Troopers In Armor: Vampire Virus

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Paza snapped a quick salute to the commander before heading toward the pods, checking his suit and gear en route.

He slipped into the nearest pod and began his pre launch checklist. "Systems green, guys. I'm ready to go when you are. When we hit planetside, I'll take point. Check your comms on this frequency for my link."
 
With a "let's get rolling" kind of grunt, Brahl turned, heading towards the pod bay with purpose and speed. As he passed through the briefing room door, he uttered a command to his hunter armor. "Engage process 1, with hud display option and regularly updated statistic variables." His suit responded immediately, engaging his full face mask. Within the visor, a display of his vitals, ammunition supply, oxygen capacity, exterior pressure and kill count appeared. His breath fogged up the lense for a moment, before his environmental stabalizer kicked in, filtering out his emitted CO2.

Over his com link, Brahl heard Paza's pre launch update. "Affirmative." he said, his voice clearly translated over the air waves. "I'll keep the 6 locked up, and provide pre enrty sweeps." Entering a custom made 'Deetrit friendly' pod, Brahl settled in, strapping his large frame securely with the seat harness. Flicking some switches, he primed the pod and nodded to himself. "All clear for launch."
 
Once it was all good, Corbin followed them before getting in her own.
Corbin activated her helmet microphone, broadcasting to active team channels. Luckily, since the main mission hand restarted, in theory, no one was using the team channels.
"This is Lieutenant Durazo, commander of fireteam delta-echo-alpha-delta, requesting for my Zerath, Vargoth and other two or three I didn't even count humans to get in your speed pods. I'm hitting the vacuum to prep all of them externally for a landing"
With that, she got into a compression unit that shut a gigantic door behind her. Then the room she was in was vacuumed of all it's air. Finally, the airlock opened and she went around the side of the hull, waving at an engineer as she activated the pods of her teammates. It was a few simple commands, but the manual use made sure that a pod couldn't be stolen unless the whole squad was in on it. After activating around ten, a few extras in the case of a malfunction, she went back to the airlock and the process reversed.
"Okay, when everyone is in their pod and ready it can be used to launch onto the planet. Everything is good to go, manual override is off" She said with a certain air of calmness and honesty.
 
Joe was back in his quarters when the alerts came through that they were leaving now. He did his last suit and weapons checks, then settled his helmet into place and let it seal closed with a faint hiss. Better or worse, they were going now, and he was going to have to accept that they were probably going to die. Somehow he thought that thought settled easier with him than with some others, but there was nothing for it now. Whatever happened, he knew that he would condemn himself on that godforsaken planet if it meant getting Zersiphine home. Unlike him, she would actually have people waiting for her.

He met with her just outside the pod room, where most of the others were already getting in. Suited up, they couldn't really see each other's faces, but Joe stayed by her side until the lid of her pod hissed shut, and made sure she was safe before he moved to get into one of the empty pods himself. Once inside, he opened a secure comm channel just to her.

"Stay calm and breathe, Zers." He said, voice steady and even, as if unworried. "Your wits are stronger than mine."

She was breathing a little unsteadily, the weight of the mission pushing down on her, but Zersiphine mustered the energy to go through a few mental exercises and calm herself down. "Peace and safety be with you, Joseph."

He huffed a faint laugh, and knew she would understand it wasn't an insult to her people's customary well wishes. "And safety and peace be with you, Zers. I'll see you planetside."

That was all they could say to each other. Joe switched over to the frequency the others were using and settled in after his own final diagnostics. "Lancaster reporting. Zersiphine and I are in place and ready to launch." They knew the game plan, what little there was of it. Until there were better options, they would just have to follow orders.
 
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Climbing into his pod, Grayson strapped himself in to his seat. Checking to make sure his gun was on safety, he secured it next too him before flicking some switches. "Clear too head out." ​
 
As his commanding officer requested, Steve made is way to the engine room. The speed pods were always a bit rough for him, but it was the best way down. Powering on his suit, he felt the comfort rise as it kept him at a cool temperature. I little custom feature added in by himself. leaning back into one of the pods, Steve strapped himself in. "Ready to go," he stated as he braced himself.
 
"Prepare yourself for launch. In three...two....one"
The ride was miserable from the get go. As the ship was going through the spacial slipstream, the pods had to accelerate through acceleration. It took roughy thirty seconds before the massive ship was simply outrun by the smaller vehicles, which were chugging with gigantic plasma coil motors that were accelerating the pod beyond the speed of light. The inside of the pod often was shaky, and anything loose bounced around. It was a teeth chattering experience that made a roller coaster seem like a kids ride.
After ten minutes of travel, the pods began to heat up.
"We are in the atmosphere! Everyone brace!" and seconds later, everyone crashed. Luckily, the pods landed as they were supposed to- right side up or upside down.
"Im getting green signs across the board from all of you. Exit pods and begin a parameter secure routine. Paza, coordinates say you should go North from your pod. We landed inside a canyon, so watch your step people. Infected could be in those crevices or a bad hole could cause you to get a broken bone." Corbin said, kicking off her speed pod door.
She got on a knee, noticing a curious infected- one that wasn't attacking. Just watching them. However, as soon as she aimed her rifle at it, it ran off.
"Mission Dossier updated- my helmet took a picture of a new infected type...designated as stalkers until told otherwise. Appear to be scared by staring at them...these infected appear sentient"
 
The ride was bumpy and uncomfortable and Joe nearly got hit in the faceplate by his own gun when it slipped a bit, but his pod landed upside down, but safe. He ejected the door, then toppled out to land on his feet and then his ass, and got up without bothering to dust himself off.

"What do you mean 'sentient', Commander?" Joe asked, tensely, even as he headed over to Zersiphine's pod to assist her in getting out. She didn't really need the help, but she accepted it anyway, and Joe watched the surrounding area with gun drawn as everyone started making their way into the group. "Infected are brain fever crazed bodies, not active minds." It made no sense.
 
"Prepare yourself for launch. In three...two....one"


images


Soundtrack for the drop




"Let's cook these eggs!!!" Brahl shouted jubilantly, gripping the stability handles within his pod tightly, anticipation causing his muscles to tense. With a muffled boom, the jarring vibration of the launch shook him to his core, causing his jaws to clack together. In an instant, he was rocketing through space, and plummeting towards the god forsaken planet that was their objective. Adrenaline was already pumping through his system as he thought of the task ahead. Glancing out of the tiny viewing window to his right, Brahl could see his flaming slip stream, as well as a seemingly endless stream of stars and space debris. A look of wonder passed over his features. It was moments like these that made him love his job. The high pitched whistle of acceleration screamed around the drop vessel, drowning out all other sound. Ambient heat began filling the small space in which the Deetrit sat within moments, causing him to dry up like a raisin. A small fire extinguishing canister came loose from it's housing after a particularly rough bit of turbulence, pelting Brahl in the shoulder.


"We are in the atmosphere! Everyone brace!"


The slightest tingle of nervousness worked its way down Brahl's spine as he heard these words. The pre-game was over; now came the main event. With startling force, the Deetrits pod slammed upside down into the planet's terrain, causing Brahl to be yanked violently in his seat harness. Thankfully, he was made of fairly tough stuff. Looking around him on impact, Brahl saw the metal housing of the pod crumple just a bit. He inhaled, and then exhaled, relieved that he hadn't been smashed to bits.


"Im getting green signs across the board from all of you. Exit pods and begin a parameter secure routine. Paza, coordinates say you should go North from your pod. We landed inside a canyon, so watch your step people. Infected could be in those crevices or a bad hole could cause you to get a broken bone."


Snarling a bit, Brahl curled up his fist and punched the door off of his space pod. It rocketed off with force, careening out into a vast and alien looking landscape. Sighing and unbuckling his harness, Brahl stepped out onto the strange terrain, boots crunching over scattered rocks and dry, hard earth. He scanned his surroundings, taking in every little detail. The looming walls of the canyon bordered him on either side, casting deep and foreboding shadows on all that he could see. Lifting up his wrist communicator, Brahl patched in to the group channel.

"Everyone hanging in alright?"
 
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"Well, it ran away after I looked at it...I don't mean it tried to find a different route to get down here, it just ran away...fuck this. Paza, get going North. I don't like us being stuck in the middle of a canyon. " Corbin kept her rifle up...the area was quiet. In fact, the silence was defeating. Dust swept through the canyon in a good rust of wind, but no infected around. By her feet were inch tall plants...she found it strange that life could exist on the planet. She remembered seeing patches of green across the planet view she was given, but she assumed it was an anomaly, not vegetation.
After hearing Brahl call out, she responded.
"Im okay" she called out over her radio...
 
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As the pod flew towards the planet, he felt his stomach drop as they entered the atmosphere. Feeling the pod heat up he shut his eyes and prayed for the best. Feeling the pod make contact and skid, he swore. Feeling it stop he gave off a nervous laugh and uttered "Thank God." Unstrapping himself and his gun, he kicked open the sideways pod and climbed out. Stretching quickly, he jogged towards the rest of the group and called out too Corbin "Hey boss, the rest of the squad good?" he nodded too the rest of the squad outside of their pod.​
 
"Yeah, it seems everyone is good...minor bruises and cuts but I'm sure everyone is just okay. No concussions..." she said, watching the canyon tops and in dark holes- very cautious. The amount of curiosity from local infected was...baffling. Usually they would come sprinting to a loud noise.
 
"Paza, northbound," Paza chatted into his comm, hefting his rifle as he made his way out of the space pod and into the canyon. He trekked ahead of his team in surprising silence despite the armor he wore. As he maneuvered around the uncertain footing of the canyon, his vision was obstructed by the rocky outcroppings from the canyon wall and and angle of the sun's glare. If the infected were hiding, he was not in a good position to spot them before they spotted him.

He was about a quarter mile ahead of his team when he knelt by an errant boulder large enough to serve as cover, pulled a flat, circular device from a belt pouch, and laid it on the ground while pressing a button on top. Instantly, a visual topographic representation of the nearby area appeared on a small screen on his gauntlet. Green blips marked his team mates and himself, while red blips marked unidentified moving targets.

The circular device - a motion tracker - had only a sweep radius of a few hundred meters, enough to get a good lay of the land as well as get a decent position on most man-sized or larger targets. He frowned when he saw just how many red blips there were and on just how many different elevations. He deactivated the tracker and slipped it back into his pouch.

"Commander, we've got unidentified silhouettes on multiple elevations on both sides of the canyon. I picked up about a dozen in my area alone. Recommend sticking close to the canyon wall to avoid flanking and provide cover. I am proceeding northward." He stood and made his way out, keeping an eye above.
 
"Copy that, don't go more than half a mile from us. If we have too, we'll just catch up with you. Squad, pick a canyon wall to hug" She said, crouching up against the reddish brown canyon wall. As she did so, she looked across on top of the other canyon, but didn't see anything of much visual value that was worth watching....at least for now, anyway
 
"Copy that." Joe said, at the instruction and the information, and he and Zersiphene moved to a wall a bit away from Corbin. "Zers, you watch out, I watch up." If there was a wall, there was always a chance someone was looking over. All angles needed to be covered.
 
As Corbin studied the terrain, she saw another of the Stalkers...staring at them....
"Another of the stalkers up there...watching us....it's like it's trying to figure out what we are...shit, the fuckers don't have eyes!"
 
Paza maintained his distance from the team, keeping an eye out for the stalkers while keeping out of sight behind the foliage and rocky terrain. He would occasionally lay down the motion tracker device and re-scan his surroundings, thereby staying abreast of possible hostiles. The most recent time he activated the tracker, he noticed the signal being jammed, a common reaction to the presence of certain dense metals, such as those located near a mining facility or military installation.

Paza pocketed the tracker and pulled out a pair of multi-vision binoculars, kneeling behind a large boulder and zooming in on a structure he saw in the general direction of the jamming effect.

"There you are," he murmured.

A mining platform was in a large valley at the base of the canyon. Judging by the wear and tear, it had seen better days. No guards or personnel seemed to be out and about, but neither could he see any infected wandering on the loose. But that was just on the exterior; who knew what was inside the facility itself?

"This must be our target." He flipped open his comm. "Paza. Commander, I've found the facility. Its a city-sized mining rig, looks abandoned. There's too much dense material here for the motion tracker to get any decent readings, but I don't see any infected or civilians out here." He looked around again and confirmed what he suspected. "There's a narrow path leading down the canyon wall to the base of the mining rig, but it'll leave us wide open to attack. I don't see any other easy way down there, not unless you want to go rappelling, and that would just leave us even more open."
 
"Understood- we'll keep an eye open and go through the geological choke hold. I'd say it was built there for that reason- the infected would funnel into machine gun fire. In theory. Alright, hug the walls and let's move up to Paza" Corbin said, begining her own advance while scanning the area visually, rifle placed firmly in her shoulder.
It seemed mostly desolate other than the one or two stalkers that would watch them and then disappear upon being spotted...they seemed to be just curious or thinking more than anything.
 
Joe's trigger finger itched to rest in place, but for now he kept it away. After a quick nod to Zersiphine, he let her go ahead of him, and she changed to looking up while he kept an eye on their flank and behind. "What the order, Commander? You want us to scare them off?" He wasn't sure if firing at them would make them leave, or bring a storm of them down on their heads.
 
"Ignore them until they advance or do something with mal intent " she said, eyeing them closely. They seemed purely curious...and it was so strange given the typical nature of the infected.
 
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