@Crossfire

Lexi looking at one of the corpses, "I always hated these pricks." she walked over to the floating bolgates and absorbed the energy suspending them. she squatted down and told them new orders. "Look for any survivors with that armor, and kill them, but leave the armor alone." She then went to Lataniva, in a gruff tone "You don't know me being uncontrolled yet, and you couldn't control me if you tried."

The Revenant pulled around to the side of the ship, Tibulus calmly setting everything in place for the ship's cargo bay to properly be able to store the containers without screwing up and shooting everything and everyone inside into the vacuum of space. He was around 70% sure that nobody could survive that if they were out there, whether it be because of the temperature or the lack of any breathable substance. He'd been fooled once before, though. How John survived the nothingness for so long was beyond Tibulus' reasonable ideas, but regardless he did it.

The funganoid checked his cigar stash as he waited for his cue to leave. Down to 10 total. That wasn't the best, not at all. He'd have to pick up a few others before he started piloting again. Okay, maybe he didn't, but dammit did cigars help keep him looking cool. He didn't even have a reason to smoke, he just did for no reason. It didn't relax him or anything, and he was immune to lung cancer due to a lack of lungs, so he seriously didn't have a reason to smoke. He just did. Probably because it was a habit at this point in his life. He had spent a lot of his actual life smoking until the day he died, and even then he wanted a cigar as soon as he saw the guy that turned him into a funganoid. Maybe that was the real reason?

Tibulus didn't care. He just needed more smokes.

A short while after the teams had reunited, Stryker called for everyone to gather around down in the common area, seeing as there wouldn't be enough space in the War Room for the full crews of both the Revenant and Maelstrom.

"Good work out there" Stryker began "We definitely have enough of their armor to move forward with the next stage of the plan. Gonna take us a few hours to get everything ready, I won't be saying this very often, but take a break everyone, rest up while you can because once we put boots on the ground, I'm gonna need all of you at 100%. That's it, dismissed"

@Banana@Simple Unicycle

As usual, the pilots hadn't seen fit to leave the cockpit for a group meeting, so Stryker made his way up there.

"Good work out there" he said as he entered "Got some coordinates for you to punch in, we won't be going back to Serros directly. There's no one over on the Maelstrom right now, so retract the docking bridge and clamp her onto us. We'll be sending a small team back to Serros on her, but only after we hit the halfway point of this trip. We're heading to a planetary system just barely inside Federation territory, Li'Tamma system, planet Rokarr. Exact coordinates are on this drive."

@BKburke@Azereiah

As the meeting concluded, SAL hurried to sequester Tobi and the nearest Ren platform

"I'd like to analyze your combat data Tobi, to examine if the programming parameters are appropriately set" he addressed the Ren platform "I may require some assistance, please follow me to the lab."

@Xandrya

Grayson found Amy shortly after the meeting was adjourned. He laid a hand on her shoulder to let her know he was there.
"Hey, I just heard what happened back there, you ok? I'm supposed to head up to the armory, help patch up some of that armor for the next stage, but they can wait a minute."

@Silver Carrot@Dealdric (OOC: Since we're already back on the ship, I guess we'll have to assume the follow-up to Lexi and Lataniva's conversation was slightly postponed)

"We shall see" Lataniva stated, she reached out with her psionic abilities and finished the conversation telepathically, making a point of not moving her mouth in the slightest.

"I'm already in your head."

Knowing the words would be rattling around in Lexi's head, Lataniva headed off to find Taleste, they hadn't spoken in a while and Lataniva enjoyed her way of speech, it was quite unique from anything she had ever come across.

@t2wave@Hawlin

As the common area began to clear out, Carver made his way over to Kaeci and Harriet.
"You kids playing nice?" he joked as he took a seat across from the two of them.
"So, business first, seems like both of you may be coming with me back to Serros, we've got a small bit of business to take care of under cover of night. Gonna need one of you to get in contact with Vanderos, let him know that there's gonna be some bodies dropping there and that he's not to get involved. Apart from that, Stryker just wanted me to tell you, he had your things transferred to a couple of rooms here on the Revenant. Harriet, you're in number 4, Kaeci, number 11."

Tobi was sad the mission was over for the time. Red was happy he got to prove himself to the team. He grabbed the PDA and put the recording logs and data into it. Something was different however. Tobi extended his arm to give the PDA to SAL when his arm suddenly stopped. The visor had finally turned blue again. Please...don't. The visor turned red again as the PDA changed hands to SAL. There isn't anything to worry about. We proved our value. Tobi then turned around and walked off. He had decided to get repairs and headed down to maintenance to male sure everything was still in proper function.

@Crossfire

Taleste, after clearing out, headed to her room but on the way, noticed that Lataniva was following behind her, hoping to talk. Ooh, progress! There was somebody who definitely didn't find her annoying! The mission went alright for Talese. She didn't get attacked, and the objective was completed. She didn't get to steal anything, though. It definitely lost marks for that.

"'Ey, Lataniva!" Taleste greeted. "Whutcha up to?"

@Crossfire Any single thing you do to me will only be sent at you full force

She then left the proceedings to the lab, and decided to look around.

A bit startled, Amy reached for Grayson's hand, turning around to face him.

"I'm okay," she smiled, "they had me for a good moment but I eventually got the upper hand. Well, not so much me, but my armor. Who knows what would have happened if I didn't have it."

Still holding on to his hand, Amy pulled Grayson along as she walked towards the stairs to go to the upper deck, away from mostly everyone else.

"I'm gonna assume it went much better for you than it went for me?"

"Welp. I ain't got shit to do," Tibulus said in a country accent as the ship autopiloted itself to the coordinates. He needed a small break between pilot jobs. Autopilot was good for that, if nothing else. The funganoid pulled his cigar away from his mouth as he went through what he could, pulling out the robotics kit yet again as he tried to create something more or less incredibly situational but incredibly helpful. Eh, it was something to do to pass the time when nothing particularly... incredible was going on.

@Silver Carrot

"A great storm is coming Taleste" Lataniva said cryptically "I can sense it approaching more and more as we continue down this path. I fear this mission could be our end if we are not careful."

@Xandrya

"Yeah, no complaints" Grayson said as they walked along, still hand in hand "Had me runnin' overwatch. Too damn easy with this eye of mine. Takes the fun out of it after a while, sorry sobs don't have a chance when the cybers are calculatin' out the perfect killshot, but that's life innit?"

@Crossfire

Taleste stared at the alien, then grinned and shrugged.

"That's true of every mission. Worst comes to the worst, I cud jes surrender again. Dunno about the rest of you. My number one priority is stayin' alive an' I'm very gud at pursuading whuns that I'm better off alive than dead."

Phase 3: Instigation
The plan was simple in it's complexities, as Stryker put it. With each passing minute, the Revenant was coasting further away from the heart of the Deadzone, away from Serros, and apparently, away from the task at hand. However, as was already known among some of the crew, Hadrian Sol owned a sizable estate on the planet Rokarr in the Lykori System, a star on the fringe of the Federation's territory. According to the scouting report Stryker and Carver had received from the pirate Vanderos, the estate was located in a place called Sovereign's Valley, completely isolated from any settlements on the planet. To Stryker, it seemed the perfect place to stage their assault, far away from the streets of Serros where millions of civilians would find themselves in the line of fire, but first they had to get Sol to retreat to his fortress, and the terms of the deal with Vanderos were clear, to completely eliminate any opposition to his rise to power. And for that, they needed to draw Farek and Sol into open conflict.

Grayson, Joe, Vulcaan and Marcus worked through the night to assemble enough fully-functioning sets of the pirate armor bearing Farek's mark. The four bonded over their shared skill of smithing, established a camaraderie the likes of which Grayson hadn't felt in what felt like years. By the end of the night, they had even cobbled together a collection of armors that, in the dark, would look similar enough to the type Sol outfitted his men with. Perfect subterfuge was the name of the game.

At the halfway point of their journey to Rokarr, the Maelstrom dislodged itself from the larger vessel and sped off back to Serros, by all calculations, both ships were to arrive at their destinations at the same time and begin mission in tandem. Carver, Grayson, SAL, Tobi, Marcus, Lataniva, Ian, Tibulus, the Ren platforms and Raisin on the Revenant as the ground team, and Stryker, Ace, Taleste, Amy, Kira, Lexi, Harriet, and Kaeci on the Maelstrom. The few remaining stayed on the Revenant, planning to take the ship into low orbit one the ground team disembarked to get some topographic scans of Sovereign's Valley.

On Serros, the Maelstrom team donned the Sol-style armor and picked their way through the streets until they found themselves a gaggle of Farek's men, drunkenly stumbling out of a pub. They wasted no time, dragging the drunkards into an alley and slitting their throats, they arranged the bodies beneath a banner bearing Sol's mark. When Farek discovered this in the morning, there was no doubt the easily-tempered pirate would spring to action against Sol, seeking revenge despite the latter's protests to any wrongdoing.

On Rokarr, the Revenant ground team, all clearly bearing Farek's colors for the opposition to see, committed to a soft assault, throwing potshot after potshot at the militia men stationed along the walls. After a time, the Revenant swooped down and fired a lobby of hellfire against the walls, giving the ground team ample time to board and make their escape. Both ships reunited several hours later, and the crews retired to their respective bunks for a well-deserved rest. The seeds of war had been planted, now to see how quickly they would take root.

Phase 4: War
The battle lines shook out slowly over several days, traffic above Serros becoming increasingly crowded as Sol and Farek both recalled the many ships in their respective fleets. Rumors trickled down to the Revenant-Maelstrom joint crew through Vanderos' pirates that Amon Haresal, another pirate captain with a sizable crew of his own, had declared the 15 ships under his command to Sol's army. Meanwhile Leonid Skilca, the last of the big 5, having apparently decided the whole thing was a colossal waste of time, was staying neutral in the conflict, choosing instead to take his men and ships off into the stars, word was they'd return when the matter was settled. So that left Farek friendless, outnumbered, and in a prime position to be stabbed in the back. Orders were handed down for Vanderos to declare for Farek's army, posing as a friend while plotting his downfall.

As the various pirate groups began to fight it out in the streets and in the skies, the crew managed to insert a team on the ground, they did everything in their power to evacuate civilians from the immediate danger zones. Despite a devastating death toll among both the fighters and innocents over nearly four days of open hostilities, countless more lives were saved by the efforts of the team on the ground.

Dawn of the fifth day. The day Hadrian Sol would breathe his last. Again, Stryker called it a plan that was simple in its complexities. The Revenant would slip in to the open combat above Serros, joining Farek and Vanderos' side of the fight with the Maelstrom, already cloaked and engines hot, magnetically attached to the hull. A small crew would remain aboard the Revenant to man the guns, everyone else was on the Maelstrom, locked and loaded for the fight.

It was a hot landing to say the least, the Maelstrom breaking orbit and forcing its way to a landing zone while keeping its cloaks actuve enough to avoid fire. The crew spilled out into the streets, moving as a cohesive unit, carving a path to the place the two crews had met, Sol's bar and his main headquaters on Serros. Blood of all colors imaginable stained the streets. Stryker, Carver and all the rest knew that it would end today, here and now if possible. The conflict had escalated in a way that the captains should have expected, and already too much innocent life had been wastefully torn apart. As they arrived at the heart of Sol's HQ, their initial suspicions were confirmed: the coward had fled. Slipped away in the fighting to retreat to his fortress on Rokarr. The chase was on.

Thanks to some nifty flying from Tibulus and Ace, the ships were able to safely navigate their way out of the combat zone just as Sol's long anticipated flagship showed up, a massive military-grade dreadnought, too large and dense to ever land on a planet, and fully equipped with every sort of weapon imaginable, including nuclear capability. Stryker made a call for Vanderos to evac his men in an attempt to save their lives, but all they got in return was the static of a dead line. Serros faded in the distance, the fates of everyone left behind completely unknown as the two ships pushed on for Rokarr, and the final battle with Sol's forces.

"Alright everyone, I'm gonna keep it short and sweet" Stryker's voice echoed through the ship as the crew prepared themselves "You've seen the scans and the recon imagery, Sol and his people are dug in deep. And they'll be expecting us, so here's the plan. As we speak, Carver's got his people gearing up and prepping to dock his ship onto us. The Maelstrom's stealth systems should allow us to get planetside without detection, we'll be going down in groups of 7, closing in on them from all sides to spread their defenses weak. They outnumber us greatly, but this way we could tip the odds in our favor. One last thing, Sol should have all of his top people down there with him, Vendra Nekten, Mavarros Sylva, Kovitar Qresh, and Wrenti Karr chief among them. All of them need to die alongside Sol if this mission is to be a success. If yor team spots any of them on the battlefield, engage immediately. Good hunting everyone, see you down there."

The Maelstrom linked up and one by one the teams made their way down to the battlefield. The rocky valley was doused in sunlight. It was a beautiful day on Rokarr, for many in the crew, it would be their last.

@Banana@Silver Carrot@BKburke
8 A.M. Local Time
Western Hills, Overlooking Sol's Fortress
Sovereign Valley, Rokarr

Stryker's team had landed first, and began to scout out the fortress from an elevated position. They quickly spotted an array of anti-air cannons embedded on the roof of the fortress, as well as a few in the surrounding hills.

"Not going to be easy" Kira stated as she looked on "We could maneuver around and disable the power to each gun individually, but there's no way we'd get up onto the roof without being detected, especially not while they have men patrolling the walls."
"So what else could we do?" Stryker said.
"All of these guns should be looped into the main power control room. If we could infiltrate and make our way down to it, we could kill all of their defenses at once."
"No telling how many men he's got protecting those areas though" Stryker said as his eyes wandered around the exterior walls of the estate "Look over there..."

He was interrupted by the sudden CRACK of a high-powered ballistic rifle. Within seconds the air was filled with the sounds of battle, gunshots, laser blasts, and explosions reverberated around the valley. He dropped to a knee and brought his rifle around, only to realize that it was the other teams beginning their attacks. His squad hadn't been detected. He held a fist skyward, the universal signal for 'hold fire' then the comms crackled to life.

"MAYDAY, MAYDAY"

Calls for assistance came in from both other teams. Stryker took a calming breath and tapped into the lines "Help is coming guys, hold steady."
He looked over his squad and quickly decided "Tobi, Joe, you guys get over to the north side rally point, help out Grayson's team, get moving! Lataniva, come here"
He grabbed the Dalentian's shoulder and pointed out a path with his finger.
"Follow the hill, down and behind those rocks, then make a straight shot right into the wall there. Breach through there and infiltrate the lower levels. Tibulus, you find that control room and take it offline. Taleste, you're going in with them, do what you do best. We're countin' on you guys to keep us all alive here, so good luck and get moving."

Finally he turned to Kira "Let's go bail your husband out"

@Xandrya
8 A.M. Local Time
Rock Cluster, Southern Approach to Sol's Fortress
Sovereign Valley, Rokarr

Carver's team, last on the ground, but first to reach their rally point, had settled in to a fairly covered position among the rocks. As they were sighting up on targets, a loud CRACK of a sniper rifle cut through the morning air. Looking around to realize none of his people had fired, Carver waved them into action.

"Open fire!"

As they began their initial volley of attack, Sol's forces were quick to retaliate. Raisin took a few shots to the shoulder, and fell down below cover again, trying to stem the flow of blood. Ian was quick to dart from his position, tugging at the first aid kid on his leg for a stabilizer.

Carver heard the metallic ping but it was already too late. The rocks were a trap. These hills were lined with explosives.
"Get down!" he shouted as the whoomps and bangs of the explosions filled the air.

"Watch out!" Arex shouted as he tackled Amy. His attempts at bravery were for naught, the ground crumbled beneath them, and they fell into the abyss.

"MAYDAY" Carver called into the comms "Taking heavy fire and artillery shelling. We're exposed here and greatly outnumbered! Taking casualties, need assistance!"

@Dealdric@Hawlin
7:58 A.M. Local Time
Northern Hills, Behind Sol's Fortress
Sovereign Valley, Rokarr

Grayson and Marcus were chatting lightly as the two sharpshoters sighted up on targets. The idea was they'd begin the attack here at the rear of the facility, draw at least some of their forces away, spread the battalion thin for the other teams.
"... once spent 36 hours in a snipers hold." Marcus was saying "Didn't move, didn't sleep, just waitin' for the Fed on the other side of the gorge to slip up. And then, just as I was about to take my shot.."

CRACK

Grayson whipped his head to the side to witness Marcus falling backwards, a bloody mess of brainpan and shattered glass where his face used to be. Gunshots and laser blasts filled the air, shortly followed by explosions. Grayson turned back to the fortress and put his cyber-eye to work, scanning the walls and towers furiously, trying to find the son of a bitch that pulled the trigger.

Troop carrier shuttles were launching off the roof and heading straight for them. Finally, Grayson spotted the telltale glint of a sniper's scope, far above them, nestled in an antenna cluster near the peak of the fortress. He turned to SAL and the others.
"Dig in here, don't let the fuckers root ya out. Call for backup, and give 'em fuckin' hell!"
He launched a grappling line from his Spider's Web towards one of the Troop Carriers and took off, his mind set solely on revenge against the sniper. As he whipped past the Troop carrier and fired a second line to the next one, catapulting himself towards the fortress towers, he caught sight of a familiar face from the mission briefings- the pirate leader Amon Haresal, who had allied his forces with Sol. Grayson spoke into the comms channel for his squad.

"SAL mate, you got one of those higher ups headin' down for ya! Make sure that fuckin' stone-faced prick don't get away with his life!"

@Crossfire
8 A.M. Local Time
Western Hills, Overlooking Sol's Fortress
Sovereign Valley, Rokarr

"Showtime. You'll know when I'm done," Tibulus commented, pulling out his trusty stun-gun, and beginning his own adventure towards the main control room. There were multiple things he could do in order to disable the guns when he got there, but he could do a lot more to the guns than just disable them. He could explode them for good, put them on his side, he could do a lot to them, but for right now he couldn't do much but think and run. He'd decide the rest later.

That's how he flew, anyway. It's worked out so far.

Tibulus rushed for his destination, shocking goons he came across his entire way, paralyzing them and possibly knocking them out for the time being. Sure, it wasn't the best plan of action, but it was a plan nonetheless.

At last, Tibulus stepped into the control room and immediately shot the one guy in there, supervising everything so he could make sure nothing exploded with the controls. In a split second, the guy was out cold and Tibulus was alone in the room. The funganoid walked over to the controls and began fiddling with them in pursuits of the gun controls, finding a way to turn them off and all the awesome side effects of turning them off.

@Crossfire@Banana
8 A.M. Local Time
Western Hills, Overlooking Sol's Fortress -> Sol's Fortress Control Room
Sovereign Valley, Rokarr

Taleste grinned, and scrambled over the uneven surface of the ground from their location to the breach location like running water. She was an expert and covering distance fast while not drawing attention to herself. She was a thief, after all. She followed behind Tibulus, letting him pacify the guards. He was a better shot than her, and she couldn't move and kill at the same time. To Taleste, assassination and fleeing from a crime were seldom done at the same time. Killing was to prevent the alarm from raising, and if you were running, you'd probably failed in that job.

While Tibulus went to the control room, Taleste split off and followed the signs for the locker room, taking out her silenced pistol as she did so. She only passed two guards on the way there, both of whom were taken out by shots to the head before they could blink. When Taleste reached the room, she stripped off her boots, gloves, jacket and pants, and donned one of the guard uniforms, hiding her hair and eyes with a cap. That done, she calmly made her way up to the roof, past many a patrolling soldier. None of them questioned her despite not necesarrily recognising her. This female soldier oozed confidence and authority and it would seemingly be a stupid idea to stop her.

None of the men on the roof suspected the female guard who came to relieve them of duty so they could join the fight on the ground that they were itching to help partake in instead of standing around waiting for people who might not show up. It was a surprise when Taleste slit their throats one by one, working her way round the roof.

---

Arex groaned as he slowly came to. He and Amy had fallen into a cave deep below Sovereign's Valley. Without their armor, both of them would have been killed instantly.

He pulled himself to his feet and walked over to Amy, nudging her with his foot.
"Come on, get up. I'm not carryng you."

"And I'm not asking you!" Amy snapped back, her mentality towards Arex at the moment was one of an annoying older brother. She eventually got to her feet, dusting herself off in the process as she ignored some of the aches caused by the fall. Nothing serious that a few painkillers couldn't help later on anyway.

"I don't know what's worse, being up there or being down here stuck with you."

Amy took a few steps forward before her foot hit her weapon. She crouched down to get it, glad she had it in her hands once more.

The cave was dark and damp, if not for the cybernetics riddling his body, Arex would be just as blind as Amy. He glanced around for the rifle he had brought but it was nowhere to be seen. No matter, he still had his plasma sword strapped to his back and his wrist-guns were reading as fully operational.

"You feel that breeze? We fell a long way, but we can't be far away from an exit. Let's get moving."

As they wallked, he tried to let Stryker know that they were okay, but the comms just sputtered out static.

"Your comms working? I'm just getting static."

Amy tried calling out through her comms device, but she was met with the same fate. "Nothing on my end either. It must be some form of interference if we're both unable to get through."

She'd be lying if she said she wasn't nervous. Something about being cut off from the rest of the team that was so unnerving. Not to mention she had no idea what could be five feet in front of her.

"I hope we find the exit before something finds us, because if that's the case, then we'll have bigger things to worry about than being lost."

They walked into a large, open cavern, their footsteps echoing in the vast emptiness. The air was freshening with each step and natural light was trickling in from the far side. They were close.

"Almost there now, seems like a straight shot from he-"

WHOOSH

Arex swung his head to the side as he felt something rush past his face. A knife was embedded in the archway they had just walked through, a grenade attached to the tip of the hilt.

"MOVE!" Arex shouted, hauling Amy by the arm. The grenade erupted with a loud pop, the force of the blast knocking them off their feet. Stone crumbled and fell as the archway collapsed in on itself. A figure now stood in front of their only way out, cackling with a metallic-tinged feminine voice.

Arex pulled himself back to his feet, groaning as the plates on his back separated, exposing a compartment holding his sword's sheath.

"You had to jinx it didn't you?" Arex said to Amy as he pulled the blade out and engaged its Plasma edge. "Alright, cover me, and don't shoot me in the back."

With the chaos that had erupted out of thin air, Amy pulled herself to her feet as quickly as she could. Despite the fact that her arms were shaking, she kept her weapon aimed at the woman, watching for any sudden movement that could potentially injure Arex as he moved forward with sword in hand.

Arex finally got a good look at the woman. Immediately he recognized her from the briefing holos as Vendra Nekten, one of Sol's high-ranking lieutenants. Slim and slender, the purple-blue skinned woman was barely recognizable as an organic being, because her body had been heavily modified with a wide array of cybernetics. Most of them appeared to be fairly old-school, because there was an extremely faint noise in the air, the whir and whine of old parts. Even her voice sounded synthetic.

"Give up now, and I'll make it quick."

"Heh. That's funny," Arex chuckled, "I was about to say the same thing to you."

Vendra held her right arm out horizontally. Almost immediately, segments of skin and metal began to shift and separate, her forearm splitting apart to reveal a broad black-bladed knife. It sprung into her hand and the hidden compartment began to seal itself up. With a flick of her wrist, the blade unfurled outward and collapsed in on itself, suddenly tripling in length to approximately the same size as Arex's sword.

Silently, they began the dance, slowly circling one another on opposite sides of the gargantuan cavern. Arex's finger twitched, she was going to start by flinging another of her throwing knives before rushing in on him, he could see it in her eyes, well, the real one anyway. As soon as she moved, he'd counter with a burst from his wrist-gun, and parry her incoming attack.

There it was, her free hand moved so quickly Arex almost missed it, The knife began to soar through the air, and Arex quickly countered it with a quick 4-shot burst of automatic fire. He turned wildly, looking for the angle that Vendra was ruhing in from.

But she was nowhere to be seen.

"What the fuck?" Arex wondered out loud as he shifted stance to hold the sword in both hands.

"Rosseau, where'd she go?"

"She's off to your right!"

Amy took aim and shot off a couple of rounds, but the woman had managed to dodge both of them. She was incredibly fast, that much could be said about her.

"Now she's behind you, moving to your left!" Amy tried to keep up, but the woman's silhouette was barely registering through her visor. There could also be a half-second delay given the fact that there was little to no incoming data for the software to interpret.

Arex was in big trouble, and Amy couldn't just stand there. She quickly moved towards the two of them as she attempted to keep the woman within her sights.

'The bitch has cloaking' Arex thought as he rounded to parry another incoming strike. Without the enhanced reflexes in his cybernetics, she'd have cleaved him into bits by now. He tensed up as he anticipated another flurry coming, holding his blade in prime position to attack.

splish

A puddle had been disturbed a few feet to Arex's left, the surface churning up small rings. In the relative quiet of the cave, it rang loud and clear.

Arex took a few calming breaths. As his eyes darted around the arena, he strained his ears, listening for that still-present whir of Vendra's mods.

'Got ya'

He spun suddenly, firing his weapon in a wide arc, the automatic ballistics rattling and screeching as he emptied his entire reserve. It worked, with a crackle of blue light, Vendra's cloaking shorted out and she reappeared, clutching her left shoulder.

"Nice try," she said, "but it'll take more than that pea shooter to bring me down." She released the injured shoulder and rolled it, shaking out the tension. With her other hand, she held up the bullet, crumpled from the impact, and tossed it aside. With a sudden burst of speed, she dashed forward, her sword outstretched. Arex was just barely able to get his own weapon up to counter, and as the blades pinged together, Vendra cloaked again. this time she moved faster, more unpredictably, even as Amy began to call out directions, he couldn't keep up with the pace, and in his growing fatigue, overcommited to a parrying strike.

A screech of metal-on-metal filled the room, the horrible ripping noise echoed off the walls and ceiling. Arex felt the overwhelming numbness and all sound and color bled out from the world as he looked down to see his left arm falling free. A deluge of blood, oil, and cybernetic conductor fluid spewed from the severed bicep as his knees crumpled underneath him. Vendra stood inches away, towering over him now, blade poised for a finishing blow.

The numbness gave way to searing pain slowly, he was running out of time, mustering the last of his strength, Arex summoned a psionic wave to force Vendra back a few steps, then turned and flung his sword towards Amy.

"It's on you now," he rasped as he collapsed.

Her reaction time was impressionably quick. Amy caught the sword, calculating her move as she lunged toward Vendra. Her opponent unfortunately did not move as fast, having been stunned by Arex a second earlier. With the tip of the sword aimed at Vendra’s chest, Amy used her suit to thrust herself forward, both women instantly feeling the impact as they tumbled onto the ground.

Amy didn’t wait for a reaction as she pushed herself up off the ground. Standing over Vendra, she noticed the bionic woman silently lying on her back, her outline not showing any signs of movement. Good, she was probably dead. Amy then rushed over to Arex, kneeling by his side as she herself felt some additional aches and pains throughout her body.

“Okay, she’s dead, what do you need me to do?”

Amy’s voice was breathless as she shook Arex, hoping that he was at least partly conscious to be able to respond to her.

"Just help me up." Arex grunted as he clumsily pushed himself to a sitting position "I'm not gonna bleed out or anything, there's countermeasures in my bloodstream to prevent that. Still hurts like a son of a bitch though, gonna need a few minutes before I get my balance back, but we haven't exactly got time to wait. So just... hold onto my sword for a bit."

Arex grasped Amy's shoulder as he stood, then kept a loose grip on it as they began to walk, the cave swam and spun in front of his eyes, his balance still completely off and his mind compromised by the intense pain.

"Hope those idiots managed to shut down the AA guns, I'm useless down here now. When we get to the surface, radio the Revenant for an evac run. I'll grab a stim from medbay and help man the guns or someth-ACK!"

Arex went limp as the tip of a blade burst through his chest, a multi-colored spray of blood, oil, and fluid splattering wildly across the cavern floor. He fell sharply and motionless as the blade retracted.

Vendra was still alive.

The cybernetic woman chuckled coldly as she flicked the viscera from the end of her sword. A mess of blood and cyber-fluids stained her front, leaking still through the gaping hole in her chest, gears and pumps were visible through it, churning away at a frenetic pace. The faint sound of her cybernetics had grown more audible. Her cloaking was malfunctioning, flickering on and off at inconsistent intervals. She didn't speak as she raised her sword, she just continued chuckling, completely deranged.

"No no no no...y-you were supposed to be dead!" Amy was shaking as she turned to face Vendra before something within her snapped. Her and Arex weren't particularly close, but it was the cruel act itself that sent her over the edge.

"You fucking evil sadistic piece of shit!"

Once more, Amy lunged at Vendra, but this time it was her own balled-up fist that connected with Vendra's jaw. This time it was personal, and she wanted to finish off the already weakened alien woman with her own hands. The punch sent Vendra to the ground, and as Amy stood over her, she kicked her in the stomach a few times, making her opponent's already deadly injury worse. In response, Vendra coughed up some purple-colored blood before she continued to laugh in a bitter tone.

"Oh, that's funny to you, isn't it?" Amy proceeded to drag Vendra onto her back before pinning her down, sitting on her stomach to make sure she couldn't move. "Let's see if you'll laugh about this now," Amy continued, wrapping her fingers around Vendra's throat, using all of her weight to push down on her neck. "Who's laughing now you stupid bitch!"

The struggle was minimal, but within a few moments, Vendra was dead. Amy stood up, wanting to get away from all the bloodshed but knowing she had a responsibility to her deceased team member.

"Can anyone up there read me? This is Amy, over."

Amy tried communicating once more, kneeling next to Arex before she shut his eyes closed. "I repeat, this is Amy, can anyone hear me?"

Grayson's voice crackled in on the comms, still crackling due to the interference.

"I hear ya Ames, are you okay?"

@Xandrya

Grayson was clinging to one of the many spires at the top of the facility. He had recognized the sniper as Wrenti K'arr, one of their main targets. She was a diminutive thing. Barely 4 feet tall, hunch-backed and jackal-like in appearance. The two of them had danced around each other at every step of the way up here, Grayson cloaking and then zipping from point to point on his Spider's Web, Wrenti leaping with great force and accuracy. Despite several attempts, neither one could hit the other. Finally, Grayson had an idea.

He waited in place, uncloaked and openly taking aim at Wrenti's position. Through the scope he could see her doing the same. He cloaked, though he knew she still had eyes on him. Even through the cloaking of his suit, the glare of his rifle's scope would be visible. The battery wasn't going to last forever, so he had to move quick. Without swaying his aim too much, Grayson pried at the scope, yanking it free of the weapon. Despite his rifle's unique properties, he was confident he'd be able to repair it later. He carefully set the severed scope into a rut of the roof spire, just about where his rifle had been set. Lastly, he pulled out a length of cable from the Spider's Web device on his belt and wedged it into position just below the scope, and held onto it tight as he edged his way around to the far side. As soon as his eye implant was calibrated, he would yank the cable, pulling the scope out of view. If Wrenti fell for it, she'd rush to re-position, and he'd still be perfectly sighted up on her.

3...... 2....... 1...... pull.

CRACK

Direct hit. Wrenti went limp and slowly fell free from the spire. Before Grayson let himself breathe easy and bask in the afterglow of a good kill, his comms sputtered to life, the voice on the other end faint and static-y but instantly recognizable.

"Can -yone up there --- me? Th- is Amy, -ver."

He reached up to engage his earpiece, fiddling with it to try and clear up the frequency a little. Again he heard her.
"I repea-, this -- Amy, can anyo- hear me?"

Hoping she'd hear him, he replied.
"I hear ya Ames, are you okay?" And after a beat "Where are ya? Carver reported you and Arex were caught in an explosion, said there was no sign of either of ye."

@Silver Carrot@Banana

Lataniva calmly walked through the lower levels of the facility, her halberd in one hand and weaving psionics with the other. She eradicated anyone who came at her with a cold, casual attitude. This was strictly business, nothing more.

As she sensed the number of life forces around her greatly decreasing, she fumbled with her comms device long enough to say.
"Lower level is clear, update me on your status Tibulus. You as well Taleste."

---
On the other side of the valley...

Ian groaned as he came to with the taste of blood in his mouth. A few terrifying seconds gave the revelation that he couldn't move his legs. He was lying on top of Raisin, who was barely conscious, but breathing heavily. Looking around, he could still see the daylight, and the looming shape of Sol's fortress, the sounds of the fight seemed miles away.

It came back to him slowly, the explosives on the hill, Raisin getting shot, him triggering a mine as he tried to help.

"Don't move" she gasped faintly "I think we landed on another explosive, heard a click jus' before you came to."
"I can't move my legs, why can't I move my legs?"
A rustle as she shifted her head to peer over his shoulder. "They gone"
His heart rate jumped as terror shot through him "What do you mean, they're gone?"
"Your legs are gone. Musta been blown off in the explosion. I can't move either. Think I'mma bleed out soon"
"No. Nononono, we're gonna be ok, we have to be. Carver will find us, someone will patch us up."
"Honey, ain't no one gonna survive this. We're all dead. Even if they make it, we either gonna bleed out or get blasted to pieces by these damn explosives"
Defeated, Ian, slumped his head, and reached around to the rear of his sit to grab his medkit and fished out his flask.
"Let's make it quick. Here, drink."
She gulped down a healthy dose, her eyes began to stream, though if it was from the liquor or their impending doom, Ian would never know. He brought the flask to his own lips, and downed the rest of it. He dropped the metal tin, stared deep into Raisin's eyes, and mustered up enough strength to pull up on her shoulders. Both of them were incinerated instantly as the explosion consumed them and set off a chain reaction, lighting up the lower basin of Sovereign Valley in a brilliant blaze.

Zap.

"All good here. Trying to disable the turrets and shit now. There's just one problem..."

Zap.

"There's this one guy, he's not staying down and I have to keep shocking him."

Zap.

"Aside from this guy, I'm all peachy here. Not sure for how long though."

Zap.

"Doors are locked, at least they should be. Nobody's come in if they aren't locked."

Zap.

"Just me, this guy, and the controls."

Zap.

"... oh... well he's dead now I think."

...

...

Zap.

@Crossfire

Taleste's comms almost gave her away as she was standing behind a guard who was about to be 'relieved of duty' by her. She quickly killed the alarmed guard before he could cry out with a knife to the voice box, then responded. "By thuh cosmos, whun! Yu a'most gave meh position away!" When she calmed down, she spoke again into the comms, this time giving her report. "I'm clearing thuh roof whun body at a time. There won't be a whun here to notice thuh turrets goin' down."

Despite the annoying break within some words, Amy was instantly relieved when she heard Grayson's voice. She got to her feet, rushing to the source of light to hopefully get a better signal.

"Grayson, we need immediate evacuation down here," she said in a deliberate tone, attempting to get the message across as clearly as possible. "Arex is dead...he was KIA. One of Sol's minions got the upper hand but I managed to kill her. Can you please get some people down here? I can't—he's heavy, I can't move him on my own."

Amy waited for a moment to hear any sort of reply. She turned around to look at Arex's corpse, a faint wave of sadness washing over her. She walked over to where he lay.

You just had to die on us, didn't you?

@Xandrya

"Copy that lass. From where I'm sittin' looks like everyone's got their hands full. I'll be there in a second."
Grayson locked on to her position and began to make his way down the side of the fortress, using the Spider's Web cables as ziplines. He felt a pang of sadness at the news that Arex hadn't made it. As much as they'd butted heads recently over what had happened between him and Amy, Grayson had mostly enjoyed Arex's presence in the time they'd shared.

Reaching the ground, Grayson engaged his cloak and made a mental note of how low the battery was running after his protracted duel with Wrenti up above. It should last just long enough to make it over to Amy's location. With the sounds of battle raging around him, Grayson began to sprint towards the signal.

@Banana@Silver Carrot

Lataniva listened to both of her comrade's checking in, and after a beat, she simply replied.
"I copy. If neither of you require assistance, I shall prepare for our exit."

(OOC: A bit short I know, but we should be wrapping everything up shortly. I've got a few extended bits for the Maelstrom crew that I've gotta get up, probably edit those into this post sometime in the next day or so, and after that once everyone feels like they're good for posts, I'll throw up the finale to this mission.)