Rungholt

Then a horn sounded, as the two hours were up. Everyone who was still bartering or preparing was rushing to the PCC, including Astrid, Jagoda, Tera and Gard. It got a bit tight for a few minutes, as the recruits tried to get inside, but after a while, they all stepped into the dark, cold aircraft.

There weren't any seats available. Instead the recruits had to maneuver their suits into mounting supports, which clacked around their shoulders and kept them in place. In between those was a small hallway, with stairs leading to the lower and upper decks. The group managed to find a place closer together, so conversation was possible. Inside it was pretty dreary. The PCC had been designed with efficiency in mind, not comfort, so there weren't any windows or ways to really entertain oneself.

Still, there were certainly a few interesting things happening. Like the exo-suits of the others, which could now be closer examined. Gard wore a medium-sized suit, with some decent armor-plating and a sharp-looking helmet, with a red-glowing visor. On his elbows and back he got rocket-exhausts, that boosted his suits mobility, and attached to his back was a long spear, with a heavy pistol as secondary weapon on his hip. The whole armor was painted black.

Then there were others like the Admin-girls from the bus, who wore some light suits, with matching red and gold paintjobs. The suits were pretty formfitting and had little in the way of defenses. The blonde one had a single, large optic visor in the middle of her helmet, that resembled an eye. She also had antennae sticking out like ears on both sides, with her right arm being outfitted with some form of calculator. Little in the way of weaponry, too, as she wielded only a sub-machine gun on her hip. The redhead, by contrast, had a massive rifle attached to her back, whose barrel reached over her head. Her helmet had no visor, beyond the simple view-slit and her feet were enlargened, with a spike on her heels that could be driven into the ground for stabilization.

And lastly there was Marko-X, whose heavy exo-suit was as rough and functional as his owner. He had put his helmet on, which resembled a thick rectangular box, covered in armor-plates. Similar to the rest of his suit, which was outfitted with much thicker plating than any other suit. His arms had two chainsaws attached to the wrists and on his shoulder was a small grenade-launcher. Next to him was another heavy exo-suit, which curiously enough was painted pink and had a red ribbon attached to the left arm. It was also about a head smaller than him, which made the massive gatling-cannon holstered on the back look a bit out of place. This suit too had stablization-spikes and the legs generally were outfitted with struts and heavy plating, as well. The helmet of that suit opened up with a pneumatic hiss and revealed the nervous pig-hybrid girl from earlier, who brushed a few brown curls out of her sweaty face.

Then a low humming started and the floor vibrated, as the heavy enginge of the PCC began to start up. The intercomm crackled as the pilot ordered everyone to stand still and in their supports. Then the aircraft began to be lifted up to the runway above them. They couldn't see it, but they could hear the platform and the machinery groaning as it pushed the heavy aircraft upwards, with the ceiling opening to the open sky beyond. Then they heard the sound of rain peppering the outside and the wind blasting by. The pilot talked back and forth with the tower, before finally getting the permission for lift off.

With a heavy jolt, the PCC lifted up, as the anti-grav drive kicked in and caused the several hundred ton heavy behemoth to rise up into the air. Then the enginge kicked and the recruits were rattled in their supports, as the entire aircraft jumped forward and flew. Leaving the runways of the Horngard and the bustling, safe city of Rungholt behind.

Tera

Cold. Clammy. Crowded.

Tera suppressed a shiver as he entered the carrier. There was so little space, and so many people, and a knot was starting to form in his stomach. He cut ahead of everyone else, hoping to get out of the crowd as soon as possible.

That's when he saw Marko. Or, rather, his Exo-Suit. Which Marko was wearing, so it was still Marko. He was talking to a woman just a few inches shorter than he was wearing a yellow suit with what looked like a giant shell on the back.

The woman's helmet was off, revealing incredibly pale skin, long, wild red hair, and a relaxed grin that seemed completely at odds with the situation. Tera was about to move into the mounting support when he noticed something else about her. Tiny marks on her face, where if you squinted, you could see wires.

The other android.

Tera walked over to both of them. "Hello," he said, waving.

Both of them jolted and looked towards him. Marko let out a sigh and removed his helmet. "Hey," he said, voice flat.

"Wait," the woman said, looking back and forth between the two. "You two know each other?"

Tera nodded. "We talked."

"For, like, a minute," Marko muttered.

"I haven't seen any other androids before coming here," Tera said, stepping closer to both of them. "My name is Tera. It's nice to meet you."

A pause.

Then, the woman shrugged. "Ah, well, you seem fine. I'm Vega-S. Youngest android I know." She grinned and pointed to herself. "Forty-two and still on point!"

"Actually," Marko interjected, "you aren't the youngest android you know." He pointed to Tera. "He's three."

Vega's brow furrowed. "Three? What do you— oh!" She laughed. "Now I see it. Thought he was human at first."

Tera was about to thank her when she said, "How long until he's ambushed in some dark alley for his parts?"

Tera jolted, stepping back from both of them. "W-Wait, that happens?! Why would anyone do that?! I-I don't want to be ambushed and pulled apart! That's horrible! Is that something that usually...happens..."

His voice died out. Almost everyone in the aircraft was staring at him, looking incredibly confused. Marko's eyebrow was raised, his expression as deadpan as one could get, while Vega was bent over with her hand over her mouth, shoulders shaking with silent laughter.

Tera ducked his head down, quickly shoved on his helmet, and moved to the mounting support. Suddenly, he wanted nothing more than to disappear.

Edited by LilyTheLitten on Jul 8th 2020 at 9:32:49 AM

Jagoda

She saw Tera's distress from where she still sat with Astrid and Gard. She wanted to talk strategy with the group, but she knew the android would need comforting before he would be able to focus. She got up and started to force her way across the crowded aircraft, many soft "excuse me"s and "sorry"s drifting up in her wake.

She had almost reached the mounting strut where Tera had bunkered himself when she found her path blocked by a pig-hybrid who refused to move aside. Most pigs were huge and broad, built like the animals they resembled. This one was barely taller than Jagoda herself, and scrawny. As if to offset this, he was wearing a Heavy suit with massive armor plating resembling nothing so much as a walking tank. He offered his metal-clad hand. "Dagfinn Colbysson," he said. In contrast to his appearance, his voice was rich and smooth and friendly, and Jagoda immediately felt at ease. She took his hand and shook it firmly. "Jagoda Sobczak," she replied. "A pleasure, but my friend is-"

"I will only take a moment of your time," Dagfinn assured her. He took off his oversized helmet, revealing short, blunt tusks, a snoutish nose, and - incongruously - long, flowing black hair that, honestly, Jagoda was a little jealous of. Truly a creature of contrasts, she mused.

Dagfinn looked her in the eye and continued. "I observed your group gathering in the hall and boarding the craft. I note that you have speed, stealth, and power, but lack anyone who could take more than a few solid hits. I'd much prefer to touch down with a reliable team on my side, and you could benefit from my suit's abilities - they're focused on defense and drawing enemy fire. I see an opportunity for all of us to benefit."

Jagoda glanced back over at Gard and Astrid. "Naturally, you will want to discuss it with your team," Dagfinn said. "I was hoping I could approach them with your approval, at least; it would make for a stronger case."

Jagoda pondered for a moment. The pig seemed friendly, but she didn't entirely trust that seductive voice. He also seemed very pragmatic, and while that could be a good thing, she couldn't be certain of his reliability if he saw an opportunity for advancement at their expense. Still... I suppose he wouldn't have been approved for that suit if they didn't trust him to use it properly, and that means he really is committed to protecting others.

Jagoda made up her mind. "Alright. Go talk to Gard and Astrid. Tell them I'm okay with working with you, if they are. I'll bring Tera back over in a few minutes."

Dagfinn clapped her on the shoulder. There was a clink as his mailed hand tapped her suit's biostrut. "Many thanks. I look forward to discussing tactics with you." He proceeded off towards the other hybrids, his massive suit easily clearing a path through the crowd, and Jagoda slipped across the final few feet to Tera's strut. She put a hand on his shoulder. "You alright?" she asked gently.

Edited by ChloeJessica on Jul 10th 2020 at 3:21:10 AM

The coffin-like feel of Judah Reborn was only worse upon getting loaded into a PCC. Really more of a mausoleum here. Astrid was certainly interested in getting a lay of everyone else's suit, but Gard's wasn't remotely surprising. She'd call it edgy if her own wasn't a similarly grim tool for murder. She kept the indoor atmospherics clocked up a little higher just to keep cool, a little trick her brothers taught her from their own office jobs. You could divert maybe five percent extra power from any source into atmospherics without a noticeable decline in performance, but a highly noticeable uptick in airflow.

Looked like some other people weren't handling it as well. Judah Reborn's rounded edges and density were designed to cut through crowds though; Astrid noticed the rest of her improvised team gathering, and without so much as a word strode over to them too. She tapped her visor as she got closer to lower the visor and reveal her face.

"See we've gotten some new blood. Pleasure. Nice brick, happy to see I won't be the only one taking fire for these chuckleheads." She extended a gauntlet for Dagfinn to shake. "I'm gonna skip asking though, Tera: you're gonna wanna put, say, 5% extra power into your atmospherics or however your suit puts air in your lungs and your face. I dunno if your kind even need to breathe, but do it and feel some wind in your face."

Tera

Tera ducked down as someone approached him—it took him a few moments to realize it was Jagoda. "Oh, um..."

Well, it would be best to be honest. "No, I'm embarrassed. Vega—" He pointed to the android, who grinned and waved at Jagoda "—made a joke I didn't get and I overreacted and everyone stared at me and I hated it and I'm ranting, I'm sorry."

He pulled off his helmet at Astrid's suggestion and sighed, running his hand through hair that had already become messy. "I don't need to breathe. But thank you." At least I know that much.

And then he noticed the pig-hybrid. A friend of Jagoda's? Making friends seemed to come easily to them. "Hello," Tera said, waving despite his poor mood.

Edited by LilyTheLitten on Jul 10th 2020 at 3:29:00 AM

Dagfinn shook Astrids hand. "Nice to meet you. Looks like you got a merry band together already.", he noted, looking at Tera, Jagoda and Gard. The wolfs-hybrid looked a bit more suspicious, his eyes trailing over the heavy exo-suit.

"What suit is that actually?", he asked. "Never seen that model." He had a point. Dagfinns exo-suit was certainly a unique design. The armor-plates were wide among his limbs, looking more like small shields around his legs and arms. They were sloped, too. He looked more like someone stuck triangles and rectangles all over his front. Behind the plates, one could see metal cords in the shape of artificial muscle. On his hips were two axes and he sported a heavy pistol as well.

The pig scratched his cheek and smiled a bit proudly. "No wonder you don't know that one. Its called the Bjarki-Variant from the Red-Erik model. Its a new suit.", he explained showing off his armor. "Pretty much untested in real combat, so I'm excited to see how it performs."

Gard raised an eyebrow. One could see he was impressed, but also wary. "Ablative plates?", he asked, pointing at the rectangles. Dagfinn nodded. "Can be re-attached after a firefight. As the suit loses armor, it gets faster and stronger. So can tank for the first half of the fight, while I close the distance and then rip into the enemy after that."

The wolf whistled. "Pretty neat. Lets hope it works as intended. Personally, I prefer the tried and true.", he commented. Dagfinn nodded. "You have a Hagen, right? Certainly a classic, especially with the spear. Got the Mk. I or the Mk. V?"

"Mk. V. Can handle the speed a bit better and doesn't waste so much weight on ammunition and secondary weaponry."

As the two continue to discuss the pros and cons of their exo-suits, Astrid's pad began to glow. When she checked it, she saw she had gotten a message from her brother.

"Hey sis,

How did the training go? I expect you do well. Sorry about last time, by the way. Won't forget it again.

Oh, mother asks if you gonna drop by tomorrow for dinner? She misses you and would like to know when you're gonna do the exam-stuff for those Wardens. How long until they finally let you in?

Hugs, Anders."

"So, whats the plan? I propose we have Squad-leader, or at very least some kind of standard formation. We are going to be dropped into hostile territory, so best we discuss this now.", asked Dagfinn the others.

Edited by TheNohen on Jul 11th 2020 at 2:15:37 PM

Tera

Tera frowned a little, furrowing his brow in thought. "We...haven't made a plan yet. Nor do we have a squad leader." He paused, then pointed to Astrid. "I suggest Astrid. She has the most experience out of all of us."

"My plan was rather simple. Climb up a tree, look for Rungholt, then walk towards it. Though..." He looked down, feeling embarrassment once again start to take hold. "It's probably a stupid plan." Like most of what I say.

"While I accept the leadership position graciously, Getting high ground for recon's absolutely the best idea here." Astrid said, and bowed as best she could in the PCC. "I gotta take this first." She tapped her helmet. "Got an email from by brother Anders."

Hey Andy,

Real cute. They got me in the Crucible for the next 3 days, so I think that's a no on dinner till then. I'll let you know. Thanks for calling tho.

Astrid

"Uhh..." she mumbled as she typed, trying to multitask, "I'm gonna also suggest you can bragging about the suits too much more. No telling who's listening." She crossed her arms, again as best she could. She might have been a dog of the military but she was still a cat at heart. Plenty of kids were probably here to get the prestige and power of a Warden... definitely not like she was. No telling what they'd do for it.

Jagoda

She looked at the team gathered around the support strut, and felt a smile bloom on her face. "We have so much talent, between us," she said softly. "How can we fail?"

She turned to Astrid. "I wouldn't necessarily... well..." Recalling what the cat woman had said about not giving away too much about their suits, she began typing on her wrist terminal. After a moment, she turned it towards Astrid so she could see what was written there.

My suit can turn invisible for 45 seconds. Aside from that, I'm trained in stealthy reconnaissance. High ground isn't as big a deal; I can scout ahead and keep the rest of you informed. I'm pretty confident that I could join back up with you guys in the event of any danger; it's unlikely that anything would be able to spot me and cut me off from you.

The hours trickled by. Officially, they were going about about fifty miles away from the Wall, a distance that an aircraft could cover easily. Yet, time wore on and it became increasingly clear that something was amiss. The pilot swerved the aircraft away mutltiple times and although the hull was too thick to hear much, sometimes a slight tapping could be heard. Yet, no information was given to them.

The recruits spend the time organizing and planning. Astrid's squad wasn't the only one that had gotten careful. At the back, they could see a group of rough looking men and women, all evidently from South-Quarter, who eyed them occasionally. Talks soon died down and boredom slowly settled in.

About three hours in, the deck suddenly rumbled. They looked up to see a truly massive exo-suit step down the stairs. It was bigger than anyone they had seen so far, easily one or two heads higher than a heavy suit. It armor-plates were interlocking and the boots wide and heavy, with each step shaking the floor. In the right hand four rifles were integrated into the massive glove, with an ammo-belt running from it to the back. Two grav-hammers hung from the hips, each big enough that a unsuited man would struggle to hold them in both hands. The helmets lower half was covered by a thick neck-protection, that ran like a collar around the base. The back had a small shield-generator fitted inside, the humming of the ancient tech clearly audible even over the engine noise. Everyone knew this suit and its owner. There was only one man, who was known to wield the sole super-heavy suit currently on active duty, "MJO-1N1R", more commonly known as "Mjoelnir".

Commander Bromsfjord took position in the middle of the hallway, lighted bowing forward as to not hit his head on the ceiling. "Alright. We have to change things up. Enemy activity on the ground has intensified for unknown reasons. Something tipped those bugs off.", he said, his deep voice slightly synthesized through his helmet-vox. "We tried to find a new LZ for last hour or so, but no luck. Looks like we will set back down in the Forward-Outpost Itzehoe and wait for the squads to clear the area again."

"Wait...are we canceling?", asked Vega-S dismayed.

"We are delaying. We want to test you, not get you all killed.", answered Bromsfjord. "Too many Zets down there for now. Scouts spotted a Knight and some Warriors to the south, heading for our LZ. That is more than just a few leaderless Imps. Way more than you youngbloods can handle."

Several of the recruits gulped. Imps on their own were able to pose a serious threat for a trained soldier. Several Warriors and even a Knight? That was not something you wanted to encounter without serious firepower.

Bromsfjord sighed. "Gonna find Stefan and tear him a new asshole after this. So much for Recconnai—"

Then he was gone. A gaping hole was where he had been just a second before. A recruit that had been standing next to him, had been bisected cleanly. For a breathless moment, time stood still. Tera could see the insides of the poor bastard displayed, like a medical mannequin. Then sound and a shockwave burst through them, as if the explosion wanted to make up for the brief delay.

Projectiles tore into the aircraft. A young woman next to Jagoda couldn't even scream, as she was simply blown through the opposing wall, like a hole being punched out in a sheet of paper. Another recruit fell screaming, as the ground beneath him collapsed and his heavy suit pulled him into the night-sky like an airborn coffin.

Over the impacts, the screams and the roaring wind, the alarm-sounds were practically drowned out. Warning light appeared, being shot out by the heavy shells here and there. Beneath Astrids feet, one such projectile got stuck in the floor and for a brief second she could see the smoking chitin-shell. Its rigded edges vibrating and red hot, just inches away from puncturing her leg.

The PCC dipped to the side. They could see that the entire frontside was missing, the cockpit practically torn away, as if metal was nothing more than papermache. Then something heavy impacted on top of the aircraft. A black, chitin-plated leg hit the deck and then a sets of claws, digging into the hull, tearing it open like a can. A massive head poked through, the skinless surface going over smoothly into a helmet-like structure, almost like a teardrop in design. No features, no eyes, not even a mouth. Just black carapace, weirdly elegant and smooth.

The Knight swung its head around, as if it was looking for something. When it spotted the screaming recruits, it leaned back, an action that caused the entire aircraft to sway to the side through the weight of the massive Zet. Then a second pair of appendages appeared, grown together to form a massive rilfe-like appendage.

"THE RESTRAINTS! RELEASE THE FUCKING RESTRAINTS!", screamed Gard, when he saw it and punched against a button near his shoulder. Seconds later, he was released and dropped down into the night. Dagfinn did the same and Jagoda followed suit. Tera too was released, but an explosion flung him forward and crashing against the hull. Astrids button was gone, her suit being clasped by her one remaining support, while the other side had been torn off by the withering anti-air fire. Dangling half in the air, wind swept around her, trying hard to tear her away as the support was trying to keeping her in place.

The Knight put the rifle into place and braced. Its claws digging into the hull for support and huge jet-like propulsions on its back flaring. Then it began to shoot wildly into the deck...

Edited by TheNohen on Jul 16th 2020 at 9:24:41 PM

Tera

Tera waited.

And waited.

And waited.

It appeared that they might not be going to the Crucible after all, actually. Which was seemingly confirmed by Bromsfjord showing up and telling them that the whole thing was delayed, and they were turning around and going back to Rung—

Suddenly, he was gone. Suddenly, one of the other recruits was split in half, their guts spilling out like a macabre waterfall. Tera's eyes widened, and his hands clamped to his mouth.

Suddenly, everything became a blur of screaming and explosions and death and— The Zet were here. The Zet were here.

Tera didn't need to be told twice. He slammed down on his button and was promptly blown across the ship and into the hull.

Near the Zet.

Oh god he was so close to it.

"Astrid!" he yelled, getting to his feet. He ran to her as fast as he could, then grabbed onto the restraints and started pulling, trying to get her free. Hoping to get her free. They were getting weaker, just one more pull and—

And one of the Zet's shots hit right next to Tera's foot, blowing him out of the aircraft with a scream.

Oh god what do I do what do I do what do I do—

And then he remembered what Krys had said.

Mk. I had this thing in the foot-booster-things that let you fly.

Tera slammed the helmet back on, hoping—praying—that those foot-booster-things would work.

A few sparks came out of the boots, then they suddenly flared to life. Tera gasped as he suddenly rocketed across the sky—far away from Gard, Dagfinn, and Jagoda, but also far from the Zet. It was...actually rather fun. Despite the situation, Tera couldn't help but laugh a little.

Which turned into a yelp when he crashed into a tree.

At least he was alive.

Death. Nobody even had a chance to get the coffins Astrid was so focused on. Seemed like Bromsfjord had the same fate... but Astrid wasn't Bromsfjord! It was her, left in the goddamn ship, with a Zet. She wasn't thinking anymore. Any plans about maybe speaking to a Zet, scaring it, that went out the window. Face completely dead inside the helmet she lurched forward and tore Judah Reborn completely free from the clamp. Bullets clattered off the suit's plating, but she quickly threw her arms to her side and drew out the shotgun and shield. She had to make a stand, it would just goose her on the way down. Astrid's gauntleted hand found the ignition handle on the back of the shield, and she took a deep breath. She tightened her grip on the shotgun.

Astrid roared, engaged the phosphorous flashers on her shield, and started cutting loose with the shotgun from behind it. "It's just us here! Just us! Come on!"

Jagoda

She was falling.

She had slammed the button without thinking, and now Astrid and Tera were stuck up there, with the Zets, without her.

There was nothing she could do about it for now. She twisted in midair and saw Dagfinn and Gard, both falling spread-eagle nearby. She flung her own arms and legs out, and guided herself as close to them as she could. She managed to get hold of Dagfinn's arm; he took the hint and grabbed Gard, hauling him close enough for Jagoda to close the circle. She had to hope that the three of them together would be able to slow their descent enough to survive the landing.

Edited by ChloeJessica on Jul 19th 2020 at 7:02:19 AM

Jagoda

They plummeted down. Air whipping past them and the UI in their visors going haywire. The suit was still activating, its system slowly going online and realizing they were in freefall. Dagfinn screamed something, but the wind tore his words away.

Gard understood anyway and pulled out the grav-cushions they had been given. They were small devices, with a button on it. Upon activating, they would revert their gravity for a brief second, slowing their fall. The problem was, it had to be done with timing. If they were to press it too soon, they would accelerate again and crash upon the ground and die. If they did it too late...they would crash upon the ground and die.

He held up five fingers, slowly counting down as their fell ever faster and the craggy, forested wilderness came closer and closer. He was about to reach one, when the aircraft above them exploded in a ball of fire. The shockwave hit them and tore them apart. Jagoda began to spin uncontrollably, losing sight of both Dagfinn and Gard. The ground was fast approaching....

Tera

Alarms were going off inside his suit. Something had damaged his rear-armor. When he tried to move, the branch that had failed to impale his back, broke, and he was pulled down by gravity once more.

He crashed through several more branches, before finally colliding with the ground. It was muddy, thankfully, so nothing was damaged other than his pride. Quick diagnostic showed that he was mostly unharmed, aside from a cracked backplate and one of his boosters having overheated.

A chitinineous toe hit the ground in front of him. Looking up, he stared into the blank face of an Imp. The creature was about the size of an adult man and its carapace rough and dark. It had no eyes, its upper head simply covered by a chitin-plate that resembled a single horn. Below it bared razor-sharp teeth, its lipless mouth constantly snarling. Under the plates, one could see red muscles coiling as it raised its arms. Its hands were growing into small blades, aiming at Teras helmet.

Before it could strike though, an explosion lit up the sky. The shockwave hit it in the back and it stumbled. Then its head cracked open like a overripe fruit, as a metal bar from the aircraft punched through its skull. It fell to the side and was dead...

Astrid

Bullets whipped through the remains of the aicraft. Those that had not managed to drop yet, were torn apart by them. The knight didn't aim so much, as it simply poured fire into the general direction. Anything less protected than a medium-suit was torn apart. A fox-hybrids screams were cut short, as her head was blown off, while the guy next to her got his limps shot off bit by bit, until he finally got his chest caved in.

Astrid weathered the hail of bullets, but even her heavy armor took damage. A plate on her shoulder was blown off and the impact send her tumbling against the hull. But she drew her shield and with a defiant scream made her way to the Knight. Phosphorus-light illuminated the space between her and the Knight, as she activated her shield.

The Teardrop-Knight recoiled, using one hand to hold its head, as its senses got thrown off. Astrid aimed true and her shotgun bucked, her suit tanking the recoil. The Knights second hand was blown off the hull, a finger cut off. Now, with its grip lost, the Zet began to lose balance and its rifle was still firing. The recoil of its own weapon send it back and it fell.

Silence...

The aircraft was still descending fast. The engine sputtered and the grav-drives lost power. But Astrid had no time to try to salvage the situation, because just as she relaxed, a clawed hand punched through the deck and grabbed her leg. With a brutal tug, she was pulled through the damaged hull and flung downwards.

The Knight hovered above her. Its back was burning with what were essentially jet-engines growing out of it. Its second claw swung forward and grabbed her shield, forcing it to the side. Astrid answered with several shots, but the bullets simply bounced off the Zets thick carapace. One shot hit its face, throwing it back...before it slowly looked back at her with its blank face, a crack running down the left side like a scar.

The shotgun clicked. The magazine was empty. Not time to reload. The Knight aimed the rifle at her.

Then..light and heat. The power-core of the PCC above them finally broke down and ignited. The entire craft was torn to pieces in a massive explosion, killing everyone still onboard and hitting Astrid and the Knight with full force.

The Knight was torn off her. The massive creature took most of the brunt of the explosion. It tried to hold on to her, the arm swinging her around. A sharp pain shot through her left leg, as its claws ripped through her armor, before they lost grip. The momentum kept going and Astrid was flung away, in the opposite direction.

And far, far away from everybody else...

Edited by TheNohen on Jul 20th 2020 at 9:15:57 PM

Tera

Everything ached. Tera wasn't entirely sure if androids could ache, but he certainly was. The alarms were sounding, and he had no idea what they were for or how to turn them off.

I probably should've asked Krys for more information...

Slowly, he started pulling himself off the branch—

—and it immediately broke.

"AAH!" Tera shrieked, crashing through the other branches. He yelped and sputtered as his vision became a blur of green and brown and rain, tumbling down and down before suddenly—

SPLOOCH

He landed ungracefully in the mud.

Tera groaned softly, then ran a diagnostic. He himself was fine, though one of the foot-booster-things had overheated, the backplate of his suit was cracked, and the entire thing was covered in mud. It's been a minute and seven seconds since I fell and I've already damaged it... He was still on the muddy ground, too dizzy to get up.

And then he saw a toe. Attacked to a Zet. Which he was currently right in front of.

Well. This wasn't good.

Tera was scrambling to his feet when an explosion suddenly went off, sending the Zet stumbling and himself into the mud. Again. Then its head was punctured by a metal bar.

...so that was his first real encounter with a Zet. Far less terrifying than the one back on the—

Oh.

Oh god.

"Astrid!" he yelled, scrambling back to his feet. He desperately looked around, pulling off his helmet. "Astrid?! Jagoda?! Gard?! ...pig-hybrid whose name I don't know?!" They're dead, they're dead, they can't be, they don't deserve it... "Guys? Where are you?!" His voice broke on the last word, and he wondered if it was possible for androids to cry. "Is anyone there?!"

The bushes rustled. Tera snapped to their direction, staring with wide eyes. More Zets? That shouldn't've been surprising, given...earlier. He started to back away from the bush, raising his arms in an attempt at a defense measure.

The rustling continued. Oh god, how do you fight with this thing?! He knew almost nothing about Mercury, and combined with the fact that it was already damaged, it might be best to just cut his losses and run.

And then...they stopped. Tera breathed a sigh of relief.

Mere moments before a dark shape burst from the bushes.

"AAAAAAAH!" Tera yelled, flinging himself backwards against another tree. "Pleasedon'teatmeI'mmadeofmetal!"

"...eh?" The shape...no, not a shape. A recruit, wearing a streamlined yellow Exo-Suit and a helmet that covered their entire head, the visor such a dark shade of Black that he couldn't even see their eyes. "I wasn't going to eat you." Their voice was synthesized due to the suit, but sounded feminine. "Was looking for food, though."

Slowly, Tera relaxed, approaching the new recruit—cautiously. Just in case. "My name is Tera," he said, giving her a wave despite the circumstances. "What about you?"

The girl crossed her arms. "You really think I'm going to give my info to some random android I just met?" She scoffed, walking past him and into the forest. "Get real."

For a few seconds, Tera stood there, hand still raised in a wave. Then, his brain caught up with what had just happened, and he hurried after her. "Hey! Wait! We're all in the same boat here! We need to work together!"

"I don't do that together bullcrap," she said, not looking at him. "Besides, I've got a perfectly workable plan." She suddenly stopped, now turning to face him. "Find food, find water, find place to sleep, and live here, because we're so damn far from Rungholt that we can kiss civilization goodbye."

Tera blinked. Several times. "No," he said, genuinely confused as to why this girl believed that. "No, we...we can still make it back. Did you get anything before the Crucible?"

The girl shrugged. "Got a compass. Only thing I could afford. Apparently, Rungholt's north or—"

"Then that's it," Tera said, surprised at how firm he sounded. "If we keep going north, we'll find Rungholt. You've got the compass. Lead the way."

For the longest time, only the rain splashing against the muddy floor and pattering off their suits could be heard.

Then, the girl sighed. "Fine." She turned back around and started walking, Tera hurrying behind her to keep up. "Name's Victoire, by the way. The suit's the Yellow Dragon. That's all we need to know about each other."

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah you better run!" Astrid yelled out at the Knight as it fell away from her. They got their hits in on one another, so sure, they were square now. That stab in the leg though, Astrid wasn't gonna be landing on that any time soon. Hurtling towards the ground, she put her shield in front of herself and smashed clean through a tree, and another, and a third, sending splinters and leaves flying in a trail behind her. She smashed into the ground then, and the dirt was a lot less welcoming than she thought it would be. She felt her vision black out from the impact, even through Judah Reborn's cushioning. Her body felt numb, distant; she recognized a thorough stunning right away. The goddamn Zets were everywhere though, and if she passed here she'd be done.

Conveniently the Zets gave her something though! Astrid struggled to her feet, and stomped her foot, the injured one. The spike of pain shot straight through the fog, and she quickly cut comms before screaming out inside the helmet. Then Astrid just... started walking forwards. The pain would keep her awake until she could find a good spot to wrap that shit up and get in touch with the squad. She kept her gun and shield out but relaxed; she didn't have the energy to stay On nonstop.

Jagoda

Air rushed past her. Above her, the burning debris of the PCC was raining down from the sky. Yet, luckily, they all missed her. One support beam just narrowly whipped past her, inches away from her face. Still, nothing of that would matter, if she could not slow down her fall and she had only a few seconds to do so.

Jagoda grabbed her own grav-cushion and held it in her hands. The ground came closer fast, but she did not press the button. She could already make out the individual leaves below and still hesitated. The timing had to be just right or she would not survive the crash.

Then, just as she was about to impact, she activated the device. A blue pulse ran through her. Her gravity reversed for a brief moment and her fall stopped dead in its tracks, with her boots hovering inches above the ground. Then the effect subsided and she gently landed.

For a brief moment, all she could hear was the hammering heart in her chest and the blood rushing through her veins. Then, she took a deep breath and relaxed. A look around showed her, that she had landed on a small clearing. Heavy rain was pouring down now, quenching any nearby fires. The ground was peppered with the remains of the aircraft and a bit further ahead she could see a smoking crater, with a twisted, mangled arm sticking out of the muddy ground. A recruit, who had not managed the landing....

There was little time to mourn, however. Crackling sounds of broken undergrowth and branches reached Jagodas ears. When she turned around, she could see from the treeline four shapes approaching. Imps, their teeth clacking and hissed breath passing through. They had their guns raised and scanned the clearing for survivors, their eye-less skulls nonetheless fully able to sense what was there.

She had to act quickly, before the Zet spotted her.

Tera

They walked together in silence. Victoire did not speak much and seemed to ignore Tera for the most part. Her helmet slowly went back and forth, as she meticulously kept track of their surroundings. She had no visible weaponry on her, but the way she held her arms was similar to Bromsfjords stance, suggesting she had some wristmounted tech.

Her armor wasn't exactly stealthy, though. A medium exo-suit, with passable plating, that was painted bright yellow and only here and there a few black stripes, following the streamlines. It moved smoothly though, even if the gear's movement were audible.

The terrain was uneven and muddy. The ground itself was soaked, not just by the torrential rain that was coming down. It was similar to a marsh, though with much more vegetation and the ground was covered in some kind of thick-leaved growth, that had a sharp smell. The trees themselves were your typical broad-leaves like oak, beech, chestnut and so on. Occasionally, they saw a tree that they couldn't identify. One in particular stood out, whose bark split off from the trunk like thick scales. Its branches were twisted and nuts were hanging off, with angry spikes on them.

Victoire took a nearby branch and slapped one of the "fruits". It fell down and the shell exploded like a little grenade, the splinters harmlessly bouncing off her suit. She picked up the nut inside and pocketed it, without saying a word.

Finally, they reached a river. It flowed lazily through the wood, with trees halfway in the water. The ground was now essentially gone, with their boots turning the stale water. Victoire looked around, trying to find a way where the water wasn't so deep. That was when she suddenly held up her hand.

"Contact.", she hissed and ducked down. Tera could see a Zet a few feet down the river. It was bigger than them. A Warrior-Class, he realized. Unlike the Imps, this one was protected by a pitch-black carapace and its skull was smooth, with two slightly drooping horns near the back of it. It had not spotted them, yet, but its heavy bio-rifle swung around, looking for something.

Its head whirled around and it raised the bulbous weapon. With a sickingely wet cough, it fired and second later an animal crumpled out of the woodwork. It looked like a cat, but its body was long and snake-like, with grey, short fur covering it and a long snout with small, sharp teeth. It was longer than Tera's arm and twitched slightly, as its dark blood flowed into the river.

The warrior fired it rifle again, just to make sure it was dead. Then it resumed its search for survivors and slowly moved up towards their position.

Astrid

The landing was rough and brutal. Trees cracked and branches broke, as Astrid crashed through them. Numerous warnings popped up on Astrids visor, as she slowly recovered. Armor-breach on her leg and other small alarms, that blared in her face. The shield was bent badly and some of the phosphorous lights on it had been smashed to pieces.

Still, she soldiered on, relying on the pain to keep her going. The rain was pouring down on her and seeped into her open breach, the cold water hitting her bleeding leg.

She had landed on a slope, a little valley of mud inside this heavily forested area. Climbing up was difficult, thanks to the muddy, slippery ground. There were some interesting observations, though. The slope itself was too smooth and straight to be a natural occurence. A look down showed a piece of concrete peeking out if the ground revealing by the rain washing the mud off it. This seemed to have been some kind of canal in the past, it looked like.

When Astrid reached the top of the slope, she could suddenly hear distant gunfire. A single, thundering crack that echoed through the forest. Several seconds passed. Then another loud crack. Someone was firing something powerful and not too far away...

Tera

Tera had tried several times to start a conversation, but Victoire never responded, instead just continuing to walk north. Her suit wasn't exactly subtle, but it seemed to be packing at least a bit of power, so if all else failed they could probably punch the Zets to death.

They came to a stop near a muddy river. Tera was looking over the water, wondering how deep it was, when Victoire suddenly ducked. He quickly did the same.

His eyes widened. "Warrior-class," he whispered. "Is there anywhere to run?"

"Outside of charging into the river, no."

"What can your suit do?"

"I can punch things like nobody's business. How about yours?"

"...I don't know."

"You don't—" Victoire let out a sigh. "Do you even know what your suit's called?"

"Yes. Mercury."

There was a silence, then. Only the sickening sounds of the Zet firing its gun could be heard.

"Oh, ha ha, very funny," Victoire snapped. "Be serious. What's your suit?"

"I just said it. Mercury."

Victoire looked over said suit and jolted. "Wh— It's—"

The Zet started to move towards them, and Victoire groaned. "If you press the wrist buttons, you can use metal blades. There are two of us, one of it, we can probably take it. Then, you are going to ditch this thing in the river and never speak of it again."

"What? Why?"

"I'll explain later!"

And with that, Victoire charged from out of their hiding spot, leaping into the air with a battlecry. The Zet looked up, but before it could do much of anything, she slammed her armored fists into its face.

It was a Zet, but Tera couldn't help but wince. Ow. That looked...painful.

Still, he had to support her. He checked the suit's wrists—there were buttons there, just as she said. He quickly pressed one, then jerked back with surprise as a blade suddenly erupted from the arm.

How... oh, never mind.

He rushed out from behind cover, flanking around the Zet. Then, he sliced into the first opening in the armor he could find—or, failing that, he just stabbed it as hard as he could, hoping to pierce the carapace.

Sniper! Astrid threw her shield up and tilted her head around, looking for whatever made the noise. She had no way of swinging back against something like that unless she could run up on them. Seeing a Zet with a real-ass gun, too, she had to assume it could be a Zet sniping. The canal wasn't going to be optimal for staying in cover, and on her leg she couldn't just run them down. She climbed up out of the canal and kept her shield between herself and the source of the noise, lumbering from cover to cover. She tried her comm with her other hand, trying to at least just put a ping out for someone in range. Maybe the sniper was on the network, and at worst she could send death threats to a Zet that'd captured their communications.

Jagoda

She melted back into the trees, making sure she was well hidden before activating her stealth unit. She shimmered out of view. Hopefully it would be as effective against Zet senses as against human. She continued moving away from them, as fast as she could without making noise - what she was best at, after all.

She pulled out her comm unit and clicked across all frequencies, searching for a signal. The JX model had a range of about 500 meters. She had no idea how widely the crash had scattered the recruits, but she hoped someone was in range.

Tera

Victoire leaped out, roaring loudly as she charged the Warrior. The Zet heard her and whirled around just in time to see her fist slam into its faceplate. Tera heard an audible crack and the alien recoil and hiss in pain. Victoire didn't give it time to recover, as she pressed on and slammed her second fist into its right side, cracking the carapace there.

The Warrior responed with a wild swing of its rifle, hitting Victoire in the chest and pushing her back. A considerable feat, considering the weight of her suit. It hissed, its face having a nasty crack in it. Then it lowered its rifle at her.

It was about to fire, when Tera rushed out of his hiding spot and and buried his blades into it. He aimed for the cracked right side and was rewarded with his wristblade piercing through the thick chitin and burying itself deep into the Zets soft insides. The Warrior howled in pain and jumped back.

The leap was considerable and Teras blade were pulled out from its body with a wet sound. Red blood seeped from the wound and it was likely he had damaged some internal organs. The Zet hissed again, a weird sound given its absence of a mouth. The skull cracked a bit more and a piece of chitin fell off, revealing red tissue and a yellow, slitted eye underneath.

The Warrior lowered his rifle again and fired. He aimed for Tera this time, seeing him as the more dangerous foe.

Astrid

She held her hand up to her comms, going through the available frequencies and sending out a ping. A risky maneuver, as there was no telling who was listening in. The Zets were known to be able to manipulate human tech, though generally they put their own spin on it with their weird bio-tech.

The ping went out in a radius. For a while, little happened. Rain was still pouring down and the wind blew the leaves of the trees around her. Astrid could spot a red squirrel on a nearby tree. It scuttled away, when it spotted her. Then she heard something on the comms.

It was hard to decipher, with lots of white noise in the background. It sounded like someone breathing, heavily. Then a loud crack, with wet noises following. Then, just a second after that, rustling and finally a voice.

"Wh—-ashhh—-you're not——shhhhhh—-deathscchh—"

The comm squeaked painfully for a moment, then the connection stabilized. Someone breathed on the other end. A clicking sound the entire time, accompanying those breaths. Then a chuckle.

"Found you..."

Then the connection cut out again. When Astrid checked the frequency, it got blocked. She was about to put the comms away, when she heard a second ping. Its location was ahead of her, about a few hundred meters. Again she could the crack of a rifle, coming from the same direction.

Jagoda

Jagoda quickly, but silently, moved back into the tree-line. Her suit shimmered and then its surfaces turned reflective, melting with her surroundings almost perfectly. When she moved, it looked like ther air was flimmering, but as long as she stayed put, the illusion was almost impossible to detect.

Just in time, as the Zet stepped onto the clearing. They were Imps, with dark-green carapaces. The one at the front was a bit bigger than the rest and his chitin began to take on a black hue. Curiously enough his skull also was a bit smoother and rounder. They looked around and one of them poked the dead recruit in the crater, before firing a few rounds into the corpse. The leader heald his head high, as if he was sniffing. Then he reached to a still hot piece of metal and tore a piece off. He threw it in his mouth and began to chew. Jagoda could see that his teeth were more jagged than the rest and had a distinct metal hue.

Zet were known for their adaptive physiology. Nonetheless, this was the first time she had seen one actively exploit it. From the lectures and common knowledge, Imps were believed to be simple drones, with almost no agency on their own. Wild Imps, with no higher organism around them, behaving little better than animals. And yet, these ones moved with purpose and undeniable intelligence.

Jagoda didn't stick around to find out how intelligent. Her suit was already heating up from the stealth-module. A bead of sweat was running down her face. She moved backward, until she was out of sight and then quickly put some distance between her and the Imps. After less than a minute, her module de-activated automatically, but by then she was already safely out of reach.

Using her comm-unit, she pinged over all frequencies. And she had luck! The third frequency had someone active. The connection was bad, but quickly got better.

"He—Hello? Can y—————me? Hello? Anyone there? Wardens, come in!", said a male voice on the other side. It didn't take long for Jagoda to recognize Dagfinn's voice. "Can anyone hear me? My suit is damaged, I'm losing power. If anyone listens, answer please."

Edited by TheNohen on Jul 29th 2020 at 9:23:58 PM

Found. Shit. Hmm. On the other hand, Astrid couldn't help but be interested in communicating with the Zets. It'd clearly never worked before now, sure, but it wasn't her that was doing it. That crack though, right after the taunt, that couldn't be coincidental. No more comms, she needed to run down whatever that was. She put her shotgun back on her hip, grasped her shield with both hands, and started hustling towards the noise. This was all on her now, she couldn't involve anyone else! She wasn't going to, either—if this all went well, what if she was the first person to successfully communicate with a Zet?

Tera

Tera couldn't help but cringe at the wet sound of the blade piercing soft, vulnerable insides. Suddenly, he was very glad that he was made of metal.

And now it was shooting at him. Tera ducked, running to avoid the rifle. "Cover for me!" he shouted, surprised at how fast he was moving. I guess a Light-suit would be built for speed.

Victoire pointed her arm at the Zet and started firing, aiming for the exposed bits. Huh. So her suit has guns in the gloves. Pretty clever. The Zet turned to her, then to Tera, then back, clearly not knowing who to focus on.

This was a mistake. Tera lunged forward and stabbed, burying his blade in the creature's exposed eye.

Jagoda

"Stay calm, Dagfinn. Panicking helps precisely nothing." Jagoda fiddled with the comm, trying to strengthen the signal. "I'm currently on the move, trying to avoid hostile contacts. What's your position? We should try to rendezvous as quickly as possible. No one needs to be alone out here." She thought about the metal-eating Zet. "Something has changed out here."

Jagoda

She heard Dagfinn take a sharp breath on the other side. "Jagoda!? Y-You're still alive? How—" The connection sputtered a bit, before he came back. "Thats's great! My position is near an old building. I think, it used to be some kind of farmstead. Zet's are patrolling the area, so I cannot leave this place."

"And you're right. The Zet do behave differently. They knew that we would come here! Someone or something must have tipped them off." Dagfinn sounded agitated, panicked. The calm, collected hybrid from before was clearly not comfortable in the slightest now. "Shitshitshit...this is not what I signed up for. He said—"

He cut himself short, took a deep breath and started again. "Sorry, you're right. Panic helps nobody.", he said, trying to calm down. "I'm going to hold position here. Try to look out for powerlines or a rusted fence. I'm in the main-building, waiting for you."

Tera

The bullet whipped past Tera and blew a hole in a tree behind him. Splinters rained down on his back, harmlessly bouncing off his armor. The Warrior fired again, but Tera moved out of the firing lane. He wasn't fast enough to avoid the shot completely, but instinctually he angled his armored shoulder good enough for the bullet to ricochet off. The impact almost made him stumble slightly, but his synthetic body absorbed the impact and adjusted the movement automatically.

Victoire aimed at the Zet and activated her integrated weapon system. Gun barrels appeared in her wrists and she began to fire. They were small caliber, but she aimed at the bleeding wound in the carapace, causing the Warrior to flinch. Snarling, it turned towards her, but tried to keep Tera in its sight.

Nonetheless, the opening created was enough for the android. He lunged forward. The Zet raised his arms to protect its face, but he swatted them aside with one hand, before slamming his blade into its exposed eye.

Steel cut through soft flesh like a hot knife through butter. Tera could feel the blade scrape against hard bone, then punch through it and pierce soft flesh behind it. The Zet didn't even scream, as it died in an instant. The heavy body collapsed, water splashing and quickly being coloured by seeping blood.

Victoire drew her guns back and nodded. "Hm...not bad. And you didn't blow up.", she said, stepping closer and kicking the Zet slightly, to check if it was really dead. "Hmm...weird one. I thought all Zet are dark-green..."

She thought for a moment, before shaking her head. "Whatever. We have to move, in case this one had friends. Come on, move your ass, android!" And with that, she stomped back into the undergrowth.

Astrid

The rain was just now slightly abating. The ground was sludgy mud and each step made Astrid sink in slightly with her heavy suit, the earth sticking to her feet like glue. The pulsing pain from her leg was now just as part of the background noise, as the dripping leaves around her and the occasional crack of a rifle in the distance.

The answer to her ping had come from the east of her position, away from the rifle-noises. Moving on the side of the canal, the ground to her left began to eventually move upwards. It could be called a hill, but it was too smooth and continuous for that. It reminded her of the dikes on the coastline, near the Western Wall. If that were the case, they had been erected centuries ago, as nature had almost completely reclaimed them, with forest covering it completely and even the river having freed itself from the canal here and there, spilling into small streams.

Eventually, she reached a small incline. The canal made a sharp to the right here and the ancient dike followed it. To the side, Astrid could see old struts reach out of the water. Remnant of a bridge, maybe? As the dike made the turn, there was a gap in it. A road had once cut through it. The grass was patchy and one could see old concrete here and there.

And on that old road, this bottleneck in the woods, Astrid could see corpses. There dozens of them, littering the ground. Most of them were Imps, cut down in droves by bullets. They all showed black, smooth carapaces and most of them wielded blade-like appendages. A look further ahead showed, who they had assaulted.

Three Recruits laid dead on the ground. One was wearing a heavy suit and halfway buried under five dead Imps, all of whom had buried their blades into him. The helmet was torn off, revealing a the face of an android. His face was damaged, showing the cables underneath. The light behind his eyes was gone, his expression frozen in grim determination. He had wielded two chainsaws on his arms, both of which had been buried into the corpses of the Imps, who had killed him.

To the right side, behind him, was the corpse of another android. Female. She laid on her face, her yellow suit stained by oil. The shell on her back was split open and a half dozen grenades still remained within. The ground around her was littered with small craters, which now slowly filled with brakish water. Before her was the corpse of a Warrior, torn apart by multiple explosions. Her head was showing a huge hole in the back, the circuitry inside sparking whenever water hit it.

The last exo-suit leaned against the wall of the dike. It was typical AD4-M suit, with red streamlines. It was mostly undamaged, looking almost like the pilot was merely sleeping, the way he was slumped against the wall. Yet, a gaping hole in the neck showed that this one was dead, too. The helmet had been removed and thrown the side, showing a young human, blood still on his lips and an expression of shock on his features.

His corpse was still warm. He had died less than an hour ago. Next to him, the broken remains of a comm-unit....