Bound By Blood [Casual - High-Casual] IC

[King Serperior]

OOC
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Date: Jan 3rd ****
Time: 6:47am
Location: Unified Independence/United Front border
Three "Raptor" mechs were on patrol.

Spoiler

Raptor Mech

They were fast and agile, but had very weak armor. They were under orders to find a convoy that was said to be leaving their area. It was susposed to be a UF led operation. The reports they had were that this convoy was taking Magnorize, a rare ore found only in the UI.
"Squad leader, I think there's a dust cloud about a half mile to the south. Do we check it out?"
"Negative, A3. Only two of us will go. A3, you stay behind. A2, you're with me."
With that, two of the three mechs began running at their top speed of 90mph to the dust cloud. A3 watched through his range finder as two bursts of flame shot from the flamethrowers on the Raptors. At first, it appeared that the UI had victory......until some new, bipedal machine walked partially out of the dust and fired two shots. Both Raptors were destroyed instantly. A3 turned his Raptor and beat a hasty retreat.....but not before a Hunter-Killer aerial drone fired a missile that destroyed the fleeing Raptor before it even reached a mile's distance......
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Date: Jan 3rd ****
Time: 7:05am
Location: Coalition of Sigma - Outside Private Bunker 5: Restricted acces to all personel
Two privates were standing close to one of the guard posts set near the break area, staring at the activity surrounding a huge bunker. They watched as the 7th artilery cannon was just being activated while an 8th was just begining contruction.
"Jeeze, what can they be doing in there that requires so much security?" asked Private Jackson
"Dunno. They didn't even have this much security when they made that EagleStrike attack ship thirty years ago." replied Private Connor.
"Yea, I know, but really, they won't let anyone or anything get within a mile of it without going through what appears to be 50 checkpoints."
"Anyway, I have to go. The Commander of my squad is doing an inspection."
"Commander Pikeman? Man, I feel bad for you."
They parted ways, the mystery of what is in the bunker still unsolved.....
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Date: Jan 3 ****
Time: 8:45am
Location: The Brotherhood main base
Tobias had just finished giving a speach to the Brotherhood regarding that today was the day the Brotherhood was officially founded. Today, all non-vital members were to take off for the day. So far, none of the three nations had mobilized any forces, so it was safe to take a break. Tobias went to the Complex to finish some things. He had been forced to miss his daugher's brithday because he was directing an attack on a CoS supply line a few months ago. He was going to make that up to her today....
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[UllarWarlord]

Boomer left the meeting, eager to commence his morning ritual. He made his way to the firing range, ignoring the stares directed at both him and Kathleen, his 'supervisor'. He didn't fully understand why he needed a supervisor; Boomer could blow up things well enough on his own. Perhaps she was there to make sure nobody tried to bully him. But he didn't see the logic in that; the Brotherhood knew his past and knew he was capable of dealing with those who tried. Regardless, the organization had insisted he have a companion, and Kathleen was the one they chose. He didn't get why she was grumpy all the time; she should be elated to associate with a cunning mind like his.

Perhaps she was on her period.

Constantly.

He had heard of worse mutations.

In any case, they had reached the firing range, with the makeshift representation of the adolescent Tommy Perkins, one of his earlier childhood bullies. Tommy was no longer alive, of course; Boomer had dealt retribution to him and his wife. He hated to hurt innocent people, but it was most likely that Tommy was corrupting the woman as well, so it was no great loss. Boomer wrapped some explosive wire around the base of the dummy (haha he was a dummy) and walked back to the entrance of the firing range, whistling as he went. It gave him such joy everytime he reminded himself of his mission in life: to deal with oppressors. That's why he joined the Brotherhood, so everyone could be free and there would be no more bullies. When he reached Kathleen, looking on disinterestedly, he pressed the button on the detonator (he liked them red and large) and watched as the representation of the hated Perkins blew into what he estimated to be a kajillion pieces.

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Kathleen watched Boomer's display in distaste. Why on earth did he feel the need to blow up effigies of one of his childhood oppressors every single damn day? And why on earth was she stuck with someone as mentally unstable as him? She rested on her gunblade, pondering the past. It had been nothing more than a demotion, being placed with this crazy midget. But what had she done wrong? She had no clue. Kathleen had done all of her missions according to instructions, and had gathered some key intelligence for the Brotherhood. And how was she rewarded? By playing nursemaid to a mentally unstable explosives expert. It almost made her want to go back to the Coalition of Sigma; but Kathleen knew that wasn't right. It just wasn't fair there. All the oppression...it made her sick. Even sicker than watching this display over and over. It was creepy, having to watch the little troll make these incredibly detailed figures, then blow them up thenext day. She sighed. While she was here, she had better get some practice with the so-called 'Boom Orbitars' Boomer had made for her. At least there were others supervising the shooting range to watch him. Not that he needed watching; he was still doing his five-minute-long victory dance.

[ShowdownVD]

I walked silently along behind Tobias. The meeting. He had said that all non-important employees were off. That meant I wasn't. I sighed and pulled up my hood before slipping into a shadow. I always liked to make a practice run before work, so that is what I was going to do.
I slinked down a silent hallway and around a couple of nonchalante corners. I gradually made my way to the special parkour practice course I asjed Tobias to have set u 3 years ago. It was constantly being improved, providing new challenges for each member of the Assassin's Core.
I walked into the training room and lit up the control panel. I registered my thumbprint and selected level 139. It may present new challenges, but i had become so oblivious to new patterns that nothing presented a challenge anymore.
"Maybe this one will change."
I hit the countdown and got into position. The timer counted down and I ran out the door. The first section. I jumped up and grabbed onto a wall. I moved, hand over hand to my left. I dropped down ont a ledge and ran along it. Program two. I slid behind a small barrier as red dots appeared, letting me know that turrets had activated. I pulled out a small mirror and looked for the cameras. 630, 745, and 4. I pulled out my pistols and quickly came up, firing two shots, taking oit the turrets at 630 and 745. I ducked back as a laser shot from the other turret. I cam up again and fired another shot straight into its barrel, imploding it.
I sighed and jumped over the barrier. I stopped short as I saw two more turrets rise.
This is new...
I quickly pulled out the second pistol and fired a shot into each turret. They blew on impact. Suddenly, I felt a rumbling and the ground opened in front of me. A raptor mech slid up out of the ground. I jumped and rolled behind a barrier as its machine gun warmed up and littered the place. I swore and pulled the knives out of my boots. I spun to the next barrier, releasing the knives at the mech. One hit the side and fell down. The other hit the wire on the right (my left) that controlled the machine gun. I ran up the wall to my left and grabbed the edge, hoisting myself up. The other machine gun began to whir and i made a suicide backflip, fortunately landing on the mech, but unfortunately landing on my back. I released the blades at the back of my boots and let them get a grip as to hoist myself up. I swung around abd delivered a hard kick to the machine gun, knocking it off of its hinge and unhooking the other set of wires. I reached over and pulled out a flashbang, pulling tje pin and dropping it on the ground. I closed my eyes as it went off. The virtual driver got stunned and caused the mech to stumble. I reached down and pulled the latch to the cockpit, swearing when it didnt release. I pulled out a wrist dagger and slid it along the seam, forcing the latch open. I let the cockpit open and i made a swipe at the driver, imaginably beheading him.
"Simulation victorious." A voice, the computers, said from overhead. I sighed, jumped down, retrieved my knives, and left the simulation room.

[Flaresun]

Irina, knowing that Scarlett was finally going to celebrate her birthday, was getting a cake ready.
"I wish I would at least remember when my birthday was..." Irina cursed in russian. "Why am I remembering about my past in UF again? I need to destroy memories of it, I'm not that naive princess anymore."
She sighed, written the "Y" in "Birthday" with cream and checked her laptop.
"Hmm... So, UI's mech were destroyed by a Hunter-Killer again? I'll need to make a report on this. What are they fighting for, anyway?" Irina accessed another program and focused her camera on the main base of the UF.
"Sir, we had destroyed the mechs. We are one step closer to finding Magnorize and completing the weapon."
"Nice, nice... Though I wish Irina was here. That girl could always find a way to outsmart our enemies." He lowered his voice "And she was beautiful..."
His new secretary caressed his shoulder.
"Master, we won't get her back. I can do the same role anyway..."
"Mika, send the Raptors to attack the UI and make me a cup of coffee. Espresso."
Irina started writing a report for Tobias - he asked her to keep track of UI's, UF's and CoS' actions.

________________
Lei Jang was fixing a nearly destroyed mech after a failed defense mission. She heard two guys talking about something and came closer, pretending not to be eavesdropping.
"Have you heard about Brotherhood of Blood? I've seen them once, and they are sooo mysterious and cool! They are heroes who fight for justice and hope to stop all of this..." He lowered his voice and looked at Lei suspiciously. "Are you eavesdropping?"
"I'm just fixing this mech, stupid. I'm not interested in anything you might be talking about..."
But she was lying. She had learned to hide her feelings properly. Lei couldn't stress enough how much she wanted to join that Brotherhood...

[Stephanie96]

Scarlett escaped the meeting before her father could corner her. She wasn't up for a day with him being over-protective, as usual. He hated that she wanted to join the military, he hated the clothes she wore, he even hated some of the people she liked to hang around with; apparently some of them were 'bad influences'. Rolling her eyes, she walked through the dispersing crowd of celebrating people, pushing her long hair out of her face as she went. She tried to make it inconspicuously through the crowd, slipping her arms into her leather jacket as she went.
I know where father won't look for me. She thought, and headed towards the practice course. Really, it was only for the Assasins core, but Scar always managed to weidle her way in somehow, with a smile here and a girlish giggle there. Rolling her eyes again, she pushed open the door.
"Sorry!" Scar said, as she bumped into someones chest and backed up a few paces. Her heart fluttered slightly as she looked up at her fathers right hand man, head of his Assassins. He was five years older than her, yet for as long as Scarlett could remember, whenever she saw him, her heart seemed to pick up in her chest. Looking up at him through her long eyelashes, Scar smiled.
"Liam! I do hope you'll be coming to my birthday party." She said, in a false demanding voice, continuing before he could open his mouth to reply. "Work, sh-mork. It's my twenty-fourth birthday party and you shall be in attendance. As the daughter of Tobias Altus, I demand it." She joked, smiling mischeviously and rolling her eyes at the order.

Clothes.

[Entei999]

Bang!
The bullet slammed into the outer rim of the target.
"There! I hit it!" exclaimed Jason, pointing enthusiastically at the hole.
The gun expert sighed. "Really, I don't know why you even try," he grumbled. "You really are terrible with that gun."
"Yeah, yeah," muttered Jason. "But if I don't keep at it, I'll never get better, will I? And you never know when it may be useful to be able to shoot straight. I have the day off today, so I'll have plenty of time to perfect my shots." He once again aimed his rifle at the target set up several yards away. This time, he thought. This is when I hit the bull's-eye. He pulled the trigger -
BOOM!
An explosion from about hundred meters away shook his aim, and the bullet sailed three feet off target, hitting the wall behind it. The expert chuckled to himself. It was the autistic guy again, blowing up dummies like usual. This was the fourth day in a row he had messed Jason up. Grumbling, Jason took up position again. Focus now, he thought. Focus...
He pulled the trigger, and the bullet sailed through the red center of the target. "Yes!" shouted Jason, throwing his fist in the air. "Bulls-eye!"
"Not bad," said the expert. "Now, let's try one a bit farther away..."

[ShowdownVD]

I smiled under my hood as I began exiting the course but was bumped into. I looked up from my usual gaze at the ground to see Scarlett, Tobias' daughter, standing in front of me. She asked if I was going to be coming to her birthday party- She was turning 24- and before I could argue about having to work, she demanded that I go. This was odd. As usual, she would act like she needed to be around me half the time, and then out of nowhere would hit me. I had never been good with females, but I started to think that she liked me. I sighed and said,
"Okay. I'll come."
I smiled at her reaction. Anyway, who was I to piss off the beautiful daughter of our Commander in Chief?
I decided to change the subject before things got awkward.
"Training room, eh? What level are you on?"

[UllarWarlord]

Boomer walked away from the shooting range, satisfied that his duty was done. He caught a shooter waving his fist at him as he walked by, and Boomer waved back. Must be a victory fist-pumping for Boomer re-affirming his place in life. Boomer waved his fist back at him, satisfied that he had apparently found a convert to his anti-bullying cause. He headed back to his quarters (which, for some reason, were quite a distance away from the others'. But no matter; he liked it that way). He was working on a new variety of explosive that would certainly aid in causing chaos among enemy organized armies. He called it 'Monkeys in a Barrel', after an old ancient Earth toy. On the exterior, it would consist of a sealed container that would explode upon contact. But there came the tricky part; he planned for the interior to consist of smaller explosives that would scatter in all directions, primed but not exploded, once the container shattered. They would then explode either on contact or after a short time. The latter was easier to build, naturally, but the former would be far more dangerous. Boomer liked that. As soon as the door closed behind him, he went into his workshop to begin his creation.

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Ugh. There he went again, to play with his highly explosive toys. She was getting tired of it. But she had to stay by him; that was the ruling Tobias had made. Sure, he was mentally unstable. A complete psycho. But did that mean Kathleen had to suffer for it? Apparently, it did. She sighed and decided to flip through the so-called 'manual' for the Boom Orbitars. It was crudely written, made in a scrawl she could barely interpret. Kathleen sighed again. She was a very good spy, in her opinion; she thought Liam had thought higher of her capabilities than to see her reduced to nursemaid for an autistic midget. But he stood by and let it happen. Even after her successful extraction of the information to recreate mechs in the UF, he let it happen. Kathleen thrust her head in her pillow and tried to get some sleep. Which was impossible. The idiot's experiment had gone wrong and there were a bunch of explosions. Too many explosions.

[Arsenal]

Date: January 3, REDACTED
Time: 07:04
Location: REDACTED, Brotherhood of Blood Headquarters

"Blue 1-3, this is Blue 2-2, we are mobile and will arrive at your location in five, how copy?"

"Copy that 2-2, hurry up, OpFor will be on our position soon. Aerial recon tells us they're advancing fast; we have a casualty and are outnumbered. We need that MG set up and fast," Isabel put her radio handset away and picked her rifle up; she pulled the bolt on her rifle back to make sure it was loaded, releasing the handle and letting the heavy bolt of the old, antiquated rifle slap forwards and slam a 7mm Mauser round right into the chamber. She moved forwards to the commander of her squad, placing her hand on his shoulder, "Sir, Blue 2 is coming with the heavy gear in five minutes."

The commander rolled his jaw for a moment, clearly not pleased with the news. He lifted his goggles to scratch at the side of his head for a moment, "We're in a bind. There's no way we'll be able to hold off an off an assault by Red right now, and they know it."

He sighed, before nudging Isabel with his elbow, "Hey, Bella, you know we have better rifles than that old thing, why don't we get you something better at the armory later?"

She nodded understandingly, running her hand over the old wood furnishings of the rifle, a stark contrast to the synthetic plastic and fiberglass stocks of the modern rifles carries by her companion infantrymen. She looked up to the commander, smiling, "I know it's not much, but Alex gave this to me, it's... it's special, y'know?"

The commander smiled back at her, teasing her again with another push from his elbow. He racked the bolt handle on his carbine, readying it for combat. "Listen up men! We've got hostiles inbound, and reinforcements will not arrive in time to save our sorry hides, but we're not going to give up! We've just gotta hold for five-"

The commander's little speech was interrupted by the loud crack of a rifle being fired, and the commander suddenly doubled over in a combination of pain and surprise. A bright red stain marked the side of the commander's head where he had been hit by the rifle of the enemy, a steady drip of crimson fluid trickling down his face. The commander finally let out a whimper of pain, dropping to the ground and holding the side of his head where he had been hit. Isabel shrieked, "Commander Seabaum!"

Isabel grabbed her commanding officer and dragged him into safety behind a rock outcropping. The rest of the soldiers took cover there too, returning fire blindly from behind their hiding spot. Brass casings flew through the air, clanking against the rocks to make a frightening chorus of metallic pings. Isabel grunted, popping out of cover just long enough to fire three quick, hastily aimed shots. She ducked her head down and clutched her hat when an errant bullet whizzed just over her head. She yelled at one of her allies nearby, "Paulson! How many are over there!"

"Uhh, five, no, seven, and... no, more are coming! They have a jeep too!"

Isabel furrowed her brow and whirled out from cover, bringing her rifle to bear. She took aim at the first open target she saw, a man standing out in the open. He saw Isabel but by that time it was too late. She'd lined the front post up with his chest and already squeezed the trigger. A near-instant later, the man let out a loud cry as the round impacted, falling to the ground. Return fire almost immediately came, and Isabel ducked behind the rocks again. She hurried to her commander's side, checking where he'd been shot, "Sir, are you okay?"

The commander grunted back, "It hurts... but... I'll be fine."

One of the other infantry screamed back, "Izzie! The Reds are pushing an advance! We won't be able to keep them all back!"

"I'm gonna kill William for this... hey! We're not giving up just yet, if we lose this one we'd never hear the end of it! Paulson, you carry the commander, Mick, get Leo," Isabel retrieved a few spare rounds from her coat pocket, locking open the bolt on her rifle she topped off her magazine. She took a moment to look at one of the shells, it was a little different than standard ammunition, having a round-nosed, blue-colored bullet rather than the usual copper-jacketed rounds. She clicked it into the top of the magazine through the open breech of her rifle.

Her fellow soldier had much to protest against Isabel taking on the entre enemy force by herself. "Are you insane? You're going to hold off three whole squads by yourself? You can't do that alone!"

Isabel let the rifle's bolt slam shut, "I only have to buy you guys time. Now, go, get the injured to safety, I'm not gonna ask again Paulson."

He laughed, reaching down to sling the commander's arm over his shoulder, "Man, when'd you grow a pair Izzie?"

She shot Paulson a glare, to which he only laughed and carried the wounded commander away, he grunted something under his breath about the commander being heavy, but otherwise had little else to say. Isabel steadied herself, clutching her weapon a little more tightly as she psyched herself up for the firefight to follow. She peeked out from around the rock to see what the Reds were doing. They were steadily advancing, using their jeep as mobile cover to protect their advance. Isabel fired her rifle, issuing every round in her magazine, eight loud pangs, before the bolt on her weapon locked open. The jeep stopped rolling and the soldiers scambled to cover, their advance briefly halted.

Isabel knew the one advantage she had going for her was that her enemy did not know she was alone. She removed the old magazine and slipped in a new one, pulling the bolt back and letting it go to reload. She popped out of cover again and emptied her entire magazine while running to the side. Dropping to the ground she reloaded again, by now the soldiers were starting to retaliate, and volleys of gunfire screamed over her head. She waited for a stop in the gunfire, for her chance to return fire; that chance at last came when a lull fell over the battlefield. She rose up from cover and took careful aim, but she was seen very quickly and return fire started flying past her head before she'd even had time to fire herself. She kept cool, taking a moment more to aim and fire, sending a pair of rounds sailing into the chest of one of the enemy soldiers. Two large blue splashes of paint appeared where her bullets struck the man on his heavily padded chest, he groaned in pain, clutching his now paint-covered chest.

The achievement was short lived, as soon the loud report of a rifle sounded to her side, and her shoulder was struck. Bright red paint stained her sleeve. Isabel cursed and rolled over, rubbing her shoulder where she'd been hit. The live-fire training exercise had called for simulated ammunition, which instead of firing metal bullets instead used a paint-marker projectile. Regardless of that fact, the rounds still hurt even through layers and layers of thick, protective padding, Isabel knew she was going to have a nasty bruise tomorrow. She pouted and scowled, ripping her goggles off and looking up at the rifleman who had delivered the 'killing' blow, "William, what the hell are your guys thinking? One of yours shot my C.O. in the face!"

The man sneered and leaned his rifle up over his shoulders, draping his hands over each end, "We're just proving that we're the best of the best is all... quite noble of you to stay behind and fight by yourself, or did your friends run away with their tails between their legs, and leave you here all alone? Typical, I didn't expect any better from your cowardly lot."

By then the jeep was steadily rolling up the incline with its company of soldiers all just behind. A radio message broadcast through the handsets of every soldier made an announcement, "Blue team has made a full retreat, all commanding officers have successfully been evacuated from the area; Red team has successfully invaded and secured Blue team territory. This exercise is over, Red team is the victor... All personnel please return, Green and Yellow teams are to report to deployment for briefing on live-fire exercise policies."

The announcement of his team's victory only made Will's snobbish smile curl into a mischievous, satisfied grin, "Looks like we win again. Oh, and give your dear commander my condolences, I do owe him for what I did."

Will laughed mockingly, turning to walk back to his men. Isabel stood up, it took every ounce of willpower she had not to walk right up to Will and smack that smug grin off his face. She wasn't about to leave it at that though; as calmly as she could, she explained, "Will, that simulation ammo isn't to be toyed with, it still hurts, you could really have injured someone. Don't try to tell me it was an accident either, you're a sniper. I know you've been trained to hit targets out to a mile.."

"Oh please, spare me the lecture. I already heard it in briefing," the soldier laughed, turning to face Isabel, "Besides, if that wussy couldn't take being shot by a little paintball, then he's got no right being a part of the Brotherhood."

That was when Isabel snapped, before Will knew what was happening, Isabel raised her rifle and fired a paintball marker right into Will's leg. He doubled over in pain, tears welling up in his eyes while he rolled on the ground, moaning and whimpering. Will held his leg, blue paint staining his hands while he gripped his bruise. Isabel just sneered and walked over him, feeling quite satisfied, "I guess you're not Brotherhood material either, then."

She quickly turned and walked off the live-fire course, able to hear Will hiss some foul insult under his breath. She never looked back, leaning her rifle up on her shoulder. Isabel knew she'd probably catch some flak for this later, but for now, she felt justified in giving Will a nice bruise as a memento for the occasion.

[Raven Rise]

...There comes a time in every man's life when he must face his demons...

Colonel Salazar walked out of the meeting hall, pleased. Although it didn't have any major implications, Tobias' declaration that the Brotherhood now recognize itself as an independent army provided a great boost to the morale of the troops. Salazar himself even felt better, grinning. All of the men an women here were good people, dedicated to the cause and loyal to the death- or so he hoped. While Tobias had given most of the soldiers the day off, Salazar's position prevented him from taking that priveledge. Even if he could, he wouldn't have; he had nothing better to do than serve. Salazar had always been a workaholic; in the Mauraders, the gag was that he didn't even sleep. Obviously that wasn't true all of the time, but there were days and sometimes even a week or two where the most shut eye he would get was when he was being driven ten minutes between bases. As it so happened, today, Salazar felt obliged to attend Tobias' daughter's birthday party. He and the general were close friends, and Salazar often spent his almost nonexistent free time with the General. Now, Salazarsaited outside of Tobias headquarters, drumming his fingers across his arm as he waited.