The guards at 29 were satisfied that the facility was secure. Guardsman Ano was a seriously ferocious individual. Nothing could have pout him down, surely. They spent a moment joking about how the make-believe assassins were on their knees right now, begging for mercy. of course, there were no assassins, but they joked all the same…

…A shadow fell across them.

They thought nothing of it other than a minor malfunction with the lighting system. It happened from time to time; the facility had sketchy power supplies.

“When do you think they’ll change the genera- *cough*” He started to wheeze horrendously. The second guard looked at him, puzzled.

He began gasping, choking, grabbing the uniform of his partner as the second also began to cough uncontrollably. Their visions grew hazy, their knees grew weak. The first guard collapsed and the second followed only seconds after. They fell into a loose heap, never to wake up again.

Congratulation! You have obtained the Choking Force Achievement!

—-

The Guard at 51 was minding his own business, flicking through photos of his wife and child down on the planet below. He hated being stationed on this damn rock with this damn man, Kolac. He was not an honourable man, he was only terrifying. He was a redshirt, a new guy, not one of the Kolac-sympathising veterans like a lot of the others in the facility.

There was an incredibly loud beeping, and the static of his radio went totally silent. The temperature inside his helmet began to raise at an alarming rate. The door slid open and a suit of powered armour flew in, silent as it could.
The guard’s eyes widened. Was it here to kill him?

“No! Please!” He screamed as he tried to unclip his sidearm, struggling due to the increasing heat. “I have a…” His vision began to grow hazy.
“I have a…”
he blinked hard, pulled on his pistol, letting it free of it’s clipping.
“A fucking child!”
Taking the pistol, he slammed it against his own visor, cracking it and releasing a good amount of pressure and heat from inside. Vision swirled back to his eyes; but he was shaking hard. He took shaky aim and fired one shot, two shots. The first ricochetted off the Cybernetic’s hand, the second punching Alexis in the chest. The shot made no penetration thanks to the CPDA that Alexis donned, but the shot pushed the Ephemeral back several steps.

“Stay the fuck away from me! Whatever you are!”

Rin took his time carefully lowering the now dead body down from the grider, laying it across his shoulder for easy transport towards the nearest hiding spot. He was not one to display his kills like trophies, if anything he felt bad for the man not getting an actual chance to defend himself. Slowly he twisted and yanked Stinger out of the guards neck leaving a moderate spatter of blood trailing down his shoulder and chest. He did not mind nor care. He was used to the smell by now.

As he neared toward the south entrance he watched Jem and Alexis tell the others to basically do what they wanted which in his opinion was not a good idea, but if they kept sitting there bantering it would be even worse. Rin was about to lay the body inside a nearby storage unit when he heard the muffled sounds of gunshots coming from where Alexis went. With an instinctive growl he sprinted full speed with corpse still laying over his shoulder. Passing by the tiny robot nearly hitting it on the way he saw the guard pointing the gun at Alexis and noticed the winged hand.

“Stay the fuck away from me! Whatever you are!”

A low growl came from Rin as he did the first thing that came to mind. Taking the bloody guards corpse by its head, he held it in front of him as a (literal) human shield and drew his blade. Charging full forward he pointed the blade with jaws fully extended using his agility and momentum to his advantage in an attempt to pin the frantic guard against his dead brother and grab the guards arm or shoulder with Jawbreaker. Unwilling to use his Prawns in attempt to silence the man before he alerts anyone else either via gunshots or screaming.

Alexis let Jemini do the cursing for him as the guard started yelling and waving about his sidearm like a headless chicken before smashing his faceplate in to release most of the heat and pressure inside his helmet. Alexis snapped up his rifle, prepared to deal with the guard through a few rounds in his face, but he hesitated as the guard mentioned his children, enough time for the guard to retaliate with two shots.

The first ricochetted off his hand, the second was absorbed by his coat but forced him back a few steps. Alexis really was getting slow if he couldn't even muster a shield fast enough to block either of the shots.

But Alexis had to push such thoughts from his mind, instead latching onto the fact that the guard mentioned his family, indicating that the man in front of him was possibly one of the few guards on the facility that had no personal ties to Kolac. The Marshall would have likely beat such indisciplinary behavior out of his own men, even in the face of death, which provided an interesting opportunity.

That is of course, until Bug Man came charging in without a care in the world, dead man slung over his shoulder and trapping one corpse against what could have been another.

Alexis breathed a sigh of disappointment, hoping against hope that the bug didn't kill what could have likely been a valuable asset on this botched mission. Seeing that Family Guy wasn't quite dead, Alexis walked calmly to the guard and said, "Listen, we don't want to kill you unless we have to. Now your friends probably heard all that noise, which is bad for us. Make an excuse, tell them you were hallucinating and it was a weapons malfunction and you tripped on something. Being in space for so long get to a person after all. And of course, don't even breathe a word about us. Then, maybe my friend here won't kill you and you'll have a chance to see your family again. Do we have a deal?"

Naturally Alexis wouldn't let the guard back into the network until after the guard did what he asked, and would ask him to repeat the message again once Alexis patched the guard back in. Of course if the guard attempted to retaliate in any way, Alexis was sure that Bug Man here could quickly take care of him, although the metal giant was hoping that wouldn't have to be their solution.

In the meanwhile, Jem still stood guard near the entrance to 55, cursing her metallic ass off but prepared to strike anyone coming from either the north or south eastern door.

The guardsman braced for impact as the unusually spiky Chitin warrior rushed through the doorway, wielding a macabre tool indeed: the body of a dead guardsman. He was slammed into the wall, pushed up against the corpse by the immense strength of the alien, cracking several ribs, feeling the life drain from him rapidly. His vision swirled away from him once more as he struggled to stay conscious. He coughed a small spew of blood that dripped from the expanding crack in his visor.

The Cybernetic one had offered him a deal. But he could do one better.

“No…” he wheezed, attempting to speak with as much strength as he could muster. “You’re here to kill Kolac, right?”

He coughed again, and a little more blood came from his lips. He tried to adjust himself to make his position a little less unbearable.

“He’s paranoid… He’s been preparing. The…” He gasped for a breath of air before he continued. “The… The Arakath came here a few weeks ago…” He blinked hard, keeping his eyes open through immense willpower. “Slinging some cryptic bullshit about… The Star Marshals overestimating themselves… Said they gotta be eliminated… He’s been expecting Arakath assassins… You’re not Arakath. You’re not with them,”
He pushed back against the Chitin a little, not expecting the alien to give any way as he addressed them both, though mostly the Cybernetic who seemed to be most forgiving.
“The room he’s in… Trapped. Go inside and you’ll be dead…. seconds… explosive doors, stealth turrets… You gotta draw the guy out… I only joined cos… I wanted to do him over myself… Elaina, killed her… I know it was him…”

The Guard collapsed from lack of oxygen. He was still breathing, but heavily unconscious. His head slumped to the side. He wouldn’t have long left being crushed by the Chitin.

Shadow, cloak engaged, slid through the doorway to 33. Low to the ground he crept silently towards the corner of 32 to peer around. His blade in hand ready to lash out the second it was needed.

The sound of shots coming from below him almost made him jump. What the hell were they doing down there, they’d bring the entire base down on them! Shadow backtracked from his perch by 32 to the south hallway of 33. If the guard there decided to have himself a look down in 51, he would take him from behind with a blade.

The world around the Ephemeral began to jitter and fade. The walls of the facility focused in and out, their opaqueness changing into translucence in instantaneous moments that were hard to catch an individual glimpse of. The guards froze, each assuming a vitruvian pose and standing down immediately. Inside the walls, an interlocking hex-grid of glowing virtual lines pulsed and shone through the surfaces that had seemed so real only moments before. The Ephemeral lowered their guard, some of them disappearing fading out alongside the world around them. Everything seemed to be struggling to stay tangible and solid... until, only a few moments after, the facility simple ceased. There was a deafening sound of powering down and blackness surrounded the warriors. It took a few moments for light to return to their new location, and for said light to take effect on their eyes.

"Simulation testing complete. Analysing performance," an artificial, booming voice started. It's vocals were far from Human, obviously AI in nature, but they were also surprisingly soothing.

"Your efforts are commendable, Ephemeral. You are ruthless killers indeed. Analysis shows that there may indeed be a chance for you to free the Sector. You will require experience in the field. This mission is like nothing you have previously experienced," it continued.

The room around the warriors slid into view, a fairly spacious, sleek, polished, perfectly square room lined with arrays of neurological projectors and holographic sensory equipment became visible. They had never left their craft. The Corvette still glided through the darkness of the void, laying in wait like a predator, ready to deliver it's deadly payload upon the Star Marshal that had been unfortunate enough to be designated the target by the Terrarial HAKESATH.

"You have twenty-four hours before we reach our destination. Prepare yourselves."

“Greetings, Ephemeral. Today we begin our cleansing of the Starfall Sector, designation MG-271-K. Your mission is to infiltrate the Communication Compound within Alercia and eliminate Star Marshall Hayden Kolac. Kolac, or ‘The Archangel’ as his men call him, is a veteran of the Empire War, famous for his bloody defection to the successful side. In an event known as ‘Kolac’s Frenzy’ he and his one hundred of his most loyal soldiers announced their desertion by killing over one thousand Empire soldiers, though the true figure is estimated to be in the tens of thousands. With such a devastating blow dealt to the Empire under his belt, the Arakath quickly granted him sanctuary within their ranks, and quickly rose up through the ranks to become one of their Star Marshals. He must be eliminated for his traitorous past, and his men must be made an example of. The Arakath do not represent safety, especially for those who are disloyal.

Kolac himself usually dons Mark-XV Ironside Power Armor, augmented with an arm-mounted Ripper on his right arm with an attached personal anti-personnel chain gun. He also carries a monoatomic pole arm which is capable of rending through most armours. It is advised you do not engage Kolac head on as he is a seasoned fighter; doing so results in a 95% chance of being defeated and killed. Advise you strike from the shadows or distract him. Kolac is known as an extremely paranoid individual, who greatly fears the prospect of assassination. Use this to your advantage. It will be possible to throw him into panic, greatly increasing your chances of terminating him.
His powered armour is nearly impenetrable to small-arms fire. The designation, however, leaves a small exposed area below the neck that, if disrupted or damaged, will cause the suit to reactively seize up, eliminating motion and causing the facial panel to open as a safety precaution. It may also be possible to exploit this as a means of eliminating him.

Scans show a guard compliment of approximately 5 individuals. Their initial locations have been marked on the provided map data as the smaller red points. Background checks have been performed in order to better discern the personalities and capabilities of each of these soldiers.
Be wary of Kolac’s guard compliment.

---

Name: Lt Stanton Daryc

Role: Close Combat

Armaments: Dual Monoatomic Molecular Blades, Electroreactive mesh armour plating.

Ephemeral At Risk: Sirius, Alexis

Notes: Combining a set of impressive credentials from the Academy of Eliskon-V’s SPAW combat school, Stanton Daryc excelled in every aspect of his career as an Assault Trooper during the days of the Seventh Altrusian Civil War and the strife that followed. He became distinguished in his field after innumerable accounts of valour and victory against odds considered insurmountable with nothing but battlefield knowledge and ferocious skill with his weapons of choice: Dual Monoatomic Molecular Blades, a special set of close combat weapons that are composed of the nearly indestructible and extremely rare alloy known as Diridium-3. The special properties of the metal allow it to maintain it’s shape and rigidity even when reduced to extreme spacial dimensions allow the metal to be formed into molecular blades that can rend through flesh with such frightening ease that the weapons were banned from use even in all-out warfare in sixteen different systems.

---

Name: Austin Cattel

Role: Close Combat

Armaments: Dual-tipped High Energy Vibration Stave, Electroreactive mesh armour plating.

Ephemeral At Risk: Sirius, Alexis

Notes: Unlike his Close Combat Specialist partner, Austin Cattel has never received formal qualifications and honours from any combat establishment. He was instead recruited directly by Kolac during the Frenzy because of his renown on their home planet of Istanus-Zulu. The two are believed to have grown up together, but became separated when Cattel was arrested and charged by peacekeeper forces on fifteen separate accounts of murder, each more bloody and remorseless than the last. Remembering this deadly efficiency in the field, Kolac made it his personal goal to use his influence to remove Cattel from maximum security prison using a mixture of deceit and political ties. He was subsequently armed with some of the most experimental hardware available and set loose on Kolac’s enemies. Exercise extreme caution facing this individual.

---

Name: Sgt Winslow Halbrook

Role: Heavy Gunner

Armaments: Exon-34 Machine Gun, Powered Phoenix Armor

Ephemeral At Risk: Elizabeth Colt, Harvin Tong

Notes: Winslow Halbrook is the subject of much debate in the Dust Belt sector. His origins are hazy and obfuscated, even to the most knowledgeable of battle historians. There are few reliable sources detailing his exploits, but popular stories recount his personal crusades in three wars and eleven skirmishes that focused on the Straight of Arvu and the surrounding nebulae. Deadly, determined and skilled; Halbrook is armed with a rapid-fire, small calibre machine gun that can lay waste to unarmored targets with a flurry of bullets. Despite this, heavily armoured Ephemeral are advised to exercise caution, as such sustained fire can wear down even the strongest armour on mere moments.

---

Name: Lt Rylan Myatt

Role: Sniper

Armaments: Anti-Material Plasmatic Rail Rifle, Alloy Mesh Plating

Ephemeral At Risk: Alexis, Sirius, Harvin

Notes: A licensed Marksman Assassin, Myatt has been drafted into multiple political disputes as a dealer of ‘peaceful resolutions’. This ruthless killer is highly accurate, which poses a problem for even the most dangerous warriors attempting to face him, as he has in recent years chosen to arm himself with an Anti-Material Plasmatic Rail Rifle, a weapon known for it’s ability to simply ignore even the heaviest and most advanced of armours and decimate the flesh underneath with such force that most targets suffer completely irreparable trauma, dying in the field with little chance of retribution.

---

Name: Pvt Errol Moon

Role: Rifleman

Armaments: AR-53 Rifle, Alloy Mesh Armour.

Ephemeral At Risk: N/A

Notes: Pvt Errol Moon, as his title suggests, is neither particularly experienced nor particularly motivated to fight for Hayden Kolac. He stays with the Star Marshal simply for the wages and the protection that such a position affords to his family. Given proper persuasion, it may be possible to extract both information and possibly even assistance from him. Though the techniques imposed upon him to achieve such ends would have to be well thought out, indeed…

---

Kolac has been traced to the ruins of Alercia, a city that was previously destroyed by the Arakath during their advance upon Earth. The city was never rebuilt, and served only as a monument to the destructive power of these ancient warriors. There is little of salvageable use in the ruins anymore, but it’s strategic position between Arfina’s remaining two planets can either make or break a communication link between other outposts in the system. It is presumed that this is the purpose of his presence. The chance to deal a double blow to the Arakath is present, we can eliminate communication between the planets of Arfina and remove one of their Star Marshals from duty, permanently.

The Iron Hulk has pre-programmed commands to arrive at the drop-off point upon target termination. Elizabeth Colt will guide you back to the Hephaestus as the designated pilot upon reaching the extraction zone.

You are Ephemeral. The Galaxy depends on your success. Do not fail. “

— — — — — — — — — —

Name: Hayden Kolac
Age: 346
Race: Human
Status: Alive - Active
Designated Objective: Terminate

— — — — — — — — — —

And with the distinctive sign-off tone of the Terrarial H.A.K.E.S.A.T.H, the dropship which carried the deadly team of Ephemeral slowly and subtly engaged it’s inertial dampeners, softening it’s acceleration until it did little more than creep forward with a dull lurch. The dropship had been cloaked thus far by a special array of extrusion powered light-bending displacement beams on board the Hephastus, enabling it to set down into low orbit without commanding much attention. The timing was immaculate, precise, utterly perfect. It could not have been executed by any being other than the H.A.K.E.S.A.T.H; it’s technical and logistical superiority was becoming apparent as the dropship had managed to slip in-between frequent scanner sweeps and a complex tripwire complex of aerial laser screenings. A mere microsecond off-target would have spelled disaster, but the autopilot carried the ship confidently through the defences without even a shudder of mechanical doubt.
With another minute lurch, an indiscriminate metallic clunk and the unmistakeable sound of decompression, a small insertion pod was fired from the bottom of the dropship with immeasurable velocity, flying with such speed that the naked eye would barely able to follow. It was followed by a second, a third, a fourth.

The dropship was delivering it’s deadly payload directly into the compound. A payload which had only one purpose: seek out the traitor Hayden Kolac, and bring his life to a violent, bloody end.

The loud thundering of the passing air around the drop pod was deafening, yet Sirius Korvekt was unfazed. Two hundred and four years in the Confederation Military have hardened him, made him a machine of war. To him, being dropped onto the battlefield in a cramped, metal box, was exhilarating. It pumped that much needed Igderanine right into his veins. His muscles tensed, preparing for impact. Finally, he would be back in the thick of it...

The drop pod slammed into the ground and broke apart, revealing the menacing 8 and a half foot tall Tylon, donning black armor. He quickly reached towards his back, and un-holstered his weapon, a very large and bulky Plasma Rifle. Almost immediately he crouched low, with his rifle shouldered, and moved towards the abandoned warehouse that he landed right next to, hugging the wall. He stopped and raised his weapon, scanning ahead with the rifle's scope.

Then, a second drop pod landed. Sirius took a quick glance behind him. The space pirate... He wasn't exactly excited to be working with a criminal, or former criminal, as the A.I. stated. But he couldn't complain, he had no choice in the matter. "Comms check. Do you read, Thalos?" His deep voice echoed in Elizabeth's head. "Loud and clear." Replied the young human female as she quickly approached, with her Assault Bolter raised. She soon crouched behind Korvekt. "So... What's the plan, big guy?" She asked. "Ask the self-appointed Squad Leader when he lands." That suit of nuts and bolts, Alexis, quite visibly grinded Sirius' gears.

The impact was loud; deafeningly so. In fact, it had been so loud and so sudden that Lt Rylan Myatt would have almost been entirely certain that it was the work of a rouge thunder strike, one of many that pummelled the surface of Arfina-II in the Solar-Dark seasons. But there was no flash of light, no fork of fire scraping the clouds - and the sound came again and again, counting four in total. Four consecutive blasts with no apparent origin, disorienting the marksman for a moment, who was unable to properly discern the nature of what he was experiencing through his daze.
After all, he had no reason to believe that any force would be bold enough to insert directly into the compound. Why would he fear such a farfetched notion? It was probably just equipment failure, he had told himself. Things were so clunky in the middle of the ruin-city that malfunctions were the norm rather than the exception, and seemingly random mechanical failures would happen to the most archaic, esoteric of devices. In this case it was probably a fuel-cell divider or one of the old transistor cores.
He raised his rifle to his eye, (it had been sitting beside him at his post for a good few hours without being touched), peering down the assisted scope and into the far reaches of the compound, scanning the area lazily for any sign of disturbance.
He could see nothing. Just some dispersing clouds of dust behind one of the southern building blocks. Probably a small explosion of sorts.

"Uhh... Come in Lt Daryc" he mumbled, fumbling to activate the communication device hooked to his collar. "We've got a minor mechanical disturbance or something down in the south quadrant. Some kind of fuel misfire or something. Recommend you give it a quick sweep to make sure the area is safe and sound?"

There was a moment of static before Lt Stanton Daryc responded.

"Roger that. On my way. Kolac is still meeting with his superiors; he's pretty on edge. Not taking any chances here. I'll go check it out,"

---

-Stanton Daryc begins moving toward the drop zone, unaware of any real threat.
-Rylan Myatt is keeping an eye on the area. Stay out of direct firing lines!
-Other guards have made no notable actions

---

-

"Touchdown mother fuckers!!"

The surface landing seemed slightly less thrilling than most, yet the New San Francisco citizen found a reason to embrace the unexpected. After all, he was a battle hardened Planetary Assaulter and after surviving through the barren campaigns throughout Auswerth VI and Oyglov-XIII, Harvin knew better than to under-estimate the unknown. Surprises awaited every drop and with every landing came new ordeals. Once they breached the surface, Harvin emerged from his pod and immediate dove out of sight and into the abandoned warehouse's cover as his instincts and experience dictated. Planetary Assault didn't fark around; they inserted with deadly precision, identified their objectives, and got the job done. Sometimes that involved unloading several million rounds in the most brutally efficient manner possible, but given their service record, the gnarly near FUBAR incidents, and the shit they faced, that's just how the PA's rolled.

Harvin immediately drilled into his immediate routines and activate the REIDA AI in an attempt to sweep the area for hostile activity or vulnerable blind spots. Simultaneously, the New San Franciscan closely trailed behind his fellow companions' steps while his Hellkid remained motionless and draped across his back. Several switches and furious system activations later, Harvin maneuvered through the warehouse and setup alongside Sirius. He hadn't known the Tylon for very long, but knew he could anchor on the fighter's strengths to deliver the killing blows.

The question now revolved around Harvin's ability to support the initial thrust and as such, Harvin tapped his helmet before voicing, "Okay, REIDA; do your stuff! I need you to activate perimeter and hostile motion sweepers. When possible, could you give an assessment of our options here? I need a run through for what to expect and if you see any movement or anything even remotely resembling alarm systems?"

"Of course, Harvin," a watery female voice purred, "Calibrating sweepers now. Identification confirmations are in now effect and I have the surrounding areas currently undergoing assessment ..."

The air seared around the metal man, the friction desperately pulling him back as if trying to stop him from doing something incredibly stupid like assassinate a Star Marshal in the middle of his own compound surrounded by his own handpicked complement of soldiers or dropping into said compound by holding on to an insertion pod. He could see the red streaks around him, desperately fighting against the KEMS, trying to burn him alive, trying to punish him for such foolhardy acts.

But Alexis had since learned to ignore such things.

The hurtling piece of metal landed at the drop zone with a dull thud, his armor red-hot from the fall. The pod popped open it's hatch and Jemini sprung out, berating Alexis as she had always done for his antics with her ever colorful use of chirps and whirrs. The metal man swatted her aside and reached inside the pod for his equipment, inserting the different barrels and ammo into compartments all along his body, modifying the MAS into its sniper variant. While he had done so, Jemini was already working on entering the enemy TACCOM, managing to catch the tail end of a message about Kolac and someone checking out the drop site. Probably Daryc.

Bad.

Then Dakka's pod came crashing down, the big man jumping soon after, gung-ho as always. When the REIDA AI started her scans Jem started to complain quite loudly, wondering why she was even there if they had some fancy schmancy AI there to do all the work she normally did. Alexis chuckled in amusement and fitted her with the 574 so that she might feel useful, clipping the extra pistol to his thigh.

Alexis looked amusingly, at least as much as a faceless visor could, toward Sirius. As Pinocchio tightened the silencer on and slapped in a fresh ammo clip, he said, "there's no squad leader amongst Ephemeral, my No-Nostril Compatriot. I merely provide tactical suggestions on how to proceed with the mission. Speaking of which, this Lt. Daryc fellow, he'll be coming soon to check up on us, meaning we need to eliminate him. The best way that I can see is to go through this warehouse and catch him in a pincer movement. You and Cyborg exit through the north entrance and block his exit to the streets. Dakka and Jem can then go around toward the east entrance and trap him, while I provide sniper support from inside the building and jump in when necessary. It won't take long for Myatt to hear the noise and reposition, so we need to take down Knifeman fast.

Anything to add?"

Daryc had not was not phased at the prospect of investigating the strange noise; he had spent far too long at his post. Standing watch over an empty compound in a dead city on an barren world? Not his idea of a dream job, but whatever paid the wages was fair game for him. He found Kolac to be a boring man, too obsessed with melodramatic and stereotypical things: power, wealth, saving his own skin... But Kolac's guest, the tall looking thing? That one exuded fear and authority in a way that Kolac never could? That, Daryc new, was the real power behind the 'unification of Starfall'.
It was only a thirty second walk from his post to the investigation area, and it did not take long for the lieutenant to discover the source of the disturbance.
A drop pod.
Not just one, but four.
They of strange design, something he had never seen before and he had been all over the Darkspire quadrant, the galactic centre for black market trades and hardware dealerships. This was void of all serial numbers and makers marks, desolate, beautiful... bad news. Very bad news.

"Uh, Lt Myatt," He whispered into his communication device, lowering the register of his voice to little more than a gruff mumble. "There is something here,"

The marksman immediately snapped to attention. He had been lazily scanning the area with his scope for the last minute or so, but with a single message from his group, he became professional once more. His posture was perfect, his eyes keen and bloodthirsty.
He whispered in reply:

"What is something?" as he fell to a prone position, looking over the warehouse and the road.

"Insertion pods." came the reply. "I'm going to take a closer look. I think someone is here. Cover me, and don't let Kolac know, not yet."

And with that, Daryc cut the line of communication to the marksman, relying only on his colleague's skill with a rifle as he withdrew his own armaments: curved blades, thinner than hair and sharper than refined diamond. If somebody was present and intending to kill, he would make sure that they would be spared the journey home. He crept cautiously toward the pods, being careful to pay attention to his surroundings...

...after all, he didn't want to be caught off guard...

"Confirmed. Sweeps two, three, and four completed. Enemy awareness appears minimal, but my sweeps are showing thermal activity at approximately thirty meters ahead. Your closest enemies have been identified as Lieutenant. Stanton Daryc and Lieutenant Rylan Myatt. Shall I give a run down on your current options? Based on my algorithms and assessments, I have successfully calculated over forty paths for dispatching the first target."

"REIDA what would I do without you?!" Harvin laughed as his interior visor displays featured a lengthy gridded framework, "Give me the usual with a huge assed combined arms payload!"

"It is always a pleasure, Harvin. Paths reduced to four. I will list your options from most to least formidable, although in my opinion, I highly suggest you move in around the designated coordinates with your Tylon partner. Your dual capabilities are quite formidable for dispatching your foes and with his assistance, the chances of a successful dispatch increase to a seventy three point three three two three four six one percent of lethality. A well disciplined opening barrage with your Tylon partner would add an ..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, REIDA! You're my baby and all, but I need you should stop right there. The Tylon; his name is Sirius and from now on you need to call him that. Also ... see those two others over there?"

Harvin pivoted and directed his visor indicators towards his companions before voicing, "Hokay, so ... that deadly commando looking chick ... we call her Liz. The suped up metalloid badass, for some reason we all call him Pinnochio; but don't ask why. Oh ... by the way ... let me patch you on open broadcast. I think Sirius might want to hear what you've got to say."

"My apologies, Harvin. Ephemeral squad member names have been added to my data base. As I was saying, a proper and well disciplined opening barrage with Ephemeral Sirius would add an additional survival rating of thirteen point five five eight three percent increase. With your assistance, Sirius, the chances of a successful dispatch increase to a seventy three point three three two three four six one percent of lethality."

The interior suit visor screen project a small map for Sirius and highlighted blinking orange dots along a set pathway around the warehouse's followed by two large circles. Not long afterwards, two shaped indicators highlighted next to the circles with blinking tags displaying the words, "Synchronous fire."

"Harvin, I would also suggest that you first use our newly integrated ranged anti-matter assets on our foes. This should be followed up by a fully automatic Hellkid and Plasma IFT salvo. Unleashing your ranged components on the closest victim, Lieutenant Darryc eliminates a direct collision course with Ephemerals Liz and Pinnochio, increasing mission efficiency by twenty point three three three four three three percent. I also recommend moving immediately; Lieutenant Darryc is on the move and closing on your position."

"Fark! Okay .... pardon the french, but I think we've got a battle plan, what do you think Sirius?"

Sirius ignored the walking box of bolts and listened to Harvin instead. His gun-ho attitude will probably get him killed one day. He's still alive now because of that A.I. of his. "Let's get this over with. Thalos, you will be joining the walking Jukebox..." Stated the Tylon as he shouldered his weapon, ready to fire it.

"Fantastic..." Muttered the space pirate, quickly moving beside Alexis and settling down next to him.

Korvekt moved a little further along the wall of the warehouse until Lt. Daryc was visible, hoping Harvin folled him. He raised his weapon and aimed. "We fire on my mark..." He waited, just a few moments as his aim steadied itself. "Now!" He pulled the trigger, unleashing an unstoppable barrage of scorching, flesh melting plasma directly at the enemy.

As if by second nature, the New San Franciscan could almost anticipate the moment of combat and it was growing very near. Steadily and in confidence he followed REIDA's blinking coordinates while keeping pace behind Sirius. Before approaching the intended destinations, Harvin took a moment to initiate several neck and shoulder warm ups in preparation for the conflicts ahead. It wouldn't be easy by a long shot and no sane Planetary Assault Divisionist took their responsibilities lightly. As such, Harvin stretched as did all Divisionists veterans before battle and readied the Hellkid's switches. His comfortable sighs followed swiftly with lightly controlled exhales as his muscles began to loosen. Carefully and without any doubts, the minigun's activation provoked a brilliant florescent mix of blue and green hues.

"We fire on my mark ..." Harvin heard as Sirius prepared his weaponry. REIDA's interior target reticules blazed a bright red across the screen.

"Calculating Tylon reactions," REIDA purred, "Estimated synchronized fire progressing in 3.2222423000 seconds and counting. Lieutenant Rylan Myatt spotted above heights; recommend alternative position roughly 5 meters forwards along designated position. Urgent jump-jet activation is critical ..."

Immediately, Harvin switched on his suits internal power thrusters and jettisoned into the air across the open space parallel Sirius' new position. The jump-jet's propulsion quickly brought him along a dark section outside of the indicated reticule pathways highlighting Lt. Myatt's line of vision. As REIDA predicted, Sirius shouted at the three second marker and pulled the trigger. Anticipating this exact time frame, Harvin hugged along the shadow cover of the adjacent industrial processing complex and from his own wall section, pulled the trigger towards the intended targeting reticule around Lt. Daryc. Simultaneously, his suit's shoulder pads deployed upwards to unpack and unleash the short range portable missile launchers. Shortly afterwards, the sounds of nearly a thousand angry gnats, frenzied hisses, and unrelenting zapping followed suit as an impossible stream of lead, explosive termination, and outright hell left the PA Divionist's suit and spinning, gattling-unit ...