Deadnaut

Broken Skies: War in the Eversky

As the others grabbed clothes, Aura continued on her merry way happily, though allowing Sam to take the lead from her. It was pretty early, so she wasn't too worried about people seeing her rifle, but she did need to hide it from any Heaven's Eye soldiers, she supposed, so she tried to stay in the middle of the formation. Sure enough, they reached the docks with little trouble, though she was occasionally forced to cradle her rifle close to her chest to hide it in her jacket. Though, when they arrived, they were quickly forced into cover, a group of Enforcers seen in front of them, pulling guard duty no doubt. As they huddle low, Aura quietly whispered "Hey, guys, I can handle this! If one of you wanna make it easier though and take some down, that'd be great." At that, Aura carefully lifted her rifle to her shoulder and looked down the scope. Due to their close distance, she was forced to dial it back to its lowest magnification, but at least with that she was able to draw her bead. Releasing a careful breath, the weapon sight coming to rest on the heart of the man in front of her.

As she always did when preparing to take lives, Aura mentally repeated her prayer for the soon to die. "May your spirit be embraced by the nature around you. May you dance and sing with glee for the rest of time." It was hardly as solemn as many people thought necessary, but Aura thought it was good enough for her purpose. With her intonation complete, Aura began mentally rehearsing how she would do this. She picked her targets carefully, starting with those farthest from the group and working her way closer, prioritizing anyone with something sterner than a basic rifle. She looked around, picking out the places she figured she'd run to for cover, and resolved to try and cover them, also point them out to her friends, noting "I bet they lay their roots behind those crates to the left, or the warehouse to the right." The ambush was planned, and so Aura took aim back on her original target, uttering "I'm ready to shoot whenever yew are."

Broken Skies: War in the Eversky

@CollectorOfMyst

Just noticed your description of Aura in the journal and I must say, 11/10 sir. I couldn't have said it better myself

The Crucible - Winner Take All

"Oh, great, scared off by a mouse, glad they were so confident in me."

That Night

Teller sighed and killed the external speakers as another entry from his own music playlist came on. Teller kicked it up to a jog to leave the building, considering his recon mission to be effectively over. He picked a home from the village at random, deciding to again try and settle in for some rest. Just like every house before it, and the Blythe towers in full view of the college girls, Teller pied off the door after opening it before breaching in, and as ever looted the kitchen, finding little of use in this one. Teller this time took the moment to purloin some bits of string from about the house and use them to rig a trap with one of remaining three frags. He then came to rest on the bed in one of the bedrooms, opening his faceplate and setting the armor to alert him in either eight hours ("Gotta get enough sleep or I won't be worth shit.") or if the armor detected possible hostile motion (Meaning anything above the height of 4'0 that does not possess a recognized IFF tag). With a resigned sigh, he closed his eyes, somehow sensing his dreams were going to be rougher than usual.

January 11th, 2066, CPT. James Teller, UASD Team 6

"Make every bullet count boys and girls! If they mean to kill us, let's bleed em for it!" Captain Teller barked his order as he took big, clunky steps to the nearby window. This heavy assault armor didn't move nearly as fast as normal battle armor, but it hit hard and could go toe to toe with an IFV, so Teller would love nothing more for his last stand. Outside, thousands of Muslim and Catholic soldiers stood ready to kill the small team of Rangers held up inside. Yukiko lay on the roof, ready to eliminate officers, Enrico and Bjorn had the North, Salvador West, Teller and the rookie, Matthias had the South, while Siegfried and Vasily had the East. Team Six had been compromised during a raid behind the lines of the Crusade, and with CAS an hour away and any hope of an extraction equally as far, the operators had resigned themselves to death.

Yet, they were Rangers, they were humanity's most stalwart guardian against supernatural threats, and now they had become the stalwart guardian of the forces of Hell (as surprising as it was) from unwarranted aggression. Deltas were, it turned out, people too, though their species were what caused this apocalypse. Wolf ordered they would defend them, and so the Rangers would. As such, Teller looked down at the heavy rifle in his hand, gently exhaled, and looked out at the rowdy mob of warriors facing them, psyching themselves up. Teller had no intention of letting them pick their moment, and so keyed his SQUADCOM, solemnly intoning "Its been an honor and a pleasure working with all of you...weapons free, fire at will." Enrico cued, for what Teller thought would be the last time, his choice of combat music and with the resounding thunder of guns, Team Six engaged.

The Next Morning

Teller woke to the sound of his armor alarm, a quick glance at his armor clock confirming he'd been down for eight hours. He figured he'd skim the logs to see if anything interesting happened while he was down later, but it did have a record of a COM signal the suit's simple AI had detected. A quick listen, however, revealed it had been Oren's open broadcast, referencing an explosion he'd apparently slept through, as well as the ability to request a COM to his opponent ("Why in Sam Hill would I want that? They could listen to the shit in my background and figure out where I am.") or request directions to his opponent. However, for the moment, Teller had no desire to find his opponent until he had picked his battleground. What he did do, however, was say aloud "Hey, Oren, as I recall ya'll promised me some intel and an artifact. Ya mind deliverin on your end of the deal so I can get rolling?"

Waiting for an answer, Teller's mind was drawn back to the dream of the night before. That stand had cost him several good men, but he hadn't had a choice really. They had no way of knowing they were compromised until it was too late, and they couldn't have realistically escaped. Applying any conventional logic or tactics, there was no way Teller could have predicted what happened. And yet, he still had those nightmares, he still saw the faces of the brave Rangers he lost. Teller shook his head hard to clear those thoughts from his mind and popped open his faceplate. Grabbing the elf's flask from before, Teller uncorked it and took a brief swig, shaking his head again as the unfamiliar taste of the strange booze hit him. He recorked the flask and hung it back where it was originally, on his chest rig, mumbling "Least I can start my day off right, with a drink."

Broken Skies: War in the Eversky

Aura carefully peered through her scope, her huntress's eye surveying the street before her. She didn't see anyone, at least not yet, but was soon aware of the sound of her fellows coming up behind her. All in all, she was a little surprised only Ekaterine had mentioned that she didn't look the part. Still peering down her scope, Aura smiled and said aloud to the whole group "Eka is right, I never introduced myself huh? My name is Aura Lockheart, a pleasure to meet all of you! I can't wait to have tons of puns and fun with you all!" And so, Aura now carefully considered Cole's words, would it be possible to make it out without a fight? Well, of course it was possible, they just had to be really careful! As such, without turning away from her scope, she cheerfully added to the elf "Well we could, but it woodbe pretty risky! After all, I bet they're hunting for us, so we have to treet the situation accordingly. Don't worry though, we'll all be fine! I'll definitely make sure we're completely safe!" At that, Aura removed her rifle from its perch and carefully opened the door, saying "Well, let's go guys! The ship is waiting, and we need to get there fast!" At that, Aura took off at a trot, humming cheerfully as she lead the party forward at a double time.

Broken Skies: War in the Eversky

Solid copy Baz. I'll get a post up later today

The Crucible - Winner Take All

@ScreenAcne

So it shall be the demon of greed versus the soldier trained to fight devils. Truly a matchup for the ages. I shall anticipate it, dear frenemy.

Broken Skies: War in the Eversky

@CollectorOfMyst@vietmyke

Guys guys, you've both got it all wrong.

She'd be watching from a tree, squeaking excitedly

Broken Skies: War in the Eversky

Aura was awoken by the loud knocks, rousing herself with a yawn. She slid from bed and waved airily at the door for a moment before his words registered. Her eyes now wide, Aura quickly changed from her night clothes to her normal peasant's clothing. Slinging her rifle over her shoulder, Aura hurriedly opened the door to leave. Being a newcomer to espionage, after all diplomacy was far from the same thing, she had little idea as to the eccentricities of spy work, such as tails or set-ups, and so it didn't occur to her to do anything but rush out and head to the lobby to await her fellows. Seated in the main area of the inn, Aura clicked the safety catch for her rifle off and worked the bolt, chambering a round, which no doubt would've scared the bar patrons had the few souls in the room been conscious enough to be aware of it. Looking around, she had to admit this was definitely a dramatic opening that was worthy of the novel-esque story this seemed to be becoming! Oh, Aura was so excited, a last minute escape, and perhaps a near miss would lead one of her comrades to discover their feelings for another! Ooohh, so exciting!

However, Aura had to consider her experience in mercenary work as well, after all it hadn't all been just for the World Court, and whether she liked it or not she'd been on her own for the better part of fourteen years. She knew she'd have to protect her fellow teammates with deadly fire if they were to have any hope of discovering their feelings for one another ("Though I guess first they need to learn each others' names...and mine!!") This in mind, she carefully slid the window open ever so slightly, bracing the rifle on the sill and scanning through her scope, waiting to hear the sounds of her new-found companions being roused from their rooms and coming downstairs.

Broken Skies: War in the Eversky

OK, so it definitely wasn't during my lunch hour (wound up occupied during it) but I'll get a post up today. On the topic of collabs, if anyone wants to do one with me just let me know.

Broken Skies: War in the Eversky

@Bazmund@VirdidianIgnis

I concur with the thief/alchemist idea, and for what it's worth my metaphorical door is always open, just shoot me a PM.

Also, I'll try to get a post up during my lunch hour today, that's 12:00-1:00 CST