his sight well, his Armor support steadily vanished under the onslaught from orbit. Suddenly, the barrage from space started to abate, and little suns illuminated the area even more as Plague battleships started dying.
No one on the ground cheered, they were too embroiled in their own conflict. The plague continued in towards the survivors of the laser barrage. They now dropped weapons to pick up their dead comrades' as opposed to reloading. Totally out of ammo, Evans threw his rifle at a Plague soldier, who was dumbfounded by the move, until his brain met .455 caliber slugs from Evans' pistol.
"How long, Nike?"
"One minute, two seconds." The tinny voice was becoming more distinct, or was it just his imagination and the stress of combat.
Already, Evans could hear the screams of the UNSF Fighter-Bombers entering the athmosphere from the Carrier Columbia. He could visualize how they would swoop in gracefully and pound the hell out of these Plague bastards with their Mass Drivers.
Gratitude turned to horror when Evans saw what was under the F/B-204's, nuclear tipped missiles!
He turned and started to run from the hell that was to be, the Plague ignored him, but his second in command didn't.
"Why are you running Evans?" Nikki Bremies asked angrily as she grabbed his arm. Nike repeated the same question.
"Those fighters are carrying nukes," he managed to choke out before the fighters launched off their missiles into the troop transports.
The shockwave blew Evans and Nikki back into a depression in the ground, Nikki landed on top of him.
That probably saved his life.
Shards of metal from the hull landed around Evans and Nikki, and one even landed on top of them, slicing through Nikki entirely and cutting open Evans gut.
Seeing black around the edges of his vision, he managed to get out only a few words to Nike. "Get....... help........"
His visioned cleared..... he was on a gurney? Where was he? Was this a hospital? Evans tried turning his head to look around, only to find that his head was immobilized.... He looked down at his gut, ugliest damn wound he'd ever seen...... This room was grey.... military.... a throbing thrum indicated FTL engines.... the stolen Plague drives applied to the UNSF Carriers?
"Earth has been..... destroyed." Nike whispered in his ear, her voice was no longer tinny, instead it was almost... human....
"Show..... me...." He whispered.
And he saw.
And he screamed.
<Present Day>
Evans blinked away tears, he hadn't known were there. It had been more than a few years since he'd throught about Boston, but he still missed Nike's familiar presance in his... mind? He'd never quite known where she was, but she'd been with him ever since Boston, until she'd been..... lost.....
"Religous, yes. Fanatic, no. But, You can believe it won't get in the way of the mission."
"A man's got to have something keeping him going," Evans said in partial agreement. "Get ready to vent the athmosphere."
((Yeah, a bit of backfill on the Fall of Earth, other than that, not much))
""Religous, yes. Fanatic, no. But, You can believe it won't get in the way of the mission."
"I suppose thats good to hear." he placed his rifle over his shoulder. "Still, its you're choice."
"Split up into your groups, Team 1 behind me."
Deck followed and stood behind Null. "All ready to go on your command, sir."
Sam fell into Team two with Evans, after responding to his comment, " You know it!", with a grin, which was skin deep.
The soldiers had put their helmets on and the doors opened. They pushed off and made their way to the ship, avoiding any major movement that would send them into a zero g tumble, they all knew that would be the end of them most likely.
Sullivan followed Null and his team toward the Plague cruiser, propelling himself off the spaceship. He always felt somewhat apprehensive just floating or flying with nothing above or below you, but that was just part of the job.