Rultaos

Revenant: Chapter 2- The Hunted (A Sci-Fi Adventure)

Benny Boomer

Name: “Benny Boomer” (Actual name: Benjamin Hannigan Quincy)
Age/Race/Gender: 29 – Human (Scottish descent due to colony origins and culture) - Male

Appearance: A young Caucasian male with short messy black hair (often made blacker with soot and explosive residue). Has wide blue eyes and rough skin that’s often gets riddled with bruises, burns, and explosive powder (whenever he decides a bath isn’t important). Face is mostly clean shaven but with the shadow of a beard often growing on it.

Occupation: Technical Mercenary. Experienced with explosives, sabotage, theft, cybernetic systems intrusion, and physical breaking and entering.

Weapons:

RWC-BR7 Modular Battle Rifle

- RWC-BR7 Modular Battle Rifle (“The Boomstick”): A versatile weapon designed by the Rovik Weapons Corporation. It is a slow-firing, fully-automatic ballistic rifle with multiple firing modes (semi-auto, 3-shot burst, and full-auto) and a 30 round magazine. It can be equipped with both a reflex sight and adjustable scope as used by most common firearms. The BR7 was made for use in mid-range fire support. It is usually carried by designated marksmen in conventional Law Organizations and Special Forces units. Designed to eliminate targets wearing most common physical armor, it was created with the intention of being used against criminals and poorly-equipped insurgents. It has limited use against more high-tech defenses such as shields and powered-armor. The barrel of the gun can carry a single interchangeable attachment for the fulfillment of different purposes

- Grenade launcher RWC-BR7 attachment: Can fire a variety of different grenades meant for use in many other conventional grenade launcher models. Designed for both lethal and non-lethal munitions. Each grenade must be manually loaded prior to firing.

- Compact Shotgun RWC-BR7 attachment: Fires shotgun pellets in a spread with enough force to send most unarmored targets staggering backwards and fires independently of the main rifle. Used for close-quarter engagements often by SWAT or Special Forces operatives who carry the RWC-BR7. Can be loaded with both lethal and non-lethal shells as used by most compact shotgun models.

- Laser-cutter RWC-BR7 attachment: Generally used for slicing through hardened surfaces, it can also be used as an emergency weapon against shielded targets, though it is prone to overheating from sustained fire.

- L32-PDD arm-mounted laser pistol: A small personal defense device worn on the arm like a gauntlet, designed by Las-32 Enterprises, that functions much like a standard automatic laser pistol (firing small bursts of laser energy) though it overheats faster than most laser-based weapons due to its small size. The trigger is located on the arm, behind the gun itself and is pressed downwards to fire. It can fire 10 shots in full automatic before needing a cool down. The rechargeable magazine installed into the weapon can fire a 100 shots before being completely drained and requiring a long recharge time from power stations. In emergency situations, the battery can be solar-charged, but it takes 10 minutes of exposure to charge a single shot.

- A bionic arm (See Items)
- Removable scope with adjustable zoom (4x minimum - 12x maximum)
- High-Explosive grenades
- Flashbang grenades
- Tear Gas grenades
- Sleeping Gas grenades
- EMP grenades (for temporarily disabling systems, weapons, and shields)
- Incendiary grenades
- Cluster grenades (breaks apart into smaller less potent fragmentation grenades, poor at breaking through armor but lethal to soft targets)
- Fragmentation and Incendiary Tripmines (sticks to surfaces and detonates when internal sensors detect movement)
- Remote/Timed Explosive charges (conventional concept with his personal designs)
- Thermite charges (for breaking through reinforced metals)
- Acid Bomb (device meant for melting through some hardened surfaces but can double as a bioweapon)

Obviously he doesn't carry all these explosives at the same time, but he chooses the ones he believe might be necessary for his job.

Armor: (Armored)

Helmet: BDT-BioVisor Tactical

Source: s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/82/…

Produced by Bulwark Defensive Technologies, it is a sealed environmental helmet complete with a heads-up display (that can be modified to display specific kinds of information on its interface) and vision modes that include Night vision and Thermal Imaging. Designed for use in hazardous environments by both soldiers and civilian militia with engineering or technical duties.

Body Armor: BDT-Specialist Utility Suit

Source: s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/05/…

Sealable suit made by Bulwark Defensive Technologies as an engineer/technician suit that doubles as civilian ballistic body armor for use in violent or lawless zones. Contains various pockets and compartments for carrying gear, as well as activatable magnetized sections for attaching large objects such as rifles or welding torches.

Items:
- Bionic Arm (“Ol’ Skelly”): Used as a powerful throwing arm for grenades, a personal computer, and a general melee combat weapon. It also contains the “Skeleton Key” software designed by Benny that allows him to interface with almost any widely known computer device or electronic system to manually hack into their functions using a holographic display projected by a device just underneath the arm’s surface. More exotic and unique systems will require him to manually update the software with the necessary codes and files.
- Toolkit: A compact box usually attached to his suit but can be detached as needed. Contains small amounts of chemicals, and simple tools such as screwdrivers and small wrenches. Used both in his own time and out in the field if needed.
- Box of spare parts: A small box containing bits and pieces of scrap either collected from the field or salvaged from failed devices and/or experiments. Kept around in the field in case he needs to jury rig something on the fly. Useless for anything more complex than a dirty bomb, but Benny believes one can never have too many munitions.
- Jade turtle keychain: Carried out of sentiment

Skills: Knowledge in almost every form of explosive device and software system in Alliance space, and then some.
- Is aware of the various utilizations and blast radii of any explosive.
- Has a thorough practical grasp of physics and architecture which he often uses for his job.
- Can break into any cyber security system known to man (Time and level of success varies depending on security measures). Mostly for the sake of disabling or even reversing security protocols. His area of expertise is more on intrusion and disruption than general cyberwarfare.
- Has moderate skills in repairing and maintaining weaponry
- Can create improvised explosives with scrap as long as he has the right parts.
- High IQ and the ability to quickly analyze and multitask due to a case of ADHD
- Also due to his ADHD, his brain pumps out an abnormally large amount of adrenaline during stress situations, which increases his pain tolerance to high levels.

Powers: Has exhibited no signs of Psionic potential.

Combat Class/Role: Combat Engineer/Demolitionist: Above all else, Benny loves causing chaos in a fight. From breaking fortified enemy positions and forcing them to scatter and re-think their plans, to drawing enemies into explosive and sadistic traps. His job is to ensure no structure is safe and no hostile attack will go unpunished.

History: Pulled into the Revenant project after undercover Alliance agents posed as a gang hiring him for a bank heist. They trapped him and blackmailed him into joining project Revenant by threatening someone they care about. Was put into a coma due to a technical accident as part of the crew. Later on, Stryker promised him they would find a way to remove the Alliance’s leverage over him, after which he was more than happy to turn on his former masters and joining the crew in their bid for freedom.

Other:
Neo Eden – Benny’s original home colony, Neo Eden is a human colony within Alliance Space inhabited primarily by people of a Scottish heritage. This was due to the race of the colony ship’s crew that had arrived and founded it. The planet itself is a lush and verdant world, rich in resources from its flora and fauna. Mining is limited as the colony was converted into a primarily agricultural world, cultivating various crops and breeding different species of animals for export into Alliance space and beyond.

Revenant: Chapter 2- The Hunted (A Sci-Fi Adventure)

Here's Benny's slightly tweaked CS! Reference picture to be added later courtesy of @iTem

Benny Boomer

Name: “Benny Boomer” (Actual name: Benjamin Hannigan Quincy)
Age/Race/Gender: 28 – Human (Scottish descent due to colony origins and culture) - Male

Appearance: A young Caucasian male with short messy black hair (often made blacker with soot and explosive residue). Has wide blue eyes and rough skin that’s often gets riddled with bruises, burns, and explosive powder (whenever he decides a bath isn’t important). Face is mostly clean shaven but with the shadow of a beard often growing on it.

Occupation: Technical Mercenary. Experienced with explosives, sabotage, theft, cybernetic systems intrusion, and physical breaking and entering.

Weapons:

RWC-BR7 Modular Battle Rifle

- RWC-BR7 Modular Battle Rifle (“The Boomstick”): A versatile weapon designed by the Rovik Weapons Corporation. It is a slow-firing, fully-automatic ballistic rifle with multiple firing modes (semi-auto, 3-shot burst, and full-auto) and a 30 round magazine. It can be equipped with both a reflex sight and adjustable scope as used by most common firearms. The BR7 was made for use in mid-range fire support. It is usually carried by designated marksmen in conventional Law Organizations and Special Forces units. Designed to eliminate targets wearing most common physical armor, it was created with the intention of being used against criminals and poorly-equipped insurgents. It has limited use against more high-tech defenses such as shields and powered-armor. The barrel of the gun can carry a single interchangeable attachment for the fulfillment of different purposes

- Grenade launcher RWC-BR7 attachment: Can fire a variety of different grenades meant for use in many other conventional grenade launcher models. Designed for both lethal and non-lethal munitions. Each grenade must be manually loaded prior to firing.

- Compact Shotgun RWC-BR7 attachment: Fires shotgun pellets in a spread with enough force to send most unarmored targets staggering backwards and fires independently of the main rifle. Used for close-quarter engagements often by SWAT or Special Forces operatives who carry the RWC-BR7. Can be loaded with both lethal and non-lethal shells as used by most compact shotgun models.

- Laser-cutter RWC-BR7 attachment: Generally used for slicing through hardened surfaces, it can also be used as an emergency weapon against shielded targets, though it is prone to overheating from sustained fire.

- L32-PDD arm-mounted laser pistol: A small personal defense device worn on the arm like a gauntlet, designed by Las-32 Enterprises, that functions much like a standard automatic laser pistol (firing small bursts of laser energy) though it overheats faster than most laser-based weapons due to its small size. The trigger is located on the arm, behind the gun itself and is pressed downwards to fire. It can fire 10 shots in full automatic before needing a cool down. The rechargeable magazine installed into the weapon can fire a 100 shots before being completely drained and requiring a long recharge time from power stations. In emergency situations, the battery can be solar-charged, but it takes 10 minutes of exposure to charge a single shot.

- A bionic arm (See Items)
- Removable scope with adjustable zoom (4x minimum - 12x maximum)
- High-Explosive grenades
- Flashbang grenades
- Tear Gas grenades
- Sleeping Gas grenades
- EMP grenades (for temporarily disabling systems, weapons, and shields)
- Incendiary grenades
- Cluster grenades (breaks apart into smaller less potent fragmentation grenades, poor at breaking through armor but lethal to soft targets)
- Fragmentation and Incendiary Tripmines (sticks to surfaces and detonates when internal sensors detect movement)
- Remote Explosive charges (conventional concept with his personal designs)
- Thermite charges (for breaking through reinforced metals)
- Acid Bomb (device meant for melting through some hardened surfaces but can double as a bioweapon)

Obviously he doesn't carry all these explosives at the same time, but he chooses the ones he believe might be necessary for his job.

Armor: (Armored)

Helmet: BDT-BioVisor Tactical

Source: s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/82/…

Produced by Bulwark Defensive Technologies, it is a sealed environmental helmet complete with a heads-up display (that can be modified to display specific kinds of information on its interface) and vision modes that include Night vision and Thermal Imaging. Designed for use in hazardous environments by both soldiers and civilian militia with engineering or technical duties.

Body Armor: BDT-Specialist Utility Suit

Source: s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/05/…

Sealable suit made by Bulwark Defensive Technologies as an engineer/technician suit that doubles as civilian ballistic body armor for use in violent or lawless zones. Contains various pockets and compartments for carrying gear, as well as activatable magnetized sections for attaching large objects such as rifles or welding torches.

Items:
- Bionic Arm (“Ol’ Skelly”): Used as a powerful throwing arm for grenades, a personal computer, and a general melee combat weapon. It also contains the “Skeleton Key” software designed by Benny that allows him to interface with almost any widely known computer device or electronic system to manually hack into their functions using a holographic display projected by a device just underneath the arm’s surface. More exotic and unique systems will require him to manually update the software with the necessary codes and files.
- Toolkit: A compact box usually attached to his suit but can be detached as needed. Contains small amounts of chemicals, and simple tools such as screwdrivers and small wrenches. Used both in his own time and out in the field if needed.
- Box of spare parts: A small box containing bits and pieces of scrap either collected from the field or salvaged from failed devices and/or experiments. Kept around in the field in case he needs to jury rig something on the fly. Useless for anything more complex than a dirty bomb, but Benny believes one can never have too many munitions.
- Jade turtle keychain: Carried out of sentiment

Skills: Knowledge in almost every form of explosive device and software system in Alliance space, and then some.
- Is aware of the various utilizations and blast radii of any explosive.
- Has a thorough practical grasp of physics and architecture which he often uses for his job.
- Can break into any cyber security system known to man (Time and level of success varies depending on security measures). Mostly for the sake of disabling or even reversing security protocols. His area of expertise is more on intrusion and disruption than general cyberwarfare.
- Has moderate skills in repairing and maintaining weaponry
- Can create improvised explosives with scrap as long as he has the right parts.
- High IQ and the ability to quickly analyze and multitask due to a case of ADHD
- Also due to his ADHD, his brain pumps out an abnormally large amount of adrenaline during stress situations, which increases his pain tolerance to high levels.

Powers: Has exhibited no signs of Psionic potential.

Combat Class/Role: Combat Engineer/Demolitionist: Above all else, Benny loves causing chaos in a fight. From breaking fortified enemy positions and forcing them to scatter and re-think their plans, to drawing enemies into explosive and sadistic traps. His job is to ensure no structure is safe and no hostile attack will go unpunished.

History: Pulled into the Revenant project after undercover Alliance agents posed as a gang hiring him for a bank heist. They trapped him and blackmailed him into joining project Revenant by threatening someone they care about. Was put into a coma due to a technical accident as part of the crew. Later on, Stryker promised him they would find a way to remove the Alliance’s leverage over him, after which he was more than happy to turn on his former masters and joining the crew in their bid for freedom.

Other:
Neo Eden – Benny’s original home colony, Neo Eden is a human colony within Alliance Space inhabited primarily by people of a Scottish heritage. This was due to the race of the colony ship’s crew that had arrived and founded it. The planet itself is a lush and verdant world, rich in resources from its flora and fauna. Mining is limited as the colony was converted into a primarily agricultural world, cultivating various crops and breeding different species of animals for export into Alliance space and beyond.

The Fallen Goddess - A Journey of Heroes

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------------------------------------------------
In the street
------------------------------------------------
_{@Achronum@Kazemitsu}
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“If its a dance you want, tis a dance you shall have! Lets see if we can keep you occupied for a while! And I think our tune will be cover fire, no?... For all who came before us and for all who march with us still!” Beatriz cried as she begun her assault on the beast. The Butcher regarded her almost with curiosity as she enacted her unusual move, arrogant that it would do no harm.

In this it was wrong, as Beatrix's blade made contact, the monster was staggered by the blow. In the realm it had trapped Kharne into, the dragon would also see the butcher stagger even though it did not seem as if anything had struck it. The backwards stagger caused Kharne's grab to miss, but it also caused the energy beam it had planned to hit Kharne with ended up firing early and wild from being knocked off-balance, the blast flying into a nearby cottage, crashing through a window in similar fashion to the bolt Cyterius had fired. Within seconds, another implosion blew the structure apart. Kharne saw it all unfold as it happened. In the "Real world" the party would witness the building erupt as if spontaneously. Debris was flung and scattered across the streets and neighboring houses.

In Kharne's dimension, the Butcher regained its footing and faced towards the dragon, bringing one of it's limbs back again in an attempt to do a quick melee strike against Kharne instead of wasting time charging another energy blast. In the party's perspective, the monster was looking at nothing, nowhere near where Kharne's real body stood, and had faced away inexplicably from Beatrix, leaving it open to another attack.

The Fallen Goddess - A Journey of Heroes

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------------------------------------------------
In the street
------------------------------------------------
_@Kazemitsu
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Kharne had cautiously approached the monster with their sword drawn, preparing to engaging while keeping an eye on the monster's movements. However he had not noticed two things. For one, he overestimated how quickly his strength would return, as the residual effects of the creature's magic entrapment were more than mere physical fatigue. The magic had taken a toll on his body that physical exhaustion did not match. Following this, he had not noticed the change in the surroundings, the way the air seemed to take on an otherworldly quality as he had gotten closer to his opponent. The Butcher turned to the dragon with a caricature of a smirk on its porcelain face.

As Kharne approached, he would feel an immense weight suddenly placed on his mind. His vision would grow blurred, and to him everything would appear out of focus. Though as the seconds passed, he and only he would hear more of the unnatural laughter. The scenery that once graced the village shifted before his eyes. Once covered merely by a winter's storm, the village was now covered in the icy tendrils of an otherworldly monster. The winds lashed against Kharne's exposed skin in a way that felt oddly familiar. The sight of the butcher before him would flicker between the monster the group saw and the true beast it hid. And before long, the butcher that Kharne had approached had been replaced by the beast that nearly claimed him before when he was alone.

And this revealed creature smiled. They smiled as arcs of energy danced forth from the crystal on its chest into its hand. Inexplicably, this smile spread even further across its wicked porcelain face as the energy took the form of a red ball. And as the winds of winter lashed and enveloped around the body of the dragon, a laughter Kharne and Kharne alone would hear drowned out the roar of the winds. Kharne had eluded the grasps of the butcher once before, and the butcher smiled at the thought of correcting that.

As Kharne approached, the creature let loose its arcane barrage and sent itself forth, charging towards the towering beast.

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------------------------------------------------
In the street
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_{@Trainerblue192@Achronum@Kazemitsu@Rultaos}
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The searing red bolt, as Cyterius predicted, had indeed changed its course in mid-air to chase after him. The Kyrantian launched himself upward from their crouching position just as the bolt narrowly missed behind them, shattering the window of an empty village house and burying itself somewhere inside. While the group could not see inside the structure, they would eventually see sudden arcs of energy erupt from the orifices of the house and creep along the surfaces, as if enveloping it with crackling, phasing tentacles. With violent pulses vibrating through the air, the crackling energy seemed to magnetize the material of the house, cracking stone on the floor and breaking the wood of the walls and pillars. It pulled all matter inwards towards it like an inverse explosion. For one moment, the pulsing energy stopped and went silent, before it suddenly flared into a blinding flash as it sent all the wood and debris they gathered flying outwards across the street, and the cottage itself being reduced to rubble.

The Party of course was not going to stay idle as this happened. As Kharne seemed to suddenly be frozen in place in the same way the group had originally found them, River's water creature moved in to retaliate. As the Butcher seemed so pre-occupied with staring at Kharne, River's summoned creature managed to land a strike directly on the creature, causing the Butcher to flinch and move backwards, averting its gaze from Kharne before reactively raising a fist covered in its red energy, and smashing the elemental creature aside.

As the summoned creature was dispelled into ice and water, the monster stopped to look down at the crystal. It seemed as sturdy as before, with no visible physical damage. Throughout the air, the formless laughter echoed once more.

Revenant: A Sci-Fi Adventure (Always Accepting!)

(A collab between me and @iTem)

The days immediately after the mission were spent with a tentatively celebratory mood. The remaining members of the crew were happy to have gotten out alive, and also no longer being the Alliance's lapdogs. But the mood was soured by the losses they had taken, some members having been friends with the few who didn't return, the most obvious of course being Grayson, the trusted partner of their de-facto leader, Stryker.

During the first time the crew was assembled to discuss what to do with them, Benny was among the first to suggest "Fuck 'em. They're either dead or they're on their way ta' being it with the shit we've done to that planet and we'll probably just get more of us caught trying". Unfortunately, SAL had reported that Grayson was a priority due to the fact that he was rigged to explode if he didn't get close to Grayson within a few days. Benny put out the idea to simply jettison SAL out the airlock, which he quickly retracted after a combined glare from Matija and Tibulass.

"What if we just defused it? The Mad Scotsman here could probably figure out how it works" Matija asked. "Oh of course. Let's try the first thing the meatbag and I thought of when we had the chance. I am certain it shall turn out better this time" SAL retorted. This caused Matija to shake her head and sigh. "We're a buncha tough-as-nails bastards makin' our way through the galaxy, but sure! Let's risk our hard-earned freedom fer some hero work." She said with a sarcastic smile. "At least we only need to rescue one person... Not like we'll use the entire ship or whatever. Yanno? The ship that happens to be our only home." She finished in a defeated tone.

The Spider and the Fly

Benny walked down the hallway contemplatively. After the meeting had been adjourned Matija had tapped him on the shoulder, telling him to meet at her room in a few hours. She mentioned she just had to take care of a few things before they spoke. It was an odd request and he didn't see any reason to say no.

While some might have thought this would lead into a more heated encounter, Benny often considered the worst case scenario when it came to things. Oftentimes it let him be ready for when shit hit the fan. So he wondered if there was something she had wanted to settle with him. Perhaps she still harbored some earlier resentment and wanted to make that clear? Terminate their acquaintanceship? Maybe she felt that he owed her more for helping with their jetpack project and planned to extort him for it? Possibilities ran through his head and very few of them were good.

Because of that he didnt notice that he was already standing in front of her room, lingering idly in the hallway. He wasn't sure for how long but he figured he had hesitated long enough with his daydreaming and might as well get this over with. He knocked once on the door and waited for her to open it. No response.

He tried to knock again and this time called out to her as he did. "Hey uhh... Ya called me here? It's Ben. He said. This time the door opened a crack with Matija peering out before opening it further. "Hey. Come on in" she replied. He tentatively stepped inside and looked around the room as Matija closed the door behind him. It was certainly much neater than his own

"Sooo... wa's this about?" Benny asked.
"Iunno. I just, uh. Wanted ta ask, I guess. How you're... doing?" She started as she walked over to her bed and gestured for him to sit nearby. She looked him over and took note of the visible bruises he had taken during their harrowing escape. "You got yerself checked yet? No internal bleedings or anything?" She continued. Benny nodded as he hesitantly approached and took a seat at the edge of her bed.

"Oh uhh... fine I guess? And aye I got checked out on tha' flight back. Nothin's broken in there" He responded. Matija seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if wondering what to say before speaking. "You, uuh... Doing okay? I mean, with yer mission gettin' all messed up an' shite- er- shit. Ahah..." She said, correcting her mis-pronunciation.

"Uhhh... I'm fine I mean... is nae anymore dangerous than what I've already done before" He started, feeling awkward about the whole exchange. "So... did ya just call me ta' check up on me? 'cause ya could'a asked it earlier in tha' meeting" He continued.

"Aye I guess but yanno... Sometimes things happen and... shit I guess." She responded with a sigh before she turned her head up and spoke in a more annoyed and aggressive tone. "Look, I just wanted to ask you how you were an' shit. I'm fine, by the way." She finished with a huff. Benny looked at her uncertainly before talking. "Oh... yeah I uhh... heard yer part o' the mission went off withou' a hitch. That was... some good news yesterday at least. Ya ken with... all the other shite..." He responded, not sure if that was what she wanted to hear.

"Yeah good. Thanks" She said sarcastically as she turned away from him with her arms crossed. After a long uncomfortable pause she took a deep inhale and exhale and spoke again. "... I got... Worried when... the comms got too exciting. I couldn't hear past tha explosions so I got... scared that we'll be nicked one too many men off." She said in a less hostile tone. Benny looked at her, puzzled at her behavior before responding. "I see... Well ... we lost the Alliance attack dog at least" He answered.

"Yeah. That's one thing..." She said, with a long silent pause before continuing. "So uh. Anything in mind lately? Thoughts? Lingering senses of wonder?" She asked in a bit more casual tone.

"Wonderin' thoughts? Well... guess we could start with me thinkin' ya dinny just called me here for a 'how'd'ya do?'. Is there... somethin' yer wantin' ta' tell me? 'Cause I've been gettin' that feel since earlier. An' if it's about me body odor or somethin' then jus' spit it out already. I've heard worse" He said glancing away, feeling a bit annoyed that she seemed to be beating around the bush so much.

Matija grinned in amusement before talking. "Well ya know you need more showers and maybe a stronger deodorant. Trim yer armpit hairs ta lessent the musk and... hm. Use deodorants more often. Like, every after baths kinda deal." She said chuckling at the end of it.

Beny turned to look at them directly with a frown. "Oh well thanks a fuckin' lot fer this invitation ta yer hygiene lecture then!" He said in exaggerated annoyance before turning away from her."But... if that'll get ye off me case about it then... I'll keep it in mind..." He mumbled while still looking away.

Matija continued chuckling though it died down at Benny sounding defeated. "So... nothing?" She asked with a disappointed tone. "Okae. Fine. I like you. If you don't wannit, you're free ta leave." She continued quickly with a hint of exasperation.

Benny feelt his brows raise at her response. "Whuh..?" He started as he turned back towards her. "Not ta'... sound like a pre-teen schoolboy but... ya mean as in a 'like like' sorta way...?" He asked, already feeling stupid at his phrasing. "Pretty sure you are a pre-teen school boy. Yeah. I 'like-like' you." She lied with a roll of her eyes.

"Oh..." He breathed out, wondering how to feel or what to say about this. Though he did feel a flush of embarassment from the situation. He turned away from her before speaking. "Tha's uhh... erm... Fuckin' Hell... no one's told me that in bloody years I dinny ken what I'm supposed ta' say to that!" He said, his voice turning almost into mutters by the end of it. He paused momentarily before continuing. "I... Guess I like... You an' yer company too... Shite me in the arse this sounds stupid..." He finished while pressing his organic palm onto his forehead and trying to his his blushing with the same arm.

"Maybe some people have been tryin' to but you're just dense," Matija responded with a smile while also blushing herself. "If anything, I'm glad that we're in mutual agreement ta this. Usually, if it was more heated, this bed would be used for more than sitting." She finished with a reflexive chuckle.

"Eh?" Benny started glancing between them and the bed. "What do ye... Oh! Oh ya meant fer... Aye I... guess that would'a been the norm" He continued, blushing more in embarassment at how poorly he seemed to be handling it.

"It's awkward ta push it... Anyway, good talk." She said slapping him on the back, and hitting one of his bruises. Benny winced in response. "Ow... bad spot" He said with a groan.
Matija immediately recoiled. "Oooh... shite. Sorry... Erm... how bad's tha bruisings?" she asked. "Most'll pass soon just... well a tank smacked me in that spot so it's a bit of a dinger" He explained. "Eh? Damn. Where?" She asked looked over his back. "Tha' part ya hit a... shockwave made a parked tank gimme a mean lovetap" He explained. "Oh. You should probably give me a rundown of what the hell just happened on your end since the big man's the only guy that really knows everything." She requested.

With a slight smile, he started re-telling the events at the military base from his perspective, with much commentary on the thoughts of his teammates and the ineptness of the Federation soldiers. They whiled away the hours sharing how each of their missions went and Benny actually found it pleasant to share his experiences and thoughts with someone. No one really ever bothered letting him talk freely much before. He always felt like he had to interrupt or interject. HBy the time they called it a night and parted ways, Benny felt like perhaps they ought to talk with each other more often.

After that crew meeting there wasn't much arguing the point that they HAD to save Grayson, or at least get the implanted bomb, as Benny added. Much of their time afterwards was devoted to coming up with a plan of attack to break out their resident sniper. They had considered breaking into the prison directly, but information gathered by Stryker and Sadaet over contacts and extranet sources ruled that out. There was too many risks involved. However, an opportunity presented itself when they intercepted information talking about Grayson's transfer onto a prison ship. They would be put into a transport craft heading off world which gave the Revenant crew the perfect time to strike. Eventually, the thinkers of their ragtag band came up with a plan and doled out the roles to each member of the crew to give them time to prepare before zero hour. On the day of the breakout, Stryker gathered the team together for one last quick briefing.

“Alright gang... I’m not gonna sugar coat this. We already lost some good people, and we’ve only got one shot to try and save the one who still has a chance. You all have your jobs, you all have access to the transport ship blueprints to review the plan. We strike as soon as they clear the system, best estimate is in about 6 hours. I want gunners at their positions and the boarding party ready to move in. Any questions at all, you send them my way. Until then, dismissed.”

Benny gave a curt nod of acknowledgement before turning around to head out and continue their preparations. Before they did however, Benny turned his head to shout out the rest of them "If this all goes sideways and we canny get tha' bombs ta' play nice, we better be leavin' the bag o' bolts behind!" He exclaimed, not wanting to return to the ship just to have SAL blow it apart.

With that, he went to his workshop to prepare the necessary items for the task. He packed 2 Tear gas grenades, 2 EMP grenades, and 2 Sleeping gas grenades on his bandolier. He figured he ought to keep his arsenal on the more non-lethal side given that they were unsure where the guards may fortify themselves and they wouldn't want to accidentally kill Grayson in the fight. He also prepared 2 Acidic bombs packed behind him to help make their way through a wall without potentially killing anyone on the other side of it. He did however, bring 3 Frag grenades for loading into his rifle's underslung launcher in case they had to clear a room without worry for collateral damage, and of course at least 4 magazines. The makeshift jetpack was stowed away in the workshop, given that it would have very little value inside of a transport ship.

"Alright, Skelly... Let's go keep this ship from blowin' up" He said to his robotic arm as he curled the fingers into a fist and stretched them out as a habitual practice of movement. Even after having used the bionic arm for so long, it was still sometimes odd to feel nothing but a numb sensation of motion whenever he moved it. With that, he decided to join the rest of the boarding party in preparation for the heist.

The Fallen Goddess - A Journey of Heroes

Cyterius tensed up as he watched the creature react to his attack. The one hitting the face reflected off seemingly harmlessly, though it at least dented the material. The second shot had a much more dramatic ending, with it exploding into fragments across the cold ground. The creature slowly appraised the fallen bolt before looking back up, seemingly looking straight at Cyterius. The stare was unsettling and condescending, even before the laughter had begun. Cyterius took some moments to look around in confusion at the sudden sounds, though he kept the creature in his peripheral vision.

The rest of the group did not remain idle however as River had conjured up a creature to assist them and Kharne began to approach their enemy. The monster on the other hand began glowing a painful red light from its chest, bright enough that Cyterius had trouble looking directly at it, but could still tell this "butcher" was still looking directly at him. Inexplicably, it began reconstructing the shattered bolt into something smaller, wicked, and sparking with the dark red energy. Cyterius could tell what was going to happen next, but S'venia voiced his thoughts before he could.

"Incoming!" She shouted. Cyterius wasted no time and launched himself in the direction opposite of S'venia while keeping an eye on the bolt. "Watch the bolt!" He exclaimed to his comrades as he rolled into a crouching position to the side of the path and kept his eye on the red projectile, half-expecting it to change course and continue chasing him or one of the party members. He wanted to keep himself in a stance that let him stay mobile until the projectile was became inert or destroyed.

Revenant: A Sci-Fi Adventure (Always Accepting!)

"Fockin' bloody idiots!" Benny screamed out, ducking behind a building for cover as the sound of gunfire and explosions erupted around him. Whether he was referring to the enemy soldiers or his teammates, even he couldn't say for sure, but it was something he really had to get out of his system with how botched everything had gotten. After their oh-so-noble squad leader went down when shit began hitting the proverbial fan, Sadaet and Benny found themselves organizing the rest of the crew as they scrambled to escape while causing as much mayhem as possible to cover their tracks.

That part of the job was at least easy for Benny. He had built his entire criminal career upon causing chaos and so it came almost instinctively to him. The problem with causing chaos on the fly however was that sometimes, you got mixed up in it too. "Can anyone even hear me right naow?!" He shouted trying to reconnect to the team comms that had ended up becoming jammed after most of the explosions they had set off collapsed several buildings around them. Their short-range comm traffic had gotten blocked by the material debris and the energy weapons charging and firing from all around the place.

"Ah fuck it! Not like we need them, do we boy?!" He said as he quickly tapped on Skelly's touchpad and interacted with his HUD, marking a few of his remaining planted charges and setting them to blow nearby. It achieved the desired effect as the gunfire in his direction momentarily stopped and he bolted, heading further towards their planned extraction. "Hah! And they say I'M THA' ONE who canny keep me attention proper!" He exclaimed.

He dived behind the cover of an unoccupied tank as he double checked his distance from their evac zone on his HUD. He thought for a moment about how great it would be to hijack the tank he was next to and drive it to their extraction, but there wasn't any time to break into its systems. Not with the soldiers gathering their wits and would soon be able to organize a proper base defense. He figured that they'd have anti-vehicle rockets ready to fire once he got it moving. He was thankful for Sadaet's cyberwarfare skills managing to keep most of the nastier automated defenses offline and disrupting the coordination of the alien soldiers.

"Ah well... I can still cause a helluva' quake..." He muttered with a grin beneath his helmet as he ran some quick calculations with how long it would take him to reach the extraction, running and flying. He figured it was about long enough as his final diversion would allow. He brought up the triggers for his largest bomb, and the ones rigged to a number of fuel storage areas and began setting them on timers, though he kept the big one off a timer, intending to set it off manually. Benny took a deep breath as he prepared to get moving.

"DUCK, COVER AN' HOLD YA TWATS!" He shouted as he detonated the largest explosive that had been set inside a storage shed they had found near the command center in the middle of the base.

After a couple tense seconds, a powerful sound like a long thunderclap rumbled through the air and Benny braced himself against the Tank as he waited for the shockwave that tore through the complex. The moment he felt the tank move and felt himself get winded, though the tank took the worst of it. The moment the feeling passed he sprinted and boosted himself through the air with the jetpacks he and Harrison had made. He kept an eye on the timers, knowing when he had to brace himself for the next blast, though he expected them to be much weaker than the initial one. He expected the soldiers to be holding their position and keeping their heads down as the explosions rocked the base. A part of him felt a sense of disappointment and loss however at not being in a position to observe and enjoy the full effect of his explosives, but that was how it went sometimes with his job.

Some of the charges failed to detonate, either because the signal didnt go through or some hero managed to defuse them, but it brought him the time he needed to meet up with the rest of the surviving team members on the way to extraction, landing less than gracefully as he stumbled among the fleeing group. "Oi! Dun tell me ya blowhards were leavin' withou' me!"

---

Revenant: Some hours after the mission

Benny had just finished changing out of his armor and had managed to finally refill the magazines on most of his weapons, something he felt just a little bit safer at doing. He had also received word that Stryker's team had gotten back without a hitch, and felt odd at being relieved to know that Matija hadn't become a casualty of their overly-complicated assassination. He didn't much care for the other losses though.

When a call came through the ship comms with Tibulass speaking, he instinctively reached for his laser sidearm in response toe the loud noise. He felt annoyed as to what was so important that it had to be announced like that, but when he heard the message he slowly began smiling. They were going rogue now.

"Now things get real fun..." He muttered as he put on a jacket and got ready to meet with the others, and to shoot any Alliance operatives still aboard.

The Fallen Goddess - A Journey of Heroes

"A creature capable of silencing an entire camp, potentially ripping mine and Beatrixs wards and who may have the title of Butcher, is potentially running amok and you wish to separate on your own to sound the alarms. By all means, go, be brave, and die a fool." The Lalafell commander said as he finished with his strange ritual. Cyterius bristled at the direct insult towards his judgment but remained quiet. River did have a point, if he had gotten singled out by the creature stalking them, then he was likely a dead man. Still, he was confident in his abilities to evade detection. While he was weighing the pros and cons of heading out to recon the camp and alert the sentries, Kharne had ideas of his own.

With a powerful bellow, the draconian warrior shouted into the town, heading out on his own. The sheer force of the sound made Cyterius wince and close his eyes. The fact that the position of the commanders, or at least people who knew what was happening, had just been revealed to their enemies made him feel very vulnerable as well.

"That was a mistake..." S'venia said, voicing the thoughts of nearly everyone in the room. "The enemy knows that we know. We no longer have the element of surprise. I fear that they shall seek to confront us to take the initiative." Cyterius said, wondering what the status of the rest of the camp was, and more importantly, the Falcons and the Skirmishers. S'venia went around, appearing to offer advice and giving them some kind of ward that he felt when she touched him. S'venia did not strike him as a magic-user the first time they had met, so this had come as much of a surprise, though it only showed with a simple raised eyebrow. S'venia also repeated to him the same point that River had made, though this time he nodded. The enemy was on alert now, and hopefully any of their soldiers nearby as well, thanks to Kharne. Recon was out of the question, they had to stay together and face the foe at full strength.

“I do not know how to kill this enemy, it is unlike anything you or I have ever faced in our lives... maybe the book might be of help,” S'venia added. Cyterius nodded. While he did not trust such magic that he did not know the source of, someone or something had seen fit to warn them of their enemy. For all he knew, it could even BE their enemy, taunting them with their arrival. But if there was one thing he had learned throughout his life, it was that all communication holds information. Even simple taunts from the enemy could betray the way they think or work. The book may yet hold something they could use.

He raised his sword and followed the group outwards, trailing behind in the rear, and glancing backwards. Given his light armaments and perceptive ability, he saw it fit to act as the rear guard of their party and watch for ambush.

He spotted the frozen soldiers as the others did, and they made him pause for a moment wondering why they were not moving or calling out to them. Then he realized that some malign force was keeping them held in place, much like in the disturbing vision River had shown them. Cyterius exhaled as he let his nervousness course through his body, using it to stay alert and examine the scene around them thoroughly. He had no wish to share in the fate of the lost soldiers, and he would be damned if he did not go down without a fight. He wondered if all the soldiers in their camp were like this, and how many were still alive. Was their expedition already destroyed?

"Stick together" S'venia ordered, breaking his line of thought. Cyterius shook his head as he continued scanning the area. Such negative thoughts could wait until after the enemy was dealt with. While he considered regrouping with his own forces, he figured that if they were all in this state as well, then there was little he could do to help them. He had to stay with those who were still unaffected and try to eliminate whatever was causing this infernal spell.

The group eventually came upon Kharne, apparently frozen much like the other soldiers they had seen. S'venia approached them before suddenly stopping with her hand held up above Kharne's shoulder. For one dreadful moment, Cyterius thought she had also been afflicted by whatever had trapped the rest of the camp, but he saw her move slightly as if tensing up, and then he saw movement ahead of her.

"Movement ahead" He said quickly, wondering how he had not spotted it before. “Commanders, our enemy has arrived,” S'venia announced as Cyterius aimed his wrist-mounted crossbow forward, at the source of the motion, which seemed to suddenly stop as well as if inspecting them. The creature's look defied all conventions and expectations. Yet somehow, it fit perfectly with the stories he had heard about the previous Wars of the Breach. The abomination standing before them made Cyterius feel sick just looking at it, most especially when its face and body moved as it spoke to them in an unnatural voice.

The creature seemed to address S'venia, who replied curtly, as if she understood them, before producing a bright golden light that seemed to break Kharne out of his imprisonment. Kharne, welcome back She said as the dragon seemed to be getting their bearings back.

Before anyone could give the order to attack, Cyterius decided to take the creature by surprise, and loosed a bolt from his crossbow into the center of its porcelain face. He rapidly fired a second bolt into the center of its muscled body, to see how it would react to attacks on either area. This left him with 3 bolts left in his current magazine, and a likely chance at having pissed off their opponent. Given that he felt a fight was about to break out anyway, it was a calculated risk.

The Fallen Goddess - A Journey of Heroes

Cyterius listened intently to the rest of S'venia's briefing, and mused about what lengths they may be forced to go in order to accomplish the task at hand. Nearing the end of it however, there was this sense of unease in the back of Cyterius' mind, the same kind he often got during certain hunts he'd done with the Luna Falcons long before. The feeling of being watched... of being hunted. Yet this did not make sense to him. They were after all inside of a fortified camp, manned by a small army. Sure he felt cold, but he had always felt a measure of cold ever since he had stepped into these lands What could possibly feel out of place without any of the lookouts calling an alarm?

Then S'venia voiced out the one odd detail that had subconsciously set him on edge. “The soldiers... they’ve gone quiet.”

Cyterius felt his hand reach for the hilt of his curved blade and touch it as he felt his body go on alert. She was right. A camp as large as theirs, there should be plenty of noise even by the nightwatch as they pass the time. This was unnatural. He kept his ears open and listened intently for any sound, any telltale sign of danger to make sense of this unnerving silence.

When the lightning energy cracked, he rapidly drew his sword on instinct and locked his eyes on the sudden burst of energy that had materialized before them. He tightened his grip and glanced around, trying to see if there was a visible source of the sudden burst of energy. S'venia's stance seemed to relax, but Cyterius still watched the magical energy, waiting to see what it was here to do. When it disappeared and deposited a book of some kind, a confused expression formed on his face.

"What in Guurut's name...?" He started when S'venia went to pick up the tome. He kept his sword drawn as he approached the Elven commander to look at the book. She read out the words "The Butcher of the Seven Fields"

"That name... what does it mean?" He asked. Before he could get an answer however, she suddenly spoke with a sense of urgency. "The soldiers... they are in danger" She announced. Cyterius wanted to ask what sort of danger she meant, but she seemed so sure of it that he felt questioning her was only going to waste valuable time. "Where is the nearest lookout post? We have to raise the alarm if there is danger approaching. I can run there quickly before I rally my men" He suggested, sheathing his sword and preparing to bolt as needed, hoping S'venia knew what she was talking about.

Revenant: A Sci-Fi Adventure (Always Accepting!)

Benny looked over at Henry when he heard him speak in that odd tone of his. There was nothing inherently wrong with his voice, but something just seemed off about it every time he heard him speak. His words also worried him, most especially with Koren's earlier warning about this potentially being a trap. However, Benny had other much more immediate concerns at the moment. He ducked into cover behind a large pre-fab building when he heard footsteps approaching. Through the nightvision he saw the bright cones from the soldiers' flashlights as they passed.

Stealth wasn't exactly his specialty, but if they started making noise it would cause all Hell to rain down on them. He muttered a curse as he tightened the grip on his gun in case the troopers looked thoroughly and caught them. Thankfully they only ran by quickly, likely to check on the gates and make sure that intruders wouldn't get. Maybe check the perimeter. Benny wondered if he should have gone for the kills despite the Alliance jarhead's orders not to attack without his go. But it was too late now. He checked his HUD and saw they were near one of the bomb sites. He quietly approached a structure that was marked as some kind of secondary fuel garage.

"Physical lock here... nae electronic so it dinny open up on a blackout. Shite... Any of you know how to get this fucker open before ya start lookin' for other places ta' blow?" He asked his group, checking the rest of the bomb sites marked on his holo-map.