ShiningSector

Tales of the Crimson Legion - Galaxy at War

So, is this thing still going?

@Athol

To my knowledge, it still is. I believe we're awaiting @CaptainSully's post.

Tales of the Crimson Legion - Galaxy at War

New post is now up. As before, expect some editing and again, if there is an issue with coming up with a response, please let me know.

Tales of the Crimson Legion - Galaxy at War

Cyne minded his attention to the terminal for several solid uninterrupted minutes. Despite the chaos the spread throughout the ship, the realm of ammunition and firepower ironically became the most peaceful. Everyone as about their individual businesses. Gerad cannibalized much of the heaver munitions that, luckily for them, were transferred to the armory due to a over-stockpiling in the munition's deck based on one of the assess manifests that caught Cyne's curious eye. The device that the Garundin was fabricating was their answer in resolving the Balrog's Hive infestation problem and a secure way to ensure no one acquired whatever sinister secrets the SDD had produced. Shame it was all going to waste but anything to do with the Hive would quickly be labeled as universally bad and accepted by most sane parties to be terminated.

Gaz on the other hand, aside from being Gaz, was retrofitting some kind of new science-defying weapon only a Fungai could conceive and was being loud and albeit clumsy about it to. With all the racket he was making, it amazed Cyne that nobody outside the armory had taken notice. He could understand the raiding mercenaries not taking notice due to their deployments being directed elsewhere across the ship, but the Hive? Such bothersome sounds resonating though the ship's inner hull and crevices would be picket up relatively easily and eventually traced back to them. The Hive creatures were not known for being such slouches regarding loud disturbances and thus their lack of appearance was notably unusual.

Cyne meanwhile had summoned up a trio of hauler droids, small yet wide machines whose purpose was to transport large loads of miscellaneous cargo from one destination to another, hence their name. The droids powered to life and departed their charging stations built into the armory's walls before lining up information before Cyne. After a few more finger strokes upon the terminal, the droids vectored off towards several large towering storage units. Each unit was slightly larger than Gaz but held far more mass, so much mass that a single large crate could arm a sizable company of soldiers. One after the other, each droid and adjusted it's physical frame to accommodate the weight of each storage unit before heaving it atop their sturdy platforms.

Just before the droids were finished, Gaz had, unsurprisingly, lost control over his new weapon. The beam produced by Gaz's makeshift gun ran amok wherever Gaz had unintentionally pointed to. Cyne braced himself against the terminal as the beam whizzed by him, several feet apart while Silas ducked out of the way. The Fungai-induced chaos eventually ended once Gaz regained control over the weapon. He apologized with genuine honesty over the mishap but Cyne couldn't help but survey the damage the beam had caused. While the room was not in flames, the beam had never the less had burned and sliced its way through untold millimeters of structural plating and even manage to penetrate several nearby decks in the process. Since no one was being sucked into either of the glowing crevices, it was safe to assume the beam didn't compromise the external hull.

Everyone glared at Gaz with annoyed and unamused looks. Cyne was about to call out the Fungai for the accident but the sound of screeching metal cut him off. A large gutted ventilation and maintenance pip overhead, loosened by the now-nonexistent struts that were destroyed by the energy beam, gave way and fell to the floor with a loud crash of grinding metal followed by the unusual wet sound of something being squished. No one was caught underneath the pipe but as everyone circled around it just as the dust cleared, it became apparent that the Hive did hear them. Within the destroyed pipe were the destroyed carcasses of Swarmers that were either torn in half by the beam or crushed by the fall.

"Huh," Cyne simply sounded off before turning to Gaz, "good job."

Silas pinched the bridge of his nose with closed eyes and sighed, "While, that, had just saved us some time, it's clear the Hive are on to us. We should move as soon as possible."

On cue, Gerad had reported that his device was now ready to go. Cyne then reported in that the ship droids have secured their cache of weapons and were ready to ferry them back to the Crimson Fang.

"Good," Silas replied with a nod, "we leave now. Anything new on your end, Sven?"

"Nadda. But there are sure are a lot more Hive down here than before. I would really like to get off his heap as soon as possible, boss." chimed Sven.

"Hang tight, we're on are way."

"It's the only thing I can do, boss. But I appreciate it."

Once everyone was gathered their gear, they were off again, now as an organized unit. Getting back to the Crimson Fang proved to be a developing irritant. Aside from the occasion few Swarmers they ran into a quickly dispatched, much of the of the Balrog they were now traversing through has sustained much of the external damage and through the ship's safety protocols, had rearranged their path thanks in part due to the bulkheads sealing up those exposed deck. However, their trip would soon be over as they eventually arrived at the cargo bay connected to the hanger where the 'Fang and Sven were located in.

"I'm picking you guys up now," Sven reported in, "but there is a horde of those monster between you an me. I'd gun them down myself but with...five of those Brutes in here circling the 'Fang...well you can probably figure that -oh hell, I think one of them is on top the ship now."

Silas growled as he moved forward, "We're on our way! Gaz, take point. We're going to have to force our way though. Gerad and Cyne, you're with me; we'll lay down as much covering fire as we can. Sven, we're going to try to get those bastard's attention. Once you think you're clear, I need you to open up with the 'Fang's plasma turrets and mow down anything that doesn't look remotely like us."

"Copy that, boss." Sven complied.

Just as the group moved into position, the sensor-driven inner hanger door opened up, revealing a very unpleasant scene before them.

"Um, Silas?" Cyne voiced in evidently concerned with what they were looking at, "that's not just a horde of Hive. That's all the Hive."

While Cyne's assessment wasn't entirely accurate, he wasn't wrong either. Before them was a mountain-full of creatures roaming throughout the hanger. Swarmers mindless gnawed at the structural framework of the hanger while several Sploders crawled around aimlessly. The larger Slashers and Brutes however displayed a more refined and orderly behavior. While scattered around, the many Slashers present were observing and standing watch for their lesser brethren while a group of Slashers and Brutes patrolled around the anchored transports; and the Crimson Fang as well. It didn't take long for the shooting to start up again as a nearby Swarmer reared it's ugly head toward the group and cried out the same spine-tingling scream heard previously. The scream had caught the attention of all the Hive in the hanger, causing each one to peer their glowing murderous eyes in their direction.

"Noted. Light 'em up, boys." Silas simply ordered as he pulled his plasma pistol from his holster and fired.

The first wave of hive that set upon them were several groups of savage and hungry Swarmers. They recklessly stormed the entry without a thought or care of waiting for the Slashers to back them up; all they wanted was something meaty and bloody in their mouths. Behind the wave were several Sloders screeching and ticking across the hard floor. As their movements were before, they veered wildly into different directions but their vector towards their group remained true. Finally, a group of four Slashes came up the rear, doing their best to keep up with the lesser creatures but were sure to arrive late.

Tales of the Crimson Legion - Galaxy at War

@CaptainSully@Athol Sorry about the lengthy wait fellas. I'll have a post up and running tomorrow afternoon.

Tales of the Crimson Legion - Galaxy at War

@Athol Doin' well myself. Destiny 2 Forsaken (Xbox One) went live a couple weeks ago so I've been trailing through for sometime.

Tales of the Crimson Legion - Galaxy at War

@Athol Take your time. Those moments can be very aggravating.

Tales of the Crimson Legion - Galaxy at War

So Cyne is apparently a ninja now...who could have seen this coming?

Also if you're into Warhammer 40K or looking into a humorous lore driven take of the settings, I highly recommend the "If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device" series. It is ridiculous and I highly recommend it.

If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device - Episode 1: Adorable Centurion

Tales of the Crimson Legion - Galaxy at War

Bullets and energy projectiles filled the air above Cyne's head. Within seconds, the table he claimed as cover was shot to splintering, burning shreds. Much of it hardly remained but Cyne, flatly embracing the floor, managed to avoid the majority of the deathly hail with only a handful descending shots grazing his armor and a small few direct hits being absorbed by the inner kevlar-like material of his armor. Suffice to say, he was lucky he wasn't the table.

Seconds into the firefight, a sizable portion of the mercenary platoon's attention shifted to the raging and charging mass that was Gaz after witnessing one of their own literally cut down lengthwise. The remaining grunts kept their focus on Gerad and Cyne. Cyne slowly and carefully crawled away from his degrading position, minding his own head as gunfire still whizzed by. It wasn't long until the mercs gunning for him realized that their target was no longer present, having utterly obliterated the cafeteria furnishing and no bloodied heap to be found. After the incoming gunfire subsided, Cyne, having taken up new residence behind a toppled structural beam, quickly rose from hiding and returned fire. His first shot neatly exited the head of a machinegun-wielding merc; the primary culprit responsible for suppressing Cyne before, leaving a spray of red behind its vapor trail. He took pleasure in the kill and with his second discharge, the round tore off the left arm of an unfortunate scavenger. The merc reeled back and crumbled to the shell-casing ridden floor, rolling and screaming in pain. But with so much exploding gunfire, he was silenced and but a face of churning agony.

Cyne instinctively ducked as returning fire came his way. Predicting his new position would soon be compromised and being annoyed to no end of the constant threat alerts berating him across his HUD, he deployed Pathfinder once more. This time however, the drone was shifting into a combat stance. Presenting Pathfinder with an array of hand signals, the drone dipped its frame into a nod and flew off, diving and weaving through the local debris. On his part, he tapped a switch built into his gauntlet and soon a low winding noise resonated from the center of his suit.

Within seconds, a Cyne materialized into view, breaking cover and running horizontally in the mercenaries' sights. The mercs were quick to retrain their fire at Cyne and not long after that, their gunfire homed in and struck him, causing him to abruptly lose momentum and collapse. And then his form completely vanished into thin air. The engaging mercs ceased fire and stared at the unusual scene, struggling to comprehend what had just happened and where their supposedly defeated foe had disappeared to. It was then one of the mercenaries had pieced together the grim puzzle and called out to his squad mates in panic.

"A-a hologram!" he cried, "it was just a-"

The frightened man failed to finish his sentence. It didn't help that a glowing blade of a heat-knife was sticking out the front of his neck. Fumes of cooked flesh seeped out of the puncture wound as the heat-knife cauterized the merc's thoat, burning and fusing his esophagus and wind pipe. The blade quickly retracted back the way it came and the buckling gunman reactively clutched the hole in his neck, painfully wheezing and gasping. His comrades spun around and found him squirming on the ground, further adding to their confusion. Once they had figured it out themselves, it was too late.

Another merc lost his balance as two deep cuts swiftly manifested into his unarmored thighs with emptying blood spraying across the floor in a horizontal manner. Before he could even utter a word, a large incision appeared in his chest as some invisible force effortlessly slammed him backwards into the hard ground. He quickly died as the driving momentum pierced his heart.

The three remaining mercenaries of their squad jumped back in dread, their weapons trained on an empty space with no visible opponent to shoot back at in spite. Regardless of that hopeless fact, they let loose a desperate barrage with pleading aspirations of scoring a hit on their invisible attacker. However, none of their shots struck true. They never had the moment to retreat or call for help when the empty scene flashed loudly before them. Two of them naturally flinched and the third member fell backwards with a bleeding hole in his head. Another gunshot discharged, this time briefly revealing the illuminated form of Cyne just before he claimed another victim. The last merc, finally catching a glimpse of his assailant took aim and fired. Cyne's ghostly after-image vanished once more and again, the merc claimed no hits.

The frightening moment gripped the mercenary's nerves as his startled eyes darted all over the room, oblivious to the carnage behind him as he tried to find his target. He then lost it and insisted in firing his weapon wildly in all directions in distress. His assault rifle eventually fell silent as its magazine became empty. The merc initially failed to identify this fact and when he did, his wobbly and trembling hands went for another magazine confined to his waist pouch. In that very instant, everything faded to black for the merc after a loud bang resonated briefly in his ears.

The merc fell dead and Cyne finally reappeared back into reality, holding a standing posture with his right arm extended and a smoking handgun his hand, pointed right where the merc's head was. Cyne rested his arm and holstered his sidearm just as Pathfinder zipped by and re-docked with his suit. He looked over the new mess they had created and grimly observed Gaz massacring the remaining mercenaries. One such merc, wearing the armor and uniform configuration of a field communications officer, seemingly lost all will to fight and backed away from the Fungai as it tore into his comrades. Seeing no other direction to go, he made a frantic dash back to the entryway where his unit had originated from. Cyne, twirling his knife by the circular ring at the butt-end of its handle, quickly gripped the lower handle and threw the knife into a wide vertical spinning arc toward the escaping merc. The blade found it's mark and imbedded itself into the back of the man's neck, dropping him to floor, dead as the others.

As Cyne walked over to the dead mercenary, the shifted his view to Gaz and Gerad. Unsurprisingly, Gaz had leaped into the fray, only to walk out with his lumbering form covered in blood. The still wet body fluids from the different species he'd slain today didn't mix well and turned him into a grotesque color pallet. Gerad on the other hand, remained mostly untouched. Cyne recalled the Garudin's victims wither bore large burned-out holes in their bodies or where overall charred and shrapnel ridden.

He eventually pulled the knife from the corpse from the man he killed, wiping the remaining blood off the merc's uniform. Before he could turn back to his team mates, Cyne took notice of a synthesized sound resonating from the merc's headset. Wrestling the headset off from the merc's limp form, he pressed one of the speakers to his exposed ear and listened in.

"Charlie Four to Command," a voice barked from the headset, "munitions deck secured but we're encountering stiff Hive resistance. Requesting intercept squad at the following..."

Cyne didn't need to hear anymore from the open transmission. Their original plan to capture and rig the munitions depot had just went up in smoke now that the place was now infested with not only mercs but Hive as well. Fantastic, he sarcastically thought.

Walking back to his squad, Cyne chimed into comms, "Change of plans," he reported, "just got word that the munitions deck has just become a hot zone of enemy activity. Silas, we're regrouping with you now. We'll meet you at the armory shortly."

He then faced Gerad and Gaz, "Saddle up...and I suppose take any snacks with you..."

Making their way to the armory was surprisingly uneventful. While echoes of conflict resonated around them, not a Hive abomination or a lone mercenary scout crossed their path. It was almost like walking past a sealed off stadium with a syntho-metal band blaring their music from within, only to be drowned out by many layers of concrete and steel. They eventually reached the armory, finding the doors open after its security locks were visibly breached. Walking inside, Cyne found Silas, but only Silas and no one else. Not even Macklyn's IFF was showing up on his HUD.

"Where's Macklyn?" he bluntly asked.

Silas eventually explained what had happened and Cyne went silent. Despite what they just went through, it was the case of a betrayal that caught him off guard the most. The appearance of the Hive however was a guaranteed second. While Silas and Gerad spoke on about their next direction, Cyne found himself a terminal and queried the armaments it held in stock and created a checklist of what they could steal.

Tales of the Crimson Legion - Galaxy at War

@Athol Here's what we can do then. We'll continue on with the current scene as it is and then Gerad can bring up his plan after the firefight. Probably given newer circumstances will benefit his idea than the original one.

Tales of the Crimson Legion - Galaxy at War

@Athol Seems feasible. Will he have everything he needs on hand or will this endeavor require retrieving the necessary components elsewhere on the ship? When you say 'missile drives', I think munitions.