[IC] Ain't No Place For No Hero (Engel x Prisk)

[Engel]

The desert stretched out for miles in either direction, yet the local wildlife seemed to thrive. She’d run over more than a few of the fuckers on the way out to the supposed dig site. Her pink monster jeep was covered in a layer of blood, dust and sand. The different sources of blood that she had hit had resulted in a curious pattern on the hood of the jeep, odd colours that reflected the light of the sun above. That was quite pretty, but the smell was getting to her and she hoped she wouldn’t have to spend much longer behind the wheel.

Crossing a large dune at a high speed sent the jeep flying, and sand was thrown up around her when it landed again. After spending the last days in a town on the outskirts of this very desert, she’d tasted more sand than she’d ever want too. Sand was generally tasteless, somewhat gritty and bitter, but unless it was her imagination there was something in the sand of this desert that added a distinct hint of something else as well. Chrome had procured a bandana before heading out though, and tied it around her head so it covered everything below her eyes. It had likely saved her the displeasure of tasting the blood of the things she had made into road kill at least.

Once the sand cloud the jeep had stirred up disappeared she could see the contours of large machines in the distance, and hear their dull humming. Huh, turned out the tip that an off-world company was digging here had been true. Chrome wondered if they were searching for a vault like she was, or if they were just here to empty the planet of any natural resources. Either way, she smiled and pressed the pedal down with as much strength as she had. She’d brought a gift.

The back of the jeep was filled with as much fuel as she had been able to cram into it. They’d warned her that it was “batshit crazy” or “downright suicidal” or “truly inspiring” to drive around with that much fuel, not to mention the explosives she’d packed into the spaces between the fuel barrels, but she’d scoffed and shrugged them off. Except for the guy who’d called her inspiring, Chrome had written him an autograph.

She locked the pedal in place by putting a stick between it and the seat. The workers at the mining complex had noticed her by then, and was turning their attention and rifles in her direction. There was a large fence surrounding the site, but she doubted it would stop her loaded jeep. Chrome climbed on top of the hood of the jeep, grabbed a round metal ball from her belt and released it. The camera droid activated, began buzzing and flew besides her until she told it to pick an angle further away that would capture both the mining complex and the approaching jeep.

Chrome stood up on the hood of the jeep, pulled the bandana off her head and let the wind snatch it out of her hand. Raising her arms and stretching them out, a grin appeared on her face when the bullets began whizzing by her. Oh sweet reality, time to come alive. The moment right before the jeep went crashing through the fence, she jumped and it continued speeding underneath her. Chrome landed on her feet, pulled two revolvers from her belt and was prepared to shoot anyone coming at her. Unfortunately, the jeep had run most of them over and left nothing but a bloody mess. Well, a few body parts here and there.

She watched in gleeful awe as the speeding bomb hit one of the tall machines that was kissing the sky and blew up in a ball of flame. The machine swayed and reeled, then came crashing down with a thunder that cancelled out any other noise. Another sand cloud was sent towards her and she regretted removing the bandana, but covered her mouth and nose with an arm. When the dust had settled she could hear an alarm blaring and see more soldiers coming out of the buildings that were still standing. Chrome spat the sand in her mouth out, then began firing at everyone and took cover from the hailstorm of bullets behind the nearest building.

It’d be a hard fight to get to what the company grunts were here for, but that was her life. Hopefully it’d be some hours before anyone else was drawn to the scene by her loud and explosive arrival, though she knew others like her was on the planet. The camera droid returned to her side after it had captured enough footage of the gift delivery, and hovered behind her.

[Mirandae]

Ella sat on a flat piece of rock situated on a hill overlooking the quarry nearby. Her legs were crossed, both hands resting in her lap, and her back completely straight. There was an air of poshness to her presence and posture, which could be interpreted as a bit strange considering her company. A man lay half-beaten to death by Ella’s feet. She had been trying to gain information from him concerning the mining operations, and whom all of them worked for. Alas, the man had told her nothing of value. All he knew was that they were drilling for important resources, and that he had never heard anything about a Vault. Ella was quickly losing her patience with her captive, and the blistering desert did not do any favors.

Her attention was stolen by a terrible ruckus emanating from the encampment at the base of the mine. Ella could make out a vehicle with the plain eye, but not much else. She grabbed a set of binoculars from her backpack sitting next to her. It was a high-tech gadget that identified individuals by motion and outlined them with a framework. She could see the vehicle up close now, which resembled a bandit design of some sort, or perhaps it just appeared that way because of the dried out patches of blood. The binoculars identified the driver, who had lavishly exited the vehicle and engaged the personnel.

“That’s her, what’s her name?—Bubblegum,” Ella said to herself. The Siren had heard of the pseudo-psychotic woman driver by hearsay. She was practically a celebrity to some people on Iflides. However, there was no doubt that the Star Psycho was skilled. Her fame had definitely not come to her by doing nothing. Ella had to give the woman praise for that, and the fact that she was quite attractive despite her affiliations. The carnage caused by Bubblegum unfolded fast and whoever resisted her met a swift end by means of the woman’s car, which ran everyone over. Not to mention the massive explosion that provided a satisfying climax to the scene.

The sand cloud eventually reached Ella’s position further away, but with less intensity. She covered her mouth and nose with the scarf she was wearing. Her white t-shirt, although already a bit dirty, turned into a muddy-yellowish coloration. Ella’s cargo pants were unaffected, however, being perfectly suited for the harsh conditions. But, a few grains of sand were the least of her problems. If that notorious psycho-bitch had found out about this place, there was bound to be something of value in the mine. Was Bubblegum also looking for the Vault? Ella could not be sure, but she was not about to risk something like that. She desperately wanted to find out more about her ‘kind’, Sirens, and the Vault was her only lead at this point.

The man half-beaten to death met his demise by means of Ella’s boot heel. His skull was crushed in an instant, propelled by intense Siren energies, and blood splattered all over the sand around them. It was a satisfying noise, however, and Ella chuckled to herself. She then slid down the dunes of the hill and into the other side of the encampment from where Bubblegum had so violently entered. Ella had no intention of making her presence known to the workers or guards in the mine, or the psycho for that matter—the last thing she wanted to do was to fight a psycho, least of all Bubblegum. However, things never go according to plan.

Ella snuck around the corner of a metallic building and accidentally ran into several individuals armed to the teeth. They had obviously been alerted by the psycho’s entrance and were gearing up for a fight. Upon seeing Ella, they were nearly as startled as she was and a moment of clam before the storm erupted. The men could not possibly know that they were in a stand-off with a Siren, but it would certainly be known to them a second later or in the afterlife. Ella quickly extended her arm and released a massive, spherical barrier of force that traveled towards the men at an incredible speed. As it hit them, they were launched backwards and swept away as if struck by a tidal wave.

“Shit,” Ella exclaimed after the spectacle she had just caused. The energy from her phase ability was quite visible from afar, so the chances of Bubblegum noticing it were high. However, some of the men did not die and were somewhat recovering. Ella took the opportunity of confusion to slip behind another building. She began to scale the structure in order to reach the roof and get a better view of things, and maybe locate Bubblegum. Ella wanted to stay undetected for as long as possible, as she was not entirely sure what would happen if the two women clashed.

[Engel]

Chrome was interrupted, shaken out of the state of madness, blood and death she entered whenever the killing began if she wasn’t careful. Why be careful when all they had to throw at her were underpaid grunts? However, there had been a surge of energy which had hit some of those she had planned on killing herself. A number of them got back up on their feet, so she wasn’t too upset, but she did become concerned with finding the source of that blast. If it was a third party entering the fray they needed to be neutralized as well. The problem with an unknown third party was that they would be a much more challenging opponent than any corporate lowlife. Someone else showing up this early hadn’t been part of the plan either, but she knew how to improvise.

For the moment, she returned her attention to the corporate forces, but ordered her camera droid to scout the area discreetly. The last thing she wanted was to end up needing to repair it, and lose the chance to capture more footage for the events that were about to take place. There should be some discovery to make, but without her droid no one would be able to view it take place. She wouldn’t get the credit and fame she deserved. Thankfully, the droid wasn’t all that fragile and it had been damaged enough in the past for her to realize she needed to strengthen its shell.

She holstered her revolvers, reached for the assault rifle strapped across her back and began firing corrosive bullets at the remaining and newly arrived grunts. Corrosion was her favourite elemental effect, not because it could tear through armour and defence like nothing, but because of the sizzling sound it made when it came into contact with flesh. It reminded her of waking up to a loved one cooking breakfast, which was long years into the past now. Watching someone’s flesh melt off of their bone while they screamed in terror was always nice too, and it made for an efficient torture tool.

Her killing spree resulted in a lot of dead bodies and a lot of grunts unwilling to come out into the open, or even reveal their positions. Actually, maybe they were all dead, but she thought she’d counted more than she’d killed. Of course, they could have retreated back into the depths of the mining complex, planning to ambush her in tight corridors. Damn, she wished they would!

The droid returned to her side to confirm that there was a third party nearby, but they appeared to want to hide and avoid attention. As they should, she was probably way above them in skill and competence, but there was also the slim chance that they were a more stealthy assassin-like enemy which meant she couldn’t lower her guard just because they stayed hidden.

Chrome walked over to the main entrance to the depths. A grunt was still alive, lying in her path, gurgling and clawing at his face. What remained of it anyway, the corrosive element had already melted his skin and was working its way through his skull towards the brain. She stepped past him, quite amused, and stopped in front of the entrance.

“Come out, come out…” She shouted as she turned to have a final look at the surrounding area outside. “I know you’re hiding like a spineless skag.” Chrome took a couple of the grenades she’d brought with her, and held them in her palm so they were visible to anyone observing her. “Tis my discovery down there. If you value your life you’d flee with your tail between your legs while you have the chance.” She grinned, and placed the grenades in the walls in a way that should collapse the entrance when they exploded. “But just in case, you know.” The grenades were set to activate within a few seconds. “Tick tick boom.”

The droid flew into the mining complex, lighting the way ahead for her as she began to run to get away from the explosion and the following collapse. She might have effectively sealed herself in when that happened, but then she’d make another way out later. There had to be plenty of tools to dig an exit from within a mining complex.

When the sound of the explosion behind her echoed through the tunnels, she slowed down from running to walking. Better not run into an ambush at full speed or down a hole either for that matter. Chrome reloaded her assault rifle, and went as deep as she could, as fast as possible. It wouldn’t do to be second to the goal.

[Mirandae]

Ella had to tuck herself deep behind the rear end of a car that rested on the side of the building she was scaling. The trunk had already been looted a long time ago it seemed, which was unfortunate. Bubblegum’s little camera droid was a lot more nosey than Ella expected. As the Siren attempted to hide the best way she knew how, her leg slipped and extended from behind the car for just a second. It was a classic mistake and Ella cursed underneath her breath. The camera droid did not investigate further, but returned to its owner instead.

There were many ways in which one could conduct combat, and it seemed as if most outlandish and peculiar individuals had a specific niche when it came to it. Ella had heard rumors of other Sirens before and that they adapted their style to their phase abilities. Most of them were quite aggressive, ‘in your face’ type tactics, but not Ella. She had embraced a stealthier and more ranged combat style, as her phase ability pushed her enemies away from her. Her weaponry primarily consisted of sniper rifles and revolvers, which utilized the shock and fire elements. Her favorite ‘move’ was to have casual conversation with someone, suddenly push them away, draw her sidearm, and then shoot them in the face when they landed.

This psycho, however, seemed to be a lot more brutal than Ella. It did not inspire a lot of confidence in the Siren, and the mine itself meant close quarter combat, which was not one of her strengths. As the psycho shouted, Ella realized that the mistake when hiding had revealed her presence to the camera droid. Even worse was what the crazy bitch was about to do—collapse the entrance to the mine. Ella was astounded as to the lack of planning and graceful execution, but then again, the antagonistic woman was mentally unstable and probably did not know much about what she did.

“Shit,” Ella muttered to herself. There was not much time to think. The Siren had to act fast, if she did not want to squander the opportunity of exploring the mine. However, considering the circumstances, there would probably be a lot more fighting than quietly investigating the potential clues to the Vault. It was in that moment that Ella emerged from her hiding spot and jumped off of the building. She dashed towards the entrance, seeing the back of Bubblegum disappearing into the depths. In the heat of the moment, the Siren thought of something that she had to do to get inside, as she would otherwise not make it.

Ella propelled herself off of the ground and turned her body around. In that moment, she used her phase ability again, but directed it at a container next to her position, which caused the impact to extend to her as well. The Siren’s body rocketed past the entrance to the mind just in time, but the explosion also hit her like a wrecked buzzard falling from the sky. Her shield absorbed most of the damage, but it was not nearly enough. She had taken a beating for sure, but Ella was still alive. She knew that Bubblegum would not wait for her, so she forced herself up, still dizzy from the explosion moments ago, and moved further into the mine.

It was not until a minute or so later that Ella caught a glimpse of Bubblegum again. The Siren quickly raised her sniper rifle and squeezed off a shot. The shock elemental bullet traveled fast, but it was too recklessly executed. Ella’s intention was to scare the psycho and slow her down, if anything, and if that was even possible. Did psychos even know fear? Ella severely doubted it.

[Engel]

Chrome met a surprisingly small amount of resistance as she progressed further into the mine. There were obvious signs that people had been there recently, but posts were abandoned in a rush. She could hear the sound of echoing footsteps moving away from her, deeper into the mine. Presumably they were gathering all their forces at the most defensible positions. A rather clever move for a corporation, she thought, but in the end it would yield the same result as if they had had their troops spread out throughout the tunnels.

The few grunts who got in her way were cut down swiftly, blood splattering the rock walls, as she’d unstrapped her yoyo and begun using it. She’d become bored with chasing down the enemies fleeing into the depths, and made it into a game of sorts. Chrome had years of experience with her chainsaw yoyo so she’d learnt a number of tricks along the way. Some of the elaborate ones required a lot of finesse and accuracy, but could destroy weapons or sever limbs. She’d even used it as a rope or grappling hook when the need arose. The best trick was still one of the simplest - just aiming for the eyes. It blinded most instantly, and kept spinning away until their skulls were cracked open if she didn’t remove it.

Swinging the yoyo around in a loop with her hand, she walked with a casual stride past crates and didn’t register the threat at first. The depletion of her shields was hard to miss though, and she turned to look in the general direction she thought the bullet had been fired from. It couldn’t be a grunt, since she’d killed the slow ones. That left the unidentified third party from earlier. Shame, she’d assumed the individual had given up or died in the blast.

“Miss!” Chrome shouted in their direction, but then she noticed the minor tear in her beautiful shirt, right across the chest. The shield must have deflected it. She rolled her eyes. “Too distracted to aim properly, dude?” She crossed her arms over her chest, and stood motionless for a brief moment. “Wanna give it another go?”

Of course, she wasn’t going to wait around for the man to actually fire another bullet at her, especially not with her shields down and recharging. Instead, she ducked behind a cave wall. What now? Chrome had to think of another strategy to deal with the sniper, one that didn’t include getting shot at while she closed the distance between them. Close combat was her forte, so naturally far-off snipers presented more of a threat.

She considered waiting them out, but patience had never been one of her traits and she was already bored after dealing with grunts too incompetent to put up a proper fight. The yoyo was reattached to her belt, and she grabbed the assault rifle. There was nothing specific to fire at until the sniper had given up their position though. “How about you stop being a coward, and show yourself?” Maybe provoking them would work. It shouldn’t be underestimated how well provoking someone could work with certain people. “Or would you rather take peep shots?”