Colony Galileo

[Aliceee]

Leonie Valkrich

North Bellsford, Zinc Road​

---

Leonie was surprisingly to say baffled. The AI - Prosper- approach to her didn't make her feel much better. Though neither bad, it was just that the woman wasn't sure how to react to the AI. She was even slight irritated that it called her ma'am. Though she had managed to recover from her dizziness, her irritation and bad taste in her mouth didn't make her mood that much better. "Just keep silent and watch for hostile movements." She half sneered to the AI. Normally she would be more friendly, but it was an AI. Then that meant that she wouldn't need to worry that it would turn against her, right? No, she had no time to think about such trivial matters. Whispering the lyrics of a song, she hoped that she could drive the thoughts away.

Noticing that there was an alien that offered his support, Leonie blinked once. Its name was Norb, but she wasn't sure if she should take the creature serious. It had something adorable, but the woman wasn't in the good mood to make jokes. She just wanted to get out of the mess. Glancing at the weapon that the alien, Norb, held up Leonie felt the need to kick it. Half closing her eyes, she would keep her foul mood in check. The mentioning of a plasma weapon after her last experience with such weaponry just didn't make it all better. "I doubt this will be a good day." She muttered underneath her breath as she glanced at her right to keep an eye on movement. If her 'luck' was going to keep going like it had been going on so far, then she wouldn't be surprised if the enemy forces would decide to use their current location as a dropping zone.

Instead of such a thing, something else happened. Glancing over her shoulder, Leonie listened to the man that introduced himself as Martello. Turning half around, Leonie tried to flash a smile as she would nod back to the man as he spoke to her : "We'll listen to any orders either of you have for us."
Wasn't that not just great? More people that put trust in her. No, it wasn't great. Not at all! Fuck, it was just making everything worse, Leonie reasoned in silence. They were going to listen to her ordering them around? Her heart skipped two beats as she realized what that meant. Biting her lower lip, she didn't want it. None of this shit. Where was dad? Was he okay? "Fucking hell man... I just want to go home now." Leonie thought to herself as she tried to keep her thoughts hidden and hold up a calm attitude. Whispering the lyrics of a song, in order to drive away the pestering thoughts that made her feel only more miserable, Leonie didn't care if it was really old-school music. "We fight to live, we live to fight. And tonight, you'll hear my battle cry. We live our lives on the frontlines. We're not afraid of the fast times"

Noticing that Nikolia was walking forwards, Leonie gave a short command to the militia to follow him. Her gaze moved briefly at the others. Hoping that they wouldn't give any trouble and provide help, Leonie wished that the leadership wasn't with her. It would've been so much easier to let somebody else deal with the responsibility. She had already enough on her mind! Silently following Nikolai, Leonie tried to stop thinking about home. Who could even say that she had still a home? Perhaps it was already de--

"Hm?" Stopping, Leonie listened to what radio of Nikolia told them. Lowering her rifle for a moment, the woman gritted her teeth. "Damn it..." Mumbling, Leonie narrowed her eyes. Eyeing the buildings, she thought of something. "Okay, listen up people... and others." Slight raising the volume of her voice, Leonie would turn half around to be able to look at most of the company. "I'd be willing to bet that if we don't back down. You and I will be the ones that are holding the victory at the end. When it's over, we can say, "Well done". But not yet, 'cause it's only begun. So, pick up, and fight with me, we're the only ones. To fight this thing, until we've won." Just as she ended her small speech, Leonie realized something. Had she just... Not important now!

Then the woman glanced first over at Martello. "You and seven others move up at that building. Try to keep cover and not expose yourself." Using her left arm to point at the building at the left. "Hold up and don't fire unless you see something suspicious." Her tone was calm and sounded confident, much to her own surprise as she didn't feel that confident.

"Five others and you," Leonie turned half around to glance at Prosper. She paused as she had already forgotten the AI's name, "try to blast any fuckers up. If possible try to draw their attention first as opening. Move up in the other building." Licking her lips, Leonie's voice gained a grim tone. "The rest? I suppose that we got to welcome them. Take cover and don't fire unless you get a clear shot or until shots are fired! Best if we don't need to get into a brawl because we wasted our ammunition. Get moving!" Leonie instructed.

Jogging to a vehicle, Leonie would crouch and press her back against it. Checking if her weapon was off safety, she wished that they had a sort of communication. The quick made tactic was just that she hoped that with the people and the AI in the building at her right would draw the first attention. Then those at the left could use hopefully an opening to finish some and she and the others on the street taking care of the others. As she seemed calm, her face was slowly losing color. "I wonder..."

Biting on her lower lip again, Leonie wondered if she should make a prayer. Hopefully dad was safe. And if he wasn't...
Then there was a fat chance she was going to meet him later. A thought that made her want to just give up. Biting harder, Leonie tried to focus on the current situation. "Okay, stay calm. Any moment..."

 

[Potatocat]

Prosper​

Prosper followed the group, scanning the surroundings in absolute silence as he had been told to until the group finally made it to the intersection and the liaison officer came of the radio informing them of incoming hostiles. Just as Prosper decided to begin giving tactical advice, Leonie order him and some of the militia to set up position in the rightmost building. He quickly made his way up to the third floor, carefully checking his corners as he found his way to a room with a window facing the Eastern road where supposedly the main Chrysalid force was approaching from. As he took up position, he looked around for any clothing, rugs, or even curtains. Finding a few scrapes and pieces he tied them around the barrel of his rifle, changing its profile. Grabbing a tattered curtain, he pulled it over himself into a makeshift cloak that he hoped would help conceal the shape of his head and shoulders. After finalizing his concealment, he took his position looking out the window, just far enough back that none of his equipment was sticking out of the window, hopefully making him much harder to see from outside. There he sat, sights trained out into the street scanning carefully for any movement, simply waiting. Perfectly still, perfectly quiet.​

 

[Ascendant]

North Bellsford, Super-Centre​

Max listened quietly to Tyson's information and relayed this to the Admiral, allowing the man to make the necessary decisions. While the obvious option was retreat considering the Admiral was far more than valuable than a handful of civilians, it seemed a few of the newcomers seem to express dissenting opinions at first. To them, he simply stayed quiet. As the Admiral himself had stated, this was no time for debate. With the threat of a firefight looming, you did what was necessary at that moment. The Sergeant retreated to the Admiral's rear towards the rappels, flipping the safety off on his railgun and preparing to lay down some suppressive fire in case they all had to take cover suddenly. Hopefully the Chrysalids would shoot the two newcomers or the civilians first. If they shot and slowed down Mellaran, Max would have little choice but to throw her over his shoulder and continue protecting their retreat, something he was fully prepared to do. What he would not do, however, is save either Libero or the police officer. If they were shot and immobilized, Max would simply leave them behind as bait to slow down the Chrysalids, as one was merely a machine and the other a coward.

However, before they began retreating, Max tossed the three standard issue INEF rifles to some of the civis hiding in the stores, declaring, "Those each have thirty round mags in them. Make good use of them if you have the skills." That said, he followed the Admiral and Mellaran.

Carrying:​

• M-47 Infantry Railgun; 25 Mags of 5.56mm Tungsten Slugs; 375 slugs remaining.
• His Dogtags
• Emergency Rations
• Combat Knife
• Dogtags of the Fallen (3)

 

[Seba]

[BCOLOR=transparent]East Bellsford, Convoy #4:[/BCOLOR] [BCOLOR=transparent]Caitlin[/BCOLOR]​

[BCOLOR=transparent]The communication over the radio left Caitlin silent. The anguish in the voice shook her core and turned her mouth into a tight line. She had heard voices like this day in and day out, but not like this. Not when it signified the future of so many lives. Caitlin kept her silence as the two men talked, letting things go through her head in their own time. Surely they didn’t have too long to think about the possibilities, but they did have long enough to at least make an informed opinion rather than rush into something on gut feelings. As far as she could tell, and she certainly wasn’t a tactician by any stretch of the imagination, there was no way to keep both convoys safe. Lives were going to be lost, and many of them would be lives of the innocent. Keeping the uncomfortable silence a few moments longer, Caitlin decided to break it with a soft sigh before speaking.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]“I don’t understand why we should risk ourselves for them when there is no certainty that we’ll give them any time and still have them on our tail. All that would happen is that we would be closer to the danger and therefore risk our own convoy’s chances. If the Chrysalids are this close, we need to get ourselves to the subway station as quickly as possible. I say we take to the alleyways so not only are we less likely to be seen, but we will have fewer fronts to protect. I’m no crack shot myself, but I’d like to think I could shoot in a straight line down an alley if need be.”[/BCOLOR] [BCOLOR=transparent]She ended up saying more than she had intended to, but also acknowledged she needed to convince people of her side.[/BCOLOR] [BCOLOR=transparent]“We can put those of us who are armed at the front and at the back. We keep our eyes and ears open so that those of us who can't fight can still survive. We have elders and children as well. You can't convince me that we have the right to sacrifice their chances of survival on a slim chance of saving a handful of lives.” [/BCOLOR]Caitlin could feel her stomach twist at the end. If her choice went through, Convoy Five be on her conscience for the rest of her life. The old and young would die because she was being... what? Practical? Or was it just selfish?

[BCOLOR=transparent]Now she paused to raise her voice and address the rest of the convoy, as leaving them in the dark wouldn’t do anyone any good, [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]“There is no easy way to think about these things, and we have to be prepared to fight for our right to survive. Those among us who are prepared to fight should prepare themselves. Call out now so we know our chances. If we move quickly and intelligently enough, I don’t see a reason why everyone in this convoy wouldn’t make it to see another day.”[/BCOLOR] [BCOLOR=transparent]Her face was flushed from this little speech, she wasn’t one to address crowds, and turned to face Ralph. [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]“I think your idea to toss the radio is still valid. If we could get someone large and strong enough,” [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]She turned her head to glance at Tharvax, [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]“We could give ourselves a vital head start on the bastards and maybe we distract them. If we threw it transmitting a call for help toward the fifth convoy, maybe the Chrysalids will think we're on our way and become distracted long enough for one person to survive. In any case, I don't want to keep something that someone could accidentally activate and lead them to us. Leaving the tank will keep us mobile, and we could not bring it with us into the subway in any case. It is better to get rid of it now, before it causes us trouble down the road.”[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]TL;DR: Caitlin says to leave Convoy Five to boost Convoy Four's chance of survival while being as sneaky as possible on the way to the subway. This means ditching the tank and pitching the activated radio as close to the other convoy as possible to perhaps trick the Chrysalids.[/BCOLOR]

 

[Jorick]

East Bellsford, Convoy #4 - Tharvax​

The grave news over the radio did not dampen Tharvax's spirits. He was used to unfortunate situations like this, and he had developed a very simple protocol for solving them: do that which will not leave you living with guilt. Unfortunately, it seemed the humans were not so inclined toward the honorable path. The tank commander and one of the women of the convoy both spoke up against aiding their fellows, preferring to save their own skins at the direct cost of others. Only Ralph, who was surprisingly bright despite his appearance, seemed to care about making the right choice. Tharvax inclined his head respectfully toward the man before speaking.

"I see only one among you, humans, who has the courage to lead well in this time of struggle. Any coward can flee and save his own hide, but it is a sign of greatness to risk oneself for others. I would follow Ralph's plan, to save the fifth convoy's vulnerable refugees, because to do otherwise would be selfish and cowardly. Though I may die today for such a choice, at least I will not suffer in torment and guilt for the rest of my days for making the foul choice." Tharvax looked to the tank commander and shook his head. "Formidable though you think your machine to be, I could tear it apart myself. Your Chrysalid nemeses seem to have little problem with them either. We would be better served with stealth to avoid a confrontation altogether. After all, your purpose should be to save as many lives as possible, not to throw your own and others away against a far superior force." He looked round the convoy, and once more he made an effort to comfort them with his intimidating presence. "I will go with the rear guard, just in case stealth is not enough."

North Bellsford, Zinc Road - Norb​

Norb observed the proceedings with curoiosity, particularly the civilian getting up on a car. Was it a human tradition to stand on residential transport vehicles in times of stress? That made two of them, so perhaps there was something to it. He would have to make a note of it later, and study it if he survived the Chrysalid invasion.

He followed the heavily armored human, Nikolai, northward and to the intersection. The message from the radio wasn't entirely clear to Norb, but he caught enough to understand that Chrysalid forces would be incoming shortly. Nikolai said something about fighting, but the end of his little speech was far more interesting. Norb looked to Leonie with a grin. "Candy? Norb like. Fuck crap, very good!" She seemed distracted though, and started shouting orders, so he figured she probably wouldn't be sharing any candy at the moment. He made a mental note to inquire again after the fight.

As far as he could understand the suggestions for troop placement, Norb was left to his own devices. He found a car near the center of the intersection that was small enough that he could effectively shoot over the hood down the eastern road, which was where he expected the enemy to come from based on his understanding of the radio message. He hunkered down behind it and called out to the others to let them know his intentions. "Ass! Norb will fight here! Melt much Chrysalid, show good fight."

TL;DR

Tharvax suggests following Ralphs plan and abandoning the tank, offers to be part of the rear guard.

Norb is staying down in the intersection to fight, taking cover behind a car and expecting enemies from the east.

 

[Holmishire]

Gwen Argalla
East Bellsford — Convoy #4​

---

Gwen wavered for a moment. She had spent years risking her life to save others—but now it wasn't just her life she would be risking. As the other woman had pointed out, they had children of their own to worry about.

"I agree with the big guy," She started. "Survival isn't enough, if it means sacrificing the soul to get there. It may be risky, but suicide it ain't—if we can help those folks in some way, I say we do it."

That said, she moved to one of the idle vehicles the convoy had pushed aside in its progress, tearing off on of the doors as a makeshift shield. She knew it would be nearly useless against Chrysalid tech, but it sure as hell made her feel a little more secure.

"Now ditch the tank and get in the alleys—I'll lead."[/hr]

 

[Kadaeux]

North Bellsford, Super-Centre:
Phillipe Mordante​

Phillipe moved with the Admiral, keeping close enough to benefit from the increased protection, after all, he was easily the Admirals equal in value, if not superior. Science would turn this around, not some fancy command skills. The panicked civilians weren't even apparently the problem.

No, some people were having problems with the ones who had armed themselves and chosen to defend their homes and property. "Leave them be. They've had the same basic training we all have." He said to Max. "If there isn't a few well stocked weapons shops nearby i'd be surprised."

He clutched his nanorifle with grim professionalism. "And lets get out of this death-trap. Because if you think the Chrysalid can't perform basic orbital mechanics and figure out where our pods landed we'll all be in for a rude surprise."

East Bellsford, Red Line:
Marcus De'Leveyan​

Marcus helped move tables to form a barricade as the local militia put their muscle into it. The work was hardly back-breaking, but the pace made it more stressful than it needed to be. As he settled in one of the tables to the barricade his wrist beeped. Turning it over he accessed the rover feed. His drone had acquired contacts.

"C'mon ladies and gents, it's showtime. The Chrysalid dancing troupe is on its way to put us down and dance on our bones. And hey, what the fuck do we know, we're only phillistines with no sense of artistic sense, so let's blow those fuckers back to the gods-damned hell that spawned em!" He said aloud for the benefit of the crowd. He knew there was no great place for a sniper perch in here. In fact there was likely no room to properly swing Carla for a kill in here at all. So keeping the rifle shouldered he prepared his M-95, the 30-06 rounds should be sufficient, and had a hell of a kick.

He covered himself with his stealth cloak and put himself somewhere inconspicuous and trained his weapon on their approach.

 

[K3l]

Ariel Abraham - North Bellsford, Zinc Road​

Chrysalid employing stealth maneuvers? Why couldn’t they have just been big and dumb? That probably would have made everything much easier for Ariel. An unsettling feeling swirled in her stomach the whole time, from the trip until now, but hearing that the Chrysalid could be coming from any direction took that feeling up to a hundred. She was nervous, and despite being that ‘typical punk bitch’, she was even a little scared. It wasn’t like she had faced a situation this big before. Sure, a few fists here and there, a few times where a knife had gotten involved, maybe a gun, and even that one time with the gum, ruler, and taser. Nothing of the likes of this though. Even with her three years of military service Ariel was mostly used to gain information, and now she was…Ariel let out a breath realizing she was surrounded by highly-trained–or maybe just trained combatants. She wasn’t sure, but she figured–hoped she would be safe with them around. She still had a sister to find and some parents to comfort.

As the barf queen began shouting orders, Ariel took that time to check out her pistol. Making sure the safety was off, making sure it was fully loaded, and she figured the silencer probably wasn’t needed. Things were good to go. Ariel looked at Leonie as she took covered against a vehicle. Seemed she was the leader of all this currently so Ariel figured if their enemies had telepaths then Leonie could possibly benefit from a psychic shield most. Ariel made her way to the vehicle and took cover as well. She focused on placing the psychic shield onto the mind of Leonie. After it finished, Ariel would then focus on building up psionic volleys in her mind. She wasn’t the best when it came to guns, but tampering with the mind she could do well.

tl;dr

Ariel takes cover; places psychic shield onto Leonie, then prepares psionic volleys.

• Psychic Shield: Ariel is able to place a shield onto a target’s mind giving them resistance to mental intrusion. Mind readers will probably hear static or a football game in the mind they’re trying to read; meanwhile other forms of mental intrusion will simply become more difficult to perform. (Unable to use telepathy abilities if used on self)
• Psionic Inundation: Ariel is able to project harmful psionic volleys at a target rendering them unconscious, although stronger minds may be harder to take down. If she pushes herself she could place weaker minds in a vegetative state. Certain targets may experience minor memory loss or brain damage upon waking.

 

[Helios]

Officer William McCormick
Super-Center

William stood by as he waited for response to his bantered advice. His only respondent was the sleek, mechanical figure of Libero. The AI gave what William took to be a rather bravado-filled spiel which he met with a soft head nod and slightly cracked grin. The robot would be a weird sort but in spite of himself, William felt a bit reassured by the figure's words. What this creature was and how he had ended up in Bellsford was a question for another time.

With the alpha clone referred to exclusively as "Sergeant" and the grizzled older man in the shiny threads doing their best to ignore him, William spent his time among the civilians as the pair plotted their actions. These people--the military escapees included--needed to clear this crash sight as soon as possible. Every passing second made him antsy. As William finished off makeshift papoose for a flustered mother, it became clear that the INEF members had been radioed to retreat. He found it odd his advise had fallen on deaf ears only to be decided on shortly thereafter. "Alphas," William mumbled to himself.

As the INEF blokes said their parting inspirations to the remaining Bellsfordians and offered spare supplies to their defense, William questioned his place in the equation. Clearly the man in the expensive uniform was of some level of importance. Clearly the others though it their duty to protect his travels. Clearly they were collectively uninterested in having a grungy street cop in their presence. For a second William was determined to stay with his people. He knew some of them if only in passing but at least it was some string of connection. Their loyalty was anchored to their businesses; it was everything that comprised the world they valued and they were willing to die for it. Were they not suppose to be his business, his world to protect?

William glanced over to the smallest of the INEF crew, a woman with frail features and irises like wildflowers. He assumed she may have been a beta-clone, a mystic bunch he had heard stories of on many monotonous patrol rides. There was something about her hands. Some kind of electric power she wielded in them like an old school comic strip. He couldn't remember the details. However, while those stories had always bothered him, this woman seemed more than a witch cooked up in a lab. She seemed rather human. A gentle human at that. It caught William slightly off guard when he saw sadness in her eyes at his earlier quips to clear the crash sight. He was not use to docile people in his line of work. The Department was a boys club. A rough boys club. Testosterone, adrenaline, and crude language flowed like scotch on the rocks. This woman was nothing like an alpha, nothing like him.

William felt his guard dissipate as he approached the beta-clone. "I don't know who you people are, and I don't expect you to tell me. All I need to know is, is this man," William gestured gently at the figure she had previously refereed to as Sir, "someone worth fighting to protect or am I better off staying here?"

Morgan glances back toward the police officer from earlier. She seemed tense, but given the situation, that was a very normal response. "That is the rear admiral of what was once the defensive fleet orbiting this planet. We stayed as some of the last to take to the escape pods. At this point, my duty is to keep him alive and do as he orders until we reach safety and a proper chain of command can be reestablished." She explained this in a rather plain tone, explaining how things worked to a civilian. Still, she kept a small smile on her face the whole time, maintaining an outward aura of friendliness and readiness."We're going to move out, I'm sure of it. You're free to join us, if you'd like. We're being directed to an evacuation area."

William felt his throat stop up at the news. A Rear Admiral? He had never seen one sleep on the dirt with him in his brief military stent, but it didn't take an educated man to know the significance of a flag officer. The man had been curt but it was now understandable given the circumstances. The general populace would go haywire if that news was on full broadcast. At best, the admiral would be at risk of captured citizens giving him up.

A solemn gaze was thrown at the men and women still standing to fight. William could not look at them for long. He knew this would be the last time he saw their faces. But perhaps saving this officer could keep the humans in the fight and save untold numbers of lives. At the very least, he was more likely to save his girl.

"I'm no mall cop so this place is news to me. But once we get outside, I know those streets. Maybe I can spare yous guy some time."

As the team began to egress, William took up place behind Morgan with rifle at full ready. A quick glance was tossed at Sergeant Max as he passed by coupled with a curious inspection of Libero. He made sure to give the admiral plenty of room, not knowing the formalities of his post and not wanting to look stupid in doing so. It was truly a strange fellowship.

 

[HerziQuerzi]

Laura Shima
East Bellsford - Red Line​

---

Nodding in response to both Keran's introduction and Commander Berry's orders, Laura turned on her radio while moving to inspect the blast door. The thing was heavy, and not intended for manual use. Hearing a break in the various transmissions, Laura quickly started to speak into the headset. "Private Shima speaking on behalf of Commander Berry," she started. Setting her shoulder against the edge of the door, she planted her feet and tried to push the door. Nothing. "Expect two more trains from the Red Line station. Prepare to close the tunnel after they're passed." Shutting the transmitter off, Laura looked over the door again.

"Keran," she called, "I need you and a few of your militia over here." Moving inside the power room, Laura planted one foot against the wall next to the door frame and fired her cybernetic hand at the blast door itself. "Push on three, and don't close me in here," she ordered before turning to Gilan and the young engineer. "You two can open it when the power is on and the train ready to go."

Double checking that she was solidly planted, loosening her shoulder, and preparing to activate her winch, she started to count up. "One. Two. Three."

 

[Goldmarble]

Kephart: East Bellsford - Redline​

The AI Heavy infantry acknowledged his orders, "Affirmative, Sir."

Trundling over to the door, after setting a table into place with his armatures, he spoke to his comrade, "Affirmative, on three." He braced the material handling devices against the massive door, and on her count, began to push. The lengths of rubber track he rode on, giving him immense traction for the task. The force being applied peaked, before sharply falling off, as the static friction was overcome. Quickly, Kephart slowed down, pacing the door's closure so that Laura Shima could get out before he, and the militia men got it closed tight, though unlocked.

With the task complete, he pivoted in place, and analyzed the space and defensive positions available. He moved over to the corner of the cafeteria wall, displacing a table, and angling himself to the wall, hiding his frontal armour against the wall, and exposing his side armour at a shallow angle, just enough to give him maximum firing coverage with turret mounted weapons. As he prepared, the armatures folded back to the sides of his turret, followed by the hard sounds of the armour panels locking back into place. The couple of militia members who had been using the table for cover, were given the order, "Use me for cover. I am stronger than the table. If I need to move, I will give you notice." Then, slightly louder to address all in the area, "Keep aware, do not move in front of your allies. Explicitly, do not enter my firing arc. The pressure wave of my main armament, can be damaging."

Then, he waited. His railgun was charged, and ready to fire, but it was to be saved for something that the coaxial armament could not deal with. To be honest, he wanted to leave the Station, and see if he could destroy one of the drop ships with his main gun. A desire he could not act upon.​

 

[Brovo]

"Retreat! Hiding will only get you killed!" -Sergeant Max, Page 1.

North Bellsford, Super-Centre​

Just as the group is about to move out, a small child is ushered out by an old couple, who then return to their shop. The small child wanders over to Libero, and looked terrified. "My grandparents told me to go with you." Morgan glances back at the child with concern. Still, there was no time to try and shove the child back--that would just spell her certain death, and there was no time to budge the grandparents from moving. "Stay in the middle with us and move fast, okay?" The child nods quickly. "What's your name?" Morgan asks gently, trying to keep the child calm. "Bao." Morgan nods, a faint smile on her face. "A good name. Now, stay in the middle, and keep your head down Bao."

The group is easily able to reach the food court in question without further interruption, though a mere minute or so after they got moving, they could hear gunfire behind them, along with the strange sound of what could only be presumably alien weaponry. About a hundred feet away, they could all see glass walls out into the city. Smoke was rising from the east, but the rappel system they needed was, indeed, in sight. A single glance at the system revealed that the power for it was out, though the rappel itself could be used manually since one simply had to hook onto it and go down from there. Unfortunately, that did mean that one would have to break the glass to get through, and from the looks of it, only two people could be rigged up and then start their descent at a time.

There was plenty of cover for them in this area, seeing as how it was a food court filled with tables, stands, and shops to take cover in. Before they could formulate another plan, the sound of a table moving caught the attention of Morgan. She turns and raises her rifle, only to spot a human being. She sighs in relief, and lowers her rifle. It was Dr Gaius Chernev: He had managed to get to the food court a couple minutes prior to their pods landing in the mall. Whether or not he was armed, however, Morgan wasn't able to discern, as additional sounds came from behind with Sergeant Max being the first to spot them.

There were seven, four-legged creatures approaching. They salivated, and looked akin to wolves, though barren of fur, with deep red and purple flesh. Muscle, tissue, and blood, with no hint of skin. Both Gaius and Libero would know that such a creature must live in eternal pain, and thus, any hope of putting them down would have to be done with killing shots exclusively. A pair of yellow eyes followed each movement by the group, and upon one spotting Ariston Tychon, it howled loudly enough to shake the glass near it, likely alerting others in the area that prey was nearby. One in particular seemed larger than the others: It was likely the leader. It growls lowly, and the others momentarily stop rather than immediately charge in. It was possible they were waiting for reinforcements to swarm the group with, and didn't understand that the group possessed ranged weaponry, as none of them moved for cover. They were, however, not far from the group, and judging by the sheer size of their muscles, they could likely close that gap very quickly if they wished.

North Bellsford, Zinc Road​

Leonie's orders were followed to the letter as Nikolai chuckled and walked over to a nearby truck. He sets up his LMG, using the back of the truck as leverage so he could fire while standing, rather than trying to fire underneath all the vehicles or hip-fire his LMG. He notices Leonie's uncertainty, and shakes his head. "No point worrying. Your orders are fine. If they were really stupid, I'd have overridden them. Focus on the fight now, and you can piss and moan to your superiors about scary old Nikolai later." He was calm, and in spite of his words, his tone was friendly enough. Perhaps even a little too friendly, as he seemed entirely unphased with the upcoming fight.

A minute passed, and aside from the sound of distant combat, there was nothing.

Then, Prosper would notice something moving in the distance, down the east road, having already started moving among some of the vehicles. The occasional hint was revealed to him with his vast level of intelligence, as he perceived pieces of the environment occasionally moving unnaturally. He takes a few shots, and one manages to connect with a target, sending it falling over dead as its cloaking field fails. It was wearing black and yellow armour head-to-toe, and was a short humanoid, no taller than five feet. They were within a hundred feet of the militia and the others on the ground, but there was no way to see where they were aside from the occasional piece of environment being disturbed when they passed by it. They were fighting invisible enemies: Who knew how many, or how well armed they were. The group's radios come to life, as Martello's panicked voice comes through. "What do we do?! How can we fight an enemy we can't see!"

Nikolai sighs and pulls out a pair of grenades. He pulls the pins on both and tosses them, one after the other, into the area where the enemy was. Pink smoke erupted from the canisters and quickly flooded the area, obscuring their vision from fifty feet on down the east road from the perspective of the ground teams. Six figures pop out of the smoke, coated in a pink substance which revealed their figures in spite of their invisibility: The smoke had a physical property, and it seems the enemy didn't notice until Norb fired and hit one straight in the torso. The plasma cleanly melted through its armour and left the unpleasant smell of burning paint and flesh in the air. The rest dove for cover behind the vehicles about forty feet away from the group on the ground.

Beyond, in the distance, Prosper would spot something moving. It looked like it might be a vehicle, but he couldn't determine if it was friend or foe at that distance.

Nikolai starts firing to try and pin down one or two of them, laughing heartily. "Not a certain leader, but surely, a fighter, no?!" He taunts Leonie and Ariel, again in a friendly manner, though an accent was showing. He may have even been putting it on for fun.

East Bellsford, Red Line​

Keran complies and helps to close the power room blast door, along with a couple of her fellow squad mates. They then return to taking cover, waiting for the enemy to come to them. A few minutes pass of sheer, unending, unnerving silence. Marcus then notices a blast of plasma materialize from seemingly nowhere, hurdling straight at his drone and destroying it. Berry reacts with confusion before the sound of footsteps coming down the subway stairs caught his attention. Everyone raised their rifles and got ready to fight. Still, there was nothing.

Then, from behind the group, from the direction of the cafeteria, a few bullets ran out and shredded through an enemy, wearing yellow-black armour. It appears from thin air as the bullets hit it, sending it collapsing onto the ground, before it could fire at and kill a couple of nearby veteran militia. Berry glances back, and there, was standing Finnergen, with a standard rifle. "Welcome to the party, but how did you know it was there?" Berry asks with confusion. Finnergen wouldn't really be able to answer other than with intuition. Besides that, the group would feel the ground shake a little, as something large started to proceed down the steps. Glancing up at it, Berry would see a massive, fleshy creature, akin to a gorilla, though without fur. It was covered over with armoured plating, though there were small cracks and chinks in its armour. "OPEN FIRE!" Berry orders, as he raises his rifle...

East Bellsford, Convoy #4​

Ralph looked with dismay as there were mixed opinions within the group about what to do. It was one thing to justify them risking their lives if they were united, but, otherwise... Ralph sighs. He glances at Caitlin, and shakes his head. "Not even Tharvax could throw it far enough. Still... It's the thought that counts, I guess. Ma'am." He had a disappointed tone, but it wasn't particularly unfriendly. He hops out of Quentin's truck and motions for the civilians to follow him. When they look at him with confusion, Ralph starts quickly going over what hand signs meant what, so that everyone would be on the same page.

Meanwhile, the tank commander ordered his crew out of it. He sighed as he patted it lightly. "You did well, old friend." He mutters quietly to himself as he slides out of his tank, taking his rifle with him. With Gwen leading, the group quietly starts moving through the alleyways. The buildings around them were abandoned entirely, no sign of human life anywhere near or within them. They moved through undisturbed, until Quentin's drones once again spotted something ahead of them. They reached a corner in the alleyway, where they had to turn left in order to reach the Red Line station, however, there were a couple of strange animals ripping into human corpses. They were certainly not local wildlife, and the very strange lack of skin on the wolf-like creatures implied that they served the Chrysalids. With Gwen at the corner, she's easily able to relay this information to the group.

The tank commander motions for the civilians to stop, and looks around at those who agreed to help Ralph keep them under control. "We should go around them. It'll take longer, but, we'll remain undetected that way." Ralph interjects, pulling out one of his canisters of nanites. "Nuh uh. We can't afford to keep delaying. There's no guarantee that the subway station has even held out this long, and you want to delay? What if we encounter more of... Whatever, those things are." Both Quentin and Caitlin would be able to detect that he was withholding information: He knew more about those creatures than he was letting on, though whether he would share more if challenged was questionable. "Just sneak me up through these abandoned buildings. Get me near them and my nanites can kill them swiftly and silently... Trust me. I know you didn't with the radio plan, and I get that, but... Please. Trust me on this. We don't have time to waste tromping about with elderly and children in the rear. They wouldn't survive a trek on foot to Central City, we need that subway station..."

 

[K3l]

Leonie Valkrich

North Bellsford, Zinc Road
- Music I used for this post. -​

---

With Prosper doing his task right away, Leonie let out a soft sigh. Her morale was still considerable low, evident in her whole body language for anybody who had some profiency in knowing what shaking hands and a trembling lower lip meant. This was after all going to be her first gunfight. Sure, she had been trained for this. But what was training compared to a situation that were it was do or die. Or had she it wrong? Leonie's thoughts were disturbed as she noticed a strange fleeting feeling passing by. It was just a second after another person - Ariel - would take position next to her. Licking her lips, Leonie wanted to ask the name of the other. How poetic, fighting and dying together with somebody who's name you didn't know. Just fighting to the death with a person who you had seen once, never talked to before and then together in the dirt trying to survive. Her father would laugh his ass off if he could hear her thoughts. Glancing at the other person, Leonie spoke up : "Leonie, what is your name?" It was a question asked in a crude manner, but this wasn't surely a situation for fancy formalities. "Ariel," the other woman replied in a hasty yet equally crude manner before she chuckled, her voice low, "the woman who just tampered with your mind." Ariel looked over and winked. "But more in the protective way instead of the creepy invading your privacy sorta way." The response made Leonie frown, but she decided to not react on it. Not now, cause it wasn't the time for bickering about what she would or wouldn't like people to do with her head...

A small smile was brought up as Leonie heard at least one person being enthusiastic. The small alien that kept talking in third person, made Leonie wonder why she wasn't trying to act at least with more confident? If a small pipsqueak could bring that up, why couldn't she? "Yeah. fuck this shit!" Gritting her teeth, Leonie's grip on her rifle tightened. It was time to make a switch and make sure that those invading scumbags would know that they had come to wrong neighborhood.

Hearing a friendly tone, Leonie glanced at the source of the voice. "No point worrying. Your orders are fine. If they were really stupid, I'd have overridden them. Focus on the fight now, and you can piss and moan to your superiors about scary old Nikolai later." His tone was friendly and helped Leonie to feel better. Only by a tad. Still pressing her back against the vehicle, Leonie wondered if she should thank the man or remain silent. Then a thought came up that made her speak up. "Thanks." She meant it, but it was more for the reason that she wondered what else would've been her last word before she would die. 'Get Moving' was hardly something she considered as a good last sentence before dying in a gruesome manner.

With the minute passing by, Leonie half closed her eyes. Any moment--

Hearing the fire exchange, Leonie remained firmly in her place. Her plan was still the same. If shit would go down, then screw it. She hadn't sign up to die. She was one of the soldiers who wasn't in service to fight for glory of a name, the state or humankind. With the radio coming alive, Leonie frowned.

"What do we do?! How can we fight an enemy we can't see!"

The question made Leonie's face move into grimace. She wanted to tell Nikolai that he should say that they should get their head stuck out off their ass and stop complaining, they just had to try. But as she was about to shout that they should just else try to lit the surrounding on fire, Nikolai threw a grenade. Already Leonie's right had moved to grab one of her own grenades. Throwing it over the vehicle, she grabbed her rifle. Waiting, she wouldn't attempt to shoot right away.

 

[Goldmarble]

Kephart: East Bellsford - Redline​

Kephart saw this creature, this monstrosity, fairly up close as it descended the stairs. It was massive,and its "skin" seemed to be composed of thick slabs of the yellow and black armour, while beneath almost appeared to be nothing but muscle. It did not concern him greatly as the railgun twitched in movement, targeting the center of the beast's chest. The sound of the anti-tank railgun was unlike any of the other armaments; there was a concussive blast, but not from chemical propellant, but from the friction of the projectile tearing the air apart at a velocity exceeding mach seven. At this close range, the sabot around the heavy tungsten pentrator would have little time, or distance to separate far, nor still, whatever was left of the armature, turning the hypervelocity anti-vehicle weapon, into a hyper-velocity shotgun, of immense power. Beyond that, was the shockwave of of the gun firing, all of the air that was inside of the barrel being nearly instantly displaced, heating and expanding outwards.

Kephart did not lie; it could be deadly to be within the frontal arc of the gun, when he fired, even if a person was not hit any solid projectile.

As the gun reset from firing, another round was loaded into the gun, and rammed home by a pneumatic punch, before the breech closed one more, and twisted itself into the locked position. The drone of the cooling fans rose a bit more, as they compensated for the added heat load of charging the capacitor bank once more. It would take a moment to charge the weapon, but he still had his co-axial machinegun in reserve, if the beast, somehow, survived.

​

 

[Ascendant]

North Bellsford, Super-Centre​

​

Taking up the rear as ordered, Max was to the first to spot the enemy. The wolf-being's lack of ranged weaponry meant the group had little need to take cover at the moment, so the Sergeant simply stopped in his tracks. Bringing his railgun's butt to his shoulder, the man called to the rest of his comrades, "Contact, rear! The Admiral needs to rappel down first! I'll suppress the enemy!" While his railgun wasn't built specifically for suppression, it was still well within Max's capabilities to lay down effective, sustained fire. Taking a moment to settle his sights on the largest beast's center of mass and let his ballistic guidance assist his aim just a bit, though at this distance, it was hardly needed. Then, he pulled the trigger, sending two consecutive slugs flying at the apparent leader in the hopes that its death or serious wounding would cause the rest to break and scatter. Whether or not they broke didn't matter to Max as he begin firing a round every half second at the various bodies, expending ten rounds trying to keep them at bay. He could do little more at the moment than this, while hoping the admiral got away.

Carrying:​

• M-47 Infantry Railgun; 25 Mags of 5.56mm Tungsten Slugs; 364 slugs remaining.
• His Dogtags
• Emergency Rations
• Combat Knife
• Dogtags of the Fallen (3)

 

[Holmishire]

Gwen Argalla
East Bellsford — Convoy #4​

---

Her conscience ill at ease after the group had apparently decided to abandon dozens of others to death, Gwen was only feeling more resolute in her desire to protect those who were left—even if it included the self-minded cowards among them. That being said, the sight of those beasts creeped her right the hell out. There was no way she was going to charge in there and fight them up close of her own volition.

Thankfully, other options were made available.

"If these nanites can do what you say, I'm all for it. Anything in your way, I'll get out of your way, but don't bet on me being any good for fighting."[/hr]

 

[Seba]

[BCOLOR=#000000]East Bellsford, Convoy #4: [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=#000000]Caitilin[/BCOLOR]​

[BCOLOR=#000000]While not everyone agreed with her opinion on the course of action, and even she was still questioning it, at least they were making progress now. Unfortunately it wasn’t as much progress as she would have liked. When they stopped she felt her stomach lurch in guilt. If they were about to be attacked it was all her damned fault. There were other ways to go. Perhaps faster. Already she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing, though there was something behind her, not that she would have any way of knowing. Now there was another decision to be made, and frankly Caitlin felt like hanging to the rear of it, however; it was clear to her that Ralph wasn’t being as helpful as he had been previously. There was something more.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=#000000]“[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=#000000]Before you expect me to make a decision, I want to know more of what you know. You have more experience in this area than I do. Don’t offend us by withholding information.[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=#000000]” It was clear that Caitlin wasn’t someone who took disrespect lightly, and her brow furrowed a moment later, “[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=#000000]Please. I won’t trust someone who lies through omission. This isn’t a time for egos or shame.[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=#000000]”[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=#000000]“Ah... I can’t really share that information. It’s classified. Just know that you can trust me.” Ralph looked nervously back to Caitlin. It was clear from the expression on his face that he didn’t desire to share in this situation.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=#000000]Caitlin was quiet, then let out a soft sigh and shrugged. “[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=#000000]Then I suppose you definitely know more than me. Using the nanites would be the most [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=#000000]informed[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=#000000] option. How should we get you closer?[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=#000000]”[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=#000000]“Through the buildings on the side? I don’t know, I’m not exactly... The stealthy sort.” He bites his lip and looks at the canisters in his bag. “Just get me close enough... In one of the buildings adjacent those creatures, and I will be able to sneak them in.”[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=#000000]At this point, Caitlin figured she should do something to help the group and prove she wasn’t completely yellow bellied. Plus, this way no one else was risking themselves but her and the original volunteer. “[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=#000000]Neither am I, but I think out of the lot of us I have the best shot. I’ll lead you to where you need to go.[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=#000000]”[/BCOLOR]

 

[Jorick]

East Bellsford, Convoy #4 - Tharvax​

Tharvax was greatly displeased by the cowardly actions of his companions, but he bore it in silence. The decision was made, the other convoy was consigned to death by the fear and weakness of their fellow humans, and there was no use trying to argue about it now. He walked along at the back of the pack, keeping an eye out behind him for anything coming after them, but nothing came from that direction.

When the group stopped, he moved forward to get a quick look at the creatures blocking their path and to listen to the others deliberate over their choices. This time around it seemed they were favoring the bold path, but again their motivation seemed to be self-interest rather than the good of the whole. That was a trait present in most species Tharvax had encountered in his life, but rarely so strongly as in humans. Still, motives aside, he couldn't fault them for making this choice wisely. He voiced his agreement in near whisper, trying to make sure his booming voice did not carry to the creatures. ”I am not built for stealth, but I approve of this nanite plan. I will watch over the group and these creatures, and should they catch you out before you can set your plan in motion I will be ready to run in and join the fight.”

North Bellsford, Zinc Road – Norb​

”Cunt!” Norb's celebratory shout was full of an innocent pleasure that was not usually associated with the word being shouted, but he was not aware of the oddity so it didn't phase him. One of the once-invisible enemies was already on the ground with a plasma burn running through its remains, and Norb intended to see a few more before the day was done. He rose quickly from his crouch to look over the hood of his defensive car, picking out the nearest of the pink things, taking aim for a moment, and firing twice before ducking back down again to avoid any retaliatory fire. Small target though he was, he was not fool enough to keep his head out there where the bad guys could take their time to aim at him. Norb gave it two breaths worth of waiting time, then readied himself to lean out around the front bumper of the car to do the same thing again, intending to surprise anyone who'd been waiting to shoot him when he looked up over the hood again to fire.

TL;DR

Tharvax agrees with Ralph's new plan and will be ready to run in and crab claw clamp some skinless wolf things if they fuck up the stealth part of it.

Norb is shooting at an enemy, then ducking for cover and preparing to shoot again.

 

[Snakey]

Quentin Brant in East Bellsford, Convoy #4​

The convoy had made the right decision. There was no telling if the other convoy would even be alive by the time they had got to them, and with the sheer amount of old codgers in tow it lowered that even further. Despite this Quentin couldn't help but feel slightly responsible for the likely deaths of dozens. Though like his companions he held his opinion in silence. What he didn't regret was his bug drones, the little bastards had already proven useful once and they proved themselves a second time in quick order. This time in the form of spotting creepy, fleshy hell hound creatures that infested the alleys. Ralph's response to the beasties was strange, though the man himself had proven incredibly strange already, the whole faking-an-accent-for-no-apparent-reason thing didn't exactly scream normal.

Quent waited for Ralph's exchange with the medic woman before butting in with his own plan. "How about I and pants-on-fire here go, I'm a little more versed in the whole sneaky-beaky sort of thing and besides-" He tapped at his open eyeball, "I have vision on my side, if something fucks up we can fuck off right quick. Whacha think Ralphie?"

"Whatever works best." Ralph replies quietly, glancing back to the medic. "Maybe the three of us should go together?"

Quentin shot a quick look at the medic and shrugged. "I guess, if she's as bad as sneaking as she says it might make our trip a little difficult, but hell, what's the fun in life without a little risk?"

 

[Potatocat]

Prosper
​

With his rifle still raised to his shoulder, Prosper slowly moved to train his sights on one of the newly exposed creatures hiding behind the cars. With being at such a high angle he had a rather clean shot. He took aim and slowly squeezed the trigger letting out a short controlled burst of fire at one of the six stealth units. He then slowly pulled away from the window. He had already taken two shots from the same location, and even though he was certain he was well concealed he knew that it would not take long for his enemies to locate him. He ran about the building to find another window looking over the main street where the enemy troops were, setting up as he had at the previous window.​