The invasion begins


It's time to flee

BFett wrote:"I copy Dino, heading there. Everyone stand clear of all hostiles, I'm about to do some serious damage to those guys."

Heads to rear hanger and uses particle gun on hostile #8. ((Fires neutron gun at ammo cache #10 is using for cover.))

BFett wrote:"Outlander, tell me where they are and I'll fry them for you."

((Do this action last))Hacks the nearest hostile hammer which hasn't been hacked yet and sets the missiles to explode once they fire. (Using the same program as last time if possible.)

outlander4 wrote:Dear God we are running out if time.

"Clara, that's an impressive piece of work; I'm really glad to have you with us. Now, our folks in the rear hangar are being killed; do you think you can offer them some fire support? Maybe induce an anti-matter containment failure in the ship's engine the hostiles are using as cover?"

"Anyone who's free, please damage the engines some more."

Anyone who's free from blowing up the engines - we are in need of some precision fire here. Please assist in covering the objective's retrieval.

Bloody Hell I've got to go fast.

Fly the Maiden to the rear hangar; leave it floating within the jump distance if possible. Put an explosive bolt into my crossbow. WHEN/IF the forcefield drops, go to the nearest hull opening and shoot at the meanest-looking enemy. Account for bolt transitioning from zero-g to artificial gravity once it enters the hangar. Avoid enemies that are close to allied soldiers.

Search for some sturdy cable on the Miaden; give it to Zorathex IF he needs it.

Be ready to kill any MIMIR soldiers trying to board the Maiden with my sword and electron sword (one weapon per enemy).

IF and only IF all rear hangar folks and the objective are recovered, fly to the side hangar.

((edited a lot))

outlander4 wrote:
"Clara, you stay away from the battlefield and use your Null-field to collapse the anti-matter containment field on the civilian ship the hostiles are using as a cover. Oh, and maybe loot the shield generator that Zorathex recovered from the Wreck-Maiden and left floating somewhere if you have time?"

((edited))

F4wk35 wrote:"Sorry Commander, I haven't managed to secure your Ship yet. Give me another try. I'll meet up at the Hangar-Bay shortly."

Try a second time to dock on Foreigner's CASKET with my Landing-Clamps. This time, use the Robotic Clamps to stabilize the ship and then try to dock. Try not to damage weapons or the cockpit.
Then proceed on even if it's a failure. Start muttering in case of Failure: "Darn Ships, why can't they do what you tell them once."

If the Pick-Up is successful, keep the additional weight and resulting problems with maneuvering in mind when proceeding!

If the Shield is lowered already when i get there, give suppressing Fire to the M-Guys with the Particle gun. If then the BoarBear appears and it seems to attack the M-Guys, wait until it wants to attack one of the Tartarus-Inmates and shoot it with the Railgun. If it goes down agains the M-Guys. Shoot one of them instead, preferably the most dangerous looking one. (( ))

At any Time, keep away from the Maiden's Rocket-Launchers and the line-of-fire of my companions, as well of the engine they want to blow up. Also, don't shoot at M-Guys who are too close to companions.

((BFett? You might want to check the location of the "Next hostile Hammer" first. It looks to me like those are pretty far away from our position.))

F4wk35 wrote:"Fine with me then, SCAMPS. Can you tell us then from what direction we can expect the enemy-reinforcements? Also...can you give us a heads-up on the location of our extraction? Much obliged.

"Taniya, see what you can do to help out," you order, getting unsteadily to your feet and starting towards the cargo bay. "I'm not sure what condition everyone's in."

When you arrive, what you see is horrific. Rikke's body lies a few meters to your left; Ysavva jumps through a window and lands on top of it just as a grenade explodes behind her. Beyond her are a whole cluster of enemies - and to the right of that, a huge fire. In the middle of the bay, Dinosawer is crawling towards a Mimir corpse, barely avoiding Mimir fire - plasma streams arch past him, tracing ribbons across the floor.

You pull out a grenade - a proximity grenade - and throw it as far as you can, watching it clatter and bounce across the hangar until it stops near the group of enemies. You rather hope it'll explode near them and do some damage - but you don't have time to watch. You look over at Dinosawer - he's cutting up some corpse with your electron sword - and you'd like to get moving. You wave at him - he waves back, shuts off the sword, and tosses it in your direction. It's a pretty bad throw, though it could've been worse - you have to run a few meters into the room in order to catch it, and almost get blown up in the process, as a string of plasma bombs explode in a line across the floor. One of them hits the stack of crates next to Ysavva, crashing into her - she shrieks as her elbow snaps backwards into an odd position, broken.

You get out of there as quickly as you can. Surely they'll be able to handle it on their own. They're not your squad, after all. "Seems you guys left an artifact," you say, trying to justify your actions. "I'll see if I can get it."

~~~

The room with the artifact is drab, but pulses with an energy you can't quite describe. It's not... arcane... it's more ethereal - it's not of this world. A globe atop a pedestal shines from within, a light emanating from a lifeless void, twisting and turning - bright bands of purple streak their way about the surface of this alien orb, and you feel pulled towards it. As you approach more cautiously, you remove your PDA from the pouch on your hip and try to do a deep scan of the area. The PDA chirps as you input the settings - as you cross over the black-and-yellow warning line - and shows a detailed scan. Your PDA labels different parts of the floor - things beneath the floor - the power source and electronics that Mimir has set up. It's a good scan. Tartarus will be pleased.

You turn your attention back to the orb, ever so briefly. It shifts and reforms, twisting like a storm over an endless abyss. It beckons you closer. Unable to resist, you obey. Your hand stretches out to touch it, as though moved by a life of its own... Your hand enters the void and disappears, warped about by unimaginable forces as it traverses the boundaries between planes. You feel nothing. Tiny rivulets of darkness pour up the arms of your suit, seeming almost to soak through it - you're unable to move - you watch in a mixture of terror and fascination as the room about you spins and darkens -

- and leaves you with a mental image of an ancient gold-and-purple city. It feels like you've seen it before......

...Somewhere.......

...But before you can be sure, everything fades to black.


~~~


You awaken sometime later - you're not sure how much time has passed. It could be days, for all you know, or perhaps merely seconds. Your head throbs with a strange pain - it seems heavier than you remember, as though you are fatigued - but as you lift your hands towards your head you notice the orb. It no longer glows the same purple it did, but is now tinged with hints of yellow and orange. Your hands are the same - they have a slight hint of some orange, glowing residue - as though you can see things in a new color. As you process it, it feels less like light - less like glows - less like colors - it feels as though you have an entire new sense - a sixth sense, though the cliche makes you smirk with disbelief the moment it enters your mind. Regardless of how it feels, this much you sure of: you're no longer fully human.


Unit 4965 - Sq. 2 You get to your feet, listening for orders. Hema gives none. In fact, he seems completely preoccupied with something else. That's a relief. You thought you might actually have to do something useful for a change. Wouldn't that be a drag, right?

For now, you push the door in front of you open and re-enter the laboratory. The lights in here flicker strangely - but it's quiet now. There are no more Mimir troops trying to kill you or your allies.

That just means everything is more ripe for the picking, of course. If you weren't a robot, you might be grinning wildly with delight, but as it is, activity almost overloads your pleasure circuits. You start looking around the room and soon find plenty of things to steal from Mimir - notebooks, metal containers, and a stack of towels - you take these last off a shelf and hurriedly stick them in your backpack. No doubt Tartarus will pay you handsomely for them. Then you go back across the room and empty a couple more tables into your rapidly-filling backpack - envelopes, steno pads, note boards, stoppered flasks - and then across the room again! You find a nice-looking Mimir weapon - something big and heavy - that you think you might later try to fit onto your body. This goes into your backpack as well, until you realize it won't fit... which pleases you even more. Ah, what a fine supermechanoid you'll make with one of these mounted on your massive arms. You stow it proudly behind your back and look about the room.

They really made a mess of this place, now that you look at it. Half the tables are smashed or wrecked. A couple near the back of the room are shattered into fragments. What the hell did they even do??

Regardless, you now have what you wanted - a backpack full to overflowing with loot. Granted, perhaps not all of it is exactly what you may have originally wanted, but it's loot nonetheless. Tartarus should be pleased.

You head back into the hallway, and, now in a much better mood, start putting Andrew's severed leg back together. It looks like he wanted to leave it behind, but you'll at least do him the courtesy of making sure he leaves it behind in one piece.

Getting out your surgical tools, you get to work.


Aegagrus - Sq. 2 It is the Goatman of the Apocalypse - the Great Horned One - the One whose hatred of humanity will bring about the end of Civilization. You peer deep into his soulless eyes, and he peers back to yours - but his gaze wavers momentarily, as though he understands that you are beyond his immortal ken. He knows that you are Goat, but he also knows that there is more about you than can be known by god or man. You try to utter something in his ancient tongue, but fail miserably. His expression of unease changes quickly to one of amusement. "Foolish Goat," he cackles. "You attempt to speak the language of the Old Ones? You know less than I expected of you."

"I merely did not deem studying it worth my time," you say calmly, flicking your eyes down at the ornate silver chess set that sits inside your cell - but rather than knights and kings, they are REKT, Mimir, and a sole goat that sits in the center. You move this piece further, advancing it towards the enemy. "It's your move," you tell him. "Check."

The Goatman of the Apocalypse smiles broadly, his fat, red lips nearly splitting his wide face in two as his tiny pupils flicker down to your table. "My move indeed," he laughs, and you begin to feel somewhat worried. As he glares at the board, the pieces begin to move - a former REKT piece resurrects itself - Hotel-bag - and puts itself in the way of REKT's destruction.

You acknowledge his move with a nod. "Wisely chosen." Then, as you reach towards the board, The Goatman's fiendish face leaps into animation once more.

"Ah-ah-ah!" he says. "It is still my turn."

You stare at him quizzically, and then in disbelief as you watch the pieces move. One of the Mimir pawns moves forward, taking out the goat in the center of the board. "You can't move my piece!" you call out in angry protest.

The Goatman smiles cruelly. "Oh, but I can. Perhaps you did not study the Old Ones as closely as you should have, Goat."

"I am not defeated," you whisper, torn between admiration and seething hatred. "I will come again. Our game has not yet ended."

"For now, it has," The Goatman utters solemnly, as the world folds in upon itself, sucking you into the dark and depthless Void.

You will come back. There is no other path. The game is not yet ended. But for now... you shall sleep.

You are dead.


Blake - Sq. 1 You watch, waiting for the Shieldmaiden to arrive at the cargo bay. It doesn't take long - it's only a handful of seconds before it pulls up - at a much greater distance than you'd expected. It seems the maiden can't fit between the engines... but for now, you hit the button on your PDA to initiate the countdown on the shields. Then you try to use the PDA to hack further in, creating a short circuit to shut the thing down - but the defenses are too tight, and you've already been detected. Your changes will stay, but you've lost the ability to drop the shields yourself. You have a feeling that this could drastically alter the course of events.

Ysavva, ahead of you, leaps through what's left of the glass window and starts trying to throw grenades. You aim in the direction of the attacking Mimir troops start trying to provide cover fire with your pistols - but you've emptied both of them, and forgotten to reload. You reload as quickly as you can, but it's too late - a blast near Ysavva flings some heavy metal crates in her direction, twisting her arm and breaking it. She screams with pain, and by the time you're firing pistols into the enemies, it's almost too late. She helps with a grenade, taking out at least one of the enemies - you manage to put a few bullets into another, just as the Boarbear rips its way out of the back room, shredding the nearest merc in half. Ysavva lobs a second grenade into the control room, and the shield goes down.

You don't wait to see any more. With all the enemies distracted, you make a break for the hangar's edge, running as fast as you can past Ysavva, and Dinosawer - who seems to be in really bad shape. On reaching the edge, you make a mighty, blind leap out into space, praying you'll make it to the maiden - which now looks so very far away.

And you drift.

Actually, you're drifting for a good while. During this time, Squidhead flies past you on foot, headed for the hangar, and Zorathex does the same in his CASKET. Well before you reach your destination, it becomes painfully obvious that you're not going to land anywhere near the entrance. The maiden's surface approaches - larger, and faster, until it fills your field of view - and you smack hard upon the side with a jolt that knocks the wind out of you and nearly breaks your spine. In a great deal of pain, you're only just able to remember to get your magsoles firmly planted on the maiden's hull, and pause for a moment to catch your breath. Then, when you feel like moving again, you cautiously crawl up to the top of the maiden, next to one of the turrets.

Eventually, Squidhead returns with Dino's corpse (unless your eyes deceive you, his legs are completely gone), and Foreigner starts the shieldmaiden moving again, around towards the side hangar. After the maiden has stopped all motion relative to the science vessel, you take a deep breath, and then make a much more careful leap towards your CASKET, parked atop the hull. This time, at least, your aim is better... but you realize that it's just by chance. You'd meant to do a slightly stronger jump. You could probably use some practice.


After you're safely in your ship again, canopy closed, tether reeled in, everything in working order, you take off. You maneuver your CASKET carefully a ways away from the rest of the fighting, watching cautiously for enemies.


Dinosawer - Sq. 4 Hidden behind the mysterious craft, you call out orders to different people. Aliss acknowledges and says she's on her way, but it could take her some time getting there - and she may need to stop to check on some other people. Kai'isha says she'll help wake Dr. Cha0zz back up, but sounds somewhat unhappy about it. You're just happy things are getting done. You need to get things done, too.

Careful not to bump your leg, you start crawling your way back to Exosuit, Hema's electron sword at the ready. You're only managed a couple meters before you have to stop short as a plasma stream arcs wildly in your direction from Mr. Dropshield - droplets of the plasma splash and splatter onto your suit, burning tiny holes, but you're all right, and continue onwards, utilizing what fallen debris you can as cover while plasma bombs explode left and right. It's an intense journey, but you finally reach Exosuit.

After a few slow, steady slices, you've removed his plasma gauntlet, severing it from his body (and the rest of the suit) - but you're hardly out of the woods. You're sitting out in the open - there's no cover anywhere nearby - and the Mimir soldiers seem hell-bent on destroying you. A grenade explodes behind you, nearly shattering your eardrums, and certainly shattering your hopes that they'll be careful about firing around the objective. You place the gauntlet (and severed hand) into your backpack and fasten it back.

"Dinosawer! Over here!" you hear someone shout - it's Hema, standing over at the doorway, all the way across the room. He's standing behind Ysavva's dropshield and holding out his hands for you to toss his electron sword back to him. You glance down at the weapon in your hand - Hema's electron sword. It's served you well so far - you've gotten two kills from it, and could've had more if you could've gotten to the boarbear. Maybe there's something to this sword business after all... but that'll have to wait for next mission. You flip the switch to shut it off, get up on your left knee, and throw the sword as hard as you can in Hema's direction. It's not your best throw - it actually misses Hema by a couple meters, but he's fairly quick, and manages to catch it before he hits the ground. You watch him as he leaves, thinking about your next move. You'll need to get back to cover, fire a few shots, and activate the beacon - hopefully before the shields go down.

Over at the other side of the hangar, past the left side of the civilian ship in the center, Ysavva is crouched above Rikke's corpse, trying to toss a couple grenades at incoming enemies. On the right side, you see your old friend, the boarbear, again - it seems to have ripped its way through a door (and probably a wall somewhere) and is in the process of bisecting a Mimir soldier, whose day is clearly not going well. Then again, yours isn't either, and it only gets worse from there.

You've hardly crawled the first meter back to the alien craft before a nearby explosion shakes the air as a plasma bomb explodes directly behind you, and a plasma stream cuts straight in your direction. You soon find yourself screaming, recoiling from an intense agony that sears across your midsection. You realize you can't feel your legs - you can't move your legs. Your eyes wide, every breath a torture, you turn around and almost panic from what you see. Your mind can hardly process it - your right leg mangled beyond recognition, bisected at the waist and your suit on fire. You're starting to feel faint... but with a heroic determination, you manage to hold on, just a little longer.

One hand in front of the other, you drag yourself forward, gasping for breath against the agony shredding its way through your torso, leaving a bloody smear behind you. Another set of plasma bombs explode to your right, and the crazed roars of the boarbear echo in your ears, but you can hardly acknowledge their existence. Mere words cannot describe the utter torment that afflicts you - you've delved into a deeper level of anguish than you could ever have dreamed. When you finally reach the objective, the bright blue of the force field to your right disappears - the raging fires ahead of you snuff themselves out - and all goes silent.

This is it. The entire mission has culminated in this moment, and only you can ensure its success. With an unsteady hand, you reach to your waist and fumble for the beacon, struggling with the clasp. Miraculously, you're able to get it free, and your weak and trembling fingers flip the switch - you lay on your side, clasping it with both hands, and force it to rotate 180 degrees - and then peel off the adhesive strip. As your vision fades, you press the red-hot, glowing end of the accursed cylinder against the alien metal. Your vision fades - the last thing you see, before all goes dark, is the sizzling, softly bubbling metal of the alien craft, your hand still wrapped tightly around the cylinder. The agony you feel gently ceases - death itself is peaceful. You willingly accept its embrace as the darkness takes you, a bisected soldier in the middle of a war-torn hangar, in a desolate system, at the edge of the galaxy... alone but for the knowledge that you accomplished your objective.

"Are you happy now, Tartarus?" you whisper with the last of your strength, and all goes black.


You are dead.


Tonon - Sq. 4 In case you missed it "Come on, Chari," you say. "Let's get to the cargo bay - I hear there are people we can kill over there."

She hesitates for a moment, but ultimately follows along behind as you run down the long hallways that wind their way through the bottom deck of the science vessel. Along the way, you pass Dr. Cha0zz, lying in the floor unconscious, and just around the corner is that last long hallway on the way to the bay.

When you arrive, Hema is leaving the door, headed back inside - he passes by you and gives you a slight wave. He's no use to you at the moment, nor is he likely to be, you feel - you ignore him for now and hurry on to the doorway.


The whole place is a mess. Before you even reach the door, you find a huge hole carved into one of the walls, complete with wrecked wiring, broken glass, grenade scars and long gashes melted into the floor. What you find upon reaching the door is even more chaotic: a bloody, grisly scene with burning debris, blood, chopped up bodies, and the telltale scorch marks of a major battle. Far to the left of the doorway, inside the bay, you can see a huge monster - some kind of furry bear-like creature with enormous jaws - ripping apart Mimir soldiers. Dinosawer is at the far side of the hangar, and he's not much more than a torso - Aegagrus lays on the floor beside him, apparently dead. An explosion, just a few meters away, hits Ysavva, and a stack of collapsing crates seems to break her arm.

"Chari, fire at some of these Mimir fools!" you shout out, taking aim with your semiauto pistol and firing a few shots that wing a Mimir soldier. After aiming a little better, you manage to hit one in the leg. The beastly creature in the back soon picks him up bodily and bites an enormous chunk out of his rib cage before discarding what's left of his corpse.

A grenade explodes to your left; in answer, the force fields about the hangar disappear. The fires fade, and various members of the rest of your REKT platoon rush in, as Ysavva limps past you, dragging Rikke's corpse. You see Squidhead pick up Dino, and Zorathex in his CASKET rush in and secure the objective: some kind of dark alien craft.

The cargo bay quietens, nothing left but ashes and debris... it reeks of death.

It reminds you of your past. No one will ever believe you, but you know what you saw. You know what you did. And this - the burnt and scarred battlefield with corpses strewn about at random... it reminds you of that scene. Perhaps you killed a planet, and perhaps you didn't... but no amount of time will remove those images that seared their way into your mind.


Andrew - Sq. 5 "Kalla, I'm heading back to space, since I don't need both legs to fly," you call out over the comms as you climb into your cockpit and seal the canopy. "Any orders?"

"Get out of there and clear the hangar," she radios back. "Your electrolaser won't do much, but with that fleet incoming, we'll need everything we have if the warpships don't arrive in time. If you can help other people evacuate, do it, but don't engage the enemy unless we're all together. Mimir's reinforcements should be showing up any minute now... If you have time, try to shoot up the engines."

You look around at the horizon, but there aren't any Mimir ships in sight. Perhaps they're well off in the clouds... but you don't see anything yet. With nobody to shoot, you follow Kalla's orders, shooting a nice, long beam from your electrolaser into the Science Vessel's engines - and it seems to do a decent amount of damage. Hopefully it'll help keep it immobile for just a little longer...


Taniya - Sq. 2: Following Kai'isha back to Cha0zz and making Kai'isha patch up her suit.

Kai'isha - Sq. 4: Walking back to Dr. Cha0zz, administering some shock meds, and then helping patch up Taniya.

Aliss - Sq. 6: Walking back to Cha0zz to make sure everyone's going to get out all right



Right, that's it! The beacon's active. Get the beacon somewhere safe and keep it motionless for fukc's sake! We need a stable target for our warpships to home in on. I'm sending them in now, should be there in less than five minutes. Protect that beacon if you know what's good for you! I have... 35 enemy signatures, closing in from the west-designated side of the area. If you're not smart enough to stay out of their way, you didn't deserve to come home anyway.