Esailia

GEARS - Mecha Sci-fi with Anthro characters. RP in a detailed, story-driven world.

Machine...that was an amazing post...Made me remember quite a few things, and almost made me cry.

GEARS - Mecha Sci-fi with Anthro characters. RP in a detailed, story-driven world.

As the civilians were rushed onto the evac helicopter, Luke handed Naida's rifle through the window, saluting to Esailia "Thank you for the assist, Captain. If you ever need another soldier, look me up." Before he turned to run for the helicopter, giving a final wave of farewell to the firesquad. The feline saluted in return and nodded, but said nothing as she watched the chopper take off and head to safety. ~ I hope I never have to.~ She thought to herself, then snapped herself out of her mind and into the moment as Edward gunned the vehicle.

Tapping her PADD on, she slid her finger across the screen multiple times, head hunched as she re-read the mission details, but as she read she felt something moist at the corner of her mouth. Esailia used the cuff of her sleeve to wipe it away, knowing already that it'd come away red. She distracted herself by barking "Edward! Follow Blade to the Mine, we'll get further orders there. Naida, keep an eye on our flanks and rear, I don't want anything sneaking up on us. Nathanial, reload all our guns and check to make sure the rest of your gear is secure. Grab a few flashbangs as well, I want to be ready for hostage extraction if need be." While the siblings were busy looking elsewhere, Nathanial had seen the blotch of blood at his captain's mouth, but as in the Crawler, said nothing about her health, simply nodding with a "Yes, Ma'am." before getting to work with the guns.

GEARS - Mecha Sci-fi with Anthro characters. RP in a detailed, story-driven world.

*Peeks around the corner* I've been busy signing up for college and prepping for the ordeal. My entrance exams are next week >.<

Going to get a post up in the next hour or two though.

GEARS - Mecha Sci-fi with Anthro characters. RP in a detailed, story-driven world.

The moment the grenades went off, Nathanial and Naida burst through the door and practically flew down the stairs to the ground just as the ATCV slid to a stop, taking up positions at the front and back of the vehicle. Esailia urged the group of civvies down the stairs after them, letting Luke herd them toward the back of the ATCV as she flipped her comm on "Captain Esailia reporting in. I have six civvies in protective custody, Sir, I have information on hostages in the mines."

Slapping the side of the vehicle, Esailia motioned Naida and Nathanial in before climbing in after them. "Orders, Sir?" She asked Blade, the tense seconds sitting in a near packed metal box, everyone breathing heavily, Naida taking the gun from Edward, letting him squeeze back into the driver's seat, and Nathanial riding shotgun, all staying quiet to let the feline listen...

GEARS - Mecha Sci-fi with Anthro characters. RP in a detailed, story-driven world.

I'll write up my post today. It should be up within the hour. I've found some time under the couch cushions~!

GEARS - Mecha Sci-fi with Anthro characters. RP in a detailed, story-driven world.

Esailia cursed quietly to herself as she got up. This wasn't going as she wanted to. First the three bandits on the bridge, crewmembers not knowing how to handle guns, being ambushed on the way out the door, and now this new information about hostages. The feline captain was in the middle of flipping her PADD out when Naida ducked back inside the crawler a second before a barrage of gunfire hit the walls. "They got a 50 cal out there, Captain. I can't deal with that nest with my minigun alone."

Glancing to Nathanial real quick, Esailia barked "Get back to the bridge, get any 'nades left on the dead, and get back here quick." As the tiger took off, she turned her attention to Cynthia "I can't think about hostages when we can't even get out the door. And if we don't have GEAR backup, it means they've been engaged by things far worse than foot bandits. FIRESQUAD" She tuned to the ATCV's radio along with Nathanial and Naida's comms, while also making sure Luke was paying attention as well "Going to try a bash and dash. We're fixing to throw grenades at the gun nest, when you hear the explosions Edward, run their asses over and get on the vulc for covering fire. We'll get the civvies into the back and Naida will take over the gun. We take off, and offer hit'n'run with the vulc if needed for the GEARs. I'll report to CO about the hostages and meet-up during this."

Just as Esailia was finishing, Nathanial returned, holding two frags and a flash bang. "Guess they didn't think it a good idea to flash themselves, or were undertrained." He quipped, before rushing to the door. In the ATCV, Edward kicked the vehicle into a higher gear. "ETA 30 seconds!" Naida had been holding position beside the door, and caught one of the grenades Nathanial tossed at her. "This is one way to make an exit." She muttered to Nathanial. Esailia motioned the civvies to their feet, and spoke to Luke "Bring up the read, my squad will be busy making sure we aren't shot on the flanks. I need you to keep everyone moving fast. This isn't training. You get shot, there isn't a time out."

"Everyone ready?" She asked over the comm, turning towards the door.
"Affirmative!" Came the three other voices of the fire squad in unison.
"Throw'em!" The grenades were thrown, and Edward crested a small hill behind the gun nest...

GEARS - Mecha Sci-fi with Anthro characters. RP in a detailed, story-driven world.

Got my post up. YAY! Also, FERRET! When I was reading that CS, my first thought was "Oh...my...god....Edward might find a friend at last! No more being the awkward geek! XD

GEARS - Mecha Sci-fi with Anthro characters. RP in a detailed, story-driven world.

The silence in the cabin carried on as the fire squad remained motionless, all ears and eyes on swivels for any sound or detail of danger. Nearly a minute of it, and Esailia quietly muttered "HACR. Bit shaky, unhurt, four mags on main." Which prompted both Naida and Nathanial to reload their guns as they responded in turn.
"Unhurt, three Bs left, five mags on main."
"Bruised, four mags on main."

Esailia nodded, and flipped her comm on "Firesquad to outside, anyone read, over?" To which earned her static. She ground her teeth, pushing some hair that had gotten loose from its confines out of her face "Something's wrong. I could see sky right out the bridge's windows. Naida, any oth-" She was cut short when all three of them whipped their heads around to the sound of tapping down the hall. Esailia raised her hand in a fist, and started down the hall slowly, Naida and Nathanial holding position and ready to offer covering fire.

The feline captain slipped to the other side of the door, then motioned for her team to follow. Nathanial led with Naida following him, taking their usual positions to breach doorways, before Esailia gently pulled the doorhandle down....and yanked it open with all three of them aiming into the room. To their surprise, it was a storage closet, with a few people inside. Not a one looked ready to fight them, cowering away. Esailia made a quick command "Hold your fire." before making a headcount...three civvies, one child, and two crewmembers. "Sound off. Who are you." She demanded, her gun lowered along with her squad's weapons.

"Uh....uhm....I'm Grey, maintenance." The first crewmember said. He motioned to the other crewmember "This is Belard. We clean and do general fixing of the decks." He moved his finger, pointing to the other three adults and the child, a male, two women, and a boy. "Luke and Cynthia Garza, Ellynia, and her son, Abel."

Without looking away from the group, Esailia ordered "Naida, take up the rear, Nathanial, scout ahead." She then asked "Grey, Balard, either know how to handle a gun?" She was pulling out her handgun, and Naida was doing the same, but before either crewmember could speak up, the civvie male stood "I can. I took basic training, but I was refused for active duty. I was put in the reserve."

"Better. Naida, rifle." The fox nodded, slipping her assault rifle off and handing it to Luke. He examined it a moment, checked the barrel for a round and sighting it down at the ground, before nodding at Esailia. She nodded back, then looked back at the crewmembers. They both shook their heads, and her mouth drew a line "Fine. Luke, guard the other civvies. Let's move people." She gave Nathanial a nod, and he took off ahead towards their entry point, with Esailia following, the civvies behind her, and Naida taking in the back to cover their exit. They met no resistance as they made their way back through the crawler.

Nothing blocked their path as they came to the exit, and Esailia raised a fist, causing her squad to stop, and Luke to quietly mutter a "That means stop," to the others. Esailia slipped past Nathanial to the oddly closed door. Her squad had left it open. She slowly inched it open, and flipped her comm on "Firesquad reporting in. We need evac n-" An expolsion outside the door flung the captain into Nathanial, both of them tumbling to the ground in quiet curses.

"Naida!" Esailia called, and the minigun wielding fox took lead, yelling at the civvies "Get back!" Before bashing the door outward and opened fire. The RPG enemy ducked under the cover of a rock with a yelp. "Rocket launcher!" she called into the crawler. The feline captain got back to her feet, getting back on the comm "Area's got AA, Edward, get your ass in gear and get here!"

---

Edward had been holding position outside the war that had broke out, safely hidden behind a low hill, when the radio crackled on "Area's got AA, Edward, get your ass in gear and get here!"

He instantly turned the ATCV's engine on, and kicked it into gear as ordered, rumbling over the hill and sped at high speed to the crawler...

GEARS - Mecha Sci-fi with Anthro characters. RP in a detailed, story-driven world.

Finally got my post up. Sorry to hear about your hand, Silver.

GEARS - Mecha Sci-fi with Anthro characters. RP in a detailed, story-driven world.

The moment the chopper was close enough to the ground, the three foot soldiers leaped off and dashed away from the landing zone, using the dust the blades kicked up as cover. Esailia clicked her comm on the second she hit the metal of the crawler "WE're out, pilot! Get to a safe distance!" Before she followed the already moving Naida and Nathanial up the stairs. The fox held her hand up in the -stop- gesture of a closed fist, and dashed across the doorway into the crawler. She looked to Nathanial, before nodding her head three times. On the third, they both breached the door, Nathanial aiming further down and Naida prepared to take out anyone in the immediate area.

"Fire squad breached into the crawler. Will keep updates every minute." The feline captain called over the radio...the last anyone heard from her or her two comrades...

---

"This was a wild goose chase." The tiger muttered under his breath, after breaching the fifth door to crew quarters "No one here, no signs of struggle, everything even looks to be put away!" He growled, getting him a reprimand from Esailia "Cool heads, Nath. We will see more mess in the passenger section. She clicked her headset on for the second time, reporting the same emptiness, but no one responded to her.

"Naida, ideas to why we can't call out?"
"We're in a hunk of metal, most likely made with less care and lovin' than a mound of garbage. Metal doesn't look up to snuff for regs."
"Fine. We're in tight corridors, no reinforcements. Silent protocal."

All three pulled their dust masks back up, and Esailia led the way to the passenger quarters, meeting no resistance, no crew, no one. When they reached their destination, same thing. Nothing. The soldiers glanced to their captain, whom was getting more worried with each quarters they breached and found neat and tidy. literally all they found was regulation clean quarters. It didn't make sense to Esailia. If they were attacked, why would bandits clean up like this? If they were at gunpoint, why would they be ordered to clean up? Not everyone on this damn thing was ex military. There should have been at least ONE room that was even slightly messy.

She led her squad through the crawler to the bridge, where again, everything was in order. No signs of combat here at all. But one thing was out of place, however; the logs. The squad couldn't find a trace of them. "This wasn't a bandit attack." Esailia said, slipping into the security room adjacent to the bridge where, at last, were signs of struggle. There were chairs knocked over, mugs of coffee spilled, and a few shot out screens. "Naida, get to work getting any footage up on the biggest screen. Nath, keep our rear covered."

As Nathanial slid down and poked his weapon out the door, Naida and Esailia started to fiddle with controls, Esailai bringing up power to the big screen, and Naida flipping through video files until..."Here we go, most recent." She punched it up, and what they saw, made Esailia's fur stand on end in realization as they watched..."Naida, get that on something portable, we need to get out o-" suddenly an explosion outside the room rocked them a split second after the sound of Nathanial's weapon firing "contact! Unknown number! grenades incoming!" Esailia came around tot he other side of the door, firing out as well at the far side of the bridge, spray and pray style.

"GOT IT!" Naida yellled over the explosions, slipping the disc into a protective case and into her vest. She joined Esailia, and the captain pulled back to get some gear from her pack out as they covered her. She slipped out a small tube-like device, and slowly extended it out the doorway. On the other end, a feed was wired to her helmet. "Three. One in the doorway far side, one in a back door to our right, one behind the bridge control console. I wan-" Esailia suddenly started into a coughing fit, and the moment she did, Nathanial glanced at Naida and nodded.

Nathanial slipped his smg onto his back and ripped off his boots, nodding to Naida. "Covering fire." Naida muttered to Nathanial, not yelling it as many gun-ho soldiers do in movies. She stood up and lowered her chain gun, which she had been packing on her back this whole time, and started spitting bullets. The tiger dashed out of cover, growling low to himself as he taught himself to slip into an instinctual mindset. Using his agility, he dashed form cover to cover, with Naida suppressing the far end and the console enemies, and literally pounced the righthand door soldier, who went down with a scream of terror before being cut off as his throat was ripped out.

By this time, Esailia got over her coughing, and smiled at her soldiers. They all had their secrets, and all of them kept it in the squad. She brought her assault rifle to bear, and ran out under Naida's continued rain of fire, getting into cover opposite the enemy behind the console. At that time Nathanial had regained his intellect, and was poking his smg out his new cover and was exchanging fire with console soldier.

"Oy! It's not polite to try and blow two laides up!" Naida yelped, having been forced back into cover by another grenade. Esailia slipped around the left side of the console and got her hands around the enemy's head there, snapping his neck using her rotational momentum before getting into a roll and back under cover closest to the far door. Having been freed up, Nathanial dashed across under Naida's now resumed suppressing fire, and joined Esailia. They nodded at each other, and flipped out either side of their cover, running low towards the far door.

They both poked their guns in the door and opened fire, not caring WHERE the bullets went, but knowing they hit something from cries of pain and death. Naida came up behind her comrades, grinning wickedly "Well, guess they didn't want your number, Nath."