Alrighty, writing up some stuff now, hopefully will have that done in a few hours. But first; Reese Puff cereal is love. Thought you should know. Also, my surgery got pushed back to April 5th from March 7th, so you guys get to put up with me for longer. I'm sure you're all sad about that.
<Snipped quote by Legion X51>
Funny part is, this game's not that old and already it's got a crazy amount of content. Right people, right time! Glad you're hanging around, though; been a long time!
Yeah, gotta admit it's filled up faster than most of us would've expected.
People were running away screaming. Two NEST Agents took position, armed with assault rifles as the civilians passed them. They were aiming right for the Butcher - it's metallic body standing tall, and producing steam due to the rain hitting it's body. It was spewing hot fire at civilians, before it turned towards the escaping citizens and started lumbering towards them. "Get the civilians out of here, we'll hold them off!" One shouted before they began shooting. The bullets were only leaving scratches - no real damage. The metal brute approached them and raised it's blade up into the air. The NEST Agents quickly dodged before the blade came down - with enough force to break the street in half.
The one NEST Agent did a shoulder-to-shoulder roll, and refocused their aim on the armored monster - but before he could pull the trigger, he saw someone standing over him, a blonde woman.... Primitive Light. She cocked her fist back before he could, and punched him in the back of the head - using kinetic energy to raise the impact to insane levels. His skull was basically splattered against the inside of his helmet.
He dropped dead - and it was enough to distract the other Agent to allow the Butcher to swing it's massive blade and cut him clean in half.
The two nodded before they continued their rampage through the safe zone. Primitive Light walked up to a NEST Humvee, and used the kinetic energy to enhance her strength, and pulled off the hood. She turned her eyes to the battery, and put her hand over it, sapping the electricity out of it-
She could the roar of a beast as it flew right at her - and for a second, she was concerned that she'd have to waste a charge. However, the Beast was intercepted by the Butcher, getting whacked with the side of it's blade until it flew through the air and hit a wall. It splattered against it. Damn animal.
Primitive Light continued through the area - going through multiple vehicles, and popping them open, stealing their electrical contents. Up until she had a deadly amount of electricity inside of herself. Her hands were just crackling with electricity. She nodded at the Butcher, who continued his rampage elsewhere, shooting flames at everything that moved (Which were quickly extinguished by the flames).
While Primitive tapped her earpiece, "Flashbang, take me to where the most civilians are." And a portal opened up where she was. She hopped in, and disappeared.
Some of the survivors were unfortunate enough to run into the Changelings lead by Luis.
A massive crowd was fleeing the scene, while Luis, Count Vicious, Shade, Wraith, The Contessa, and the Skin Walker were leisurely following behind them. Luis grinned, and snapped his fingers. Count Vicious slammed his foot on the ground, and produced metal constructs around him in the shape of long, thin, needles. He telekinetically pulled the needles off the ground, and willed them to lazily float in the air - turning the sharp parts towards the civilians, before sending them at them. People were impaled left and right, all that could be heard was screaming, and bodies dropping.
The screams brought excitement to Luis. "No way they'll ignore this." He said. "Either let the people they so desperately wanted to protect get massacred, or come out and fight us." He laughed a little bit. "Let's see which they choose, eh?!" He grandiosely said. However, if he was going to fight fist to fist with the likes of Maximilian, he's going to need a boost. He stood in the middle of the death, and raised his hands in the air. The blood of the dead funneled outwards, and flew into Luis' body. Absorbing itself into his skin. His skin flashed a bright red color for a second, and he grinned.
"Ah, that hit the spot." Luis mock-wiped his mouth off as if he used his teeth to suck blood. He turned towards his ferrokinetic friend, then tapped his earpiece, "Flashbang, would you kindly? I think I'll need my... tools for this mission."
A portal opened right next to him, and he reached inside, and grabbed a large object. He unsheathed a massive blade - in the shape of a giant, serrated, meat cleaver that was almost the size of his body. Forged by Count Vicious - and he was only capable of lifting a monstrous weapon when enhanced by the taste of blood. The blade was rusted with dried blood... just the way Luis liked it. He'll stain it with even more blood in the pursuit of getting Heartbreaker back. He slung the blade over his shoulder.
"Let's go boys!" Luis started running down the street, with his Changeling Unit following behind him. "Flashbang, we'll need a shortcut to where the fresh blood is - chop, chop!" He shouted into the comms before a portal opened before him that was right above the civilian retreat.
Luis laughed as he charged right into the portal, followed by his followers. No one had a second to react before he swung his blade across, and cut down a group of people. A crimson rain splattered everyone as Luis lifted his bloodied blade up. He looked around, and saw a volunteer medic desperately running for her life. Luis ran up, closing the distance at exceptional speeds, and using his momentum to swing the blade. It left a deep wound in her back, and all he had to do was pull his blade out, and let her bleed to death.
Before Luis turned his attention to his next target. Marcus Rowland, who had foolishly decided to fight back. Turning bone spikes at Luis. The Changeling used his blade to block the spikes. Then quickly closed the distance. Marcus tried to dodge, but Luis kicked the Bone Manipulator right in the chest, throwing him off balance. He took the opportunity to swing the blade around, hitting Marcus with the side. Knocking him off balance yet again. Luis was back on his feet, and raised the hellish meat clever over his head, and brought it down on Marcus. Cutting him clean in half.
Cole wasn't too far away, absolutely shocked by the blood. He couldn't even move. Luis' blood lust ended no where, and he ran up and rammed his hand through Cole's chest - his fist appearing on the other side - before he absorbed all the blood out his body. It was only a few moments before Cole was nothing but a withered husk. He pulled his hand out, and let Cole fall.
Screaming filled the air as the Changeling Unit started killing people left and right. The Contessa was shooting into the crowds of people, the Skin Walker brandished machetes and started madly swinging towards people. Wraith and Shade combined their telekinetic ability and unleashed a wave that sent people flying away at high speeds - they hit the wall so hard that they splattered. Among the dead was Roxanna Rosales. Count Vicious was producing metal spikes out the ground and impaling people.
It wasn't long before the crowd of people running away became nothing more than a pile of bodies.
Luis wiped away sweat, and said, "Phew, that made me work up a sweat!" All the blood started floating up into the air, and started flying into him. Absorbing their blood, and allowing himself to get even stronger. He could wipe out a group of weapon with a swing of his metal blade, but now he can wield it like it weighed nothing.
Not that far away, he heard gunshots not that far away. Which meant there was more people to be killed. He grinned. "Let's go boys!" He ran towards them. "Bloodshed and murder awaits!"
Trevor Obott, Cindy Keagan, Jennifer Caspin, Haruka Takashiro, Reed Taylor, & Task Force RAVEN.
Trevor nearly kicked the back door down as he ran out the place - putting his rifle behind him as he ran fast as he could. Followed by his lovely companions. Their objective was the NEST Headquarters. How they were going to get there was anyone's clue. All that was on Trevor's mind was running. His heart was racing, but he, once again, realized he couldn't get anything from the adrenaline glands in his brain. Didn't matter whether or not a cow could jump over the moon, he was getting his ass out of there!
Jen, on the other hand, was horrified. She knew they were going to try to take Heartbreaker back, but all this? People were dying left and right! And for what? One psychopath. This highlighted the sheer brutality of the Changeling Unit. This made Jen even more compliant with them (If killing Alice wasn't convincing enough to play ball). For now, she'll have to keep up the act, and run for her life.
As for Haruka, he did exactly what a powerless human should do in such situations: stay out of the way and leave the fighting to those who were capable of that. He fell in beside Jennifer - he inferred that other than her regeneration ability she had little to no combat experience like him. Besides, he still couldn't erase the scenes of her in pain, coughing out blood...the thought of something inside her that was trying to kill the girl. He felt that he would need to watch her back.
Since this was like the eighth fucking time she got into some sort of crazy shit like this, Cindy was producing glass off her body like crazy. Her arms were covered in glass, and when the glass started holding her down, she shattered it, and made it float around her. Which is why Cindy lagged behind a bit. She was getting ready for anything to jump off.
"You just had to be in the one spot that's far away from the base as possible!" Cindy shouted, a tad tired from all the running she had to do, and the usage of her ability.
"Sorry that this part of the city needed some guardin'!" Trevor shouted.
Their banter was interrupted when a humanoid purple-eyed beast dropped down in front of them. Hunched down like agorilla, it stood on it's back legs and raised it's arms up into the air, aiming to crush Trevor. Naturally, the boy legged it, since he couldn't get his weapon out in time.
"Duck!" Cindy shouted as she shot her hands forward and the glass shards shot out at the beast, deeply embedding themselves in it's flesh. Which made the creature recoil in pain. Giving Trevor the golden opportunity to roll off, and reach for his pistol.
Reed, finally caught up with them, leveled his pistol with the creature and opened fire, hoping to give the others a window of time to manoeuvre against it whilst the damn thing was stunned.
The bullets ripped into the beast's body, and caused it to stumble. Giving Trevor a great window of opportunity to pull out his revolver (The same one Scarlet gave him earlier, just let him keep it) from his waist band, flick the safety off, and let off a shot that hit it in the chest, and the recoil made his hand go up a bit. He rather not fight the recoil like that. He fired another shot that went through it's head. The combined fire of the two rendered the beast dead in seconds.
"A'ight!" Trevor said, he turned his head and more of the monsters had shown up - cutting off both exits. He cursed underneath his breath as he leveled his pistol at them, and pulled the trigger. As they were shooting, more and more were showing up.
For a moment, Cindy wished that she had learned how to shoot a gun while she had the chance. She was slinging glass while these two were firing hot lead. She just shook her head as she yanked glass off the buildings. Either she would have to cut them an exit, or sit here with a thumb up her ass. She had gathered the glass around her in floating shards. A monster was heading right for her, and she threw the glass at the first beast she saw. However, she pulled glass right back, and created larger triangle-shaped pieces of glass. She created a storm around herself that shredded the beasts to bits.
Jennifer lacked any kind of combat ability, just like Haruka. She felt so useless. All she could do was stand here, and hope for the best. Her head was shooting around from left to right, her gaze dancing from Reed and Trevor shooting, and Cindy's spinning glass. She felt so hopeless. Her heart was racing, and the only thing that came to mind was running - but there was no where to even run-
That same familiar pain crept up on Jennifer - that intense pain that she felt in her gut around the bomb. She immediately coughed, and a thick splurt of blood came flying right out. It was enough to bring Jen to her knees. Clutching her stomach, everything became a blur. Not even the shouts going by were enough to break Jennifer out of the pain. Blood was coming out of her mouth, and she just wanted this agony to stop.
Haruka cursed inwardly - he was so focused on trying to dodge the stray attacks coming his way that he was unconsciously moving further away from the blonde. Worse, he had realized it a moment too late - one of the beasts was already advancing towards the girl, its purple eyes gleaming with malice.
"Jennifer! Behind you!" he tried to yell at her over the din of gunshots, breaking glass and smashed concretes.
The pain so unbearable that she couldn't hear her friends calling out for her. Because she didn't realize the titanic beast standing over her with it's claw raised in the air to impale.
However, before her life could come to an end, she only noticed someone running up, and attacking the monster before it could kill her. She felt it's slimy remains splatter against her flesh.
"Oh... shit..." Trevor hissed through his teeth, aiming his gun at the newcomer.
From the perspective of Jen; everything was happening so fast, that she couldn't understand it herself. From the perspective of everyone else, an unexpected party has lent a hand.
The last one they expected.
Wielding a giant meat cleaver, Luis charged up and swung his monstrous blade at high speeds and cleaved the monster in half. Using his charge to keep swiping at the monsters until there was only a few left. He stood over the remains of the dissolving beasts. Hmph. Luis only lent a hand because he didn't want these beasts setting off that little surprise that was inside Jennifer. It was sensitive just in case they tried to remove it - fiddling with it would cause it to prematurely explode! He flicked the remains of the monster off his knife, and grinned. He saw a familiar face.
He turned to Trevor, "Why hello there, kid." Luis said, laughing. "We meet again."
Trevor's hand was shaking as he was aiming his gun at him. "H-hey, now, you stay back!" Trevor warned.
Luis mock groaned. "You know that won't do anything to me, so put that down." He flicked a thumb in the direction of the other Changelings, who were slowly approaching. "C'mon, you're outnumbered anyway."
"S-shit..." Trevor hissed to himself.
Cindy also looked at the approaching army. The only thing that came to mind was preparations. These people were bad news - obviously the Changeling Unit. She was sliding small pieces of glass off her body - with the heavy rain, and the existing floating green glass, was quite hard to see. She added it to her mass. Though, her intention was to guard, and hope she could defend against any attack.
Reed, however, wasn't so hesitant; he recognized the leader of the Changeling Unit from footage and profiling shown to his department, and after reloading as quickly as the circumstances could allow, he took another shot - this time aimed for Luis, hoping to draw his attention from the kids.
"Oh shit!" Cindy shouted, her gaze was centered on Luis - before her eyes went back towards Reed. Is he crazy? They were outnumbered, and he wanted to shoot. Cindy was tempted to start shooting glass right away, but choose not to. Damn it. This maniac was something else entirely. If she had the opportunity, she would make a giant pane, and whisk them all away on it - but she never tried that with this many people. Most was two - that one time with Shizuka, and that was pushing it. They don't seem to be attacking.
Haruka was as equally surprised as Cindy, but for a different reason: unlike the rest of the odd group, he had no idea that Luis was the leader of the Changelings - to him, the newcomer was merely someone who had just saved Jennifer from a certain horrible death. Though somewhat confused at the varying degrees of loathing looks the others were giving the man, he wasn't stupid enough to step forward and put himself before these tense Metahumans (and a trigger-happy cop) - because that would be practically begging for suicide.
The bullet hit Luis in the shoulder. He grinned, and chuckled slightly in sheer amusement. He reached into, retracting his claws, and pulled the bullet out. Holding the bullet in between his fingers, he examined it. He crushed it in between his fingers, and flicked it away.
"Funny." Luis said. "You didn't even let me introduce myself before you started shooting." He stated. At this point, the rest of the Changeling Unit had walked up, cutting off their exit from one direction. Luis snapped his fingers, and Count Vicious snapped Reed's gun in half by the barrel with his metal manipulation. He also yanked the gun out of Trevor's hand, and sent it towards Luis.
The gunshot helped Jen get her head back into the situation. Her regeneration was just about done, and she could get back on her feet. Her vision de-blurred, and she could see and hear everything so clearly...until she realized what had happened. Luis. Jennifer thought to herself. It was an unlikely savior. But, she was worried about the others. He might kill them just to amuse himself, and she didn't want anyone else to die. Jennifer hopped up to her feet, and listened to Luis speak.
He put down the giant meat cleaver, and grabbed the gun. "Y'know, guns were never really my thing... could shoot one, but Heartbreaker decided were pistols were her thing, and knives were mine." He laughed for a second.
"W-well..." Trevor said.
"Trevor." Dana whispered into comms. "Stay. Calm. Maximilian and the others are zoning on your position now. Stall them - just for a second."
Trevor nodded his head. "W-what'd you want with us...?" Trevor asked. This guy was fond of talking - so let him chat it up until he gets bored.
"You." Luis pointed at him. "I told your lizard friend that I'd kill you. So I'm going to do just that. Slash your throat, and string you up for the world to see." He grabbed the meat cleaver, and pointed it at him - nearly making the boy pee himself. "Everyone else can go - tell RAVEN exactly where we are."
This was the way that works out best for Luis. It gives Jennifer an easy way out without arising suspicion (They'll die either way), tells RAVEN where they are (For phase 2), and puts an end to this runt's miserable existence. He wants RAVEN to see a nice body strung up when they get here.
Trevor stood there, terrified. He was outnumbered, and outgunned in every sense of the word. And it seems like Luis wants him specifically. Drug-laced sweat was trickling down his forehead. His knees were weak. His arms were heavy. He didn't know what to do.
Cindy was utterly terrified herself. "Trevor..." She trailed off. A large part of her didn't want to leave Trevor here like this, to, what? Become another victim of these monster's senseless acts of violence? No. While Trevor was a jackass, he didn't deserve to go out like this.
Luis laughed. "What are you all standing there for? Get out of here or you'll join him on his one way trip to hell!"
"You want someone?" Reed took another step forward, briefly hesitating this time as he fought to restrain what could've only been described as a base self-preservation instinct, "You've got me, leave the kid alone!"
Luis rolled his eyes up into his head, clearly annoyed. "What part of "I want you", don't you understand...?" He trailed off. "This boy's not leaving this city alive - that was decided from the start. So let me get this over with, unless you really want to die, too."
He was really going to do it. Jennifer thought to herself. Her heart was racing, to the point where she felt like she was going to have a heart attack. She was going to lose two friends in the span of a single day. No... it couldn't end like this. She didn't want to leave either, but, as this experience nailed into her skull, she was only in the way - and wasn't of any help here.
And besides, Jen picked up on the hints that Luis didn't want to massacre his little puppet... Not yet.
However, she started violently coughing again. Producing even more blood. She stared at the blood on her hands - and realized that it'd be a great moment to leave. Jennifer had a feeling that Luis would decide to set off the bomb a little early - She knew that he could just do the same to another person. She looked up at Haruka. "I... hate to say this." She said to the slightly taller boy. "I think we should just go. Get help. Something."
Haruka bent down next to Jennifer; he tapped lightly on the comm-piece in his ear and spoke to her in a low voice, "NEST - Maximilian's team - is already on their way here. Are you alright?" He then held out a hand to her. "Can you stand up on your own?"
Reed clenched the hand on his bandaged and slung arm into a fist, whilst his good hand flexed its fingers. God-dammit. He knew this guy was a sadistic bastard, if not from the case files at the VPD then from the reports of the church massacre, but he sure as hell wasn't going to stand by and leave this kid to the wolves. "You fucking heard me."
Luis was getting quite tired of this whole triad. He wanted RAVEN to show up, but before they could save Trevor, and whoever else here. Luis slung the meat cleaver over his shoulder. He glanced at everyone here. They still hadn't run off. Looks like their human decency outweighs their common sense. He simply shrugged. "Don't think I didn't warn ya'." Before he began his monstrous sprint, raising his cleaver over his head, and Luis could just feel Trevor giving into dispair.
Cindy loudly screamed Trevor's name.
A strange gust of wind came by for a brief instant. Luis didn't notice it, all he did was bring the blade down, and split the street in half. But didn't hear any agonizing screams, or didn't see any blood spray all over the place. Luis put on a look of confusion, "Huh?" As he saw nothing.
"Luis!" The Contessa shouted just as she realized just what happened.
Standing some distance from Luis was agent Helena Page, holding Trevor in hands (The boy was looking quite flustered). She looked quite cocky, and Luis looked to the side of his blade. He saw the grenade she had dropped...
He didn't even get a second to let out a swear before the explosive went off, and his body was shredded to bits - what was left of his body was sent flying away. He hit the wall with a loud thud and a groan - his enhanced durability was the only thing keeping him in one piece.
The rest of RAVEN wasn't too far away. Arriving on the scene in APCs, Maria, Nikki, Savannah, Shizuka, and Quentin, got out of the APCs along with an assortment of NEST Agents. Maximilian was leading the charge, his shining Echo floating alongside him - until he willed his copy to charge the Changelings. Echo cocked his fist, ready to take a shot at Count Vicious.
The Metal Manipulator was ready - he surrounded himself in metal, and put his arms up to block the blow. While the metal took the blunt of the blow, he could feel the impact coursing through his entire body.
Before Echo could preform his usual barrage, Shade and Wraith combined their telekinetic abilities to shoot a green blast of pure mental energy at the golden clone. Maximilian countered this by simply causing Echo to fade away, and reappear behind him. He stood tall.
"Come on, fight them! We can turn this fight around and end this for good!"
Maximilian's words had inspired Cindy to help. She took a few steps towards the defensive line and used all the glass she could to create shields for the NEST Agents. Hopefully, this will be enough to tank a few potshots from them.
Quentin threw himself beside Reed, jerking his head backwards. "Get back and find Cass, you'll be safe with him!" he urged, yet the younger of the two Taylors had an answer already in mind for him. "I'll cover these kids and make sure people get back, just watch yourself out there." Quentin nodded, in agreement with him for once.
Helena let go of Trevor, handing him her sidearm. Before she flash stepped away to battle the Changeling Unit. However, someone else familiar stepped up to his side. The older sister that made all this possible.
"Trevor, are you okay?" Scarlet asked.
"Yeah, yeah, totally fiiiiine." Trevor replied, coolly as he could.
"Trevor, I have to fight them," Scarlet started off. "If you don't want to, th-."
"Nah, let me stop you right there." Trevor aimed his pistol at them. "I want to stop these bastards as much as the next guy. Just do me a favor..." He wanted to fight, but Luis took his actually useless. That meant that Trevor was standing here with a gun in his hand. He looked down at the ground where Luis once occupied the space, and saw where his gun was resting. Just itching to be shot. He pointed at the revolver that hit the ground. "Grab me that gun."
That was her revolver anyway. Scarlet used her super speed to quickly clear the distance between herself, and grabbed the gun, and went right back. She handed the gun to Trevor, before he nodded his head. He faced Reed, and pulled out the other gun he had (The one Helena just gave him).
"Reed," Trevor called out to him. "Take this!"
Like that, Reed left Quentin with a nod and headed over to Trevor, quickly taking the pistol off his hands. "Thanks."
Luis' body was still undergoing regeneration. He got up from off the wall, face still caved in, and aptly corrected itself. He walked over, bent down, grabbed the meat cleaver, and picked it right back... However, NEST was playing right into his trap. So he'll wear them down a bit before he springs his next part.
A humvee stopped at the group, and the door opened, revealing Maria Mayfield, in her inky black true form. "If you're not going to fight," The ink woman started off, "Get in!"
For Shizuka, the flying debris around - concrete chunks, metal bits and glass shards alike - could do nothing to stop theGhostwalker in his tracks. He simply phased through them nonchalantly, and soon reached to his brother's side. "You heard the Ink Lady." He put a hand on Haruka's shoulder before turning to Jennifer. "You coming? Or you want to join them to kick some ass?"
Jennifer was about to say something - but her injuries were preventing her from speaking clearly, and Haruka beat her to it. "Jennifer is coming with us. She is still a bit unwell---"
That made the younger twin narrow his eyes at Jennifer suspiciously (Haruka did say she's a regenerator, so that was somewhat contradicting). "---And we really need to get out of here, fast."
"Please," Jennifer said, pleading with him.
What had this blonde done to his brother...to make him trust her so much that he was willing to protect her at all cost? He gave Jennifer one last piercing stare before he finally shrugged. No matter - if she tried to do anything funny to his naive twin, he would not hesitate to merge her with the concrete floor...complete with a good dose of intense agony.
Jennifer didn't know what the hell Shizuka's problem was, but she had no choice but to go along with it. While she knew that the Changeling Unit wouldn't harm her, but she sure as hell didn't want to be in the middle of this war zone.
Haruka did catch the flash of hostility on his brother's face - he grabbed Shizuka's arm and threw a warning look at him, shaking his head. He then muttered to Shizuka in Japanese, "I promise to give you a proper explanation later. Just help her for now... I'm begging you."
Shizuka let out a defeated sigh. "...Fine. I'll protect your girlfriend for you - for now. Let's move!"
"I'll keep you kids covered as well, so yeah - let's go!" Reed added as he caught up with the trio.
Luis, with his giant meat cleaver slung over his shoulder. He was face to face with the enemy leader... How exciting. Luis would have loved this under other situation, but he has to make sure how many of the RAVENs are here. Before he enacts the next part of his plan. So, he'll have to make it look like he's confronting them here. He looked past them, seeing Jennifer making her escape.
The Changeling Unit stood behind Luis, waiting for their next course of action before he reacted.
With all of his forces gathering on one side of the shield, Maximilian quickly flew behind the glass barrier. Coming up with a great idea as he looked at the Changelings through the glass. He turned at Cindy. "Ms. Keagan?" He addressed her.
Cindy was busy concentrating on keeping the shield up and running. This was most likely the only thing in the way of any attacks, but Cindy had no clue what these Changelings were capable of. Nor was she really sure of what to do, since she wasn't given any orders. So she was going to do the first thing that came to mind. turned her head towards Maximilian. "Yeah?" She said.
"Make some holes in your shield." Maximilian ordered. "Enough to fit our guns through."
Nodding her head, Cindy put her hands out, and created several holes in the shield. Large enough for the Agents to put their weapons through - but not too large. They don't want to get hit with a stray Changeling attack.
"Agents, take position." Maximilian said as he quickly ran up to the nearest position, Echo floating behind him, he stuck his Beretta through the hole. The other NEST Agents followed suit, taking position. Aiming their guns.
"Count Vicious...." Luis said, looking up at the glass barriers as the Agents took position. "... Make us one of those."
The redheaded Changeling raised his hand in the aim, palm up, and created metal walls in the street that went up at least seven feet. With some distance spaced between one barrier and the other. Just so they have some room to retaliate.
The Unit quickly dove behind cover - save for Luis - as the barrage of bullets finally began. Hundreds of bullets from various assault rifles, shotguns, and pistols barraged them. Fortunately, the metal shields held up. Luis threw his blade up to reflect the bullets off his face. Fortunately, this blade is a mixture of titanium, and other metals that made it hard to break. The bullets barely even left dents. However, a bullet scraped off the blade, and hit Luis in the knuckle. Blowing everything above his middle phalanx clean off.
He grit his teeth as the wound began to regenerate under the effects of his blood-fueled power enhancements.
Like a game of chess, he choose to be the next person to act. "Vicious, Skin-Walker, Contessa, you three slip around the back and flank them." Luis ordered.
Count Vicious nodded his head as he quickly dove out of the way of cover, and went down the alleyway. While Skin Walker followed him - he stretched his arm, shooting it forward towards the edge of a roof. Pulling himself up to the roof. Contessa just followed with a pistol in hand.
Luis grinned as he stood in the center of the firing squad. Waiting for them to stop - which came just as planned. He snapped his fingers, and looked back at the remaining two members of his group - the telekinetics. "Wraith, Shade, let's cover their entrance" He grinned, "Break their shield! Show 'em just what you're made of!" He gave them the orders.
The two telekinetics nodded their head as they grouped up together. Their combined mental will surrounded several cars in a green aura, and they started floating up in the air.
"Ooooh..." Trevor said, as he realized what was going to happen next.
"Agents, find cover!" Maximilian shouted as he put Echo in front of himself.
One of those cars looked like it was aiming suspiciously at Cindy. And she didn't want to get crushed by a car, that's for her.
The two Changelings threw the barrage of six vehicles at the NEST defensive. The glass shields were no where near enough to stop them. Everyone scrambled to find cover... and those that couldn't move fast enough let out violent screams as they were crushed. Cindy broke her focus as she dove out the way. The shield that was previously blocking the Changelings dropped, and loudly shattered, sending shards everywhere. Lots of people got glass in their armor.
A car barely missed Trevor as Scarlet used her super speed to pull him aside. It was barely a foot away.
"Jesus!" Trevor said, terrified. "I just saw my life flash before my eyes."
Another car skidded along the ground close to Quentin's position, sparks flying outwards as the chassis was ground against the asphalt, forcing him to take cover behind an aptly-placed concrete barrier. "Fuckin' close!" He exclaimed, leaning out from behind cover in an effort to quickly relocate their position.
After the barrage of vehicles came to a halt, some of the NEST Agents started taking potshots at the three Changelings. However, Wraith and Shade combined their telekinetic abilities once again and started tearing large chunks of the surrounding street and walls of buildings to create a spinning shield around themselves. Thick enough to take most bullets. Following a gesture from Luis, they got closer to the NEST defensive line.
Quentin leaned out from cover once more, this time spotting the Changelings making their approach. He cursed as he tried to find a weakness in their defences and sure as hell wasn't going to be die here, of all places. Levelling his 870 on the group, he aimed low - hoping to keep them on their toes - and squeezed back on the trigger, firing off a slug that left a thick dent in one of the metal panels, but didn't penetrate the shield.
A car flew directly towards Maximilian, but only got the blunt of Echo's fist - creating a massive hole in the front of the car. Cancelling it's momentum in the process. The car hit the ground, as Maximilian realized that the barrage had come to an end. He looked around, and was disheartened to learn that several Agents didn't survive the attack. Which is why they're going to end this for them. The first objective was to make them retreat. He reached down towards his utility belt, grabbing the Meta-suppressant gas. He positioned Echo in front of him.
"Agents, put on gas masks." Maximilian ordered through comms as slid on his gas mask. "Then use your Meta suppressant gas to force them back." He then turned to Cindy. "Ms. Keagan, I'm going to need you to use your glass barriers to shield us from the gas... just in case."
Looks like Cindy and her glass, is getting far more usage than expected. It almost felt like she would make a better NEST Agent than Trevor. She would be smirking if she wasn't fearful for her life. Since the glass could be put back together, it wasn't that big of a challenge to reform the glass barriers. However, she kept them out of the way until they were needed.
"Masks on - got it." Quentin quickly pulled his own mask up and slipped it on over his face, feeling around for his grenade pouches. When he found it, he slipped a hand inside and withdrew one of his suppressant grenades. Yet just before he could prime the canister, something else caught within earshot.
NEST Agents left and right were pulling out their meta-suppressant gas grenades as the three Changelings got closer. Before they could start chucking the canisters, a NEST agent noticed the approach from the other group, "Behind us!"
"Oh, fuck-" Quentin exclaimed, scrabbling to take cover as he realised what was coming.
Their plan was cut short there when a hail of thick needles was launched on the group. NEST Agents let out cries of pain as the needles pierced their armor. Count Vicious was walking down the street, aiming right for them. Maximilian's Echo started throwing punches, and knocking the needles away - though a few pierced him and another pierced Quentin's body armour, yielding an agonised profanity from him as he hit the ground. A hail of bullets coming from Scarlet, Trevor, and some of the other NEST agents distracted him. His metal armor didn't even get scratched by the hail of bullets. However, it was distracting as hell.
Which was enough to buy Savannah some time to point both hands forward and create a wall of ice which would guard them from other attack.
Unfortunately, some of the gas canisters were pierced by the needles, and were leaking gas (Or whoever was holding an activated one was killed). Cindy thought fast, and surrounded them with glass. Dragging himself towards the others, Quentin growled as he felt for the needle lodged in his side. He hesitated for a moment, fearful over whether or not it'd pierced anything vital, before deciding that he was better off leaving the damn thing in place and dealing with it later than deal with all the blood loss. He hoped that whatever he'd picked up off the Nemesis all that time ago would keep him covered, and so he pushed himself to his feet to rejoin Max.
From the rooftops, Skin-Walker's elastic hands stretched from the roof, and yanked some NEST Agents from the street up into the roof.
Maximilian knew they were getting overwhelmed. "Agents, throw the gas canisters, now!" He quickly chucked the gas canisters at Luis' group, while Echo was flying through the area, throwing them at the Changelings. It wasn't long until they were being engulfed in a red cloud.
"Damn it!" Luis shouted as he covered his mouth. The gas was getting through the shield like it was nothing. "Retreat!" He shouted as he ran backwards, Wraith and Shade following - dropping the shield in their retreat. Whoever, the red gas had covered up the portal that opened in front of them (Only a faint blue light could be seen).
This left Maximilian with a choice: Push in and put pressure on the Changelings behind them, or go in and take out Luis. Though, something was off here. Going off the reports, there should be more Changelings... wait, they're up to something. Maximilian just realized that they aren't here to cause chaos, they're here for Heartbreaker.
He quickly dove behind some cover, and pressed his comm-piece. "Dana, how many forces are defending Headquarters?" Maximilian asked.
"Like... a few squads, patrolling Headquarters." Dana said. "The rest are trying to quell the situation in the safezone."
A portal had opened right behind Maximilian, and Luis came charging out, swinging his meat cleaver overhead. Echo hand was quick enough to grab the blade by the edge. Doing little damage to either party. Luis grit his teeth as he tried the raise the cleaver up into the air - Echo was quick to hammer the blade with it's fist, knocking Luis off balance. Giving Maximilian enough of an opening to order Echo to punch Luis across their little battlefield. Luis growled, before he hopped back up to his feet.
Turning to see Max and his Echo fighting with Luis, Quentin sluggishly raised his shotgun towards the latter, racked the pump action and, after finding a clear shot, squeezed back on the trigger and fired off a slug aimed for the Changeling Leader's central mass.
The bullet ripped clean through Luis' body, and he tensed up as he looked down at the hole. However, regardless of what damages him, Luis always gets better. He's survived several of his executions, and hasn't bothered him since. He stood tall, and the wound had quickly closed. He gave Quentin an annoyed look, who returned the gesture with a frustrated exclamation of" Why won't you fucking animals just die?!" and raised his 870 at him once again.
Before he could continue the fight, the Mannequin whispered into the comms. "Analysis complete. Headquarters defenses are suboptimal." The Mannequin said. "It's time."
Luis cockily smiled. He looked around. These bastards fell right for it! "Sorry, boys!" Luis shouted as he slung his meat cleaver over his shoulder. "But we have business elsewhere!" A portal opened right in front of him, and he ran right in.
"No!" Maximilian's Echo swung it's fist downwards, and crashed the street. At the same time, Quentin hastily fired off a slug at the dissipating portal and the recoil, combined with the tremors induced by Echo's fist, almost knocked him off his feet.
Maximilian's head turned back towards the rest Changeling Unit, and saw them getting into the same portal. "What the hell?!" He said. "Was this all a distraction?! He shouted.
There was a loud crash coming from NEST Headquarters.
"Maximilian! It was a set-up!" Dana shouted into comms. "They're in NEST Headquarters now!"
"We need to get back there now!" Quentin grunted through the comms as he pushed himself to his feet, the debris lodged in his side feeling like a train had been through. For all he knew, both Cass and Reed were in danger and he was part of the blame for letting those bastards slip by.
Maximilian slammed his foot on the ground. This was their angle all along.
"Oh shit!" Cindy shouted. "Lijuan!" The thoughts of that one year old girl just entered her mind again. She was supposed to be keeping this anarchy away from the child. Fuck. She really fucked up this time.
"All forces, back to NEST Headquarters! Double time!"
That quickly became clear to Meifeng a few minutes into the trip. It was a tense trip - since this was something completely new to the girl. Hell, just a day ago, she was taking rides to meet friends, now she's going to war. While the words were never escape her lips, she was quite nervous. Maybe it was because this APC suddenly became very quiet. No one was saying anything (Not even the normally talkative Sonya). Meifeng, fiddling with her thumbs, thinking of a way to break the silence. Before she fell back on annoying Lihua.
"So, mom...." Meifeng said, her eyes resting upon the large visage of her mother. Who was sitting with her arms crossed, eyes forward, focused on this mission (Most likely content with the mission). "What's the game plan?"
"I already told you." Lihua was quick to reply. "Were you listening?"
"Nope." Meifeng was lying. She just wanted to talk to someone.
Sighing, Lihua finally resigned and explained, "Alright, I'll only explain it one more time," She started off. "It's simple... did you see that giant man we placed into that giant truck?"
"Heh?" Meifeng grinned. "The one that had to be put on with a forklift and Maximilian?"
"Yes... last night, a surgical operation was done on him, and we implanted a tracking device in his heart, which, if our information is correct, should be a prime target for the Devil's forces... I've also poisoned his blood stream, so his heart should be thoroughly toxic by now." Lihua was wondering how the giant brute was still even standing.
"Wait, we're going to just feed him to the sharks like that?" Meifeng piped up, clearly having a problem. "I mean, what'd he do to deserve this?" She asked.
"He's a Changeling - and we need a.... fresh donation, if the plan is going to go swimmingly."
"I mean... isn't there another way?"
For a moment, Lihua was silent. "That's what we have to do, so we have to do." She answered. "Life is full of blurred lines, and there are very few absolutes." She repeated the quote that she said to herself that one night. "There won't always be another way, at least not a good one."
Meifeng sighed. "Alright, big guy's our heart donation, then what?"
"It's simple, we drive some distance away from the base, pick a fight with some of her monsters, then leave him behind to get his heart extracted. Which should, hopefully lead us straight back to her, or at least a place which we can destroy." Lihua shrugged. "It's all about fooling them... I cannot accurately gauge the Devil's intelligence - or her ability to get some - so, just as a precaution, we're going to try to make it appear as if we were going on another mission that went awry."
"Wow," Meifeng said, "You got that Sun Tzu shit going on."
"Watch your mouth." Lihua replied. "But, thank you." She had a pleased smirk on her face. "But, that's not all. During the operation, you will be sticking with me, together, we can do some damage to them. We have to make it look somewhat convincing."
"Oh, yeah..." Leon said, sitting there with his arms crossed. He looked a little worried.
"... We're about to put that plan in action."
Leon's eyes were glowing a bright color, and swirling extra fast. Running alongside the convoy, on the rooftops, were the quadrupedal beasts. There were several of them - and some of them got to be the size of minivans.
"They're here?" Lihua calmly asked. She saw this coming, it was just a matter of when. She got up from her seat, and grabbed her Mossberg, holding it by the center of the shotgun. "Alright, let's get to work."
"Oh boy!" Sonya hopped up to her feet. "It's about time that we got some action. My ass was getting sore sitting there like that."
Right on cue, the beasts leaped from the rooftops in tandem, and landed on the APCs. Tearing at them. One of them had leaped up on the APC the RAVENs were riding in. Jamming it's claws through one of the viewing ports and madly slashing at it. Meifeng was the first one to respond when she pulled her palms back - retrieving water out her pocket dimension - before shooting them straight out, creating a burst of water that sent the beast flying off the vehicle.
"Nice work!" Sonya said as he checked the clip of her M16. "Saves me a bullet or two."
"Yeah, we 'bout to need it in a second." Leon said. "They blocking off the streets in front of us." He scanned the area ahead, and a line of burly beasts were in the way. Standing right there. There were no other exits for the convoy. A large group was coming from behind, and pouring down from the buildings.
"They're going to try to box us in." Lihua noted.
"But hey; long as we're in here, we're safe, right?"
"Ooooooh you jinxed it, Leo!" Sonya said with a cheery smile on her face.
"There's a lot of them behind us, too." Adam was quick to note.
Which meant that Lihua needed to come up with a plan. ASAP. The mission's success was all on her shoulder's. However, she wouldn't falter. This wouldn't be the first time she got into this situation, nor would it be the last. LIhua came up with one, she tapped her earpiece. "Alright, here's the plan," She started off, "All APCs come to a stop, and all Agents, take position at the firing ports."
Lihua followed her own instructions, and walked up to the firing port, aiming her shotgun out it as she waited for a threat to show up. "Come on, we don't have much time." She said.
Every Agent followed suit, and aimed their rifles out the ports. Waiting for Lihua's order.
Lihua herself narrowed her eyes as the beasts got closer. Before she loudly yelled, "Now! Open fire!"
The NEST Agents all unleashed a hail of bullets from everything they had. From assault rifles, to pistols, to shotguns, to even the turrets that were mounted on top of some of the APCs. The beasts were torn to shreds before they even got close. It wasn't long before the horde was reduced to nothing but scraps. Which meant the heavy gunners could focus on the larger beasts blocking them.
Once the hail of bullets ended, Meifeng could hear herself think. She let out a sigh - though, she was a bit confused. "I thought they were supposed to take the big guy?" Meifeng asked Lihua.
"We still need an exit."
"Oh."
"All forces, the path is clear. Keep moving." Lihua ordered into the comms, and the convoy started moving forward again at full speed. They shouldn't break out of the Isabella Isle. It wasn't necessary, and it'd be a stupid risk with all this action going on.
The ground started shaking violently again - and that reminded Lihua that trouble was inbound (Going off how the big ones show up from underground when it starts shaking super hard). However, the shaking was pretty intense. Which meant two things: something big was coming, or something was coming up close to here.
And she couldn't say which option was the good one.
It turned out to be the latter - as a giant hole in the ground formed right in front of the convoy. It so suddenly sprung up that a few cars couldn't slow down in time to dodge. The APC with Lihua's group almost came close to falling it - coming to a skidding stop, with half the vehicle hanging on the edge.
"Oh shit!" Meifeng shouted as he grabbed onto the overhead straps.
Lihua grit her teeth as she assessed the situation. There's room for improvement. She thought to herself as she looked over her shoulder, behind her. Everyone in this APC was going to die unless she acted fast. And there was only one thing that came to mind in this split instance. She bent her arm, and shot her shoulder back, summoning some stone to hold the vehicle up. It wasn't the perfect solution - but they just needed a minute to get the hell out of here.
She turned her head back towards the RAVENs. Giving them a narrow glare, before she said, "Move!"
"Time's a wastin', let's go!" Sonya shouted as she hopped over to the other side of the APC, and opened the door. Hopping out - but turning around, just in case someone needed to be yanked out.
The rest of the group got out in an equally timely manner, with Meifeng charging out the vehicle, Leon wasting not time either, and Lihua taking careful and steady steps out. All while Adam flew out with his wind related powers.
The prisoiner transfer truck with the Colossus inside fell into the hole. Lihua just knew that the monsters were swarming the colossus. The hole was too deep to see down - especially in this light, but Lihua could hear his cries of pain.
Which meant that all they had to do was get out of here in one piece.
Though, that wasn't easy. A giant hand emerged from the hole, grabbing onto the vehicle. Most likely in hopes that it was a stepping stone to climb up. Another hand came up not too far away.
It's head, much like the previous giant that showed up, it had no features, only a single, glowing purple eye.
Both Adam and Lihua looked at each other, and nodded. Before they went to action. Adam ran up, and pushed his hand out, shooting a gust of wind at the APC, while Lihua crumbled what was left of the street underneath it. The APC went falling into the hole, knocking whatever was climbing up off balance. Which meant there was a split section before Lihua could take out the other hand. She pulled her fists back, before shooting them up into the air, causing spikes to shoot out of the ground, and impale it's hand. She quickly retracted them, and the beast fell down with a monstrous thud when it hit the bottom.
"Let's go!" Lihua shouted as she turned around back towards the APCS.
The beasts were launching their attack, and swarming the NEST Agents. The RAVENs didn't even get a chance to run back before they were getting swarmed. Leon was shooting his revolver at the closet monsters - but more took their place.
"I think now would be a good time to call out our metal friend, don't you think?" Leon said to Lihua.
Lihua created a stone pillar out of the ground, and sent it flying at the largest group of the monsters. Lihua was still hesitant about PR-1, but they had little choice since they were being overwhelmed. Even if he betrays them, he'll be away from his precious research, and Lihua had the ability to at least hold him off. She tapped her earpiece, "Send out PR-1."
Before she went back to shooting at the monsters with her Mossberg.
From the back of the APC, the shiny metallic man appeared, and stepped right out. The first thing he did was release electricity into the surrounding area - but his control of the energy was so refined that it only shocked the beasts, opposed to the NEST Agents. They started exploding around him.
Then PR-1 pulled the bullets from the remains of the dead beasts, and made them float up into the air. Floating above him in a circle. Before they shot out at the monsters at high speeds. Some of them were instantly killed. A monster approached PR-1, but was quickly intercepted with it's metal fist, and had it's head punched off. The beasts were starting to dogpile on him, but they were attacked with it's surprising speed.
Back on Lihua's front, she spawned a concrete pillar out of the ground that hit a brutish, humanoid, beast right in the face. Sending it backwards. Meifeng quickly capitalized on that by running up, using her hydrokinesis to jump up on the pillar, then jumping up into the air, and shooting out a kick - which hit the monster with a burst of high impact water that sent it stumbling backwards into the hole that was created.
Meifeng turned around, and saw PR-1 literally cutting through the beasts. "Hey! Metal man is badass, where you'd get him from?"
Which made RAVEN awkwardly look around as they scrambled for an answer.
Thankfully, they were saved from the situation when the monster climbed back up, revealing it's whole body. It was gigantic, twice as large as the last one. It's upper body had two, thick, massive arms that had the girth of a minivan. It's body was just as large, towering above the buildings. From it's back, it had hundreds of tentacles of various lengths (Most notably, two large tentacles that were bigger than it's arms). It used it's tentacles to brace itself as it stayed halfway in the hole.
"Oh, boy." Leon said.
"Maybe we should get away from the big guy, yeah?" Meifeng said as she was quick to hop off the pillar and start running.
With good reason, the giant raised one of it's tentacles up into the air, and slammed it down with enough force to split the street in half. Anyone who couldn't move fast enough was crushed. That wasn't all, it dragged it's giant tentacle across the street and sweeped everything away.
The RAVENs were running for their lives, once the tentacle started going towards them, Lihua grabbed Leon and punched at the ground - tearing a piece of it out, and flying upwards. Meifeng used the rain around her to create a pillar of water, which shot upwards to give her mad air. The tentacle swiped away the water - but by then, it was falling apart. She got some more water and used that to soften her landing. Then kept running. Sonya simply timed it right, and jumped so high in the air that it went over her. Adam's ability to control air also comes with flight, so he was able to leisurely fly over it.
"All forces, open fire!" Lihua turned around, and aimed her shotgun at it. She let out a few rounds as everyone else got into position and started hailing the monster with bullets (Even PR-1). While Meifeng was freezing the ice into sharp blades, and shooting it at the monster with a similar rate to a machine gun. The beast let out a roar as it put it's tentacles in the way as an attempt to shield itself, but it was too much for it to handle.
Lihua's shotgun ran dry, and she choose another ammo. She slammed her foot into the ground, and spawned a concrete spire with a sharp point. Lihua made it float into the air, and sent it flying at the beast. It was one hell of an effort (Especially with her power damaging her body), but the spire penetrated the creature's flesh, making it recoil in pain as it fell backwards.
PR-1 was the one who delievered the final blow, as it shot at the monster using his magnetism to shoot himself like a railgun. He hit the monster, then started releasing extreme amounts of electricity into it, until it all started falling apart. Becoming nothing but sludge.
There were no more monsters.
Lihua sighed. "Looks like this mission was a success." She said. Though, it was looking like the Devil was giving them a brief pause. "Let's go-" The ground started shaking violently - harder than ever before.
Lihua knew something big was heading this way.
Giant holes in the ground started forming, and what was coming out wasn't pretty.
Lihua sighed. "Looks like this mission was a success." She said. Though, it was looking like the Devil was giving them a brief pause. "Let's go-" The ground started shaking violently - harder than ever before.
Lihua knew something big was heading this way.
Giant holes in the ground started forming, and what was coming out wasn't pretty. Everyone looked up at them, in utter shock.
"Yup, we're boned." Leon said.
"Oooooooooooh, yeah... this is not good." Sonya said.
"Holy shit!" Meifeng shouted. "This is bullshit!"
Lihua sighed. "You can not be serious right now."
Emerging from the holes were giant monsters, similar to the one that they had just killed, but more of them. At least thirteen giant monsters had emerged from around them. Smashing up whatever was in their path to get to the RAVENs.
"Run." Lihua said as they ran into the closest APC, and started hauling ass. With the monsters behind them.
The Devil wasn't going to let them off that easily.
@Fallenreaper I'm currently working on two collabs. One's with Dervish, Rtron and Hank straighy after the meeting in the hangar whilst the other's between me and DearTrickster. We're still figuring out when that is chronologically but after the mission seems best.
I got to wondering, if our PCs played a sport or activity from RL, what would they be in? Vellios would likely play soccer (football in other parts beside USA).
Yo, Fallenreaper - it's been a while since Apocalyptica, ain't it? Anyway, I'd probably say Iosif would get involved in something like Formula 1 or NASCAR racing, or even sailing. Something that'd appeal to his preference for being behind the controls and getting out there.
If anyone is interested in the collab with me I promise my nublet rping skills won't rub off ;~; I have this thursday feb 25 off if anybody is free then.
@Zombiedude101 If you're still interested in collabing, I would love to.
God dammit, it seems like tagging my name doesn't work like it's supposed to. But yeah, I'd be glad to do a collab with you. Are we gonna use piratepad or something? And as for Iosif's role in this, he sounds like the type to be in the support/retrieval team; a gunship or a shuttle would be handy to have on-hand.
Iosif kept quiet for the most part, yet the presence of the Batarian in the bridge soon caught his notice and was enough by itself to elicit a contemptuous glare whilst the interloper spoke with the pilot about the engine. "Excuse me, ran some scans on the main engine. It's solid but it would be best to not to put it under much stress. Thought I should let you know." No shit, Iosif thought, returning the batarian's subsequent glance towards him with a hard stare before they left the room.
"Fucking batarians," he muttered, reaching around to scratch at the barcode tattooed into the back of his neck. He wondered whether or not their guest had noticed that particular marking on him, but thought nothing of it; if anything, it was a clear warning that he'd dealt with the four-eyed bastards before and would do so again if necessary. Not exactly subtle, but effective enough.
Back to the matter at hand; he found that his partner on the bridge, Dex, seemed about as decent a pilot as he expected - most Turians were - and was glad to be reassured of that, especially on a vessel as ragged as the Borealis. Whilst she focussed on manoeuvring the vessel around Thail's orbit before pulling out of it, he made sure that everything else kept together and worked on tightening up the slack to a minimum to give Dex an easier time.
He jolted a little bit as he felt the ship escaping Thail's orbit, yet couldn't help but smile a little as they approached the relay.
“Approaching Mass Relay, engaging mass effect core. Preparing for relay jump.”
Damn, it felt good to be back into the swing of things.
Hitting the Omega Nebula, Iosif shared the turian pilot's sentiments when she left off a sigh; this vessel was hardly shipshape, as his great-great-grandfather would've probably said, yet it had done its job for now. All they had to do was keep an eye on the fuel gauge and and manoeuvre the Borealis through the dense asteroid field and they'd be good to go.
"There she is," he mused, taking in the front row view of the accursed station as it finally came into view. Somehow, he couldn't help but draw a twisted, ironic sense of nostalgia from the sight of that hellish glow; for all the shitty times that this place had brought, it also held that odd, fond memory of when his partnership had worked out, sans one backstabbing salarian bastard.
“This is Dexureta of the Borealis requesting permission to dock.” It was good to see she'd taken in his advice, judging by the comms hail with the Afterlife district's docking manager. "Permission granted, Borealis. Dock at Bay A4." It'd be about as close to neutral ground that they'd get.
"Attention all crew, we have docked successfully at the horrifically dingy Afterlife District. To your left you can see some prostitute giving a batarian a blowjob in the alley, while off to the right you can see some gang members, looks like Blood Pack, shaking down a local for protection money. Please step lightly while exiting, you might just trip over a dead body."
He couldn't help but quietly chuckle at Dex's in-flight commentary as they docked with the station, his gaze fixated on the console before him just in case anything popped up. Fortunately, nothing out of the ordinary showed up and he soon felt the Borealis come to a halt and the docking clamps attach themselves to the ship. As he got ready to climb out of his seat, he found that Dex was beating him to it. "’m going to slip into my armour, gents. Meet you three in the hangar."
"Yeah, see you." Iosif nodded, climbing out of the co-pilot's seat with a grunt. He recalled leaving his gear in the cargo bay, having deigned not to waste time grabbing a bunk earlier on and instead headed down to grab his gear nad find a space in a quiet corner of the quarters from where he could equip himself. It didn't take him long to slip all his gear on; his armour, the reliable M-8 Avenger, his M-6 Carnifex, which always packed a punch and the M-3 Predator that he kept concealed on his person; always good for close encounters that went bad.
For good measure, he also made sure he had the portable welder on his person; aside from being an all-around reliable tool, he'd seen first-hand on Aratoht that these things were lethal if you were willing to apply them to less-than-constructive purposes. Something else that always came in handy on Omega.
Just as he was halfway done gearing up, that same raspy, laboured voice that had sarcastically remarked about him in the bridge popped up over the comm-link and his own omni-tool.
"Alright children, gather round and listen up. My name is Mirage and I will be your tour guide today on the lovely garden-world known as Omega."
He'd noticed that the sarcasm hadn't changed. Humour wouldn't hurt, at least.
"Pay attention, because Mirage is good and Mirage is wise. Using my extensive deductive capabilities -- and by listening in on your conversations -- I've compiled a list of everything we need to do here."
That little snippet of information was handy; he made a mental note to make sure his omni-tool's security was up to spec and keep an eye on that one. Granted, he'd be working in the same space as the weakened turian, but he knew fully-well from experience that it was never wise to underestimate his type.
"First off; parts. We all know this ship is a rustbucket. If you can tell the wrong end from the right end of a wrench, please take responsibility."
That was true, at least. Depending on how things went, he considered that it might've been worth going along with the search party working on that front.
"We also need food. One of the other levo-based lifeforms on this vessel, please tag along."
Whilst dextro-amino food wasn't exactly his concern, he wasn't unfamiliar with the concept of doing a little shopping for it every once in a while. Rael had always been rather specific about what he ate whenever Iosif had been out to grab provisions, especially given how he had to ensure that said food was properly decontaminated to accomodate the boastful quarian's needs. Still, there was a single quarian onboard and a whole bunch of turians present to ensure that said matter was covered.
"We obviously also need fuel. Drono, you said something about weapon coolant? Whatever, it's on the list. Have fun."
Fuel was definitely something to consider. Weapon coolant and other assets necessary for keeping the ship running too. He made a memo to look into the matter himself if nobody else would.
"Also, in case any of you morons get shot, we need medical supplies."
Well, Iosif wasn't a doctor, but he knew how to patch himself up in a tight situation. Losing an arm had taught him that a little medi-gel could mean the difference between life and death. But as for the specialist supplies, that was outside his field of expertise.
“And last but not least, we need credits, which means we need work. Those of you with actual social skills, please apply. Check?”
There were plenty enough 'social' types on this ship to handle that front. Iosif wasn't exactly in the mood for haggling, either, so he opted to leave that to the others.
"Check. Now, since we're all adults, I'm going to assume you know how to work together; that goes for the humans too. Form groups and distribute the responsibilities. I was born and raised on Omega, so if you have any questions about where you need to go, whisper. Once you've formed the squads, let me know so I can assign you completely randomly generated call-signs. Mirage out."
Finished suiting up, Iosif did well to ensure that the barcode was covered up; whilst he wasn't planning on making an acquaintance with the likes of the four-eyed bastards who'd hauled him off to Aratoht, he figured it'd give him an easier time in the long run. Then, with that sorted, he headed down to the hangar to meet with the others only to find the krogan had paid a visit to the captain's quarters.
Arms folded, Iosif listened in quietly as the late Captain Luzami's recording was played out. Two wanted war criminals from the Skyllian Blitz, batarians if the names and circumstances were anything to go by. A feasible contract, by the sounds of it. Then, when it came down to introductions, he decided to be clear and concise.
"It's Sevchenko, Iosif Sevchenko. Like the rest, I've done my service with the Alliance as a pilot; gunships, shuttles, fighters; if it's lightweight and manoeuvrable I can get behind the cockpit without a problem. Bigger ships, I've got some experience with too; I'll be in the co-pilot's chair if I'm needed." He glanced towards the batarian for a moment. "Can handle myself in a firefight, too. And know how to be resourceful when resources are scarce. Ask the foreman on Aratoht if you want a reference." He opted not to mention much else for the time being, instead leaving them with that little remark. His gaze shifted over to Dex, whom he nodded towards. "I'll head with my pilot, Dex for the fuel. Make sure any other little things along the way get picked up whilst we're on it."
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