Zombehs

Arknights - Project Neptune

Leaving Thunderer in Chariot's capable hands as she was already next to the injured man, Vlad kept his attention on the group's surroundings as they rushed through the city. Keeping up the rear while Mule took the lead, he raised an eyebrow as they came to a stop inside one of the larger buildings in the stimulation. Keeping a wary eye towards the streets, he couldn't quite hold back a sigh as the windows started to shake a bit from the rumbling that suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Not particularly keen on testing himself against vehicle mounted weaponry again, Vlad moved even as the plane dropped off the latest batch of androids. Barely making it behind a column before they opened fire and started to tear up the lobby, he sniffed for a moment before frowning. Despite how bare bones the simulation had been in certain aspects, he could still smell the distinctive tang of blood as Thunderer's injury continued to bleed.

"I've got you," he responded briefly to Thrones before wincing as part of the column exploded near his head. "Thunderer, stop making Chariot carry you." With a raised hand towards where the pair were taking cover, he clenched his fist and cut off the bleeding. Drawing his arm back, the spilled blood crept back into the injured operator before a scab formed over the slash. Chariot might be able to do a cleaner job when she had the time to, but it was enough for Thunderer to stand on his own without too much pain.

While he wasn't nearly as quick as the others, Vlad nonetheless broke cover as well towards the building's entrance. "Feral. Think you can get the VTOL with a boost?" Aside from looking around to make sure the other operators weren't running into a kill-zone to take advantage of the proned androids, he also bent down just in case she did want to make an attempt.

Arknights - Project Neptune

Wincing a bit as the bright beams scythed through the air and buildings in mere moments, Vlad couldn't help but whistle a bit at the sheer destruction two droids had caused. "Whew. This is just the start?" he remarked with a tut even as he back pedaled from the falling debris that threatened to bury the street. Packing that much firepower into a droid had to come with more drawbacks than just a bit of cooling issues, but it didn't seem they'd get a chance to find out more as Throne hurled the pair under a massive chunk of stone.

With the arrival of another Art users to support Dragoon as she weaved about in the field of raining debris, Vlad spared a moment before turning around to assist Mule in keeping the three armored off their backline. Whether it was the Art droids or Feral stumbling across the source, it felt like he wouldn't have any issues with maintaining the overclock on the other two as he moved back.

[Feral. Art droids are down.] Speaking briefly into the comms to let their lone Specialist know she'd need to pick out another task, Vlad focused on charging into the melee Mule had thrown herself into. Relying on the crashing rubble to cover his heavy approach, he noted that Throne seemed to have reduced the droids' weight with how easily the other Defender was able to push them back. With that in mind, he reached out and grasped the arm of the latest droid forced back by Mule's efforts.

Maybe if Throne wasn't messing around with it, the droid would have been able to turn this into a contest of strength. With its weight reduced at the moment though, Vlad wrenched the heavily armored robot clear off its feet and dragged it head first across the street. Twisting its arm around, he brought it back around as an improvised club and slammed it clean into one of the remaining two.

Arknights - Project Neptune

"This is going to feel a bit odd, but try not to fight it." With two of the other frontliners flanking him, Vlad took the opportunity to tap into his Arts. Raising a hand towards Chariot and Dragoon each, there was no showy display that accompanied his use unlike Throne's. It was a bit odd considering this was all a digital simulation, but the flow of blood through their bodies still came through well enough. For a brief moment, the two would feel their bodies lock up as he assumed direct control, but it would pass before any of the droids could capitalize on the opening. Straining against the sensation would snap it just as quickly, but hopefully his warning would stop the two from doing so.

His ability to "overclock" his allies as he quickened and manipulated the oxygenation of their blood wasn't an extreme boost in performance, but it should be more than enough for Dragoon to slip away from the two armored droids closing in. Despite having his attention divided between the two operators at his side, the machete droids were far from silent or stealthy. Catching yet another blade with his gauntlet covered hand, Vlad brought his other down and caved its "head" right into its chest with a spray of sparks.

Turning a bit, he hurled the limp frame into another of the approaching fodder bots and scoffed a bit as it failed to dodge and crashed into the ground instead. Ignoring it for now, he spared a glance at Chariot and asked, "Gonna help Dragoon up there, or tackle the three back there with me instead?"

Arknights - Project Neptune

Rolling his shoulders as he stepped up past the others to stand between them and the wall of robots blocking off the street, Vlad cast his eyes up towards the buildings surrounding them. "Might want to press to one side though. Who knows when they'll drop more gun turrets in on us." The sound of the sharpened tips clinking against the palm of his gauntlets was barely audible as the robots advanced at a slow and steady pace. A slight frown marred his expression before he sighed and just sucked up the fact that it seemed he'd be somewhat less effective in combat.

Accepting that, Vlad continued forward to meet the enemy's advance. Counting on the Vanguards to follow up with whatever openings they could, his walk quickly changed to a full blown run as he rushed down the center of the street to draw all the attention he could. It was a shame Throne had dispatched the earlier group so handily. Would they all break the line and attempt to surround him? Or would the flanks continue on past him, leaving only a small gap for the others to try and slip through to get at the Caster droids?

He was about to find out! Slamming a punch up into one of the mook droids as his other hand caught the straightforward chop, Vlad actually managed to hurl the lighter droid back at its more armored counterparts before he dropped the machete that had been ripped from its grip. Blocking the swings that came in from both sides, he paid more attention to the Art droids lingering in the back as he watched for any signs of the exact sort they might use.

Arknights - Project Neptune

Satisfied when there wasn't even a mark after he raked the gauntlet's sharpened tips across the surface, Vlad hefted the suitcase off its platform and gave it a gentle underhand toss towards Mule. Lacing his hands together and stretching his arms up towards the sky and giving his old bones a pop, he hummed as he scratched at his beard. It just had to itch even if this was a simulation, eh? "It'd be nice if they didn't break their own rules," he remarked with a sigh as he scratched his head and looked around again. "Once things escalate a bit we'll probably have to worry about a surveillance system coming online, but if they've already got cameras up..." Trailing off, it didn't really need to be said, but a stealth mission in broad daylight without any idea of the city layout? They might as well have been set up for failure to begin with!

"We definitely shouldn't take two paths, but two groups isn't necessarily a bad idea. Say you, Chariot, Dragoon, and I take point. The enemy's response may not include all the others providing support at range." Gesturing at Mule as he made the suggestion, Vlad frowned as he wondered where to best position himself if they were attacked at this very moment. Near the ranged Operators made sense since the others could likely take a hit before he helped them up, but the open space made predicting venues of attack a pain.

"In any case, cutting straight through the center probably isn't an option. Even if we somehow sped through and turned around to clear up all the enemies we dragged, they'd probably bring in some overwhelming force to ruin our run. If we assume this at least resembles a mobile city, the enemy will likely have forces concentrated around the city center and its outskirts. Possibly at critical structures like power plants, but those might not be simulated. Our best bet would be to take a slight detour to circle around. Thoughts?"

Arknights - Project Neptune

Everybody had things they preferred not to talk about and clearly this was one of Dragoon's. Nodding a few times, Vlad accepted her response without pushing for any more information. It wasn't all that important in the end and mainly in his interest in how Lungmen was faring. He knew a few people who had ended up working for them, though it'd been a year or so since he last contacted any of them.

Following Diver through the bustling halls, Vlad naturally took up a spot near the back of the group. Made it dodging around or squeezing past bodies didn't end hold holding up everyone else behind him. Ducking as a drone flew a bit too close overhead, he only listened vaguely to what she had to said as it seemed she was responding to the others' queries. Watching the engines roar as they kept the ship afloat was impressive, and the view was something to admire before it grew old and routine. But he was getting ahead of himself.

Vlad would have denied that he was overconfident of his abilities, but he couldn't help and chuckle a bit at Diver's warning to the group. On one side you had a group of eight skilled individuals, and on the other a simulation program that would probably cheat by spawning in contacts at annoying locations. Chuckling again as his mind ran away with the comparison for a few more moments, he settled down once Diver had stepped aside and filed into the room after the others.

While some of the others busied themselves with a snack, Ulzan took the edge off with a blood bar instead. It was a shitty replacement for artificial blood that didn't live up to the real deal, but it did its job in curbing his hunger for the moment. Strapped in and ready to go, he closed his eyes and waited for the show to get on the road. He knew a bit about the technology and that it existed, but messing with neural networks and simulations had never been something he had personally tested.

So when the lot of them appeared in a blank space, Ulzan grabbed at his head for a moment as he blinked the spots from his vision. "Well.. ugh." Squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head, he steadied himself after that before listening to what Diver had to explain and eyeing the case as it formed. A pair of gauntlets covered his entire hand and continued down to his elbow, but otherwise it seemed like his attire had largely gone unchanged. Clicking the fingers against his palm, he leaned back briefly as it almost felt like the rising buildings kicked up a huge gust. In a few blinks, their surroundings had completely changed and he quickly approached one of the newly formed objects to check how sturdy they were.

"Right then, so we should probably figure out who's responsible for lugging this around." Approaching the suitcase and tapping on it a few times, he then turned his hand over and gave the object a firm squeeze. If it was destructible, then that was something they definitely wanted to figure out now rather than in the heat of battle. "Mule, you've worked escort duties while working with Penguin, no doubt?"

Arknights - Project Neptune

"Hrm." It was a bit surprising to hear that some of the others barely had any experience, but then again lives could be rather harsh. A year or two of work did not mean someone had not been fighting or surviving for many before that, and hopefully that could translate over to working in a team environment. With the varying levels of enthusiasm and tones coming through with each individual introduction though, it seemed that this was a rather colorful group of individuals.

Waving to acknowledge Strix's nod, Vlad glanced towards Mule before saying, "Shame ya don't have someone else to split duties with. Between Mule and I here, I think we'll have no problem shielding the si-" Cut off as he bounced in his seat thanks to the sudden spike of turbulence, he grumbled a bit as he rubbed his head from where it had smacked into one of the stanchions currently hanging off the walls. As expected of an aircraft outside the civilian market, it was designed in some rather annoying ways.

While he couldn't say he had ever experienced a flight this bad before, Vlad wasn't unused to situations that were just as chaotic. So as he craned his head just slightly and whistled at the impressive sight of their new base of operations and home, Vlad spared a glance around at the other Operators to see how they were coping with the tumultuous arrival. Despite the cacophony of noise, he nonetheless still found the voice to try and strike up a conversation.

"OR-6 in the Lungmen Guard? How the heck did they let ya go? Last I heard, they were hurtin' for people," Vlad spoke up as he raised an eyebrow at Dragoon. Wincing a bit as the alarm came on again with a piercing wail, he yanked the mask off once the plane started to drop into the Vindsvalr itself and took a deep breath. Rubbing at the slight indentation made by the wearing the mask, he chuckled briefly and replied to Chariot. "Well, no one needed a barf bag at the least. Would've made for a bad first impression."

Unstrapping from his seat the moment the plane had settled down, Vlad grabbed his belongings as he stood. Seated near the front of the cargo compartment, he looked between his fellow Operators and waited for the rest of them to exit the plane before he would leave last.

Arknights - Project Neptune

Well there's furries, and then there's furries. Hyenas probably fall into the furries, category for reasons.

Arknights - Project Neptune

<Snipped quote by Thrones>

Huh. Didn't know there was more than one Big Bob. He must have lots of disposable brothers.

Also I bailed from doing the hyena cause I couldn't keep looking for potential art.

@ianzerep

I imagine it must be rather difficult without stumbling across a whole bunch of questionable images.

Arknights - Project Neptune

I mean you don't need E2s for any of the content so far, so.. you could have just E2'd waifus.