[center][h1]Vulpine Space Command Centre, Île de la Tempête, Reunion [/h1][/center] [center][h2] Breach and Clear [/h2][/center] [center][h2] 0655 Hours [/h2][/center] Stacking up against the door, the sound of silenced pistol shots inside could be heard, as Adam set up a series of thermite charges across the hardened security door, placing the strip from the top to the bottom. "Wilk, we could use a hand, more hostiles than we can deal with further in here. We can offer another angle, if you can breach." Purna's voice carried in Adam's ear, as the Pole looked across to Ebrima, MSBS kept tight in hand given the score they were about to laydown. "Honestly, this wasn't part of the plan. Queen, hold our rear guard. Shadow, eyes on your actual. How many we got?" Adam asked, the Nepali as calm as a Shaolin Monk in his reaction. This was another Tuesday for him. Even if him and Eloise had nearly got domed barely minutes ago. "Ten hostiles. About twenty hostages, centre of the room. All nerds." Purna's voice cracked even Adam a smile, as he looked across to the Cameroonian, ready to join him, focus back on. "Breach? Turn that fucking rifle of yours down though before you beam five guys in one." Adam asked Ebrima, and reminded him just for posterity. It was a new rifle to him, after all, but then again, he'd be rather glued to how fun it was to use. With his approval, detonated the thermite, letting it burn through the reinforced frame before taking an exo-sized kick to the door, followed by a flashbang, using up the remainder of his field generator to stomach a few larger rounds, before pushing in through the door, the remainder of enemies turning fire onto him as he clapped two more on the side. It was enough of a distraction, with one of the Artemis guys standing up and getting a subsonic round through the head with the hostage he was using as a shield from Purna, the hostage spared, whilst another got the another triple-tap to the skull, Adam already moving on left sweep and leading on point while Boaro had his shadow. Purna and Eloise still had work to do. So the Cameroonian had a handful to manage, but Adam had a feeling Ebrima would sort this out. [hr] [center][h1]Vulpine Space Launch Pad, Île de la Tempête, Reunion [/h1][/center] [center][h2] Battle of the Giants: Bloodbowl [/h2][/center] [center][h2] 0655 Hours [/h2][/center] Laura roared back with the sight of her beautiful Zulu getting pulped, turning to Sam, grappling the mech, knowing what she was doing, trying to get her back with fire. A belch of flame made Sam reconsider that, but in that critical moment, in her blind rage, so wrapped up in the death of Ingwe, she wanted to destroy her and had forgotten her flanks. Words no longer left, as she swang out, smacking Sam's mech hard, and using the missile system to pulverise the armour, making it near inoperable. "Take that!" Laura taunted, indulgent on this power fantasy she inhabited, perhaps not realising this fight was lost. "Hawk on station, unable to get a fix with how close Chaos is...." "No need for that railgun, Valkyrie is here!" Athena yelled, as Laura looked on in shock, in lock with Sam distracting her from being able to take on Athena, who at this point, had taken advantage of the mechs fighting to sneak around. Athena had flanked around while Jamie and Freya occupied Laura with a distraction, and with it, used her thruster pack to leap onto the back of Laura's mech, firing a bolt of lightening straight at the welds on the flame tank, and then the rest of the fuel cells, exposing them and lighting them up with a steady stream of amped up voltage, that fried everything it hit. Pacing off, Laura realised it had split a good chunk, the concentrated bolts doing more damage than Laura's hit at the armour surface, picking apart a pressurised chunk. Before Laura turned to stomp Athena, she had already lept using her jump jet, almost balletic in the way she moved for something that weighed a few hundred kilos herself, and moved away, watching as the entire unit broke apart, and the flames began to rise out from the compromised pipework. "Shit, everyone, run!" Athena's call was a simple one, given the sheer amount of fuel, hydrogen cells powering the mech, and various munitions strapped to the thing. Inside, Laura yelped, sirens blaring. In a split second moment, she wondered if it was better to die than be captured. And as the flame tank ruptured, she made a decision to not die here. A couple of tears rushed by, but as she yanked the yellow handle, and the panel blasted open, Laura felt herself get sent out of the mech's top, and with it, skybound as the ejector seat sent her to oblivion, with what seemed like plenty more venom on it than a normal ejector seat would have. May as well be in a different postcode if you're trying to escape, she initially designed. Except now she was in it, she may have put a bit too much behind it, Laura wondered to herself, the howling noise returning as she realised she'd lost her lover, her ultimate battle machine, and any chance of freedom anytime soon if she didn't find a way out of this mess soon. Athena in the meantime, used every bit of the jump jet to blast away, rolling in a coil as she watched the entire thing collapse onto the Zulu Mech, and with it, catch light, before exploding in a hail of napalm, smoke and coiled up mess, sending shrapnel flying. Athena barely skidded behind a concrete block, before a massive chunk of the mech's foot flew past and bounced off, massive enough to even turn her into paste in that, but thankfully out of harm's way. Looking over as the smoke billowed, the giantess grinned, looking on at the sky, right at the top of the massive smoke plume, where a white canopy suddenly fluttered open. "She ejected out of that one, sis. I think that might not be the last we see of her today." Athena added looking around, taking heavy stomps and running over to Sam. Leaping up, she yanked hard on the cockpit, and with it, exhaled hard. "Christ, you did well for a first run. Let's get you down." The girl from everywhere, a titan standing tall pulled Sam out from the wreckage, and hustled her over her shoulder easy from the busted up mech, stomping into floor with ease, looking over to Freya, Jamie and Chuck giving a nod. "We did alright. Nice work team!" Athena smiled, looking on at the fire all around the second, empty launch pad, and the fact they'd felled two massive giants over their own. "And it didn't even take Frigga's butt cannon." She giggled, overtalking once again, setting Sam down, offering a metallic fist to bump. "That was fucking badass, Chaos. You might even be mad enough roll with the craziest girl of them all. Not bigging myself up or anything, but if you didn't have me, you'd be...." "Valkyrie, are you talking shit again?" Skye's voice interrupted it all, given she was listening in on the comms net again with a reconfigured headset. "What, I went and..." "Team. Effort. Get the fuck in here, we need a hand." Skye's voice called, knowing it was probably best to stop Athena's ego overinflating her, lest she fell over from the size of her head. [hr] [center][h1]Somewhere near a crashed Z-10 Attack Helicopter, Île de la Tempête, Reunion [/h1][/center] [center][h2] Sniper Elite [/h2][/center] [center][h2] 0700 Hours [/h2][/center] Tahlia smiled at Ban in reaction to that comment about sniping the men at the back, a cluster of enemies coming through into the overlook that they had towards the space centre below, the small burnt out area of forest on the hill offering plenty of cover, and plenty opportunity to thin the herd. "Yeah, yeah. Don't tell me how to suck eggs, Shimura. Try and keep up. Stay split and kill anyone in range." And on that, Tahlia broke from him, finding a position in the hillside, laying out a magazine spare, and getting ready. And on cue, she did exactly as Ban mentioned, clipping men at the back, but picking out the heavier armoured exo-skeleton wearing soldiers, knowing that they'd be an issue. Round after round, and she moved on the completion, darting across to another bush, burying herself in and picking off the opposite site. Soldier after soldier dropped, forcing the advance to slow, and the troops to take a more measured approach. Tahlia watched her old position get obliterated by 40mm fire, as she crouched behind a large stump of a mangrove, sniping away another group, hearing voices to her side. Another PLA man tried to flank her as he lept up with his exoskeleton, pulling her over and trying to go in for the kill up close, but Tahlia was faster with her knife, going for the groin before stabbing upwards, through the neck, pushing him down and away, drawing her H&K MP7 that had been brought along as a close quarters tool for such an occasion. With a flick of a stock, she found two more men charge up the hill, dumping the mag into their highly armoured platforms, before flicking a new one in and double taping another that had taken the end of the fireteam. With a last opportunity to relocate, Tahlia was smart enough to run, thankful her prosthetics were holding, though the sore was definitely starting to burn at the bottom of her stumps. Rolling across a burnt out SUV, Tahlia brought her Ballista back into hand, and clambered past a door, watching Shimura pick off his group of soldiers. Tahila didn't really flinch, picking out one, then the next, then the next, the cycle of the bolts rhythmic, one shot, one kill, and making her rounds count. Ban would have his same opportunity to tear apart soldiers, and no doubt, was dicing through enemies all the same. It was an intense fight, but despite being outnumbered, quite quickly, the PLA realised that they must have been fighting ghosts, and that with the fire raining down, and then the incredible explosion down at the launch pad, they turned direction. It wasn't often that warfare broke the enemy. But this was a rout. This was overwhelming, lost situation. Command was dead. Any semblance of control was out of hand. And whoever the hell it was that Raven were, they'd fought like they had ten times their number, and even the two ghosts on the hill had turned back what remained of the platoon. But Tahlia didn't take her chance to celebrate, watching the white canopy flutter above, with what she could only recognise to be a mirror of the mech, albeit human and flesh-like, from what was in the distance. Was that her? Crashing into earth, adjacent to the burnt out treeside that Tahlia and Ban had defended, Laura looked dazed as she clambered out of the ejector seat as she flattened a palm, fumbling over, clutching her ribs, looking up at the sight of a green-quilted sniper and Ban Kingo. Shimura. She worked with her before. "Hands up, fatty, I've got a round that'll skin you like a fucking deer! Any funny business, he'll turn you into a fucking Doner!" Tahlia yelled to break the moment they looked at each other, as Laura complied, realising there was no time to react. No time to fight her way out of this one. Even as a heavy, two to one against someone with a rifle that big, after a hit that hard, with nothing to play for, was stupid. Looking to Ban, who had certainly dealt with Laura beforehand, Tahlia chuckled. "How the fuck did they build an ejector seat capable of carrying your lardy arse? Christ, Laura Zeiss, weren't you less like this? Ban, please tell me I'm wrong?" Tahlia asked, rifle pointed at core, as Laura shrugged, hands up, aware that with a .300 round, it wouldn't really matter what she thought. The Kiwi sniper wouldn't miss, and even if she did, Shimura, who she had worked with, would turn her into a Doner Kebab if she tried anything. Laura was a little lovesick, a little insane, but not stupid enough to realise that dying here was a good call. "The perks you get of being an independent mercenary." Laura quipped, looking over at the massive fireball, then back at Shimura and Tahlia. "God, he was so fun. I mean, was prison worth it? Probably." She added, as Tahlia looked at Ban, utterly confused, watching as she seemed to rather accept her fate, looking over into the horizon. What was an absolute gorilla of a German could have tried closing the distance, yet Tahlia, smartly, made sure she kept rifle firmly at her top half of her thorax and neck to make sure she'd drop faster. "Come on then. Let's start walking over arse over there. You shouldn't have tried to set everyone on fire. Be lucky I don't put a fucking golf ball size hole in your throat for it. You gonna talk so we reconsider the amount of prison you get?" Tahlia stated, as Laura chuckled, shrugging her massive shoulders. "I know what the delay is with Rose. I'll talk. But get me to Skye. I know she's with you." Laura replied, knowing that well, at least she had to have the obligation of facing her old team leader and saying it to her face. [hr] [center][h1]Vulpine Space Command Centre, Île de la Tempête, Reunion [/h1][/center] [center][h2] The Recap [/h2][/center] [center][h2] 0730 Hours [/h2][/center] Inside of the control room, covered in dust, the team regrouped with plenty of technicians that had been spared from getting domed through the Artemis remnants. Now, there was barely anything left. PLA forces were running, realising that Raven was on business today. The window was limited, and Skye was acutely aware that they needed to get to work on the rest. Laura, tied up in chains that Athena had found, requiring those rather than zip ties, was on her knees, in the centre of the room, in front of an array of screens. Skye, now having gotten some more form fitting clothing rather than the PLA officer's coat, was in a green shirt and combat trousers she'd salvaged that fit her a little better, and kept her modesty on a little more. She walked past the team, past Ebrima, battered and bruised from the fight but still going, the Kantaario siblings, keeping a watchful eye on Laura, Chuck, who was being tended to by Adam, Sam, who was looking through the launch centre's equipment, and then Eloise and Purna, who were looking after the hostages, and getting intel from them, and getting them back to any semblance of normalcy, including food, water and the simple task of launching an Arianne rocket with crew and cargo. Skye didn't focus on that for now, she was just going for the only person she wanted to talk to in this moment, the redheaded, reborn operative looking at the brunette German on her knees in the centre of the room. "Boss." Laura tried to weasel her way out, as Skye chuckled, and could not stop laughing, visibly amused. Skye sat on a bench, AK-12 in hand, aware that if the giant decided to make a move, she could at least mag-dump away at the woman that must have made Athena look like a nun in relative humility. Laura had given up on that idea. "You are one insane bitch, Bertha. First, you betray Raven, then you try and set your old girlfriend on fire, now you try and set half the team on fire? Because you got lovesick over some guy trying to end the world?" Skye asked, arms crossed, Laura shrugging her massive shoulders. "I heard you had issues too." Laura quipped back, in her Germanic sarcasm, Skye shrugging and nodding. "Yeah, I suppose so. But, I wasn't fucking genocidal, was I. Or addicted to....whatever you were." Skye stopped for a second, eyeing her up. "Bakker betraying us I could see. But you, Zeiss. What was it you wanted?" Skye asked, Laura shrugging knowing she had little reaction. Laura chuckled, looking to Freya, then back to Skye. "It's all personal to you." Skye chuckled, wondering if Laura knew or not. No need to go into that. "Not wrong in every sense of it. You happy to cut to the chase?" Skye had a strained relationship of course, given Laura's....insubordinate, let alone deviant behaviour. "You know I'll be fair with you at least." Laura nodded, looking across at the rest of the team, in particular at Freya, knowing that with Chuck...well, they were never going back. She regretted her actions a little now she saw just how beautiful her face without that helmet. A face that could launch a thousand ships. What had gotten into her, she wondered? Was it just the feeling of being pushed away? Just obsession? Addiction to her own image? Well, whatever it was, she wasn't about to be shot yet, so that was a plus. "I suppose being Queen of the wasteland was going to suck anyway. Without him to....well. What do you need?" Laura reluctantly uttered, as Skye took that as a sign. "How fucked are we? You and Ingwe were clearly promised something, so how long have we got to stop what Rose does? Before all of us die, you included?" "He was promised a kingdom. I got a really cool mech, not gonna lie, that span it for me. You've got at least twelve hours. Rose is going to take time to sequence everything, and she would dump them on major population centres first, the bioweapon gets into water and then it wouldn't stop. Paris, New York, London, Moscow, Shanghai, Tokyo, once in any system, and in the atmosphere, it basically would eliminate 70% of humanity within a week. The rest would have fallen apart through anarchy. I'm an engineer, not a biochemist. But you have time." Laura replied with a candid note, as Skye nodded. "That is good. I can work with those odds. Shit as they are." Skye replied, as she looked across to the techs for half a moment, before looking back to her. "Given it's the end of the world, Laura, I'm feeling oddly comfortable with you being honest. We survive this, let's see what happens. But, between those four over there, and Adam, I think an apology is in order. They did a very good job felling you. I think you should realise that when a team's against you, it's a bit harder to win. I taught you that. And Laura....I think Freya deserves a little closure." Skye quipped, Laura chuckling, nodding to Freya, sighing, thinking back to those times. It was as if she was snapped, Laura looking sad, but certainly like she'd enjoyed her little run of things. That was dealt with for now, as the Scot pivoted away from the German to the other two giants in the room- Chuck and Jamie. "Find something you can make a cell out of. Take Athena's coils off her and put more voltage into her than an elephant if she tries to move. If she looks like she's enjoying it, keep applying voltage till she passes out. She's a big girl. It'll take a lot to kill her." Skye added, moving around to speak to Ebrima next, but being interrupted. [hr] Hearing the static in her comms unit, she watched as Athena and co dragged Laura away, as the Scot had higher powers to answer to. "Queen, can you give an updated status? Sat feeds are showing PLA activity has minimised. They're on the run, looks like any hostiles you have left are routed and are leaving the AO." "Solid copy. We're alive. It's going to be at least another twelve hours until Rose can start sequencing anything. Plan B is in motion, Oracle. We need to get this rocket launched and take her down. Then get home. Vulpine staff will sort us out." "Affirmative. Best of luck to you, and do whatever you can. Hate to say it, but fate of the world's in your collective hands." "Really? This like some, Independence Day shite? Go set up a launch, take out my evil twin, call it a day?" Skye sarcastically remarked, sitting on one of the tables one of the techs was at. "No other way of putting it. This one's in your hands now. Have you got Zhao in custody?" Oracle asked, as Skye looked to Boaro on that one. "Negative. You heard Boaro earlier. Shit got messy. We're all you ahve." "Affirmative. I'll let command know. This is gonna be a tough one to sell, Queen....what are you....." "Not an impossible sell. Work this one out, Oracle. Your job is telling them we're allowing them to live tomorrow. Tell them I'll come for them personally if they try and come for you over it. I've killed quite a lot of PLA and Artemis souped up with heavies, mechs and exos today with a team of badass motherfuckers in the space of an hour. I'm sure I can scratch in some silly cunts in waistcoats at Langley, London and Moscow to it if they think it's a wise call on H-Hour. Or they can face facts. Out." Skye spat, as she cut the line, grinning as she felt a little bit of a win there. [hr] Skye looked to the team, a certain glance that was unmistakably hers despite a different body, as she stood up, away from the table. They'd all realised it wasn't quite the original Skye they were used to. But that was a fact that was sinking in slower than the fact that they'd have to get on with an impossible task. And right now, their team leader seemed to have command of that anarchy. "None of you have to do this. This is basically suicidal, and of all the people, I'll be honest with you, it's probably best left to me. There's only one of her, and we just need to neutralise the bodies, and anything inside the station before blowing it to hell and coming home." Skye added, looking across the group, namely, the core one. Eloise, Ebrima, Sam, and Freya. Athena shook her head, her helmetless visage allowing her blonde hair to be released, as she stood tall, her armour battered, but still solvent. "I'm with you. No arguments. Keep the same team." Athena simply stated, looking across to the others. "JamJam, I'll trade you the fifties for the coils?" Her sight was unflinching, because in a rare moment, she seemed to be down for this. Her hearts must have been too full of adrenaline for her to be making good decisions. Athena gulped, nodding in addition to her initial point back to Skye. "Time I took some responsibility. I'm with you, Skye. Ride or die." Athena added with a grin, looking to the others, Adam piping up as he stepped forwards. "I'll lead the ground team. Not all of us are trained on this, Skye. Me, Purna, Jamie, Chuck, Tahlia and Ban can hold the island. Keep security posted while you sort this out." Adam added, nodding to that group, knowing that all of them were probably relieved to be not getting launched, as she looked to who was left. "And if you're trained, well, you know what to do, you're with Skye. No ifs and buts, you're our best chance at saving everyone. I suppose nobody wanted it to come to this. But here we are." Adam simply added, as Skye nodded, putting the rifle down on the table, nodding in return. "Here we fucking are. Alright. Enough of this centre's intact, and EVA gear for our sizes should be on hand, given the manifest I checked. Looks like we're doing this." Skye was not proud of the idea, but same time....well, this was the play they had now. "Chief Keller? We are good to launch the rocket on pad, aren't we?" Skye asked, as the terrified Dutch handler nodded, her uniform bloodied and dusted, wiping down the laptop in front of her. "Yes, we're good. Launch is still prepped. Just needs the lift to be pulled back once you're inside, and then good to go. Debris check with a drone seems like everything is intact. There's always risk. But we can get you there, on a course, after that, you'll be in the hands of the ESA rather than us." She uttered out, Amelia Keller's name badge revealing the title of "Head of Launch Operations" for Vulpine Space, and well, her situation feeling like it had gone from bad in having a gun to her head, to worse in finding out from Skye what was about to go down. "Good. Time to get to work then." The Scot on the other hand, wasted no time. "Adam, Eloise, grab the EVA suits from inventory and prep gear, set them out in the room next door, by where the truck is parked. We'll gear up- Jamie, I'd appreciate if you could act as a mobile hangar for us, the suits are heavy and we'll need to be in them from launch, even if they're ridiculously bulky. We need rifles, ammunition, and grapples. Can't take anything we have up there we usually carry, so 5.56 and easily manageable is my recommend. Mostly HK416s, SIG MCXs and G36s on these lot, so scavenge mags, ammo. We set Athena and Freya in the cargo where the satellites would go, their armour's airtight, and well....they tell me they can hold their own. Rest of us are in the crew module." Skye started, looking to the next group. "Ebrima, Ban, get the truck ready, and disconnect any fuel, or any pre-launch logistics on the pad. Tahlia will take the lift when ready. If you're not sure what to do, Keller will guide you through the process in comms." She added, then approaching Sam, no doubt worse for wear, but ready for this to come. "Sam, the rocket launch will be automated. Keller will be in your ear as you need it. But you might need to recall your manual on launching on Arianne 7, and take a bit of time with how we decouple, then get outside, and then back in safely to come home. This might....might be a bit more than anything you've ever flown. Chat to some of the techs, and get yourself familiar. I'm afraid we haven't got as long as we like." Skye may not have understated the comment, but she knew everyone was capable of holding their own. "Freya, Athena, get your suits checked with Tahlia. Get set, and be ready to launch." "We have a world to save. Let's get to it, Raven." And with it, she clapped, as if she was some chef in a kitchen, because it was a feeling of if people weren't sorting themselves out, they were about to get useful. Cue the montage. [hr] [b]Soundtrack: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbbbzOU3krY]Nothing But Thieves - Welcome to the DCC[/url] [/b] It was slow but sure. Fuel lines disconnected. The lift in position to get into the capsule. Rifles laid out, next to EVA suits. Tactical mag carriers on front, helmets, oxygen supplies, and literal spacesuits to work with, readied for each member of the team, velcro stuck to each from their personal equipment. Techs cleaning up with brooms, then getting to their laptops, doing the work that was involved in launching an actual rocket off a pad. And all the insanity ensued in that. The last chance that Raven had to push on and get to Ark Angel. The slow build up of the screens left on the wall giving readouts, and the clock set for a 0900 launch. A hubub of movement, Laura squirming and getting tazed, and bit by bit, things falling into place. Within barely thirty minutes, plenty had been done. Ready to get moving. [hr] [center][h1]Vulpine Space Command Centre, Île de la Tempête, Reunion [/h1][/center] [center][h2] Yes, We're Actually Doing This, We're Not Sure How, But We Got To This Point of A Military RPG Doing Something This Silly [/h2][/center] [center][h2] 0800 Hours [/h2][/center] If ever there was a time that it was sinking into the team, it was ditching most of their tactical gear, and bar Freya and Athena, leaving behind exoskeletons, rifles, everything, and slowly but surely, gearing out of their usual kit, and into under-armour styled cooling gear, and bit by bit, getting ready. Where a metal crane didn't work, Jamie did in holding people up, legs in first, slipping in through the back, head past the neck seal, before the rest being sealed up, and arms and gloves being sorted next, then helmet into hand being given. Spacesuits had come a long, long way since the decades past, with most being less bulky, but the white and grey coloured Vulpine Space suits, even with the Fox with an orbit around its head on the shoulder, were still not easy to move in given they would be pressurised once up in space. It was still heavy, ridiculously so, and Skye hated her new body. Her normal self would carry this no issue. But alas. Less muscle density, fibres less built, so this was shitty, and well, here they were. The team would be garnering up, and ready to move shortly, as they one by one got into theirs, and assembled before the truck. The others would be probably feeling it, well, bar Freya and Athena. Lucky bastards. Skye caught Sam once done, and without a word, took a hold close, hugging her tight, resting her head into her friend's now broadened shoulder, breathing out heavy. "I might have lied about that whole dying thing. It's a really long story." Skye chuckled, her dry sense of humour fully intact, even if her old self wasn't quite that anymore. "But we're not done yet. You've done a hell of a lot today. And this is a lot to take in. But we're made for this." Skye asked, confident, despite everything inside not being quite. "I trust you fully to get us home. You ready?" Skye asked, looking across as the truck reversed into the prep bay, and with it, the heavies were willing to provide a literal hand up, and from there, head out to the launch bay. Every single child would be screaming in this moment about where they were going. For Skye, she was more concerned that if they failed, humanity was doomed. And due to her own self, technically. That was not an average Tuesday, not at all. It was the end of fucking everything, and that somehow kept her focussed on the task at hand, focussed enough to forget they were about to launch off the site of a base they'd razed to the ground, to go kill that particular person and hopefully, come home. Looking across to the others, Ebrima, Eloise, Sam, Freya, Athena, she clutched a feeling that this was all getting to a head.