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The sun is sinking beyond the hills to the west as another day draws toward a close. Ribas Salek steps out of the makeshift command chamber with a PDA in hand, grumbling as he looks to his Tupai attache and asks, “Where’s Ortik? He was supposed to be here thirty minutes ago with the materiel requested for the next commando raid.” The Tupai replies that she doesn’t know, but she’ll gladly check. She lofts to the sky in a leisurely arc and then drops sharply, talons first, skidding to a stop outside the supply shack where the quartermaster normally works. She pulls open the door. Her face is briefly illuminated and then she’s engulfed in flame as an explosion erupts from inside.
Coiling black smoke rises from the wreckage as three Nall fighters come over the hills with the sun behind them, strafing the rebel camp.
Vicky happens to be at the entrance the longhouse, cleaning her rifle when she spots the curling smoke rising above the tree line. The moment the strafing begins, she’s on her feet, prepping her weapon and scanning the camp for a for a particular red-striped Demarian. “Razorback!” she shouts, weaving through the running Gankri and Llivori.
Razorback pops out of the command tent as he hears the sound of fighters, appearing at Ribas’ side. “I ssuggesst you get yourrr Nemoni frrriends sscrrrambled. We need to brrring those fighterrrs down,” he growls to the rebel before making his way through the camp, doing his best to make sure the rebels don’t flee into the jungle in panic. “Get to the heavy weapons emplascmentss!” he roars out, “Brrring them down! Infantrrry to the perrrimeterrr! Be rrready!”
Litar is down behind cover, flanked by two of her trainees and surrounded by others. She has her gun in hand and is peering around to see where to strike first when she catches Razor’s order. “Go, go, move! Keep to your cover, find your shot and take it,” she cries before slithering out from behind a half-wall of crates to advance forward from point of cover to another, ready to shoot down the first Nall she finds.
Rathenhope is in the middle of training a bunch of fighters in the finer points of pistol usage when the fighters begin to attack the camp. He dives for cover, turning towards Razor’s call for infantry. He crawls towards the front lines, weapon in hand. As he gets closer towards cover he keeps a careful eye out for enemies.
Akamatsu lets loose several curses as the fighters attack. The ronin was in the middle of eating his dinner at the time. His first move is grabbing the rifle off his back and finding some cover in the form of some crates as well. The rifle goes up to be ready to fire at any moment a hostile comes into sight.
The minute the Nall fighters appear in the air, the Nemoni forces immediately scramble. Within minutes over 600 Nemoni capital ships are in the air, along with thousands of starfighters. They immediately begin to zero in on the nearest Nall fighter, a volley of thermo-nuclear missiles launching towards it, while the fighters break off and fly to the others, attempting to blind them with the sheer swarm of fighters to obscure the camp below.
Trak’Gar meanwhile breaks out of the temporary barracks as he straps on his sidearm, heading for a stack of crates to take cover as the fighters strafe the camp.
The Nall fighters successfully dodge the first onslaught of Nemoni fighters, letting loose bursts of cannon fire into the main section of the camp. OOC Everyone with cover, roll Dodging at 2 against what I’m about to roll…
Vicky rushes to the outskirts with a pair of Gankri, who hop up on the emplacements and swivel their turrets towards the fighters. Before Vik can take cover behind the platforms, a nice barrage of bullets light up her side, obliterating her exterior armor. She rips it off and tries to steady her rifle on the second Nall fighter, squeezing the trigger.
Meg sits, solid, behind some crates as the plasma fire rains down on the camp. The Riftwalker sets her jaw calmly, looking out over her cover now and eyeballing the fighters. She checks to see if any of those ships would land on something other than allies, and if so, she rises to her feet for a better visual on the ship and tries to fry its electronics.
The Cliffwalker drops down behind a gun emplacement, shouldering his chain gun as he does so to attempt to return fire with it. “Ssteady everrryone!” he calls out, then turns toward Ribas and roars towards him, “We have been comprrromised! Time to brrreak camp and move one!”
The gun emplacements dropped from the Odysseus begin to do their work, hurling deadly projectiles up at the Nall.
The Nall fighters are moving around for another pass when one of them succumbs to psionic interference from Megumi and goes spiraling out of control, crashing into the nearby jungle. The second is gutted by Razorback’s chain gun, exploding and littering the valley to the northeast with shrapnel. The third is blown apart to the west of the camp by the Odyssey’s gun emplacement.
Fighters? Pistol. Fighters..pistol.. Litar frowns at the weapon in her hand, and opts not to waste her time firing at the ships. After ordering her fighters to hold their cover and keep their eyes open, she scoots to the perimeter of the camp to merge into the trees. She spares a moment to stare wide-eyed at the flaming bits of fighters sprinkling down the from the sky.
Rathenhope is lining up a shot on one of the fighters when Megumi fries it. Frowning he moves his aim to the next shortly before Razor shoots it down. A frustrated growl and he’s lining up on the last one as it goes down. He raises an eyebrow, looking at the weapon in his hand and then shrugs, staying behind cover for the time being. “Everyone okay?” he shouts.
Akamatsu had his rifle up about to spray some lead at the fighter Megumi takes out but doesn’t get the chance as it goes spiralling out of control. The ronin is far from relaxed at the destruction of the fighters however as behind those shades he wears are wide eyes constantly scanning the area for anything that might be hostile. The rifle stays up.
Trak’Gar gets behind the crates, but alas, they are not enough. As the fighters make their strafing pass, two powerful bolts of plasma blast through the crates, one after the other, striking the Zangali Vanguard veteran directly in the chest. His head spikes flare straight up as the first hits, his face frozen in a rictus of surprise as the second strikes, blasting his torso into ash. The scorched remains of his head, arms, and legs fly in all directions, landing in a scattered circle around the scorch mark that was once Trak’Gar, Zangali Commander In Chief of the Stellar Consortium Vanguard, survivor of the Kretonians, passenger on Sanctuary, Outverser, and Admiral of the Confederacy Fleet, and is now just a memory.
Ribas Salek, meanwhile, just looks stunned, gazing from the wreckage of the quartermaster’s hut to the shredded remains of the Outverser admiral. He growls a single word: “Ortik.” And then he stalks back toward his tent, emerging moments later with a bulky rifle. He stomps over to Razorback and snarls, “Time to hunt for a traitor.”
Meanwhile, the Nemoni stay in the air, breaking out to patrol the perimeter and watch for any more arriving Nalls.
Vicky remains crouched near the platforms, trying her damnedest to avoid hitting any Nemoni ships as they pass overhead. After the last of the fighters go down, she waits in silence for a moment, then stands, moving towards Rathenhope. “…Where is Trak’gar?” she asks, eyes drifting to the flaming crates. And the scattered remains. “…”
Letting out a long sigh, Megumi looks between the wreckage of enemy craft and fallen comrades, frowning sternly as she casts a cursory glance towards Akamatsu to make sure he hasn’t taken any hits. She says nothing, simply slipping out from her cover to make ready for the hunt.
“No,” Razorback growls to Ribas, “It is time to go. Vengeansce will not prrrotect yourrr rrremaining ssoldierrrs.” He looks nearby and sees Trak’gar’s left arm. His brow furrows tightly as he dips his head in a bow, his ears folded tightly into his mane. The big Cliffwalker rises to his feet, flipping the switch on his shield just in case more enemies should appear.
Litar prowls the perimeter of the camp for another minute or two more before heading back in toward the center to search for Razor. The growly bark of his orders helps her hone in on his position, and she pops up in front of him right after he activates his shields. “Pulling out now, Minister?” she inquires, stretching up to her full height and peering over the camp to discern the location of her trainees. “We’ll take point.” And she turns quickly to head off and gather up her people.
Rathenhope beckons his trainees to come with him, nodding to Razor and Ribas as they speak. Emerging from cover he makes his way over, blinking at Vicky’s question. “Tra… oh shit,” he mumbles as he spots the remains of the mighty warrior. “I.. don’t suppose he had a false leg and it just happened to fall off?” Another blink. “…or a false head?” he asks hopefully.
Akamatsu gives the same look to Megumi after the area seems safe enough lowering the rifle to his waist he walks over to her in an attempt to stay closer to her when they move out. The ronin is visibly twitching from all the adrenaline in his system. He notices Trak’gar then. Or at least what’s left of him and shakes his head just a bit saying “Shame all I’ll remember him for is his death.” Razor get’s the former samurai’s attention now “Where are we going?”
The Nemoni orbit the camp perimeter, sending out patrols for several kilometers to watch for any potential ground forces that may be making their way to the camp.
“Vengeance won’t protect them, but it’ll damn well make me feel better,” the Llivori grumbles at Razorback before hefting his rifle and stomping toward the jungle trail – just in time to see a group of three armed and armored Clawed Fist warriors loping toward him, their own rifles raised. Two other “talons” are swooping in from north and south, for a total of nine warriors. Ribas turns to walk back into the camp…and then vanishes in a flash of cerulean light.
An instant later, he materializes aboard the Eye of the Goddess in orbit above Kamsho, surrounded by Nall warriors – one of whom hammers the back of his head with a rifle butt before he can get his bearings and aim his gun at the Light Singer observing from outside the cell. The Llivori collapses in a heap on the floor. The Inquisitor picks up the fallen rebel’s rifle, tests the weight of it, then smirks and nods to the Nall warriors before saying, “Let him get some rest. He will need it.”
Meanwhile, back on the planet, the nine Nall are closing in on the camp.
Vicky bows her head slightly, for the sake of looking at least a /little/ moved by Trak’gar’s death. Rathenhope earns a hard look. “He cannot function with a false head,” she feels she must explain. At Razorback’s words, she turns and heads after Litar’s trainees. When the Llivori vanishes out of thin air and the Nalls show up, Vicky quickly drops to a knee and takes aim at the closest scaley fiend.
Megumi opens her mouth, about to say something to the ronin, but the words never come as the Nall arrive and Ribas vanishes. She bares teeth into a snarl as a number of small stones rise inches above the ground around her. And then she spreads her wings and starts launching them in hopes of laying down some suppressing fire.
Razorback watches the Llivori vanish into thin air and his ears go flat. He turns towards the approaching Nall and turns that chain gun loose on the three of them. “Fire!” he calls out to any of the rebels near him.
Litar’s group is swinging through the southern part of the camp when the talon appears. The Hekayti’s pistol is still in her right hand while she uses the left to scoop up two packs and sling them over her shoulder. She immediately turns and aims her pistol at the group, squeezing off a shot and hollering for her trainees to “lock them down”.
Rathenhope stares as Ribas disappears. “Oh, that’s not good,” he growls, ducking down behind a crate as he sees the approaching Nall. “Take ‘em down!” he yells, taking a shot at one of the lizards that’s still standing after the others open fire.
Akamatsu looks at the incoming Nall strangely for a moment before lifting the rifle up again and getting a smile on his face some might refer to as insane. “I believe I’ve just found some dead men walking.” he says to now one in particular as the ronin moves forward to the closest cover that is nearer the approaching Nall and fires.
As the Nall advance, the nearest group of Nemoni vessels breaks off and zeroes in on one of the remaining groups. In series, they fire a volley of thermo-nuclear missiles at the pair not nearest to Razorback.
The Nall talons are shredded pretty effectively by the rebel camp defenders, although Akamatsu and the Nemoni miss their marks. The two surviving Nall approaching from the south take cover behind trees, certainly making it hard for them to shoot their enemies. The one survivor to the north, however, decides now is a great time to single-handedly zerg rush Razorback. He throws the gun aside, resorting instead to claws and fangs, and lopes in the Demarian’s direction.
Vicky’s eyes alight with grim satisfaction as the Nall goes down in a flurry of scales and blood. She takes a brief moment to caress the barrel of her rifle, almost lovingly. As her comrades take down several more, she jerks her head up to watch the Nemoni vessels fire off some kickassery. Alas, the warriors dodge! Targetting the Nall that isn’t dashing for Razorback, she fires off another energy round.
Stones are nice for killing but they just don’t have the same satisfaction as other methods. The Riftwalker looks to the southern Nall now, a sadistic grin spreading on her features as the details of her image shift from half-angel/half-demon to fully demonic. Electricity crackles along her torso and arms, arcing between winfertips and wingtips before she tries to fry one of the remaining enemies.
The Cliffwalker also drops his weapon, but his claws slip out to meet those of the Nall. He launches himself at the reptiloid, his jaws outstretched for his assailant’s throat.
Litar’s eyes narrow as the two targets duck behind the trees. She follows them carefully with her gaze, shifting her position and scuffing her hooves in the dirt. Exhaling audibly through flared nostrils, the Hekayti reaches down to her garter with her free hand and whips out her knife, balancing it in her palm briefly before giving it a flick to send it spinning in their direction.
Rathenhope victory-nods to himself before spinning and looking around for any remaining combatants. Spotting a Nall hiding behind one of the trees to the south he brings his pistol up to bear. “Don’t get complacent!” he calls. “There’s bound to be more around here somewhere…”
The head of the Nall attacking Razorback is quickly separated from its body, splashing the Demarian with purplish blood as the creature goes down thrashing. Litar’s knife impales one of the cowering tree Nalls just above the eye ridge, plunging into its brain and killing it. The third is peeking out from behind the tree and nearly ducks back in time to avoid Rathenhope’s shot. Nearly. Now the jungle falls silent, except for the dripping of blood and the crackling of fires in the damaged camp. For now, the assault appears to be over. Time now for the camp to relocate, heal their wounds, and plan their next step.
Vicky tracks the lunging Nall as Razorback dodges it, her lips parting slightly as the Demarian rips its throat. And head. She nearly misses Litar’s super awesome knifing. All of the slaughter going on really seems to please Vik – she may as well be grinning. When silence falls, she rises and looks to Razorback, rifle on her shoulder. “…Well then.”
“I hate this planet,” Rathenhope growls to himself as he moves towards the long-house to start packing what stuff is left in the camp.
Akamatsu turns the safety on his rifle back on and it finds it’s way back to his back. The ronin rubs at his face a little looking rather distrought about something as he goes about helping pack things up. The sake that’s oddly still full since arriving on the planet gets a sip taken from it.
Once the last Nall has dropped, Litar lopes out to the treeline to locate the corpse of her most recent victim. She finds him lying sprawled among the brush with her knife still embedded in his skull. Leaning over, she grasps the handle and wrenches it free with a *glop* sound; at first it does not want to come free, and she ends up lifting the corpse as well. Once it slides off of the knife, it thuds back to the earth. Expressionless, she wipes the blade clean on the Nall’s body and resheathes it before turning to jog back into the camp and meet up with Rathenhope. “Really? I think it’s rather scenic. I could see myself vacationing here. It has resort potential, if we can just eliminate the Nall. And, you know, the locals’ unyielding obsession with the Kamir.”
Vicky lifts a brow at Litar, then turns and heads back down the path, signalling for medics when she finds injured trainees along the way. When she comes upon Trak’gar’s remains, she crouches and attempts to recover whatever looks like a head. Or a part of a head. Or maybe a tooth, at least.
Rathenhope snorts at Litar. “Yes, or of course the hallucinogenic ants. Watch out for those,” he mutters to her. “Or the constant… jungle-ness. I am clearly not a jungle person. I come from Mars, gods-damnit!”
Akamatsu shakes his head once more at the remains of Trak’gar and asks of Vicky as she kneels to grab something “What are you doing?” It’s an accusing tone similar to the one Vicky has used on him several times.
Rathenhope’s words cause Litar to lift her eyebrows in surprise. “Well, you were very unlucky with those ants. Perhaps it was an allergic reaction. I suppose compared to Mars this does look like a humid craphole teeming with the worst infestations of organic life,” she concludes, turning to gaze at the smoking remains of the camp, and catching sight of Vicky stooping over body parts out the corner of her eye. “Alright, not the most picturesque snapshot, but I think warfare has tainted your experience. The jungles can be fun – I mean, merely fun, not ‘fun because I’m crawling through tick-infested trees searching for Nall while untold fauna are tracking my scent and planning to eat me in my sleep’.” That is perhaps the longest sentence she has ever uttered.
“…I’m building a sandcastle. What does it look like I’m doing?” Vik produces a vial and starts dropping in pieces of brain. “I know a doctor who might be able to do something with this…” Standing, she ‘dusts’ herself of entrails and lifts her bloody hand to try and pat Akamatsu on the head. “You can have the rest.”
“Well maybe once we’ve freed the planet I will come back here for a proper vacation,” Rathenhope suggests dryly. “I’ll bring a large mosquito net and industrial strength bug repellant and I can have a nice jaunt around the undergrowth looking for unexploded bomb fragments.”
Akamatsu bats Vicky’s hand away with a face indicative of him really not being in the mood. The ronin produces a lighter from his coat pocket and pours jusr a bit of the sake near the remains before lighting it. The ronin stands again looking down into the blaze as it begins to consume what’s left of the admiral of the Confederacy fleet. His expression is one of complete respect and one that appears to be a bit deep in thought.
“Surely not,” the Hekayti replies, shading her eyes with her right hand and gesturing with her left for her trainees. “No, leave it. Don’t look at me like that, it’s ruined? See the warping? Rogers! Go help the medics instead. The rest of you, check your packs and sleeping spaces, and then break into two teams to take perimeter shifts.” She shakes her head and glances back to Rathenhope before offering a shrug. “Nonsense. By the time this place is vacation-worthy, the proper crews will already have combed the tourist areas for those. Maybe you need a drink? I have heard that alcoholic beverages acceptable in times like these.”
Vicky eyes Akamatsu closely. Very closely. When Litar begins to bark orders, she leaves Akamatsu to his flames and moves towards the longhouse. “I think the appropriate phrase here is ‘take the tampon out, you sissy,’” she says to the Martian in passing. A fond, teasing smile follows.
“I probably could do with a drink,” Rathenhope agrees with a sigh, running a hand through his hair. “But it can wait.” He moves to one of the shelters, checking that everything salvageable has been salvaged. “Tampon?” he splutters at Vicky. “Bah!”
Akamatsu continues watching the flames and something that no person in this universe has ever seen on the ronin’s face appears on the upper right cheek. Sliding down it is a single tear. He has removed his glasses to reveal the eyes responsible for commiting such a crime but only one tear is made. It eventually slides off his face and onto the fire. He prceeds to turn the rest glasses still off and goes about packing up again as if nothing had happened. Hsi eyes would clearly show evidence of the tear that was just there.
“Tampon?” Litar inquires, although her tone is much more puzzled. She frowns, shrugs, and then shoulders two packs, turning to follow after her trainees. When she sees a valuable item left behind, she stops long enough to collect it and stuff it into whatever available pockets she can find. Her back is turned to the flames, and then she disappears around a corner. Her voice can be heard, however, as she lifts it to holler at her absent-minded group about leaving valuable ‘crap’ behind.