Tears of Reality

[Callos_DeTerran]

The vastness of space has always been a subject of deep interest in the human race, spurring them to greatness and technological insights that otherwise might not have been developed. But the inky void above chunk of space rock designated HB-O343, a former mining installation to drill into the core of the asteroid to delicately extract the various valuable minerals from it, instead shimmering specks of bluish light approached the mining installation. A feeling of doom had fallen over the colonies as well as the Terran people with the onset of the Others, beings who couldn't be understood and did one thing for sure...kill people.

Since the time of the Moon attack incident, other strikes had occured and it had finally been enough to force two sides away from mutual hatred to try and parley a peace between the two. Reputedly the two sides were to meet at the well defended Brahms dreadnaught where the dignitaries would be at their safest, or at least as safe as one could get from the Others. It was simply a ploy, hoping to draw unfriendly eyes away from the heavily shielded HB-O343 asteroid were the true negotiations were to be held. A small hand picked force, an mish-mash of both sides, had been chosen to defend both the interior and the exterior while the dignitaries were inside. Surface (interior and exterior) troops had already been deployed while the mecha troops chosen for this specific mission had arrived with the cargo freighters carrying their chosen ambassadors. Admiral H. Frasier had been the first of the two to arrive and the terran forces (and mecha) had a little more time to entrench themselves in before their 'enemies' arrived. How they had entrenched themselves was yet to be seen. Secretary Weischz from another of the lunar colonies had arrived in a more...flamboyent manner, arriving in one of his own freighters, the Merrygold, instead of a civilian one but the extra precautions on board seemed worth it. Any mecha communication or radar systems brought too close still went fuzzy or offline when they got too close to the freighter.

A bright white light shone down brightly on the docking bay doors, currently shut, which were wide enough to allow even the largest sized mechas to be able to squeeze through. Set into a raised mound of stone and machinery the poundings of the mining equipment below the ground made HB-O343 shudder under foot as if trying to shuck off unwanted visitors and the sense of fear and paranoia in the air hardly helped matters. No one knew how the enemy got it's information so it had been a shot in the dark to try misdirecting these mysterious creatures away from a vital meeting.

All of mechanized troops were stationed by these doors where the freighters were docked and the communication lines were staticy that close but as long as they remained 10 meters away then everything was clear enough to be able to hold an actual conversation.

OOC: Go ahead and introduce yourselves and communicate with each other.

[Karsh]

Fawke Cordix

Fawke's artificial hand danced across his Phoenix's controls, tweaking various minutiae of his control scheme in order to compensate for the gravitational force exerted by the defunct mining colony. At the same time, immense amounts of data feed directly into his optic nerves from his mecha's AI, displaying the on-board computer's progress as it calibrates itself for any potential combat that might ensue.

When using weapons which delivered shots at the speed of light, one's calculations had to be as accurate as possible. Especially if these Others were to show up. Fawke had had a run-in with the Others before, though really it could only be described as a "run-away." Fawke was skeptical if even the combined firepower of the forces stationed on guard duty would be sufficient to repel an attack by the Others, but at the same time, the last time he'd encountered them, he had been outnumbered and alone.

Finished for the time being with his manual calibrations, Fawke checks to make sure his outgoing comm. link is disabled. He leans back in his seat, stretching his arms above his head.

I don't like the way this smells, Phoenix. Those Terrans could very easily have set this up as a trap. I mean, look around. Terrans have taken all the best points of defense and holed themselves up, while we're stuck hiding behind handfuls of rocks.

Really, I just don't like the idea of us teaming up with those scum period.

His mecha's AI was named Phoenix, after the machine's design name. A soothing, soft female voice flows into the cockpit as it replies.

Unfortunately, Fawke, we aren't being paid to do the thinking. Someone in the leadership of the colonies decided that this was the best decision. Our job is to make sure nothing goes wrong while the best course of action is carried out.

You're probably right, but I couldn't give a rat's ass. I don't like this situation at all. We'd best keep an eye out.

That's what we're being paid to do, Fawke.

...you know what I meant.

Fawke double-checks the readings as Phoenix finishes the system re-calibration, tapping his real index finger nervously.

Hey, Phoenix?

Yes, Fawke?

Would you mind rechecking the calibration on everything? I have a bad feeling about this.

Certainly, Fawke.

[Sir_Dude]

Lt. Alex Gunter

Lt. Gunter reclined back in his cockpit's seat, one leg propped up against the controls. The cockpit was too tight to ever be comfortable, Which was probably intentional, Alex thought. Still, the awkward pose was the best he had found for this particular cockpit design. Besides, it was a couple steps above sleeping in wet ditches. Alex twisted his arm around his obstructing leg, and punched the "enter" command into the mecha's computer console. A slight modification of his mecha's comm system, And blatantly against regulations, Alex mused to himself smiling. Acoustic guitar played over his headset.

Alex cast a glance over to the rest of the Terran forces, and their guns trained on the docking door. He cocked his head to the side to see the targeting screen past his obstructing foot. He nudged the gatling laser a little to the left, to give it better alignment. That done, Alex leaned back again and closed his eyes, nodding his head to the beat.

Comm static blasted at his eardrums. Alex tried to sit up in a hurry, but painfully overextended his leg. Cursing to himself, he swung his leg down and shut off the program. Switching his comm back to it's intended purpose, he spoke over the mike,

"Command, this is Lt. Gunter. What's the status on the freighter?"

[King_of_GRiffins]

Morgan Tanner

Morgans legs propped out infront of her, though only because of the design of the cockpit. In the simplest of terms it was like an armchair with a glass dome over it, and it was assuredly the most comfortable mecha in the Earth Fleet. Currently, that dome was obscured halfway up with rock as the whole mecha lay prone on the ground many meters away from the entrance. Well, mostly prone if its chest wasn't poking up at a thirty degree angle at the cockpit.

Despite the awkward position of the mecha sticking out, it was actually rather hard to make out, even unnoticeable. The stealth kit seemed like a waste of influence in the office of military acquisition for someone often on the backlines, but it had it's usefulness in this type of situation.

The pilot, a well-built female, stared intensely at the monitors feeding her video information from the camera point on the shoulder on the machine.

"Nothings happening yet, you're just straining your eyes like that." chirps a rather natural, sweet sounding female voice.

"Yah, yah. My mother said the same stuff...", replied a duplicate voice in a gruff manner. Morgan leans into the screen, hoping to spy some sort of hidden object near the door.

"That's not good for back. You should sit strait, or else you'll develop a hunch."

Morgan mumbles under her breath, "I shouldn't have gotten standard. I should have gotten the one that said 'XXX' on it, that would have been more fun than this..."

"Cannot Understand Command."

Morgan glares at her monitors, about ready to strike out at her own mecha. "Here's a few simple ones...."

-----

After a minute of this, she calms down and takes another look at her monitor in surprise. A mecha had appeared, and it didn't register as one of Earths. How long had she been swearing out her AI? Feeling a bit excited, she opened communication with the colonist's mecha, desperate for something other than a computer.

"Hey there! What's up? Looks like we're sharing guard duty for this, huh? I'm Morgan Tanner, nice to meet the rest of you. Any of you play sports?" All of this comes out very close together, almost nearly a single line of sound without pause, but enough to be coherent if one was careful to piece it apart.

[Karsh]

Fawke

Morgan's transmission comes in with a burst of static which causes Fawke to jump. Yeow! Phoenix, see if you can filter out some of that static or boost the speech wavelengths or something, and turn the volume down.

...

Thank you. Could you play that transmission back again?

Fawke listens to Morgan's rapid burst of words and shakes his head. He mentally establishes comm contact with her, and sighs.

Sunshine, if I shot like you talk, I'd overheat the reactor on this thing, and that's not even supposed to be possible. The only sport I've played is the one where I fly circles around those things you Terrans call mechas and shoot their arms and legs off one by one. Sadly, my bosses have decided that I can't play for a little while.

If you've got something important to say, my callsign is Phoenix, not "you guys." Until then.

Fawke closes down the comm link and massages his temples. These are the forces that have been giving us so much trouble?

Easy, Fawke... we came here to prevent a fight, not start one.

[Sir_Dude]

Alex Gunter

Alex leans over his controls, staring at the code for his music feed program. Can't find what I did wrong with it. Shows what I get for tampering with mil programing. Some of those safeties do serve a purpose after all. The screen changed abruptly to alert him of two short range comm bursts, one from Morgan's unit.

Hey, you picking something I'm not Morgan? Knew I should've requisitioned a better sensor package when I was back earthside."

[PhoeKun]

'Seto'

The mecha is an UEDF model, but its position is around where one would expect colonial forces, given the division between the two sides. Kneeling on the ground, the massive seems to have given up on the idea of finding a hiding spot.

"It's useless, anyway. They'll find us if they want to... Terran or not. But then, it's useless to worry, isn't it?"

There is no answer. There couldn't be; the man is not in an AI-equipped mecha.

"Do you think the Volte Foundation will be present at the negotiations? ...No, I guess not. They're not really involved in politics, I don't think."

The man sits in silence for a moment.

"We've talked enough. Resuming mission. Maintaining radio silence..."

[Callos_DeTerran]

Colonial Comm Channel

crackle

Attention, the negotiations are about to commence. All mechanized units are to maintain formation. In the event of an attack by the hostiles, defend the front entrance way until the ambassadors have made their escape. Once this has occurred make your way to the coordinates being fed into your units and rejoin the 31st Mechanized Division at Mars. We've also been notified that the jump gate that got us here has been activated by a remote source, so keep your eyes spaceward for potential contact. Keep an eye out for suspicious activity from the UEDF as well, treachery is their stock and trade.

crackle

As promised, a string of code was fed into the nav computers of the Colonial forces, pin-pointing the location of both the jump gate and that of the exit point.

UEDF Comm

Lt. Gunter, the freighter is fine, if something occurs then you will be notified of the relevant details like every other soldier. New orders have just been sent in from Command, the mine field placed is to be deactived until their use is required and all infantry are to pull into the base to await further orders. Upon enemy sightings fire first and we'll sort out the details later. Earth United.

Activity took started to take place as the various terran ground forces began to shuffle about on the gravity-less moon, moving towards the smaller entrances to the mining facility, doors not meant to allow for large machines to pass through.

As if to signal the start of the negotiations, the outside lights dimmed and turn off to leave the remaining troops and mechanized armor with only their own sources of illumination. Without fanfare the static that had been impeding communications was abruptly shut off, being too large of a beacon apparently to allow to be left on. Colonial militia, armed with rail guns and plasma pistols, began to move farther and farther afield from the entrance way in a growing ring.

[Karsh]

Fawke

Roger, command.

Phoenix, I want firing trajectories continually updated for the three nearest Terran mecha. I see this ending very badly.

Fawke glances to the right and left, double-checking his gatling laser and laser rifle attached to his mecha's arms.

I want those thrusters hot, too. We need to be ready to blow the hell out of here at a moment's notice. I know our orders are to guard the entrance, but I can do that better when I have the freedom to move. Plus, I'm here because they asked me to be. What're they gonna do?

Fawke...

Just do it, please.

[Sir_Dude]

Alex Gunter

Roger that, holding here until further orders. Have fun in there with the Colonials, I don't envy you there."

Alex leaned forward in his chair, sighing as he looked over the pages of programming script.

Hmm, simple solutions then... open channel "gunterfreeradio", frequency... oh I don't care, something we don't use... execute "music_appriciation_initiative" using that frequency... and done.

Alex leaned back again into a familiar pose, staring into the roof of the cockpit.

[PhoeKun]

'Seto'

"Understood. Continuing mission."

Seto switches off his comm line and sighs.

"Separate formations, separate orders, separate commands, separate positions, separate communications... shared mistrust. This battle, these Others... won't end this war.

They could, though. Nothing unites people like a common enemy.

And? We're still at each other's throats. Can you feel the tension in the air? I don't like this..."

[Karsh]

Fawke

Almost in reply to Seto's soliloquy, Fawke lets out a grunt and sits up. Phoenix, open up a comm-link to the UEDF forces.

Fawke, whatever it is you're going to say, I don't think--

DO IT!

As the comm link opens, Fawke stretches his arms.

You know, Terrans... I wouldn't be surprised if you all were responsible for these Others in the first place. You knew you were on the verge of being defeated by our forces, and so you found these Others to give you a convenient excuse to extend the hand of peace and negotiate a truce. You Terrans are all the same. You disgust me.

[Sir_Dude]

Alex Gunter

The colonial transmission comming over his music caught Alex completely by suprise. Snorting hard, he leans over to switch off the music program so he can better hear the rest. While listening in his biggest difficulty is stiffling back laughter so he could hear the rest of this guy's speech. It was very hard. Grinning wide, Alex switches his comm to that same frequency.

"Aww, that's too bad, 'cause we love you guys. Alex chuckles for a moment before continuing. Honestly though, you serious? Now come on and keep your eyes skyward instead of telling us funny stories. Meanwhile we'll be in here making sure you boys' envoys are safe 'n' sound. We clear?"

Shaking his head Alex switches back to the UEDF channel,

"Can you believe this guy? Heh, lets just hope they stay out there lest their crazy infect us all."

[Callos_DeTerran]

From both of the the comm. channels, a startlingly loud burst of static blares. You hear a soft scrabbling noise, then a loud thump, then a terrified voice whispering, interrupted by frequent, hitching breaths. The voice is disjointed, haunted, somehow, and you get the feeling that whoever is on the other end of the line is no longer wholly sane. Some part of them has been blasted away, and you get a disturbingly strong image of them, sitting alone under flickering lights, watching as the darkness slowly encroaches...

"They're coming... many, one, all the same, none alike.... eyes in the darkness... beyond the walls of space.... they come. It comes. God above forgive us for whatever we have done...."

The voice breaks off for a moment, and you hear a burst of laughter, a high, giggling pitch despite the rather deep, masculine tone of the voice on the other end of the line. The laughter seems muffled, somehow, whether the unknown speaker is stifling himself, or the source is something else, you cannot tell.

"No time... no time at all... God, why do the eyes stare like that. Why don't they blink, dammit?.... I... I... no.. no... I can hear them.... No time. No time at all."

After that, you hear nothing for a moment, then you can barely make out a quick, muttered prayer, garbled and half-muffled. Then the discharge of a standard-issue laser pistol. A soft, wet thump. Silence.

Suddenly, sensors begin to pick up... well.. something. Or somethings. There's no good way to describe it. Visual readouts show outlines in the stars. Vague shapes, too chaotic to be anything man-made. For some reason, you find yourselves grateful that all they are is outlines. You have a feeling that if you were to see whatever it is that's out there all that once, you'd regret it. As it is, the outlines are hideously suggestive, and what they suggest is... wrong. Trying to look at them is like trying to wrap your brain around a concept that human minds simply aren't built to understand. And the sensor readouts are just as bad. Every type of detection method from infrared to magnetic imaging simply fails, or goes haywire. Nothing is permanent. Everything is shifting... And slowly, as you look around, you realize that the shadows in the hanger are lengthening. They seem almost... hungry. The circles of light shrink, slowly being drawn into the shadow. And the parts that are already in shadow seem to develop a darkness that is not merely an absence of light, but its antithesis, a terrible, hungry shadow within shadows.

[King_of_GRiffins]

Morgan Tanner

Morgan turned off her out-going comm with a sigh. The colonist hated them, for good reasons, and now wasn't really the time to discuss it. She keeps her mech camouflaged on the ground before picking up something on her sensors, not to mention listening to the unsettling voice.

She opens her comm up again on a channel to all the mecha on the base, as well as the UEDF command. "Target is out six-four-eight meters and closing. I can't get a velocity in on that with my sensors, it's too.. funky. Alex, get ready to open fire and start a barrage strait up at those things, anyone else is free to join in at the same time."

With flare, her mecha jumps up from it's hiding spot, the stealth kit de-activating to show off a very bright pink mecha. It sticks out quite well against the surfaces pale brown and spaces deep black. Not to look completely out of place, the large plasma cannon on the left side, functioning as an entire arm, raises up, doubling the height of the machine.

Held preternaturally still, a wide arc of plasma ejects without sound or concussion in the environment at the oncoming enemies.


[roll1]; That be' Plasma damage.

[Karsh]

Fawke

Fawke's eyes widened as the familiar signal pinged on Phoenix's sensors.

Phoenix, open a comm link to all colonial forces!

Attention Colonial Militia. We have Others incoming. Targeting systems don't like them, so I hope you have experience aiming without assistance. We're going to have to coordinate attacks in order to fend these off... Divide and conquer won't work here. And make sure you don't get "accidentally" splashed by any Terrans. They'll be using this as an excuse to fire on us, so keep your eyes peeled.

Over and out.

[PhoeKun]

'Seto'

A quiet voice can be heard over a general comm line:

"Reconfirming mission: joint venture between Colonial and Terran forces. Objective: defend mining station HB-O343 from nemesis, codename: 'Others'.

...Target lock is negative. Manual targeting and melee combat is advised."

Seto's jet-black mecha stands up from its 'hiding' position, a bright blue blade of energy flaring to life on its right arm. The faceless head seems to stare at the Others, apparently waiting for orders... or for them to make the first move.

((some music to set the scene. (http://ocremix.dreamhosters.com/songs/ff7/MP3/1-02%20Big%20Giant%20Circles%20-%20Every%20Story%20Begins%20with%20a%20Name%20(Ope ning%20-%20Bombing%20Mission).mp3) Specifically, everything after 2:00.))

[Sir_Dude]

Alex Gunter

Alex cuts off the dying soldier's transmission, shuddering briefly. Well ****. He shifts his mecha from a crouched position and sets it running towards the docking bay doors.

Over the comm he replies back, "Roger that Morgan, I've got your back. Moving to your location. What are we looking at here?"

Relaying the message along the UEDF channel, "Command, we have report of hostiles outside the outer perimeter. Possible ID of Others. Currently I'm moving to support outer defense elements. Command, please advise."

[Callos_DeTerran]

The blast of plasma acted as a light in the darkness, exposing the nearby ground of the asteroid as it arced up towards those undefined shapes in the starry 'sky above. Some of the ground troops had retreated from their positions, moving closer to you for that instinctual sense of security that was so lacking in the present situation. Others...had not been quite so lucky. Moving pools of darkness about the size of single passenger hover cars had moved across the barren surface before to envelop those unlucky few who had failed to notice the silent and lethal attack. One by one the lights from the helmets of those who hadn't retreated winked out after giving final glimpses of thrashing limps and sucker-filled mouths latching hold as inky flesh washes over them. Here and there the bright flashes of railguns briefly were seen but they were few and far between.

Morgan's shot briefly had the same effect, highlighting a hideous mass of eyes and rubbery slimy flesh that invoked a stomach churning feeling in all who caught a glimpse of it before the shot exploded against the target. A second or two passed as she waited with baited breath to see if it had been effective before the creature above responded to the attack against it, a crackling lance of energy that made a cutting arc from 10 meters in front of the bright pink mecha to 10 meters behind her. The blast cracked asteroid stone beneath it and passed within inches of the mech, setting off warning alarms from the close proximity of the attack.

A hissing crackle breaks over the comm system. Short bursts of static, then a thump... faint cursing. Finally, a voice breaks over the speaker. To your surprise, given the circumstances, the voice -male, relatively young, though it's somewhat difficult to discern- is quite calm. Almost eerily so. Yet there is something present in his voice -or perhaps, something absent- that chills you to the quick.

"All sensors are dead. No visual, no auditory. Only comms. Don't know why. But I can hear them.... on the outside of the hull. Scraping, looking for a way in. Everyone else in my squad is dead.... Oh God but I pray they're dead. Please let them be dead. The way Fairchild screamed at the end... not sure about him...."

"The... the scraping on the outside just stopped.... but it.. they... aren't... isn't gone.. maybe it's looking for another way in. Maybe it found one. Either way, I found my service pistol... I dropped it... but I have it now. Thank God for that. Tell my parents I love them. I'm activating my self-destruct... And then., I've got my pistol. Just to be sure, you see. Squad leader O'Hara, out."

At that moment, the feed cuts out... and another one replaces it immediately. There are no words. And at first, there's nothing. Just dead air. Or perhaps something else... a sound that seems to eclipse sound. An Anti-noise. A silence so powerful that it swallows sound.

And then, a low, static hiss. Fairly constant, but with curious... irregularities that seem almost.. organic. Like a pulse. But nothing that any scientist, Terran or Colonist has ever documented ever had a pulse like that. And mixed in with it are other undertones... less identifiable, and you can't even be sure that you're hearing them... it seems like something that bypasses the crude flesh of the ear altogether, something that reaches down into the most primal layers of your brain and evokes raw, animal terror. Images flash through your mind -eyes in the dark. The soft breath of the preadtor as it draws near the place where you hide, cowering, impotent. And it knows. And you know it knows... and slowly, those eyes turn to look at you...

And you realize... the comm signal isn't coming from any recognizable channel. It's coming from what should be -what was, moments ago- empty space.

Almost as one your eyes are drawn to sensory equipment as it begins to bleat loudly. While the shapes above still didn't register, smaller ones had appeared out on the rock itself. Those of you who moved closer found yourself in the circle of light provided from the docking bay doors as numerous shapes appeared (9). Red lights flared out in the darkness and remained lighted as the shambling forms approached closer and closer to the remaining defenders. Several quick scans revealed the movement to be...mechanized armor units. Older models that were battle scarred and limped across the ground towards the light like creeper vines towards a rain forest canopy. None of them were as large as Phoenix, but each of them were had the general color scheme (If different colors) of Terran forces. A sickly yellow fluid leaked out from between the joints and out from underneath the plates of armor, the only other sharp color besides the red of the main viewing sensor...

"Close that hole quickly before something comes in through it! Hurry up with those plasma torches, seal any entrance to the rest of the facility! All forces, come in...enemy forces have infiltrated into the complex, we've lost contact with most of the outer units and with the hanger. Both the Secretary and the Admiral have been attacked but...their alive but we don't know what happened to them, we don't have any medical diagnostic equipment here to examine them."

Claws screeching against metal and shrieks of terror, the muffled thuds of combat and a piercing screech that makes your ears hurt.

"What the hell was that thing?! Close the damn door! Get Samuels out of the way before that thing takes off with the rest of his body and try to staunch the bleeding! Damn it all, wheres the rest of the infantry!? Mechanized units, keep the outside of the hanger clear of enemy forces and see why we can't contact the hanger. I think we can hold them off for the time being but we need to get the hell out of here!"

A panicked but steady voice of someone used to command, Fawke recognized the voice of Sergeant Coll from the Colonial defense forces, had come over the disturbing presence on the comms. While it had grown more frantic towards the end it had been the only one that hadn't terminated with the voice's owners death and it was offering much needed guidance to the troops outside.

Phoekun, your link unfortunately didn't work.

[Sir_Dude]

Alex Gunter

"Hello? This is Lieutenant Gunter of the UEDF. If whoever was just on can hear me, please respond and identify yourself. The docking bay is clear right now. There are hostiles outside, but they have not yet entered the docking bay. If you can make your way over here, we can keep you safe until evac. I repeat, this is Lieutenant Gunter, UEDF. The docking bay is safe."

Switching back to UEDF channels, Alex tries again to get through.

"Command, this is Lt. Gunter. I'm getting reports of hostiles both outside and within the mines. Please advise. Captain, are you there?"

[Karsh]

Fawke

Fawke sat in stony silence as the soldiers were killed; unable to do anything and well aware of it.

Phoenix.

Yes, Fawke?

If this is it... I mean, if we go down here... I just... You...

I know, Fawke. Now let's get to business.

Let's.

Sergeant Coll, this is Fawke Cordix. I'm currently topside. Most of the ground forces have been eliminated; reporting nine hostiles suitable for engagement; likely infested Terran units. It appears they can corrupt our mecha, Sergeant. You stay alive down there; I'll lay the doormat out here. Do you anticipate a possible dust-off?

The Phoenix's thrusters roar to life from their idling status as it launches into space. The gatling laser on Phoenix's left arm begins spinning faster and faster as the electric snap of cybernetic activity streaks across Fawke's brain. Instantly picking out the area of greatest effect, Fawke squeezes the trigger to the gatling gun, unleashing a shower of laser fire on as many of the corrupted mechas as possible.

Initiative: [roll0]
Autofire Attack Roll [roll1]
Damage [roll2]
DC 15 Reflex Save for half.

[PhoeKun]

'Seto'

"New target confirmed: corrupted Terran mechas. Target lock acquired. Commencing mission according to new parameters."

Without further hesitation, the jet-black mecha takes several steps forward as it brings its left arm - and the plasma cannon attached to it - to bear on the shambling, scarred troops before it. In another moment, a great burst of blue energy flies toward the advancing enemy; an explosive punctuation to Seto's mechanical sentences.


Initiative - [roll0]

Attack - Tsunami 280 Plasma Cannon - [roll1] (targeting nearest corrupted mecha)
Damage - [roll2]

...Sorry this took so long. let's try that song again... (http://www.last.fm/music/Big+Giant+Circles/_/Every+Story+Begins+with+a+Name+%28Opening+-+Bombing+Mission%29)

[King_of_GRiffins]

Morgan Tanner

"Mother..." she starts out her string of explicatives as the arc of energy circles around her, just barely missing. She types out two commands on her console quickly, shutting off the sound of the alarms.

Morgan quickly turns off her comm as soon as the pathetic voice of whomever sounded in her ears. Tough luck for them... she thinks as she starts up her own equally against regulations heavy metal rock music. She didn't want to attract the incoming force anymore than necessary to her, and the hanger needed protection from those oozing mecha. She started moving towards the hanger, firing twice at the infested terran-suits on her way.

"Hey Alex! Get off your comm and start shooting those mecha around the hanger."


Using 1 Action point for Heroic Surge, giving me an extra attack action after moving towards the hanger

[roll0]
[roll1]

[roll2]
[roll3]

[Callos_DeTerran]

Mercifully the comm seems to go silent with the return communication between the good Sgt. Coll and the defenders on the outside of the installation.

Copy that Fawke, retain distance if you can. Last thing we need is to try leaving and finding our own defenders trying to shot us out of space. If we try and leave at the moment, I'm pretty sure something is going to ripe us a new hole, but if I see the chance then we're making a break for the hanger. Will keep you advised.

Unfortunately, Gunter's words seem to fall on empty ears for his requests for orders go unanswered. Despite the lack of communication he still remembers something from the last UEDF command. The mines!

But then the battle was joined with savage intensity. While the ominous blots up in space seemed content to merely hover ominously above their opponents, the infested units did no such thing. Almost as one they pulled forth their weapons, the L38a Defensor Halberd igniting a bright white energy blade and rushed towards the defensive line that had been established and right into the oncoming fire. The Phoenix's fire plowed into their disorganized ranks, forcing at least four of them to stagger and slow to a halt with the yellow pus leaking from the minor wounds that they had sustained from the blasts. But when the bright blue bolt of energy erupted from Seto's cannon, it left a...larger mark in his preferred target, one of the ones stopped by the hail of fire from the larger Phoenix. Jarring it's footing and digging a deep blast hole in it's shoulder joint as the mechanized armor unit shuddered as if in pain.

Some quick relief came in the form of the pink mecha's fire as it swiftly approached the circle of light, completely bowling over it's target in much the same manner of Seto's blast with electrical arcs surrounding the damaged area of it's thrusters as it flailed desperately and righted itself.

Despite how...awkward the units seemed, they proved deadly enough as two closed with Seto and Fawke's each. Swinging wild blows that either missed entirely, or in the case of one from Fawke's foes, failed to penetrate the superior armor and alloys of the mecha. There was a great deal of force behind the blow, but the smaller mecha had barely even marred the surface of the Phoenix.

For future reference, all the infested suits shall be referred to as 1-9. For general sake of mind, gonna assume you were all aiming at different targets, cept Karsh who was just shooting at a square.. So...

1:-13
2:-45
3:-13
4:-13
5:
6:
7:-45
8:
9:

And all compiled with three misses from the infested units and one that didn't do enough damage to actually hurt.

[Sir_Dude]

Alex Gunter

Mines! Of course. Alex slaps himself in the forehead. Getting on the comm he replies,

"Negative Morgan, I've got a better idea."

Alex looked down at the console and cracked his knuckles before setting to work. Why the hell did we turn those off in the first place? Time to fix that mistake.

If computer use is needed to activate the mines:
[roll0]
Demolitions if it's useful (I don't know, timing or something)
[roll1]

And that should do it, now lets see some fireworks.

[Karsh]

Fawke Cordix

Copy that. I've engaged the hostiles and-- Can't talk, Sarge, gotta deal with this buddy of mine.

Any damage, Phoenix?

None, Fawke.

Fawke slams the thrusters into reverse, the engines roaring to life as he streaks backwards away from the enemy mechs, squeezing the trigger to his Typhoon laser cannon and sending an arc of crackling energy at the mech which had hit Phoenix.

Moving 60m away from the mechs, auto-success on tumble check vs. DC 15 to avoid AOOs. About 10 m away, Fawke fires with his Fly-By Attack ability.

Attack roll [roll0]
Damage roll [roll1]

[PhoeKun]

'Seto'

No more messages come from Seto's comm line as his mecha wheels around and slashes at one of the infested units with the blade on its right arm.

Within the cockpit, the pilot's deathly serious expression breaks into a wry smile...

Melee attack against one Mecha in range, targeting the most damaged unit (if any):

Attack: H42A Excalibur - [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[King_of_GRiffins]

Morgan Tanner

"That idea of yours had better involve blowing something up," Morgan barks back at Alex. If he wasn't going to do anything useful, her next request would be to serve as cover from any stray shots.

First things first before converting personnel to shields, she continues to target the oozing mecha. Her Armors thruster boots flare to life, propelling her off of the surface and quickly above their heads, aiming well between them before discharging a large cone of plasma at the mechanical monstrosities from the air.


Move action to 60 feet above the mecha (at 150ft a move, this should not be difficult), to cover as much ground with the 60ft cone as possible. Reflex save is 19 for half damage. She'll try to get as many of the mecha as possible without hitting any of her comrades.

[roll0]

[PhoeKun]

((if I bump this thread, will the game start back up? I hope so...))

[Callos_DeTerran]

A blast of light came from the mecha known as Phoenix as it skirted back away from the 'infested' units assaulting them, firing off a quick blast to deter the one that had hit him from following after. The quickly squeezed off blast of energy proved ill-aimed and swept past the menacing unit to no effect. Seto's assault proved more worthwhile as he whirled and slashed at one of the more heavily damaged units, cutting across the torso where the cockpit is usually located on older models.

Yellow pus spurted from the gap in the armor, and the man had a brief glimpse of what looked to be the dessicated body of man, safely squirreled away in a large cancerous looking tumor with purple tendrils attached to his temples, pulsing before the yellow ooze swept over the opening and obscured his sight. Crackles of blue electricity swarmed over the unit, sparks being thrown off into the void as the Armor staggered and stalled...

Gunter typed swiftly into the console, trying to gain access to the mines and using his technical savvy to try and work past firewalls meant to keep all but higher command from accessing them. Just when it seemed it'd almost let him in though a bright red warning message flashed across his screen and then something that was quick to anger.

Access Denied.

Rather swiftly, the pink mecha flew upwards above the asteroids surface and turned it's cannon facing down towards the tightly clustered grouping of foes. Waiting longer, to let the energy levels peak, she let loose a cone of burning plasma that engulfed all of the corrupted units, none of which seemed to try and get out of the way as normal pilots would. Instead they seemed more prone to...splitting up. Two of them leaped into the air after Morgan, swinging heavy blows with their energy axes that bucked the pilot around but proved unsuccessful in piercing the newer armor it had. Another two charged the so far immobile Gunter, who was slow to react against on of their attacks and was slashed across the right arm but otherwise unharmed. As if accepting the challenge Phoenix had presented, the smaller mecha charged after it's chosen foe, thrusters flaring out to propel it forward and add heavy momentum to a powerful downward cut that was easy to avoid, even for a big unit like Phoenix.

Likewise, another charged towards Seto to clash blades with his Excalibur, a soundless crash of energy as the two collided before it pushed the energy sword out of the way to weakly hammer at the torso. The last, the one Seto had slashed seemed unable to move for the moment, shuddering violently as if having a seizure and looking as if it'd fall apart at any moment. In the starry 'sky' above, one of the dark forms seemed to withdraw in on itself, condensing down smaller and smaller until it appeared almost solid, like a massive black pearl. What happened next was more then a little startling, it almost seemed to emit...a pulse of a noise. Hollow and wordless that hammered in on all who heard it, threatening to crack into your mind and feast upon what it would find inside of it...

2 stalls, 5 & 6 charge Morgan (Both hit but do no damage), 1 persues Phoenix (And misses), 8-9 attack Gunter (9 hits to no effect), 4 attacks Seto (Hits to no effect)

All of ye need to make a DC 20 will save. If you fail it then horrible memories and images overwhelm your character during the round imparting a -4 morale penalty on rolls.

1:-43
2:-104
3:-43
4:-43
5:-30
6:-30
7:-75
8:-30
9:-30

[Karsh]

Fawke Cordix

That... that noise... Fawke's hands shot up to the sides of his head, grabbing fist-fulls of hair while squeezing his eyes shut as hard as he could. Completely ineffective, of course; he could still "see" the entire cockpit, and his eyes weren't real to begin with. But his mind's eye was what he wanted to close.

There were... his parents. And blood... so much blood. It began filling up his escape pod; nowhere to escape. He reached for a shard of metal which had blown into the escape pod and rammed it into his eyes, trying to scour the image from his mind; to erase the sight of the approaching blood. But again, it did him no good... he was "special"... he could see without eyes. It was up to his shoulders and rapidly rising. Nowhere to go... nowhere to escape...

Fawke's eyes snapped open and he opened the throttle on his thrusters, drifting back 10 meters before shooting 50 meters straight up. His finger squeezed the trigger to his gatling gun, firing indiscriminately at the mech which had attacked him. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhh!!!!

Fawke, FAWKE! Calm down! Fawke!!!

Autofire targeting Mech 1. [roll0] vs. AC 10
[roll1] DC 15 Reflex for half.

[PhoeKun]

'Seto'

Space fills Seto's vision. If only it were just space. Scattered parts of destroyed mecha floated around, surrounded by thousands of droplets of blood. He could see each one clearly, despite their size. And somehow, he knew that he had known the men inside each of those ruined mecha. And then, a new vision: a child being dragged screaming from a young woman in her late teens; a woman who looked startlingly like Seto. She stared into the child's eyes for a moment before turning away and allowing several soldiers to escort the boy away.

Seto twitches under the noise, bringing his hands to his ears in a fruitless attempt to block that... noise. He opens his mouth to cry out, but no sound comes out. Instead, the noise suddenly stops, and he can hear a woman's gentle voice in his head:

"...Seto? That's what they're calling you now, isn't it? It's ok, Seto. You don't have to be afraid."

"Where? Who... who are you?"

The voice laughed. It was a gentle laugh, one that reminded him of a time he couldn't remember, a time before he was a pilot.

"I'm your guardian, Seto. Your Guardian Angel. So don't worry. Nothing will hurt you, as long as you don't stop fighting..."

With a flourish, Seto feints with his sword arm, whipping the plasma blade through the air as he takes a step back in his mecha and raises its left arm to level his cannon at both targets.

"Destruction of target unconfirmed. Switching to wide-aperture mode."

And with that, both of the assaulting mecha are engulfed in a blast of blue energy...

Tsunami 280 Plasma Cannon, burst setting. 20 foot radius blast dealing:

[roll0] plasma damage; Reflex DC 19 for half on both targets.

[Sir_Dude]

[roll0]
Doing this before my post so I can use the result.

[Sir_Dude]

Alex Gunter

Access Denied...

"No, no, no... damnit... Who the hell set up this system. I'm a Lieutenant and I STILL can't access this crap! I hate military hierarchy sometimes."

Alex rocked in his seat as the infested mecha's weapon impacts his mecha's arm. He backpedals quickly, evading the reach of the second. Out of time, can't try that again. Well here's hoping that military hierarchy pulls through for us. Alex flicks on his comm.

"If any UEDF Command can hear me, activate the minefield at first opportunity. Alert..."

Alex's voice trails off as he feels a cool breeze cross his bare face. He shivered as his entire body felt drained of heat. His ears ringed, and he though he could hear, something off in the distance, but it felt muffled. Mud caked his hair, and it seemed an odd time for it to occur to him that he should be wearing his helmet. Above him, a shadow silhouette blocked out the pale sky. "Keep with me soldier! Eyes on me! Up here, on me! ****, we're losing him. You there! Give me that box." Alex's eyes rolled over to the side to see another man carrying a metal case. The corpsman drew a long thin object, tested it, then jabbed it into Alex's arm. Alex began convulsing...

The sky was dark and filled with stars. The terrain was rocky. No breeze penetrated his insulated cockpit. What the hell was that? His eyes veered to the two mecha before him, moving in for the kill. Not going to happen you two. He flip his halberd into both of his mecha's hands, then set it's point facing the nearest one. Bracing himself, he lunged point first at his enemy...

"Lieutenant, can you believe it?" Eric shook his head, smiling. "They're giving me a special assignment too, heading out next week. Letting me pick my team, too." Alex looked at Eric for a moment, then nodded. Eric sighed, then shook his head again, "Thanks little brother, but no. I'm done. Been done for a year now, just had to wait for my tour to be up. By next week I'll be home taking care of mom. Best of luck, Alex. Look us up when you're tired of being a hero..."

Alex paused mid lunge, mouth agape. Get out of my head! Spinning, he brought the halberd into an arc aimed at the nearest infested mecha.

1d20+6
[roll1]

[Sir_Dude]

I guess the attack roll text doesn't like parenthesis. Here's another try. Still including the -4 for failed will save.
[roll0]

[King_of_GRiffins]

Morgan

For a split second, Morgans mind stood still as it reached into the deeper portions of her mind where all her inner fear resided. Sure, she's more than capable of keeping these zombie things at bay, but what about all of the creatures above her head? How could she get out of this alive? Would it even be possible? She was going to end up a corpse on a flying mudball; She could see herself on the ground now, her face contorted within her mecha just like on Saturn.

The events replay in her head, but her voice sounds inside her mecha as her reflexes take over and start flying further upwards and firing directly at the two zombies.

"We did it sir; All of the colonist have been defeated! We sure put that riot down real quick. Think it calls for a celebration?" she says, cheery in spirit yet monotone as she merely recalls it. The image of her commander plays in her mind, the face growing angry suddenly as she feels her whole body shake as if her mecha had just hit the floor.

"You stupid girl.... Celebrate once you clean up.", she hears echo without sympathy. Another face appears in her mind; The jaw hangs open, a small bit of saliva pouring out in morbid fashion. The remaining eye remains opening, looking on in horror as the other half of it's head has disappeared, removed clearly by the traced burn of a plasma gun.

"No... I didn't... Couldn't.. I know I did, but... I don't know him. He's the enemy, that makes it right, doesn't it? I... didn't want to.. I shouldn't have..."

"Your talking to yourself Morgan. Do you want me to automatically radio for medical assistance?"

"I'm a horrible murderer, aren't I?"

"I cannot render accurate judgment of character Morgan."

"You think so though, don't you?"

"I do not think."

"No, you don't...."

Moving upwards 150 feet, using fly-by attack and Heroic Surge (second and final time today, 1 action point) to shoot twice, once at each.

1d20+17-4
[roll0]

1d20+17-4
[roll1]

[King_of_GRiffins]

[roll0]
[roll1]

Roller doesn't like more than one adjustment variable....

[Callos_DeTerran]

Their resistance is strong...survival matters to the unclean.....but we will win this fight...it is only a matter of time..

Bright flashes of light came hurtling forth from Phoenix's weapon as it's pilot screamed out at an unknown malicious memory. The bolts of plasma burned through the armor of the 'infested' unit to leave deep scorch holes that went with the previous blasts on it. Another cone of plasma erupted forth from the pilot called Seto, sweeping over the placid unit and the one that had assaulted him. Both of them were engulfed by the wave of destructive energy, most of the paint burned away by the assault and cauterizing the 'wounds' made in the armor, turning the yellow pus black.

Gunter's own assault proved too wild and unbalanced to prove much good, an arm raised by his opponent blocking the blade while they both chopped at his Armor with their own energy axes. Leaving deep furrows in the hard alloy as the pilot was shook about in his cockpit. But then his own comm buzzed to life, briefly eclipsing that horrendous scream with a single message that helped to shake away the despair threatening to overwhelm his mind.

Acknowledged Lieutenant, I'm trying to access the minefield right now.

All of the UEDF radars lite up then as new signals came online, small dots of red on visual screens of the barren asteroid surface. Five...no ten....no more then that! Turned on spiraling about as they sought to detect signals...signals that could easily be provided by allied mecha. A flurry of melee strikes ensued as the infested units fought back against their foes, taking hits that better pilots could have avoided but levying heavy attacks in loo of defense...



2 stalls another round, 5 & 6 pursue Morgan but aren't quite fast enough to catch her, 1 assaults Phoenix (Hits for 26 damage, without hardness deducted), 8-9 assault Gunter( One hits for 19 but I think hardness handles that, and the other hits for 30, which I don't think hardness can handle all of), 4 attacks Seto and misses. 3 and 7 attack the hangar bay doors.

Another Will save but for different reasons this time.

Oh, and sorry about the lackluster DM post)

1: -56
2: -135
3: -43
4: -74
5: -30
6: -67
7: -75
8: -30
9: -30

[PhoeKun]

'Seto'

"Enemy units proving to be defensively superior for their model. Offensive capabilities well below expected parameters..."

Seto's grip tightens on the controls as his voice makes up for the lack of AI in his mecha. The infested units were holding up to more punishment than he had expected. But then, one seemed to be unable to move, which means that he needs to focus on the immediate threat...

Seto returns to his Excalibur energy sword, swinging in a wide, powerful arc at the unit still attacking him.

Attacking unit 4 -
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] slashing/plasma damage

By the way, there's no need to apologize for lackluster DM posts, Callos. For one thing, they happen. For another, this one isn't as bad as you think it is; the only real problem is that the word you were looking for is 'lieu'. Crazy French people. :smallamused:

[King_of_GRiffins]

Morgan

Morgan does a double take as the few tears that came from her eyes dry on her cheeks and nose. Something kept popping into her mind now as she kept dragging the two mecha following her away from the others, setting up for successive shots against the group one the two goons were down. She eyes up the mecha, their naturally disturbing color blends, their puss, what they inherently were now. Only one thought came to mind now as her next shot flew down"Unclean."


Shooting at #6, no movement this round

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Karsh]

Fawke Cordix

As the mech contacts its weapon with Phoenix's armor, Fawke hits his attitude thrusters in an attempt to allow the blow to glance off harmlessly. He then rockets further backwards and opens fire once more on the mech, aiming carefully with his Typhoon cannon.

[roll0] (If successful, damage is halved and negated by hardness)
[roll1]
[roll2]

[Sir_Dude]

Alex cursed as his halberd was knocked aside. Come on Alex, think! They're melee equiped, don't fight them on their terms. Alex pulls back his halberd one handed, then pivots on the mecha's left foot. A short half spin away from his attackers lines up the chain gun mounted on his right arm. Alex holds down the trigger and fires a volley of lasers at his attackers.

"5ft step" back and autofiring on the two mecha, assuming they're close enough together. Still counting -4 penalty.
[roll0]
[roll1]

[Callos_DeTerran]

Things were looking up, the shapes in the void above took no further action as the 'infected' mobilized armor units struggled to keep up or even harm your superior models. Only one of them proved successful as it's energy halberd crashed into Lt. Gunter's right armor, superficial damage if any, but the others seemed only to flail about uselessly as they were shot and hacked into.

Through half-glances, the UEDF forces can track the progress of the mines on their sensors as they approach the battle in front of the hangar doors. Without direction, the high yield explosives sought out any targets before deploying magnetic pads to attach to their target. An insidious weapon, the mines were not very large or dangerous by themselves, but when detonated together (As their programmed to do) they do cause quite a bang.

Which is exactly what they did in this case.

The asteroid itself shook under the force of the explosion, bright white light almost frying visual sensors as the mecha's were assaulted by the explosive potential the mines had unleashed. Warning red lights signaled quite clearly just how dangerous the explosion was...


In the aftermath, white noise was all that the usual sensors could convey, leaving you in the dark as to what the new asteroid scape showed. Where the enemies still on the ground after that terrific explosion or had they been reduced to rubble?

Then a voice came over both the Colonial and UEDF communication lines...

Mechanized units—what is your current status?

...Out of all the attacks, only one hits and thats on Gunter, for 22 damage without hardness subtracted. This is a big roll, no joke. I need each player to make a Reflex save, use action points to boost it, whatever defensive abilities that can be used, the shebang. The Save DC is (22) for HALF something like evasion negates the damage entirely. Debris clouds visual scanners but sensors not relying entirely on simple sight (such as ones specifically designed to detect other mecha or targeting systems) are frazzeled but will come back online this round.

Roll in the OOC thread, but if you FAIL the save I'll contact you by PM to tell you what happened.

[Karsh]

Fawke Cordix

As the mines exploded, Fawke's cybernetically enhanced body leapt into action, giving his mech's attitude thrusters a slight burn at the precise moment that the explosion would reach the Phoenix. Using the assaulting mech as cover and entering a spin, he managed to weather the blast with nary a scratch on his mecha.

Fawke flipped on the comlink.

"Fine, no thanks to those mines."

He flips it off once more and begins analyzing the data from what just happened.

"Phoenix, reboot the sensor systems to try and flush out all the feedback. I doubt this fight is over yet."

"Yes, Fawke."

[PhoeKun]

Seto

"...-erly damaged. Repeat: Unit IG-97 Custom is severely damaged. Main computer offline. Damage estimated at 90%... attempting to verify. Unable to confirm. Withdrawing from the battle..."

Seto's mecha groans in protest, dropping to its knees. Inside, Seto works furiously to clear the static out of what remains of his sensors, and get the units legs functioning.

"Don't worry, Seto. Everything will still be ok..."

[King_of_GRiffins]

Morgan Tanner

Morgan, though frazzled, stands her mecha up without much difficulty at all. She shakes he hair around out of her eyes and opens up the UEDF comm link with a tone that could kill at plant at ten paces underlying an otherwise civil tone. The explosion was Gunters fault; she could feel it in her gut. Maybe he didn't do anything directly, be he had to be the source...

"Gunter, while I know I asked for you to blow some stuff up, a fair warning to find cover would be appreciated. You understand, prior to our likely deaths the next time something like this happens."

The pilot sighs and turns the comm off for a moment. "Computer, what would our status be right now?"

"Total system evaluation in progress... Movement Systems, Functioning. Weapon Systems, Functioning. Scanners, under error. Attempting to fix.... Source not found, please refer to code two-zero-eight in the Armore..."

"Alright, stop talking now.", she says tersely, turning the comm back on. "Command, this is Morgan Tanner. I'm doing fine over here. A bit frayed but undamaged, though my sensors or a bit funky at the moment. Currently awaiting a chance to survey the current aftermath with sensors, but awaiting further orders."

[roll0]

[The_Snark]

The voice doesn't come back in for several seconds, possibly awaiting more acknowledgements; when they are not forthcoming, it continues. "Mechanized units, if you're out of combat, we could use an escort out of here. Can you get back inside the complex?"

[Sir_Dude]

Alex Gunter

The speakers inside Alex's cockpit beeped, alerting him to the new sensor contacts. On his sensor screen he saw a few at first, then many new readings all around them. He looked up from the sensor screen to see the mass of mines beginning to gravitate in the direction of the fray. Then he looked at the two very metallic enemies recklessly beating on his frame.

Oh, those kind of mines.

The dawning realization almost proved to be too late. Alex shifted the mecha into a full backpedal before shifting the heavy body around and running back towards the hanger. Looking down at his sensors, he saw the many sensor blips converging together. Mind racing, he jumped the mecha forward into a dive, skidding across the asteroid's surface. Then his screens went white. Even his sensors were unable to detect anything in the interference.

Alex stared at the ground through his front screen. A long moment passed before he flipped the computer to a diagnostic screen:
Minor armor penetration in the right and left arms. Left ankle joint registering small obstruction. Main gyroscopic stabilizer alignment shifted 5 degrees.

Stabalizer? That's annoying.

Alex shifted the arms underneath the mecha's bulk and lifted it off of the ground. He takes a moment to shift weight on the left ankle and move it around to clear whatever got inside. A great dust cloud dominated his screens.

Great, no visibility.

Morgan's voice came over the comm.

"Yeah sorry 'bout that Tanner. I called that in, but I wasn't the one who hit the trigger. Didn't know they had that model out here, really large lock on range. Either way, glad to hear you're still alive out there. What's your status? I can't see anything in this dust."

Alex picks up a second communication.

"This is Lt. Gunter, I hear you. We just set off a large explosive, waiting for the dust to clear. Can't confirm yet if we got them. So hang tight in there until we can see again. Don't open the hanger door until we can confirm the area is secure. Got that?"

[Callos_DeTerran]

With the welcome news that each of you have survived the blast caused by the mines, it was only a matter of time and patience to see if they had truly cleared away the last of the enemy on the asteroid surface or if perhaps some remained such as the ominous shapes in the space above. Soon enough the sensors had been rebooted to adjust to the various sources of static and a clear enough image could be made out from the various pilots.

The infected mecha seemed to have been wiped from the face of existence, but with the strength of the explosion that wasn't to be unexpected. Not a single one of them remained after the onslaught and the only sign they had even been was a splattering of infectious looking yellow slime smeared across the hangar bay doors. Doors which, thankfully, looked to be most intact except for a place or two where sharpenal had dug deeply into the reinforced surface. Of the blasphemous shapes that had assaulted your different psyches...there was only one cloud of darkness remaining. Smaller shreds of utter blackness drifted aimlessly, occasionally blotting out a pinprick that was a star, but the only one of any size looked to be rapidly retreating. It grew smaller and smaller as if folding inwards upon itself until it's very presence, or rather lack of one, disappeared from your sensors and with it the oppressive feeling of a crouched predator waiting in the shadows.

Unfortunately none of the mean on the surface, without mecha, seemed to have made it but it was difficult to know for sure since they had spread out to a fair distance and one couldn't know what exactly had happened to them.

[Sir_Dude]

Alex Gunter

"Alright, I think we can confirm most of the hostiles destroyed. Only one... retreated, I think. Anyways, I'm heading to the hanger door. You can open it up anytime now."

Alex's mecha walks towards the Morgan's unit.

"Ready to head out Morgan? Got someone waiting on us."

[The_Snark]

"We've lost contact with the hangar bay, Lieutenant," the voice returns grimly. There's a pause, as if the voice is conferring with someone else or thinking, and then she comes back online. "Can you make your way in another way? We'll have to send somebody out to the hangar if you can't."

[Karsh]

Fawke Cordix

"We could all try to pull the doors open... Who is this, anyways?"

[The_Snark]

"This is Dr. Brenda Wells, lieutenant." The voice clicks off for a moment, then comes back on. "If you can get the hangar bay doors open, do it. You'll have to pass through an airlock at some point afterwards, but there ought to be one the armor will fit through."

"The ore smelting chamber should be reachable by all the suits. If you can get to that, we'll meet you there with the ambassadors. Can you find your way there?"

[Karsh]

Fawke Cordix

"Well, Dr. Wells, I could try and hack the doors to open them. Is there an access point from outside? Or do you know of a password or somesuch that could get us in?

Phoenix, run a scan on the doors and see if you can come up with anything that would allow me to hack them."

If something is found, Fawke will attempt to hack the system and open the doors:

Assorted Computer Use checks, use as needed:
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]

[Sir_Dude]

Alex Gunter

"Alright, you try opening those doors. I'm going to check out the ore smelters. One of you come back me up, the other stay behind and give this guy cover. Keep in touch, I'll tell you guys what I find."

Alex begins to run off after the ore smelters.

"Doctor, what's been going on inside? We've gotten broken up comm chatter but besides that, we're in the dark out here."

[The_Snark]

"Negative. The only access point is on the inside. You'll either have to force the doors open, or we'll need to open it for you."

"I'm afraid we don't know much more than you, Lieutenant. We lost contact with the rest of the base just after the alarms went off. We've been holed up in the conference room since the initial assault here. Expect most of the base to be hostile territory."

[Sir_Dude]

Alex Gunter

"Alright, in that case hold your position. We are working on a solution to open the doors or gain entry through the smelters. I wouldn't want you people risking anyone to get over here."

[Karsh]

Fawke Cordix

"Are all you Earth forces daft, or is it just the contingent positioned here? The smelters will be deep within the base, not sitting around outside. We get inside, then we get to the smelters. Space is too cold; it would use up an insane amount of energy to keep a smelter running on the surface with no atmosphere. Our options are to hope that my hacking works, or we have to find some way to blast a door that withstood those mines you sicced on us open."

[PhoeKun]

Seto

After an indeterminate time of work, Seto's mecha at long last groans to life, stumbling for a moment before regaining it's balance and moving around normally.

"Mobility regained by sacrificing upper-body power supplies. Sword-arm non-functional. Limited capacity for Tsunami 280 Plasma Cannon remains. Sensors show intermittent functionality. Analysis complete: Unit IG-97 Custom deemed unfit for combat operations. Continuing mission due to extreme circumstances.

The black and charred mecha moves closer to Phoenix to act as a guard in some capacity while the hacking attempt takes place. His voice breaks over the intercom again, somewhat different than before:

"...Someone remind me to request an Evasion Chip implant after this mission."

[The_Snark]

"Lieutenant Cordix, there are no exterior access points, of any sort. The only way you'll be able to get the doors open from the outside is by force. If that won't work, we can open it from the inside; it just means the extraction will be slower."

[Sir_Dude]

Alex Gunter

"Look buddy, it's our base, and we know it a bit better than you. Now, I'm all for going through the hanger, but that all depends on if you get it open. And I really don't recommend blowing the door. Decompression sucks. The hanger may be able to handle it, but with the door leaking, we won't be able to reestablish pressure. So how is the whole opening thing coming?"

[Callos_DeTerran]

The first attempt to hack into the mining facility's computer system and open the doors proved un-successful to say the least. But on the second try the screen hesitated for a moment as if double-checking before the words Access Granted flashed across Fenix's vision and the hanger bay doors began to grind open.

Inside was a complete mess. One of the transports, it was impossible to tell which one looked as if it had been completely gutted. Numerous gaping holes in it's hull not only made it not space-worthy, but there was actual doubt about how it had held together this long in the first place. On the other hand the other transport looked as if it was encased in living amber, a roiling coppery covering that recoiled and began to fade away as the various mecha filtered into the expansive hangar. There were many parts to many different people strewn across the floor and hovering in the air, but whatever had done this seemed to have disappeared or traveled farther into asteroid. Perhaps most disturbing of all wasn't that people had been killed, but they had been mutilated as well in different fashions, no two fetishes exactly the same except that most of them were missing some or all of their skin.

As the good doctor had said though, there was a large airlock opposite of the massive hangar doors, not quite as big but accessible to the suits. Phoenix would need to squeeze in. The red emergency lights made it difficult to make out the color or tone of anything with any sort of accuracy, but the seal still seemed sound and not an Other was in sight...