[hider=Drax]The two regular githkin immediately moved to attack the rebel insurgent just as Drax ordered, while the elite stood back and observed, being of a more intelligent mold than its brothers. They charged forward with reckless abandon, fists upright and clenched, ready to punch through the man's body and out the other end. Only that's not what had happened. The man cracked off two shots, one for each. Plasma shot through the air and collided with the two githkin right in their faces, forcing them to collapse onto the ground and melt into the raw genetic ooze which created them. Clearly this man was a crack-shot, and not to be underestimated.

"Wrong choice, rusty." He fired off another shot, this one at Drax, but the plasma bolt had been intercepted by something else. The elite githkin released some kind of metal shield and used it to block for Drax. The plasma ate through and destroyed the shield, but it never even had the chance to come into contact with Drax's own defenses. The elites were truly a fantastic asset.

As Drax began to get moving again, KT took a running jump through the air and engaged the rebel. At that point Drax no longer had them on his sensors, but he could make out the man screaming, "We'll save you, commander!"

Rounding another corner, Drax found himself face to face with ten members of Division Alpha. These ones would not be to easily avoided it would seem, as they had setup a road block. A semi-translucent red energy field blocked Drax's path. Two of the rebels stood behind the field, operating a Galatec Energy Wall Projector V.3.1 (likely stolen in this attack), while the other eight stood in front of the field, each one brandishing a different weapon. They all stared down the robotic general with pure hatred, ready to engage.[/hider]

[hider=Ruth]"Roger that, ma'am," responded the newly Christianed Coco as his fingers tapped away at the keyboards around his station. Ruth could see the rebels he was referring to on the cameras, coming up Hallway 1B and rounding the corner. My my, they were getting dangerously close to the office, weren't they? Eight of them were only about 50 feet from the door when Coco initiated the security measures, and they found their mad dash suddenly, and painfully, halted. 

A red energy wall projected in front of the group, and the first two collided directly with the new obstacle. They reeled back in pain, both from the sudden bludgeoning stop and from the searing heat that came from a hard laser wall. Only a mother could love those faces, once they were finished scarring. The rest were able to skid to a stop before they hit the wall as well, but nobody could escape the trap as a second wall appeared behind them. They were locked in. 

"The terrorists have been contained, Miss Ruth," said Glen, a hint of fear in her voice. "How should we, uh, proceed?"

There were many options, of course. One command would compress the laser walls together. Another would electrify the floor, in both lethal and non-lethal settings. The automated turrets could put more holes in them than Swiss cheese. Then of course, there was always the option of approaching them in person from the other side of the cage. Ruth possessed a piece of technology that would allow her to pass through the energy walls unhindered, if she were so inclined. Ah, choices.[/hider]

[hider=Michael]The githkin let out a roar of fury and charged forward, knocking the wagon aside with only a token amount of effort. On its hands were clawed gloves, a horrible weapon to be attacked with. Michael knew that something that wicked, combined with these creature's sheer strength and brutality, would mean one hit is all they'd need to end his life for good. Once the wagon was out of the way, it jumped straight for him, eyes narrowed in anger, right hand outstretched and ready to claw him. 

Michael's surroundings were fairly bare. The wagon was knocked aside, but it did spill some of its contents in the process. Two large rocks, about the size of a basketball each, and two blasting sticks fell within reach. The area was open, allowing for a lot of room to maneuver. The fighting continued all around him, the nearest skirmish about 200 feet ahead of him.[/hider]

[hider=Strike Force!]The fighting they had seen on the view screen was some distance away from the room in which the rangers had met Samara and John. Those who had been around with some rudimentary knowledge of the facility might have even recognized that the area they were leaving was supposed to have been demolished and closed off months ago. Because of this, they had to run for nearly five minutes before they made any real progress in getting closer to their goal, but eventually they did indeed see something that let them know they were getting closer.

At a four way cross point in the tunnels, about thirty feet ahead of them, the rangers could make out three githkin engaged in battle with six rebels, though that number was quickly dropping. One rebel in the back was using an automatic rifle, and he seemed to be the only one capable of fending off the creatures with any success. Meanwhile the others were getting knocked aside, smashed, and beaten. Right as the fighting came into view, the rangers were treated to the lovely sight of a githkin using a rebel as a human shield against rifle fire. Now there was only three. [/hider]

[hider=Samara][color=white][b]"Much as I would like to get some oranium, I'm afraid we don't have any equipment capable of harnessing and converting their power into a useable format for the RDS,"[/b][/color] John commented, turning toward his personal desk. He began riffling through it, until he finally pulled out a roll of paper and approached Samara once more.

[color=white][b]"If they're going to put their lives at risk, I will have to do the same. I think it has to do with that concept of 'honor' your species has?"[/b][/color] He unrolled the paper before Samara, revealing the contents to her. It was a full biological diagnostic of an alien species called Voltez, known for producing a large amount of bio-electricity. [color=white][b]"I can hook myself to the generator to power it, and... Hope I don't fry myself in the process. I know, it's a stupid plan but it's all we've got."[/b][/color][/hider]


[hider=Jackson][i]Vroooom vroooooooom[/i] the drill continued to roar, cracking and tearing apart rock and stone. The entire machine vibrated almost violently as Jackson continued to dig through the rock. After another few minutes of drilling though, he could hear the voice of the twins, Sarah and Shawnee, struggling to yell over his machine.

"-ound... -thing big!" Sounds like they had made a pretty good discovery. The githkin ordered Jackson to shut down the drill so they could hear the girls. Thankfully he was able to listen to the great news as well! "We're detecting huge energy readings! The wavelengths look like oranium, but just a little different. I'm not sure what that is, but it's big!"

The githkin nodded, then gestured for Jackson to get off the driller. Once he had done so, the githkin would give him, the girls, and everyone else a pickaxe, then pointed at a thin vein of ore the girls had been so excited about. "Dig," it ordered.

And so they did. Woah momma, this seemed like the motherload of all oranium! Practically every rock Jackson knocked out of the wall was flush with ore. There was more ore than stone coming out! Maybe they'd get a bonus from this discovery, who knows? 

[i][color=brown]Keep digging, Jackson. You're almost there.[/color][/i]

After thirty minutes of intensive digging, something caught Jackson's eye. Something small was shining with a little glint, hidden amongst the dark stone and rich oranium ore. It looked like some kind of gemstone, or crystal, yellow in color but shining with a bright and illuminating light that shifted across the gem's surface. 

"Stop!" Sarah ordered, moving in closer to Jackson's discovery. She held out the scanning device she had been using and waved it in front of the yellow gem. The energy readings were off the chart!

"Move," the githkin commanded, stepping in. It bent down on its knees and looked more closely at the little crystal, tilting its head quizzically. After a moment it reached out with two fingers and grabbed hold of the small artifact. This would, as it turned out, be the last act of the creature's life. Energy rushed through the githkin's body, then light, pure sunlight, blasted forth from all its pores. The creature exploded with a shower of sparks into a pile of genetic goop that splattered the wall opposite of the gem.

"What the... What just happened?!" Shawnee cried out, concerned and scared. The other miners were equally confused and frightened of this new development.[/hider]

[hider=Mable]"Inking my pants?" Gajoon asked incredulously with a raised eyebrow. "Fine, fine. You're on in ten anyway. Final preparations are nearly done. Let's just make this a night to remember, alright?"
[hr]
And a night to remember it was. Once Mable hit that stage she was welcomed by more fans than she'd ever had in any concert in her entire career. There had to be thousands of people cheering once those lights kicked on and her presence was illuminated. Then the music began and that cheering became a raving outcry of insane devotion. With every move, every gesture, every note she sang Mable incited screaming and cheering. It was enough to warm the heart... If the music wasn't totally bogus.

Fifty minutes passed and her first set was complete. There was a brief 2 minute break while the stage hands rearranged the props and equipment for her second set, which included setting up some holographic projectors and fireworks for the big finale. The big finale that had been forced on her only a few hours ago. This brief intermission was much like any other. She got a second to catch her breath, get some water, get accosted by a rabid fan wanting some of her hair, and change her outfit. In no time at all she was back on stage and singing for thousands of people.

Her second set was about the same length, but it was harder than the first set. Partly due to having already been performing under high powered hot lights for so long, and partly because the songs were more complex. That said, she nailed it just like she always did. Then the big climax. The beat kept moving faster and faster, the lyrics sped up and up. Holographic projections beamed out across the stage, acting as a picture representation of everything she sang about. Finally on the final upbeat fireworks launched into the atmosphere, exploding into the shape of a heart, accompanied by her signature phrase. Peace and Love.

The very second her big finale ended, the stage went dark and curtains began to close. That was unusual. Wasn't she getting a moment to take a bow and address the audience? That's when two figures in dark robes rushed at her from just off stage. Even though it was dark, Mable could clearly make out that each one was brandishing a knife, and the way they charged didn't look all too friendly...[/hider]