Hearing the Commanders words over her headset, Ashley smiles, and says aloud; "Well, it looks like someone fixed that last node, and found that Commander Winters woman to boot. Maybe now we can figure out where everyone else is too..." Despite the fact that she was practically by herself at the corner of the mess hall, munching on some pretzels.
(Still wait to regen EP, and for other people to return to Firelight.)
Two Miles Southwest of Firelight: Alliance Assembly Point, Sensor Node; Circe, Anne, Laina, Jennifer, Commander Winters
"No idea why he gave you his armor," Simmons said, stretching, "The only orcs I've seen are the ones that are trying to shoot us with those special darts."
"Poor Krisa.." The marine said, resting against the barrier as she checked her rifle, "I don't know what they did to her... but she probably didn't deserve it."
"Yeah. Just be happy you got something from one of those green bastards," Simmons nodded, "At least, something that doesn't include their full twelve inches. I mean, he did seem like he wanted to..." The Mechanic grinned, sticking out her tongue and wiggling it.
"Simmons," Came the short bark of Commander Winters as she entered the camp, "Don't be such a disgusting prude. I'm sure that Medic Jennifer doesn't want to hear your theories about the enemies, and I know I sure as hell don't want to again." She stopped a few feet from the Mechanic, clasping her arms behind her back as Cassie's subordinate wiggled a little uncomfortably, unsure of what to do. Even though the rabbit's hair was mussed up, her clothes were torn, and she had some scorch marks along her armor from close-range explosives, but the rabbit was still the perfect picture of a Commanding Officer as she continued her rather stoic pose.
That is, up until Circe made her remark about Jenn's new armor, the rabbit let out a sigh, "As long as he's not around, it doesn't matter. We need to get moving though," She dropped her at-attention pose, pointing at Simmons and the Marine, "Simmons, Halmond, take the civilians on a different path than us, and make sure they stay unequipped; the enemies seem to be able to pick up on larger groups easier, and even more so when they have weapons readily available. Just meet us back at Firelight base - it's not too far from here."
"Ma'am," the Marine, Halmond, saluted at her, beginning to round up the Civilians as Simmons grinned a bit.
"Of course, Commander. You have fun with your green friends.." She said, before handing another clip to the rabbit. Cassie watched them with a frown, slipping the extra clip for her pistol into a holder on her belt, before explaining:
"Simmons was shot with a different type of dart.. at least, there was a different color liquid inside of it. She's been acting... odd, since then," The commander paused, her pink eyes drifting down to the ground for a second, before she looked up at the women around her, "..Let's get moving back to Firelight. We'll attract more attention than Simmons and Halmond will."
Firelight: Barracks (Sub-floor 1); Kalica, Reya
Kalica and Reya step out of the medical office and into the hallway, where they immediately come upon a sight that the Marine was hoping she'd never see again: Four little balls of slime, smaller than the green ones in the sewer, were just down the hallway. It was hard to tell if they happened to be alerted to the humans presence, but with how the slimes have already begun to inch towards them, they had definitely sensed something they liked.
((The chess inept, poorly fleshed out character-wise space Marine returns from the grave! Now lets see if I can't give her some more flavor rather than borrowing from my compendium of NPC personalities.))
To kill a snake, one must cut it off at the head. For even were it to survive, its body would be able to do little but wriggle about like a measly worm. Pathetic was, the headless snake.
Yet...what if the snake could recover its lost head? To regrow it, or perhaps reattach it from where it had been severed? Given a snake's cunning, there was little question that it would be far more dangerous than before...and that a second beheading would be much harder...and its fangs sharper to wreak vengeance upon its hated foe.
Such would perhaps be Reya, the serpent that had regained its head now that a commander had been found, and far more spirited...and perhaps even confident than ever as the world seemed that much lighter to her now that she was being lead once again. A marine's job was to point, shoot, and follow orders...not give them or play chess.
And what better target to expend her new energy with, then the slimes that now crawled towards them? Dropping into a combat crouch, and taking aim at the closest one...she would opt to open fire upon it.
"Sir." Circe nodded to Cassie and started moving off back to the base. On the way, she walked close to Liana. "Do you think you'll be able to figure out how to work these things?" She asked, tapping the orc rifle she had slung over her shoulder.
"Yeah, sure. If it works like the pistol I found, then I should be able to. They seem simple enough mechanically." Laina replied nonchalantly as she stuck behind the rest of the group next to Circe. "I am curious as to what the guns are made of, since the orcs seem to use that same metal for everything."
Circe nodded. "Except for these." She pulled out the white metal chip she had picked off the orc earlier. "They do seem to possess a suprising level of intelligence however."
"I wonder if those chips are some sort of money or something. The other orcs had them too. It's a shame they decided to attack us like this, because a lot of them are going to end up dead for no reason. I guess being intelligent doesn't prevent you from being a jerk."
*arching a brow at her comrade in this search she saw the woman crouch and open fire upon the little balls of slime so quickly she lifted her gun and rattled off the final two rounds of the clip of at the same slime Reya shot at. (or if reya kills it then whichever is considered closest to her) after that she would quickly go about reloading her gun with a fresh clip.*
Kalica: Fires her remaining two rounds at Slime 1 and reloads; uses up 2 EP.
Attack 1: 5 + 4 = 9 vs. 3 + 2 = 5; Damage: 1
Attack 2: 13 + 4 = 17 vs. 18 = 2 = 20; Miss.
Kalica reloads.
Enemy turn:
Slime 1: Creeps forward and attempt to grapple Reya; uses 2 EP.
Grapple 1: 8 + 2 = 10 vs. 19 + 4 = 23; Miss.
Slime 2: Moves forward and attempts to grapple Reya; uses 2 EP.
Grapple 1: 12 + 2 = 14 vs. 18 + 4 = 22; Miss.
Slime 3: Moves forward and attempts to grapple Kalica; uses 3 EP.
Grapple 1: 10 + 2 = 12 vs. 4 + 1 = 5; Kalica is grappled with 7 points, immobilizing her legs.
Grapple 2: 17 + 2 = 19 vs 7 + 1 = 8; Kalica is grappled with a further 8 points, putting her at 15 and fully immobilizing the Runner.
Slime 4: Moves to grapple Reya; uses 4 EP.
Grapple 1: 10 + 2 = 12 vs. 8 + 4 = 12; Reya's not grappled.
Grapple 2: 17 + 2 = 19 vs. 20 (Natural 20); Reya's not grappled.
Grapple 3: 15 + 2 = 17 vs. 8 + 4 = 12; Reya's feet are entangled with 5 points, forcing her to use 2 EP to move each round.
Kalica wasn't as moved by the Commander's speech as Reya. They both raised their firearms at the same time, with Kalica having to reload much sooner. Reya's shoulder quickly began to ache, even though she and the Runner made one of the blue blobs form a small, yellow orb in it's body. One of Kalica's rounds struck the yellow orb dead-on as it hit... but, instead of shattering, like Reya had seen happen to the slimes before, this one absorbed the hit, cracks appearing in it's surface. The marine blinked, her mouth open a little:
"...That didn't happen before..." She mumbled. Before there was much more time to react, the slimes were on the move, rolling towards the girls at a fast pace. Kalica barely had time to react as one stretched itself to the height of her shoulders, then quickly wrapped about her body, it's blue gel extremely hard to break free from. Reya growled as the slimes closed in on her, quickly wrestling each one off. As a third attempted to grab her, she slammed her boot down on it, causing a little bit of damage - but that proved to be her downfall, the creature slipping it's slime about her feet.
"I wonder if those chips are some sort of money or something. The other orcs had them too. It's a shame they decided to attack us like this, because a lot of them are going to end up dead for no reason. I guess being intelligent doesn't prevent you from being a jerk."
Jenn falls back to match pace with Circe and Laina. "If they're really money, though, uh... why'd Mr. Or-- err, that nice one give me some?" she asks, presenting the discs to the others.
She pauses a beat, then says, "I guess I'm, um, not really all that sure why he gave me anything... M-maybe it'll make more sense later? D'you guys think that there's something back at base we can use to, I dunno, at least figure out what all this stuff is made of?"
((After this conversation, try to find that marine or someone else knowledgeable and ask about this Krisa person she heard about earlier.))
"Well, something like that isn't really my job. I just fix things and shoot bad guys now too apparently. Maybe an engineer back at the base will be able to do something to figure more out about what the metal is. It's pretty much just a side curiosity thing though." Laina replied.
"Yeah, I guess you're right..." Jenn says, looking around for other people to talk to as everyone heads to Firelight. "Anyway, I guess I'll talk to you later. Bye!" Jenn quickly hurries off to attempt to talk with the commander about the darts Simmons was hit with and find out what happened to this Krisa person.
"Finding out how their weapons work should give us an advantage at some point down the road." Circe noted, but said little else as the group walked.
(Is it just me, or is anyone else remembering the old X-Com/UFO Defense game with the whole 'take the enemy's weapons back and research them' sorta deal?)
Two Miles Southwest of Firelight: Alliance Assembly Point, Sensor Node; Circe, Anne, Laina Jennifer and Commander Winters
The Commander ignored almost all the conversation going on about her, her pink eyes scanning the entire environment. She was well trained, picking out pieces of cover with ease, and checking for enemy positions at the same time. Anne was walking alongside the Commander, trying to do the same, but her spotting abilities seemed to only worked at 500KPH. As Jenn walked up next to the Commander, the rabbit looked over to her, smiling.
"Simmons? Well... She was hit by a special dart from an orc sniper," She said, "Black in color... Pierced right through her armor. It's been a few days, but since the hit, she's been ignoring protocol.. I figured it was just because of the situation," The rabbit motioned about her, while still keeping her eyes open, "But I think it's because of the dart, truthfully... She uhm... She was hit when they took Krisa and Kane, my body guards," The rabbit explained.
"See... Because of my significance as the first genetic experiment-"
She paused, stopping completely as she stared at a half destroyed wall. After a few moments of everyone getting prepared... Cassie just shook her head and continued on her path, the group following her once more.
"...Because I'm the first successful genetic experiment of the Alliance, they've assign-.... They had assigned me special bodyguards," She said, after briefly correcting herself, "Genetic Variations of Timber Wolves, they were both trained to protect and give their lives for me... which wasn't hard with the Orcs around. For whatever reason... The orcs went after Kane first, like he was some sort of threat to them. They ignored everyone else to actually rush into our zone of fire to get him. I think we killed about one hundred before they got close enough to actually grab him..." she sighed.
"With Krisa, though? They shot her about fifteen times with those pink darts, then some red ones... and she was practically running towards the enemy lines. After they had Krisa though... Well, they all left. That when they really started to whittle down our forces... And then you guys came across us.
"Even though one of you is a doppelganger," She added on.
One Mile Southwest of Firelight: Juniper's Apartment Complexes; Circe, Anne, Laina, Jennifer and Commander Winters
As they entered the next square mile of terrain, Kiera contacted them all over the headsets:
"Commander Winters and company, I'm not detecting any sort of enemy movement in your area, or the area of your VIPs; oddly enough, you seem to be the only things moving out there... I uh, I suggest you get back to the Base; you know, in case there's something really nasty that comes out at night."
Batting away the slimes from her was easy enough, with her combat training and enhanced muscles...swatting them away before they could stick. But as for stomping down on them in an attempt to crush their core...perhaps not her brightest idea, as that apparently gave that one enough time to meld itself around her boots.
"Confounded...get off of me you oversized glue splats!"
Her attention diverted away from killing the remaining slimes outright, Reya's efforts would now be focused on getting her feet free again so that she could move once more. Being pinned in one place with armor melting slimes nearby was a bad idea after all...
The "infamous" comment was rather enough to shut the impudent, tattooed Asari up. For a good fifteen minutes, at least, while she sulked on her half of the crate, languishing still in the courtyard of Firelight, if she was to be denied access to anywhere -interesting-. Eventually, the Asari's curiosity overcomes her sulk, and she pipes up again.. if only to irritate the AI in her ear.
"So.. Kiera. Have you -told- the Commander I'm here? I hope you were at least complimentary in your description of me..? Carefully chosen vid-pics showing off my good side, with the best possible lighting..? If she's in charge, I have to make the best possible impression."
A frown slips across her lips, is gone in moments.
"....And, it might be wise if she knew I was here. You know. Before she walks in and gets that kind of surprise.."
As the Asari finishes speaking.. or, more accurately, thinking out loud, the Commander's transmission cuts across her frequency with surprising volume.. and an eerily familiar voice.
....That's not promising.
"Ah... Kiera..?"
Either because of inexperience with Alliance communicators, or momentary panic, the Asari forgets to switch back to her private channel with the AI, instead, broadcasting to everyone on the same channel the Commander had used..
"Do you have.. images of this Commander? Perhaps a physical description..? Any obvious traits I might recognise her by..? She seems.. familiar, but I can't quite put my finger on it."
Trying to do her best to ignore the Commander's story and push thoughts of what might have happened to the captured bodyguards out of her mind, Laina continued to stick behind the rest of the group. As she thought about the darts the Commander mentioned, she pulled out one of the pink clips for the orc gun and ran her thumb along the side of it. The orcs seemed to color code their ammunition, so these pink and red clips probably contained the same darts. If those darts were just some sort of drug, then perhaps using the pistol on the enemies was probably not a good idea. It seemed the real value in what Laina had recovered wasn't going to be the pistol, but its ammunition. Hopefully, somebody at the base could use the clip to learn more about what was in the darts, and maybe even make an antidote for their effects.
Kalica: Attempt to break free; uses 3 EP.
Break 1: 12 + 1 = 13 vs. 7 + 2 = 9; Kalica is grappled with 11 points, allowing her to wield weapons and use her arms.
Break 2: 9 + 1 = 10 vs. 11 + 2 = 13; Kalica can't break free.
Break 3: 13 + 1 = 14 vs. 4 + 1 = 5; Kalica is grappled with 2 points, meaning she can move, but it will take 2 EP to move in a certain direction.
Enemy moves
Slime 1: Uses a special move; uses up 5 MP and forfeits it's turn until the next round.
Slime 1 uses 2 EP.
Slime 2: Uses special move; uses up 10 MP and 2 EP.
Special move: 20 + 2 = 22 vs. 14 + 4 = 18; Damage: 1 FP. Stun check: ...Failed.
Slime 3: Attempts to gain a better grip over Kalica; uses 1 EP.
Grapple 1: 1 + 2 = 3 vs. 3 + 1 = 4; Grapple failed.
New round begins.
Slime 1 has split into 'Smaller Slime 1 and 2'.
Kailca begins to struggle frantically as the slime grips onto her,
dislodging her arms with a triumphant cry. She continues to pull free of the slime, trying to rip the creature off her with her fingers... and even though the gelatinous goop slips through her fingers, she succeeds in pulling most of it off and around her ankles! She was breathing heavily, trying to catch her breath as the as the slimes about Reya went to work; one attempts to zap the Marine, which she swears she feels all the way in her spine, but besides the slight pain, nothing else happened. The other slime began to split into two, like a nucleus dividing, creating two small copies of itself - yellow orb and all.
"I hope I'm not bothering you two... But I can't see what's going," Kiera suddenly said over their headsets, "...Are you both doing alright?"
Firelight Base: Courtyard; Cassidy, Ashley, Hali, Theresa and Kyle
"Pictures of the Commander?" Kiera asked innocently, "Well, of course I have pictures of her. While our extranet access does happen to be down, my network has over 80 yottabytes of information stored on it currently. If you wouldn't mind..." The VI then took control of Cassidy's omnitool and virtual window over her eye, enlarging it enough for the Asari to get a decent sized screen floating in front of her. The VI began to load up any piece of information she could get on Commander Winters, the progress bar slowly filling as she began to list the achievements of the Commander.
"Well, Commander Winters is the first successful cross-genetic modification in the known universe... At least, first non-classified success. She was first made about... three hundred fifty years ago as some sort of lab assistant. That was before the Alliance actually knew about her, and most of her activities are highly classified.. Hrm... About 25 years after that, the Alliance recreated her as a super soldier. Her records put her around the Kirupulu system, again heavily classified... but it's assumed she fought against Viola when the woman turned rebel. She uh, died, a few days later.
"Afterwords, Private Winters was put into an intensive training program, in which her rank was raised from Private First Class to Commander in the Alliance. It was at this time that you 'studied' her, as she puts it. When she spoke to me about this incident, she even made little quote signs with her fingers."
The files finished loading on Cassidy's screen, and the Asari couldn't help but let out a groan as she saw the picture known more about the known universe than that one time Cassidy was found trying to test out her mind control device on some marines:
The woman was standing on a bridge of a human dreadnought-class starship, arms behind her back, one of her feet resting just inches ahead of the other with her shoulders turned ever so slightly, her pink eyes piercing right through the virtual screen. The dreadnought had been positioned near a star that would be going super nova in the next few years, the bright blue filling the bridge and outlining the woman's perfect Commander's uniform, buttoned up to her neck. Her hair was long and black, curled from a specific genetic sequence. Cassidy immediately recognized the long floppy rabbit ears now considered a trademark of the command, and the short black fur that had made Commander Winters so famous; after all, being the first rabbit-human hybrid had definitely earned the woman some fame... And a few weeks after this picture had been taken, Cassandra Winters - or Cassie, as Cassidy came to know her - was at the School of Anthropology at some Asari University, being studied to see if human social patterns had crossed over to the genetic creation without any of the normal human stigmas.
She certainly warmed up to the Asari about the same rate as humans.
"Oh, and to answer your question?" Kiera asked, "No... I haven't told the Commander that you're here."
((Didn't get to respond to the previous post, yikes. Finals week is next week for me, oh boy!))
"Darts that pierce through armor?" Jenn says in more than a little concern. "And marines running toward the enemy? We definitely need to get back quickly and check out those darts. I'm sure the base has some sort of equipment that could help us out, somehow, right?"
***
Hearing the Asari accidentally broadcast herself, Jenn looks around in a little confusion but then seems to grasp what had happened.
"Oh, geez... I've done that more times than I can count..." she recounts sympathetically to anyone nearby. "Who is that, anyway?"
