[center][h1] Ark Angel Space Station
[/h1][/center]

[b]Soundtrack: [url=https://pie.yt/?v=https://youtu.be/AG8fugqFn9Q?feature=shared&pieshare=1] Panic Switch - Silversun Pickups[/url][/b]

[hr] 

Samantha smiled as Ebrima had the others add a strip of the tape to their arms as an identifier. She already had a band thanks to needing a temporary seal for her computer connector cords. There was also a band of silver tape around her chest to hold on Bob’s rig. Not to mention she was so petite the tape helped the space suit fit her better. She gave Ebrima a smile and a fist bump as she moved to help the others. 

Samantha was checking on Athena and Freya. The two giants in their armor since they didn’t have space suits for them. At least she had made sure their armor was space worthy and would hold air. She was helping them with the jury rigged MMU packs that would go on over their armor. She positioned Athena’s so it wouldn’t hinder her normal jetpacks. 

[color=fff200]Athena: "Thanks, Chaos. Appreciate it. It links to my other jump jet systems, so that should tie together nicely." [/color]

Samantha cautioned Athena about using her jet packs. [color=ec008c]“Athena be careful using your jump packs. They are going to have a much stronger effect than they would in gravity. We are also on a space station. Be careful with anything that causes fire. It is an oxygen rich environment after all.” [/color]

Finally they were all ready and they took the leap. They pushed off and began using the quiet and soft thrusters on the MMU packs to make their way towards the space station. It was an awe inspiring experience to leave the lit cargo bay behind and be floating in the black of space. The station, while fairly close, felt so far away. 

Samantha was aiming for the airlock on the back of the station. She was using the airlock as her navigational fixed point in space. Then she heard Skye come over the team comms. 

[color=lightblue]Skye: "Contacts, up ahead. Weapons free." [/color] 

Samantha began to search space for what Skye was talking about and spotted flashes from guns firing and the mobility thrusters on their suits. It was weird to Samantha that the sound of gunfire didn’t carry across the void of space. The sound of gunfire was muted. Samantha lost track of Skye in the scuffle that unfolded. Samantha pushed her MMU to go faster and added a zigzag pattern to make her harder to hit. She was murmuring under her breath softly [color=ec008c]“come on come on… faster.”[/color] 

[color=lightblue] Skye: "More coming in!" [/color]  

Samantha could see that the airlock had two soldiers stationed there to keep them out. One had chased Sky into the forest of solar panels on the station. Athena had taken out one. All at once Samantha heard Rose over their comms feed. That should not have been possible after the changes she had made after they first met Rose and discovered more about who she was. Samantha immediately had Bob start creating a new encrypted channel using her rig as the interface. 

[color=red] Rose: "Raven Squad! And....Skye, so nice to see you join me. Fought through your fair share of hell. But you made it at last, to join me at the end." [/color] 

[color=lightblue]Skye: "No idea how you're on comms, but I'm gonna fucking tear you apart when I find you! Come out here and fight me, you coward!" [/color] 

[color=red]Rose:  "Well, I have my share of mercs between you and me. Motivated just as much as you. By the way, I'm so happy I kept all these bodies up here that I'm busy sequencing....you know, it was how I got the drop on you in Tokyo. And now it turns out to be better than even my original plan because you get to watch." [/color] 

Rose continued her evil villain monologue. Samantha rolled her eyes as the mercs outside the airlock fired on her. She managed to dodge. She smiled as she saw them thrown back into the side of the station due to the recoil on their weapons. They had failed to compensate for it. Samantha arrived just as they were recovering and used one of her knives to slash at their suits and stabbed towards their helmets. She managed to crack the helmet shield on one and she flinched as she witnessed explosive decompression. That was messy and fast. The other had stopped trying to fight her as he was suddenly losing air and had emergency alerts popping up in his HUD. She managed to stab through the surprisingly tough fabric of the spacesuit on the other guy. She smiled as muscle memory told her she had a critical hit. She had just pushed the guy out of her way when two more showed up. 

[color=ec008c]Samantha: “Shit! Damn assholes keep popping up like a bad jack in the box.” [/color]

[color=red]Rose: "Isn't it ironic the blood in you is about to put humanity back into the stone age? Well, Sam's last little remainders of family, Freya's other half, Ebrima's.....whatever that fucking orphan you feel sorry for deserves, that petty bitch you brought along at the last minute....and your ex-partner, Skye? Just because of your blood. How are you finding a new body?" [/color] 

Samantha felt rage fire through her body at Rose’s words. How dare this woman make light of the pain she has suffered. She had to remember that she had infiltrated the team as Skye is the only way she knew anything about Samantha’s family. It did give her a momentary worry about her grandmother. She couldn’t lose focus here in space. She needed to finish this so she would be safe. Samantha forced her focus back to getting to the airlock. 

[color=lightblue]Skye: "I'm going to enjoy fucking making you breathe in a vacuum. Give it up, Rose, we have you outgunned and your plan isn't going to work. This is over, how can you not fucking see that!" [/color] 

Samantha carefully positioned herself so that her back was against the airlock door. She pulled her pistol away from where she had it taped to her spacesuit. She fired at the two other mercs trying to intercept her. She smiled as she double tapped their helmets, cracking their hud. She could see the air escaping from the cracked helmet visors. She grinned as cracking their HUD screens also impaired their vision. This was a great tactic to use. She was very proud of herself. Considering she kept worrying she was going to fire her gun and fly off into the depths of space. 

[color=red]"Oh, you came this far, did so much, but I don't think it matters. First batch will be ready to go soon. I think I'll drop it on Scotland to begin with. Kill anyone we grew up with to begin with. You got here Skye, but I have plenty more to give." [/color] 
 
[color=lightblue] "Team, keep fucking moving, and ice anyone, and.....save her for me. Chaos, isolate Rose's comms line and keep it if we need her back." [/color] 

Bob informed Samantha the new comms line was ready. He had switched everyone’s comms over to the new line. Rose might be able to pick up that they were communicating but shouldn’t be able to tap into the feed. She sent a notification that the others would see in their feed about a new private link feed. As long as they were within sight of Samantha they should be able to communicate. It wasn’t ideal but at least they should have a way to communicate privately. They would of course keep Rose talking. It would give them some time to locate her. 

Samantha spoke over the new link. [color=ec008c]“New team comms on channel Charlie One. They are encrypted. They might be able to tell when we are communicating on this channel but not what. I am using the signal booster in my suit as a relay station. If you are within line of sight, you should be able to communicate on this channel. I left the other one on so we can keep track of Rose. I have already triangulated her position. I show her in the middle of the station.” [/color]

Samantha knew she needed to hack the airlock so they could gain access to the station. The only way to get to Rose was to get in. She grabbed the tools off her belt and began prying the access panel off. She had to stop and shoot another merc before turning back to trying to get them into the station. One way or another Rose was dying today. 

[color=ec008c]Samantha: “Chaos is at the airlock. Working on gaining entry. I would appreciate any help in keeping these damn mercs at bay.” [/color]

Samantha had to stop once more after emptying her clip in the next two to show their helmets. She had to change the magazine in her gun. At least she had her tether attached to the hand rail next to the airlock. As she popped the magazine in, a clever merc fired at her from above the airlock hidden by the bulk of the station. The round caught her in the arm. She fired back at the merc chasing him back into cover. She managed to tear off a piece of tape and plug the hole in her suit. The hit from the gun had pushed her away from the station. Samantha used the tether to pull herself back to the station. She made herself as thin a profile as possible as she continued work on the door. Her arm hurt and felt like it was on fire. She could feel blood pooling and cooling inside the arm of her suit. She pushed through the  pain as she got the panel covering off. She plugged in one of the connectors to Bob. She began overriding the security on the station, hacking it with Bob’s help.