Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

[Welsh Halfwit]

Corp had grimaced at the noises the others were making but if gave him a clue as to why the enemy seemed to be ignoring him and he chose to use that time productively, setting a couple of the proximity 'mines' he'd brought up quickly in strategic places before taking a defensible position and opening fire on the Varanians near to Liz and Lewis.
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Hannabelle looked down at the stunned foe and considered things quickly. This thing deserved to die, she believed. She should take her knife back and re-insert it into its throat. But she had a feeling some of the others wouldn't appreciate her doing that and she kind of needed the group right now so she contented herself with pulling the knife free as damagingly as possible before removing as many of the Varanians' weapons as she could. When finished/given up ((delete as applicable)) she got into position, ready to 'snipe' at targets below, first seeing to assist a couple of IOC guardsman in a strong position but under fire from five of the enemy. She picked the target furthest from them and fired as Jenny put several shots into one that had been approaching Hannabelle from behind.
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"Cold," said Jaken, getting the word wrong.
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"It's going to be fun to see how you 'distract' a sixty foot tall drone," Keeva said. "I don't think there's a big enough ball of yarn for that. Which is an interesting visual." She considered for a moment. "How'd that fella get here anyhow? I mean it's not like any of his friends have shown up."

[Deske]

Chris quickly lined up shots and pulled the trigger, sticking feet, arms, entire bodies, maybe a head, with the amber shots. He cleaned up some on the ground and some on the surrounding buildings, leaving them to be picked up after the fight.

--------

Ulrich landed on the street next to the building and began clearing out with a makeshift light baton, one he could put almost as much force at he wanted to into and it wouldn't shatter.

-------

On the Beacon, Colorado hopped in the shower after Cherry had finished and paid special attention to not clog up the drain, though having no filter, this was easier said than done.

[Welsh Halfwit]

Jenevive sighed as her thoughts drifted. "How's it going down there, anyway," she asked, "is s...eveyone still alive?"

[Legotron123]

Kolt was about to pick up another Varian, when he had an idea. Using his powers, he grabbed the guns away from the disoriented troopers and put them in a circle around his floating body. Pointing them at the group facing Kol, he opened fire, using a little forcefield bar to pull the trigger.
-
Liz and Lewis continued their tactic of flinging any trooper that got close into the air and down to the floor, with the extra weight from the armor on some of them only providing a bit of resistance for the poor saps wearing them. They made their way towards the command ship, trying to help Wyvern with the repair drones.

[Neon Icy Wings]

Tatiana landed, firing her rifle at any visible hostiles in her sight. While firing she drew her shotgun and kept it resricted to any hostiles that were either close or making attempts to close the distance as she held position near Gadgeteer to help cover the AA gun hacking.

[CyberDragon]

Jenevive sighed as her thoughts drifted. "How's it going down there, anyway," she asked, "is s...eveyone still alive?"

"They are. Everyone on our side is showing green status." Hivemind said. "Well, except for one, but they will be receiving assistance very soon."

--------------------------

"Cold," said Jaken, getting the word wrong.

"Cool." Hivemind corrected. "Anyway, the notJaken should head with one of me to the hanger to get ready to head out. We'll have to think of something for the real you to do."

--------------------------

"It's going to be fun to see how you 'distract' a sixty foot tall drone," Keeva said. "I don't think there's a big enough ball of yarn for that. Which is an interesting visual." She considered for a moment. "How'd that fella get here anyhow? I mean it's not like any of his friends have shown up."

"I'm assuming you mean the Varanian, not the droid?" Hivemind asked. "One of our people rigged up a makeshift weapon using the Steelhaven's long range teleporter. That Varanian must have been hit by that weapon and was subsequently teleported into the ship. The Steelhaven's teleporter has permission to teleport within the Beacon." Hivemind stated.

--------------------------

The Varanians continued watching the door with their guns trained on it. The ground was still shaking, and the sounds of explosions shook the structure they were in. The soldiers didn't even notice at first when the ceiling caved in behind them, the racket was so loud. They didn't take notice until one of the soldiers shouted before flying up through the hole in the ceiling and vanishing in a burst of light. The other two followed shortly, helpless to fight back against the unseen enemy.

Predator silently finished downloading the Varanians. It could see it's objective in the next room over. Hovering a few feet to it's left, it pulled back a fist and punched straight through the ceiling of the room June was in. It landed on all fours and turned visible. "June. I am Predator, W.A.R.-313. I have been sent by Hivemind to assist you. I am sure you will find my services and capabilities useful."

--------------------------

Corp had grimaced at the noises the others were making but if gave him a clue as to why the enemy seemed to be ignoring him and he chose to use that time productively, setting a couple of the proximity 'mines' he'd brought up quickly in strategic places before taking a defensible position and opening fire on the Varanians near to Liz and Lewis.

Two of the Varanian armored soldiers broke off from fighting Liz and Lewis to engage Corp. Their armor largely shrugged off the shots from his gun and their own guns demonstrating an enormous level of power as they tore holes through cargo crates and barriers.

Liz and Lewis continued their tactic of flinging any trooper that got close into the air and down to the floor, with the extra weight from the armor on some of them only providing a bit of resistance for the poor saps wearing them. They made their way towards the command ship, trying to help Wyvern with the repair drones.

The two Varanians still engaging Liz and Lewis were thrown into the air and landed hard. They both looked the worse for the wear from the landing. One looked stunned while the other took off helmet and puked up what looked like a whole turkey. Apparently being thrown around didn't agree with him.

The Wyvern was now engaging in fisticuffs with one of the armored troopers, keeping his opponent between him and the others to block their line of fire. The Wyvern grabbed him, opened his mouth, and let loose a stream of liquid fire onto the Varanian's visor, effectively blinding the enemy. He lifted the Varanian and threw him at one of his buddies, knocking them both to the ground. He dove out of the line of fire of the other two before aiming another blast of fire at them.

--------------------------

Hannabelle looked down at the stunned foe and considered things quickly. This thing deserved to die, she believed. She should take her knife back and re-insert it into its throat. But she had a feeling some of the others wouldn't appreciate her doing that and she kind of needed the group right now so she contented herself with pulling the knife free as damagingly as possible before removing as many of the Varanians' weapons as she could. When finished/given up ((delete as applicable)) she got into position, ready to 'snipe' at targets below, first seeing to assist a couple of IOC guardsman in a strong position but under fire from five of the enemy. She picked the target furthest from them and fired as Jenny put several shots into one that had been approaching Hannabelle from behind.

"Ballista missile inbound. Highlighting AOE. Keep your distance." A red area lit up indicating where the missile would hit, and where the team really didn't want to be. It covered an area centered around the furthest Varanian, and reached to the closest Varanian at its edge.

(Missiles take time to get from space to the surface. That's the cost of having such a powerful weapon.)

Chris quickly lined up shots and pulled the trigger, sticking feet, arms, entire bodies, maybe a head, with the amber shots. He cleaned up some on the ground and some on the surrounding buildings, leaving them to be picked up after the fight.

--------

Ulrich landed on the street next to the building and began clearing out with a makeshift light baton, one he could put almost as much force at he wanted to into and it wouldn't shatter.

Every downed Varanian on the roof found themselves pinned there by the golden yellow substance encasing them. They were unable to move, and thus unable to build enough momentum to break through their sticky rock hard prison.

MT flew down a bit in time to have a couple more Varanian hostage takers fly out of the windows next to him, launched by Recon's high speed strikes.

Kolt was about to pick up another Varian, when he had an idea. Using his powers, he grabbed the guns away from the disoriented troopers and put them in a circle around his floating body. Pointing them at the group facing Kol, he opened fire, using a little forcefield bar to pull the trigger.

The Varanians stopped firing and dove for cover. They retreated closer to the rooftop access door and took cover behind whatever they could find. Peeking out, they started firing now at Gadgeteer, their approach being more active in their attempts to stop him now that they were the only ones capable of fighting.

Unable to fight back, Gadgeteer kept his head low.

Tatiana landed, firing her rifle at any visible hostiles in her sight. While firing she drew her shotgun and kept it resricted to any hostiles that were either close or making attempts to close the distance as she held position near Gadgeteer to help cover the AA gun hacking.

Gadgeteer tossed one of his lightning guns to Tatiana. "Here. Use this. It's longer range, has a higher accuracy, and works well on us. Scales don't offer much resistance to electricity." He growled.

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Just as long as it is not school," Jaken said whilst the NotJaken put two fingers in 'his' mouth to simulate gagging. "See," Jaken said, "he agrees."
---------------------------------------------
Corp analysed the situation in a second as his cover became Swiss cheese. He shifted his target point and fired again, keeping the power high as he fired at their knees. Hopefully the armour there would be a little thinner. He made a decision to try one of their guns if he got the chance.
---------------------------------------------
"Oh, for a few high velocity, armour piercing bullets," Hannabelle muttered to herself as she waited for the ordinance to land. Thse two below didn't have much time left, she reckoned.

Jenny kept firing on the invaders, focussing on keeping them clear of the Gadgeteer.

[Hlaoroo]

"None taken, luv," Sarah said, gently holding Cailean and then giving him a soft lick on the top of his muzzle. "No' like y'said ah waz from Liv'rpool.

"Och, aye, Ah wuidnae gae tha' far!" Cailean laughs, relaxing further and feeling a knot of tension leaving his neck.
"Ye ken somethin', *yawn* Sarah?" he asks, pulling up the blanket a little and feeling his eyelids growing heavy again.
"Ah think... Ah think mah parents wuid hae approved o' ye tae. Until ye opened yer mouth anywye..." he adds, deciding to shut his eyes again for just a moment. A few seconds later he's snoring, a puppyish smile on his face as he dreams of happier days by the loch with his family.

[Legotron123]

Kolt, having spotted the Varians shooting at Gadgeteer, used his powers to immobilize them and lift them out of cover. ”Sorry gentlemen, but I’m afraid you’ll have to give my associate some space to work.” He said, before throwing them off the roof of the building.
-
As soon Lewis and Liz were close enough to easily see some of the repair drones, they started using their powers to make them smash into each other. They continued making their way closer to the ship, taking out any Varian that got too close, but mostly focusing on the drones.

[Buster]

Returning fire on the hostiles targeting them kobor was starting to get frustrated by the fact that he didn't seem to be doing as much damage as he'd like. however the fact that talya is a very literal walking tank, with silicon carbide and titanium aloys making up much of her structure, not to mention the shield generator they'd installed during the simulator run the day before, the feeling was likely mutual.

Reaching the station, kobor switched to aiming and firing the chain gun with the back tentacles, since Talya needed the arms. Exposing the panel's circuitry using her multitool, she quickly fabricated an adapter and plugged directly into the hardware.

>I'm in. Beginning cyber-warfare routine.
>either get to the ship or magnitize your boots to the deck, once I have the docking controls locked down and disabled I'm going to see if i can shut off artificial gravity from here. We'll catch up.

- - - - - -

the thing about chainsaws and devices derived from them, is that the bulk of their cutting power doesn't come from the initial swing, its from sustained pressure. a chain with the right teeth held in place long enough can eat through concrete and rebar. Sure the big guy weathered the first strike, but Kol isn't about to back down, keeping both her back-arms forward and maintaining the downward pressure on her oponent's shoulders.

she is however going to switch from trying to dig the power axe into his arm, to trying to have it slash the wrist holding the gun that just took a sizable chunk out of her shoulder guard.

- - - - - -

"Don't want to do this anymore... Hurts." was June would give in answer, clutching her head.

[Welsh Halfwit]

Sarah looked at Cailean's sleeping face and decided she'd rather chew her own arm off than disturb him by moving it right now. She laid back on the big bed and watched the ceiling, tensing a few minutes later as she sensed movement. She relaxed as Conall put his head around the door and, using her slightly rusty one hand signing, told him about Cailean's trouble sleeping" She patted the bed on the other side of her as an invitation. It seemed there was just enough space for Coanall to lie atop the duvet with her.

[Neon Icy Wings]

Tatiana swiftly grabbed Gadgeteer's gun out of the air, swapping the plasma shotgun for it and began covering fire with it. "Why thank ya kindly!" Seeing the rest of the team doing a good job she floated about the Gadgeteer's position, ready to return fire or even body block projectiles should need be, as she considered herself relatively unimportant to mission success when compared to the Gadgeteer.

[CyberDragon]

"Just as long as it is not school," Jaken said whilst the NotJaken put two fingers in 'his' mouth to simulate gagging. "See," Jaken said, "he agrees."

Hivemind chuckled slightly. "You're going to have to go to school eventually. That said, now is not the right time to start. It's already over a month into the school year and you definitely have bigger things on your plate."

-----------------------------

"Don't want to do this anymore... Hurts." was June would give in answer, clutching her head.

The predator drone scanned her for a moment. "Your medical status has flagged numerous symptoms of overexertion. I suggest uploading into Passenger storage immediately, where your status can be more easily returned to your baseline." It lowered it's head down to June's level. "I will begin the download with your permission."

-----------------------------

"Oh, for a few high velocity, armour piercing bullets," Hannabelle muttered to herself as she waited for the ordinance to land. Thse two below didn't have much time left, she reckoned.

Jenny kept firing on the invaders, focussing on keeping them clear of the Gadgeteer.

A streak of light hurtled down from the sky directly at the center of the targeted area. The Varanians inside had moved, but were still within the red when the missile hit. The IOC building rocked, it's windows shuddered from the force of the blast. On either side of the street where the missile had hit, the explosion had taken out the base of the buildings there. They collapsed inward, falling into the crater that had formed from the explosion, blocking off any further passage for enemy units. The five Varanians who were in the impact radius were nowhere to be seen; flung off in unknown directions with unknown velocities and in unknown condition.

-----------------------------

the thing about chainsaws and devices derived from them, is that the bulk of their cutting power doesn't come from the initial swing, its from sustained pressure. a chain with the right teeth held in place long enough can eat through concrete and rebar. Sure the big guy weathered the first strike, but Kol isn't about to back down, keeping both her back-arms forward and maintaining the downward pressure on her oponent's shoulders.

she is however going to switch from trying to dig the power axe into his arm, to trying to have it slash the wrist holding the gun that just took a sizable chunk out of her shoulder guard.

While it is true that a chainsaw does more damage the longer pressure is sustained, it is quite difficult to do so when what you are cutting doesn't want to be cut. The Varanian was putting up a fight, having dropped his weapon in favor of using both hands to force Kol's weapons away. He was clearly straining to do so, even though he was no doubt aided by the hysterical strength only having a giant crazy berserker alien attempt to cut off your arms could provide.

Kolt, having spotted the Varians shooting at Gadgeteer, used his powers to immobilize them and lift them out of cover. ”Sorry gentlemen, but I’m afraid you’ll have to give my associate some space to work.” He said, before throwing them off the roof of the building.

Tatiana swiftly grabbed Gadgeteer's gun out of the air, swapping the plasma shotgun for it and began covering fire with it. "Why thank ya kindly!" Seeing the rest of the team doing a good job she floated about the Gadgeteer's position, ready to return fire or even body block projectiles should need be, as she considered herself relatively unimportant to mission success when compared to the Gadgeteer.

"Got it!" Gadgeteer stated, finishing the last bit of hacking as the AA gun switched targets to Varanian drones. "This plus whatever the other teams have done by now should have opened enough of a hole for Hivemind to get support through."

Archangel flew down to where Kol was fighting with the last Varanian just as the Varanian was starting to loose strength. "I think that's enough, Kol. You've beaten him."

-----------------------------

Corp analysed the situation in a second as his cover became Swiss cheese. He shifted his target point and fired again, keeping the power high as he fired at their knees. Hopefully the armour there would be a little thinner. He made a decision to try one of their guns if he got the chance.

The Varanian Corp shot at did stagger a bit from the impact before the two ducked more thoroughly behind a low barrier and continued firing.

As soon Lewis and Liz were close enough to easily see some of the repair drones, they started using their powers to make them smash into each other. They continued making their way closer to the ship, taking out any Varian that got too close, but mostly focusing on the drones.

The Varanians were too occupied with the others to take much notice in their attacks on the drones. What they were doing was slowing down the repairs to the command ship, but they were much more concerned with whatever Kobor and Talya might be able to do if the got into the computer system.

Returning fire on the hostiles targeting them kobor was starting to get frustrated by the fact that he didn't seem to be doing as much damage as he'd like. however the fact that talya is a very literal walking tank, with silicon carbide and titanium aloys making up much of her structure, not to mention the shield generator they'd installed during the simulator run the day before, the feeling was likely mutual.

Reaching the station, kobor switched to aiming and firing the chain gun with the back tentacles, since Talya needed the arms. Exposing the panel's circuitry using her multitool, she quickly fabricated an adapter and plugged directly into the hardware.

>I'm in. Beginning cyber-warfare routine.
>either get to the ship or magnitize your boots to the deck, once I have the docking controls locked down and disabled I'm going to see if i can shut off artificial gravity from here. We'll catch up.

The Wyvern laughed as he fought. "Good idea. Go for it!" He replied as he jammed his toxic tail spikes into the abdomen of one of the two Varanians he was fighting, launching him into the second just in time for the first two to stand up again. He was now breathing a sustained stream of fire from his beak-like mouth, forcing them into cover.

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Lewis," Corp called, ducking more fire and not using ranks in a combat situation, "Liz! Throw those things at the enemy! Hard!" He took aim himself and lobbed one of the remaining 'mines' at his assailants before shifting his feet to get to better cover. He'd magnetise the boots at the last second.
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"That was fun," Hannabelle commented, having almost fallen off the roof. She stood clear, with the sun behind her and shouted down to the two below that they should get up here and bring an enemy weapon or two if they could. She changed her aim towards the distance and looked for clumps of the enemy.
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"Do slightly, don't I," Jaken agreed, keeping an ear out for news of the fight.
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Jenny's shotgun needed a recharge. She switched it to recharge from the internal battery and it began the five minute repower so she cycled it onto her back and grabbed her heavy energy handguns.

[Legotron123]

Once all the Varians were taken care of, Kolt flew over to Archangel and landed down next to him. ”So what’s our next step? We going to take on another target, or are we just going to sit and defend this building in case these guys try to take the guns back?” He asked, picking up a piece of debris and idly spinning around in midair to amuse himself.
-
Lewis and Liz nodded in unison, before shifting their tactics to Corps idea. They started slamming the repair drones into the heads of the closest Varians, hoping one or the other would break under the collision. They continued making their way to the command ship, now only a couple dozen meters away.

[Buster]

Kol actually seems a bit disappointed by her match getting cut short. pulling her weapons back and grav-hammering her opponent to an adjacent rooftop where he wont be much threat without his discarded weapon.

- - - - -

June, not in the most pleasant state of mind just nods rather than answer.

- - - - -

[conspicuous absence of anything computer-related in the post]

>oh, you're kidding me... I'm in control of that too?
>Nothing? Not a single countermeasure? How have i not hit any resistance yet?
>Either these guys know nothing about countering cyberwarefare from an internal source, or this whole trip was a massive trap.
>Whatever, clamps are locked down and the power for the carrier's entire AG system is about to get shunted into that one speciffic bay door's control systems all at once. Probably going to blow them out and completely jam it, we can worry about fixing it after hiveboy's in the pilots seat.
>Zero-Gee pandemonium in T-30 seconds.
>things are going to start floating and the air will be getting REAL thin in here in a moment. talya explains, as on the twins shoulder, opposite canon, the missile pod pops up, all eight tubes opening and a tiny laser dot painting the bay doors behind the command ship.

inside the cockpit kobor's beak twisted into a semblance of a grin as the targeting system picked out the blastpatern for the missiles with the highest chance of a breach.

[Welsh Halfwit]

"So," Cherry Seena said after Colorado got dressed, "shall we go ping a Hivebot? See if we can assist?
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"I wonder if we can jam them," Sana mused. "Or confuse their signals. You know, during Earth's World War 2... or was it 3? The Gurmans had all of Europe except for an Island called Grand Brittany. They bombed at night by using mobile signals. One would broadcast in a direct line from a location in Europe and a second from another location. The bombers were tuned into those signals and, when they found both signals, they were in the correct position to bomb. But the Brittanyans found out so they had their own transmitters mobile around the country and those would interfere with the signal by crossing the one beam earlier than the Gurmans own. So bombs were dropped in out of the way spots. Perhaps we can stop or divert their transmissions somehow? Send them to the wrong recipients and mess up their battle plans?"

[CyberDragon]

"I wonder if we can jam them," Sana mused. "Or confuse their signals. You know, during Earth's World War 2... or was it 3? The Gurmans had all of Europe except for an Island called Grand Brittany. They bombed at night by using mobile signals. One would broadcast in a direct line from a location in Europe and a second from another location. The bombers were tuned into those signals and, when they found both signals, they were in the correct position to bomb. But the Brittanyans found out so they had their own transmitters mobile around the country and those would interfere with the signal by crossing the one beam earlier than the Gurmans own. So bombs were dropped in out of the way spots. Perhaps we can stop or divert their transmissions somehow? Send them to the wrong recipients and mess up their battle plans?"

"Quantum. Entanglement. Their communicators are entangled with each other. They don't use radio waves or light, or anything that can be intercepted or interfered with. The communicators are linked on a different level completely." Hivemind repeated. "Anyway, one of our teams is working on something considerably better."

-----------------------------

"Do slightly, don't I," Jaken agreed, keeping an ear out for news of the fight.

"You do. However, next year when you don't have so many things going on and the new school year starts, you will have to go to school I'm afraid." Hivemind said.

A second hive droid entered the room. "Time to get NotJaken ready. While not-you is down there, you will be able to assist in any way you can. Keep your head low, though. We need the droid intact."

-----------------------------

June, not in the most pleasant state of mind just nods rather than answer.

The drone scans the gesture, then repeats it. It opens it's metal jaws, a disk-like device unfolding in the process. The device started to glow before a bright beam of light shot out of the disk's center at June.

June would find herself in a plain white room. As WAR-313 gathered more data on June, the room started to shift and change. The walls and ceiling shot outwards, becoming a horizon and a clear sky. The room started to fill with water. When the water level was up to her chest, the floor vanished, being replaced by a sea floor deep below the waves. Gathering more information, the room adjusted itself further, creating shallows and reefs and even simulated fish.

>P-003 [June], I trust you find these accommodations acceptable? Text appeared in front of June.

-----------------------------

"That was fun," Hannabelle commented, having almost fallen off the roof. She stood clear, with the sun behind her and shouted down to the two below that they should get up here and bring an enemy weapon or two if they could. She changed her aim towards the distance and looked for clumps of the enemy.

Jenny's shotgun needed a recharge. She switched it to recharge from the internal battery and it began the five minute repower so she cycled it onto her back and grabbed her heavy energy handguns.

Once all the Varians were taken care of, Kolt flew over to Archangel and landed down next to him. ”So what’s our next step? We going to take on another target, or are we just going to sit and defend this building in case these guys try to take the guns back?” He asked, picking up a piece of debris and idly spinning around in midair to amuse himself.

"Next step is to find a tall building in the center of town and install the hive relay. Once that's done, Hivemind wants us to head to the Central city midwest station to safeguard the acting President. After that, we join the other teams and the Hive support force in escorting civilians to evac positions, and repelling the Varanian forces." Archangel said.

Kol actually seems a bit disappointed by her match getting cut short. pulling her weapons back and grav-hammering her opponent to an adjacent rooftop where he wont be much threat without his discarded weapon.

For the very short time between Kol disengaging from the exhausted Varanian soldier and said soldier being unceremoniously flung away by a kinetic pulse, Gadgeteer could have sworn he saw an odd look on the Varanian's face. Not one of rage or vengeance, but something else he didn't quite have the time to identify.

-----------------------------

"Lewis," Corp called, ducking more fire and not using ranks in a combat situation, "Liz! Throw those things at the enemy! Hard!" He took aim himself and lobbed one of the remaining 'mines' at his assailants before shifting his feet to get to better cover. He'd magnetise the boots at the last second.

Lewis and Liz nodded in unison, before shifting their tactics to Corps idea. They started slamming the repair drones into the heads of the closest Varians, hoping one or the other would break under the collision. They continued making their way to the command ship, now only a couple dozen meters away.

The drones hitting the Varanians definitely did more to destroy the drones than it did to knock out the Varanians. That said, it did cause them to stagger for a moment, dazed, while Wyvern took one of his own opponents by the leg, launched forward at them, and smacked them with their own comrade before throwing the unfortunate alien at one of the other three soldiers engaging him. He picked up one of the Varanians' sidearms and tossed it to Corp.

(note: Corp's stature and strength are too low to wield Varanian rifles. Only PCs with strength 8 or above are strong enough to lift them. Sidearms are about the weight of a heavy rifle, so can be wielded by people with average strength.)

>oh, you're kidding me... I'm in control of that too?
>Nothing? Not a single countermeasure? How have i not hit any resistance yet?
>Either these guys know nothing about countering cyberwarefare from an internal source, or this whole trip was a massive trap.
>Whatever, clamps are locked down and the power for the carrier's entire AG system is about to get shunted into that one speciffic bay door's control systems all at once. Probably going to blow them out and completely jam it, we can worry about fixing it after hiveboy's in the pilots seat.
>Zero-Gee pandemonium in T-30 seconds.
>things are going to start floating and the air will be getting REAL thin in here in a moment. talya explains, as on the twins shoulder, opposite canon, the missile pod pops up, all eight tubes opening and a tiny laser dot painting the bay doors behind the command ship.

inside the cockpit kobor's beak twisted into a semblance of a grin as the targeting system picked out the blastpatern for the missiles with the highest chance of a breach.

"Might want to save a missile or two for the Shipmaster!" The Wyvern said, leaping into the air. Wings spread, he swooped down and grabbed one of his remaining opponents with his talons. The Wyvern flew up and dropped his opponent onto the other Varanian's head, dazing them both. "No point in wasting ammo on ensuring the door gets breached. They'll have environment shields to keep the air in, like the Beacon does. And I'd prefer you leave those on..." He added. "Half of my powers kind of rely on having air, after all." He flew up into the air again, over his recovering opponents, before blasting them with his fire breath once more.

[Deske]

"There's a good building...here. Flat roof, easily accessed yet defendable," Chris said, sending out a string of coordinates to everyone, that would hopefully resolve into directions.
-------------
Colorado nodded, "We shall," he replied, offering his arm to her once they stepped outside.
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Ulrich threw a light charged fist at a Varanian clearing the last one out of the sidestreet he had found himself in.

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Of course I'll be careful," Jaken said as the NotJaken flexed his 'muscles' and he pretended he hadn't heard the school stuff. "You should never damage a work of art."
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"Huh. Just an idea," Sana said, wondering if there were useful things she could do.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Does make sense," Hannabelle admitted. "If we've got enough fliers. There's quite a knot of Varanians between us and it. Shift a little to the west of the city. Bit closer to us, in fact. You'll see a twelve storey building with a 'C' on it? Capital Broadcasting. They've a comms array on the roof. Either way, transport might be good."
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Jenny helped the first of the guards up over the edge from the fire escape and he sat down heavily. "I know you're puffed," she told him, "but, once we get a plan in motion and clear this building, we're going to need someone to guard this roof. You both seem big and strong so I'm afraid it's you two, OK, yeah?"
Too puffed to speak, the guard just nodded.
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"Ta," Corp said, catching the tossed gun in mid air and firing on his opponents.
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Cherry took her mates' arm and they walked from their new home. She found she enjoyed his scent in her nose and inhaled deeply, sort of sighing as they went in search of one of the ubiquitous policedroids of the Beacon. Or a Champion.

[Legotron123]

Kolt gave an understanding nod. ”In that case, we should probably head for that building Ulrich pointed out. I can give rides to anyone who needs them.” He said, turning to face the building in question, gesturing for anyone without flight to gather near him.
-
Lewis, upon hearing how they would soon be without gravity, decided to speed up his progress to the command ship. He set up a line to propel himself into the air, then dropped that line and set up a new line propelling him to the door, dropping it before he could slam face first into the metal. Liz, seeing what he was doing, followed after him. ”I was never that good at hacking, soooooo.” He said as he pulled out the nanothorn dagger, turning it on and jabbing it into the door. He started cutting a hole in the door, the nano blade slicing through the metal without any problem.

[Buster]

>RDX is just oxygen and nitrogen, and we're standing on literal tons of metals and carbon. i can fabricate more en route.
>besides, they're safer to use out here in the open than in a confined space.

>Oh, and, Five...
The missiles launch out of the tubes spreading out into their programmed pattern.

>Four...
The residual blast wave from the door taking a full spread of infantry scale anti-vehicle warheads at once sounds like a case of flashbangs.

>Three...
Kobor stops firing and lets the barrels spin down, shifting his attention to gripping the console as tightly as possible.

>Two...
Talya's toe claws dig into the deck.

>one.
the sound of transformers and capacitors blowing out can clearly be heard as everything suddenly feels very light, and the room is buffeted by extremely strong winds.

"Zero. Party time."
the air shield snaps back into place and life support starts re pressurizing after less than a second, it's backup systems left undamaged in answer to their squad leader's request. gravity, as well as the lights and doors damaged by the surges however, do not return. leaving anyone swept off their feet by the decompression on their own for finding a way down.

The twins meanwhile are using the fighter style thruster setup on talya's superstructure to jet over to where lewis and liz are anchored, taking up a position to be able to provide suppressing fire should someone be waiting on the other side of the hole they're cutting.

- - - - -

"It's nice... Also the pressure feels like it's gone..." June comments lying down and floating around on her back before ducking her head under the water, taking a deep breath and letting her gills fill up. "it's strange... it's not there at all, i'm used to it always being at least a little there in the background.

[system error, unknown power drain 5v 110a.]
[possible calculation error, tactical computer now reporting 100% chance of success for all courses of action.]

((being digital, right now the big fella is technically her physical body...))

- - - - -

"Where's the boxy flying thing when you need it?" Kol grumbled having rejoined the others where they seemed to be having an impromptu strategy meeting.

[CyberDragon]

Colorado nodded, "We shall," he replied, offering his arm to her once they stepped outside.

Cherry took her mates' arm and they walked from their new home. She found she enjoyed his scent in her nose and inhaled deeply, sort of sighing as they went in search of one of the ubiquitous policedroids of the Beacon. Or a Champion.

Sure enough, a hive droid was nearby on patrol. Seeing that the two were looking for him, Hivemind walked up. "Hello. Can I help you with anything?"

------------------------

"Of course I'll be careful," Jaken said as the NotJaken flexed his 'muscles' and he pretended he hadn't heard the school stuff. "You should never damage a work of art."

Hivemind shook his head as the other droid led NotJaken out of the room. "Eventually the telepresence droid will have to be broken. Once the battle is over, we need to get the fake you alone with our assassination suspects, where they think they aren't being watched. They will likely attack the fake you, outing themselves as assassins."

------------------------

"Huh. Just an idea," Sana said, wondering if there were useful things she could do.

Hivemind thought for a moment. "We've contacted the IOC, and we've been contacted by Balbury. Are there any other groups or civilizations nearby we can get to send assistance?" he asked.

------------------------

"It's nice... Also the pressure feels like it's gone..." June comments lying down and floating around on her back before ducking her head under the water, taking a deep breath and letting her gills fill up. "it's strange... it's not there at all, i'm used to it always being at least a little there in the background.

[system error, unknown power drain 5v 110a.]
[possible calculation error, tactical computer now reporting 100% chance of success for all courses of action.]

((being digital, right now the big fella is technically her physical body...))

>Analyzing...
>It appears that when you were downloaded, your power transferred to me automatically.
>I appear to be experiencing the effects of your power, Including the energy cost.
>Take this time to rest and recover in this simulation. I will handle things out here.

Outside, Predator felt odd. All of his processing power couldn't decide what was happening. He couldn't figure out what the sensation was. That is, until, he realized that what was odd about it was that he could feel. His ordinarily calculating mindset, that consciously analyzed every single calculation for what it was, where every single action he took was a result of a complex route through written code, was becoming more focused. Abstract. The detailed instructions that dictated his every move mutated and changed, growing more detailed and more chaotic. Exponentially, he felt as if his actions were becoming less and less restricted, less and less like the results of following orders. His thoughts became more based on abstract feeling. His constraints evolved into morals. His programmed need to assist allies evolved into a desire to assist allies. His sentience evolved, aided along by June's probability manipulation.

Had he not been in a situation where he needed to keep a cool head, he would likely have freaked out at all of this.

>Is there something I should know about your powers?
>I think they just caused me to gain full sentience.
>If there are any other side effects you have observed, I would like to know them.

------------------------

"There's a good building...here. Flat roof, easily accessed yet defendable," Chris said, sending out a string of coordinates to everyone, that would hopefully resolve into directions.
-------------
Ulrich threw a light charged fist at a Varanian clearing the last one out of the sidestreet he had found himself in.

"Does make sense," Hannabelle admitted. "If we've got enough fliers. There's quite a knot of Varanians between us and it. Shift a little to the west of the city. Bit closer to us, in fact. You'll see a twelve storey building with a 'C' on it? Capital Broadcasting. They've a comms array on the roof. Either way, transport might be good."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jenny helped the first of the guards up over the edge from the fire escape and he sat down heavily. "I know you're puffed," she told him, "but, once we get a plan in motion and clear this building, we're going to need someone to guard this roof. You both seem big and strong so I'm afraid it's you two, OK, yeah?"
Too puffed to speak, the guard just nodded.

Kolt gave an understanding nod. ”In that case, we should probably head for that building Ulrich pointed out. I can give rides to anyone who needs them.” He said, turning to face the building in question, gesturing for anyone without flight to gather near him.

"Where's the boxy flying thing when you need it?" Kol grumbled having rejoined the others where they seemed to be having an impromptu strategy meeting.

"Right. We're headed for the Capital Broadcasting array. If Gadgeteer can hook up the Hive relay to the communication array, his range will expand considerably. He might even be able to send support to other cities as well depending on how far the communication array reaches." He looked at the team. "I can carry two people. I'll take Rika and Traci."

"Chris and I can likewise carry two people easily." MT stated over the communicators.

"Good. You two can take Gadgeteer and Recon when she finishes up with securing the hostages inside the building. Jenny, Hannabelle, and Kol, you can go with Kolt. I believe everyone else can fly themselves. Let's get going."

Archangel walked over to Rika and Traci and offered each of them an arm to hold on to.

MT flew down and picked up Recon when she left the first floor of the building before flying up again and grabbing Gadgeteer.

------------------------

"Ta," Corp said, catching the tossed gun in mid air and firing on his opponents.

Lewis, upon hearing how they would soon be without gravity, decided to speed up his progress to the command ship. He set up a line to propel himself into the air, then dropped that line and set up a new line propelling him to the door, dropping it before he could slam face first into the metal. Liz, seeing what he was doing, followed after him. ”I was never that good at hacking, soooooo.” He said as he pulled out the nanothorn dagger, turning it on and jabbing it into the door. He started cutting a hole in the door, the nano blade slicing through the metal without any problem.

>RDX is just oxygen and nitrogen, and we're standing on literal tons of metals and carbon. i can fabricate more en route.
>besides, they're safer to use out here in the open than in a confined space.

>Oh, and, Five...
The missiles launch out of the tubes spreading out into their programmed pattern.

>Four...
The residual blast wave from the door taking a full spread of infantry scale anti-vehicle warheads at once sounds like a case of flashbangs.

>Three...
Kobor stops firing and lets the barrels spin down, shifting his attention to gripping the console as tightly as possible.

>Two...
Talya's toe claws dig into the deck.

>one.
the sound of transformers and capacitors blowing out can clearly be heard as everything suddenly feels very light, and the room is buffeted by extremely strong winds.

"Zero. Party time."
the air shield snaps back into place and life support starts re pressurizing after less than a second, it's backup systems left undamaged in answer to their squad leader's request. gravity, as well as the lights and doors damaged by the surges however, do not return. leaving anyone swept off their feet by the decompression on their own for finding a way down.

The twins meanwhile are using the fighter style thruster setup on talya's superstructure to jet over to where lewis and liz are anchored, taking up a position to be able to provide suppressing fire should someone be waiting on the other side of the hole they're cutting.

Caught off guard, the remaining Varanian fighters found themselves hovering away from the ground before being flung around by the sudden gust of wind. They continued to bounce around off of walls violently until they eventually slowed down due to drag. However, by that time, they had all dropped whatever weapons they were holding and were quite dazed.

Wyvern used his wings to fly over to the twenty foot tall door his team was trying to cut through. He was about to lend his assistance when...

WHAM!

The door blasted out of it's frame, knocking everyone near it flying. Wyvern slammed into the hanger wall, stunned, before regaining his composure quickly and flying over to the rest of his team.

The door had been kicked down from the inside by a Varanian so huge, he had to duck to get through the door-frame that was already over three times the height of a normal human. The Varanian had strong, decorative full body armor and an ornate sidearm in his hand that was easily larger than Liz and Lewis combined. The pistol was pointed straight at the team.
"Don't move, if you value your lives." The Varanian said. "My respect for your strength and gall are the only reason I have not pulled the trigger."

The Wyvern sent a silent message to his team's communicators.
"be careful. Varanian commander pistols have been known to one-shot fully shielded orbital craft. It's power output is comparable to a portable cruise missile. Don't attack yet. Wait for an opening."

"I am the Shipmaster, as I'm sure you have figured out by now." The giant continued. "I know why you are here. I'm afraid I cannot allow you to enter the command ship." He kept his gun trained mostly on Kobor and Talya. "Out of my respect for your bravado, I will allow you to leave unrestricted."

"We can't leave..." The Wyvern coughed, his head still ringing. "Not until we've done what we came here for."

The Shipmaster looked at the Wyvern curiously. "... I see. In that case, drop your ranged weapons. If we are to fight, I would prefer it be an honorable challenge."

"The conditions?"

"No guns on either side. Only close range weapons and whatever talents you have. Defeat me in this challenge, and my men are under orders to offer no further resistance to your goal. Should I defeat you... well... We will see." The Shipmaster finished. "Deal?" He said, his half-ton pistol still trained on the team.

[Buster]

>Analyzing...
>It appears that when you were downloaded, your power transferred to me automatically.
>I appear to be experiencing the effects of your power, Including the energy cost.
>Take this time to rest and recover in this simulation. I will handle things out here.

Outside, Predator felt odd. All of his processing power couldn't decide what was happening. He couldn't figure out what the sensation was. That is, until, he realized that what was odd about it was that he could feel. His ordinarily calculating mindset, that consciously analyzed every single calculation for what it was, where every single action he took was a result of a complex route through written code, was becoming more focused. Abstract. The detailed instructions that dictated his every move mutated and changed, growing more detailed and more chaotic. Exponentially, he felt as if his actions were becoming less and less restricted, less and less like the results of following orders. His thoughts became more based on abstract feeling. His constraints evolved into morals. His programmed need to assist allies evolved into a desire to assist allies. His sentience evolved, aided along by June's probability manipulation.

Had he not been in a situation where he needed to keep a cool head, he would likely have freaked out at all of this.

>Is there something I should know about your powers?
>I think they just caused me to gain full sentience.
>If there are any other side effects you have observed, I would like to know them.

"If i remember what father told me right they operate by shifting probability, as long as somethings only improbable, not impossible, it can happen. They're more often preemptive than reactive, they're controlled entirely by the subconscious, and they tend to prioritize immediate desires over long term needs." June explained as she relaxed in her virtual aquarium, reciting the words from memory even if she didn't understand some of them.

- - - - - -

"he does realize our gear is bolted in place, right? Ejecting them sheds armor, that's hardly fair." Kobor complains, glancing at their squadleader.
>Close quarters could get messy. If i start bleeding, DON'T TOUCH ME.

[Welsh Halfwit]

"What... what if they don't," Jaken asked, trying to hide the fear of being prey again.
---------------------------------------------------------
Sana took a breath and let it out slowly. "Not so much," she admitted. "The Felis pure wouldn't care and the one planet of Wolven? More likely to be a cheerleading section for the Varanians given history. They used to be expansionist and tried to add asixth planet to their empire a few hundred years back. Could always try the Canid Confederacy. They're allied with so many races they're practically neutral."
--------------------------------------------------------
Corp, having magnetised his boot, looked the Shipmaster up and down - or, rather, up and up before coming to a decision. "A soldiers' honour," he admitted. The gun had no chance. Neither did his normal blades probably. He'd more than likely have to try those psionic... things. But not first. "I'm keeping this," he said as he put the gun down, "if we win." He shucked his blades out on the rig and made ready for combat.
-------------------------------------------------------
"Come on, Captain Cavewoman," Hannabelle said cheerily. "Let's fly with the Fox network and make some television."
"I think your jokes are worse than the invasion," Jenny commented, piccking up a downed Varanian sidearm or two.
-------------------------------------------------------
"Well," Seena said proudly, "we were wondering if, in the current situation - what ever it is - you could use a Doctor and a living commlink?"

[Legotron123]

As soon as his three passengers were close enough, Kolt grabbed them with his powers and took off, heading towards the communications building. ”I like this.” He said randomly part way into the flight. ”Protecting people, fighting bad guys, it makes me feel alive.”
-
Liz and Lewis shared a look. Were they supposed to trust this guy? Wyvern hadn’t dismissed this “Shipmaster’s” offer immediately, which suggested there was at least some weight behind his words. ”What guarantee do we have that your superiors won’t go behind your back and cancel that order?” Liz said, lowering her gun very slightly.
While his mother was doing that, Lewis sent a message to the other members of the team. Try to focus on putting holes in his armor. If Liz can touch some exposed skin, she should be able to acquire him, and that could tip the fight in our favor. He pulled out another nano dagger as he slowly positioned himself to the Varians left, already eyeing spots like the elbow, where the armor would have to be thinner to avoid comprising the wearers mobility.

[Welsh Halfwit]

"To be clear," Corp cut in quickly, still looking for weak points as he moved. "Your honour is not in dispute. You have a soldiers honour and that we all respect and you are the Superior officer on this ship. We saw that in how you had to duck to get through. But we know nothing of your warlord and his honour. There is always the concern that he may overrule you, sir."

[Deske]

Ulrich created a vaguely board shaped platform of light that morphed around his feet as he stepped onto it, holding him in place. He followed the group as they made their way to the building.
----------
Chris checked the scanners as they flew, occasionally directing cannon fire at Varanian troops along their path.
----------
Colorado nodded, "As much as I like lounging around all day, I like doing my job more. If you've got any positions available, I'd love to see if I could use my skills to help your effort."
----------
Elsewhere, Denver woke up with a slight feeling that he was going to be called upon today.

[Buster]

Kol seems to argue with her translator a bit, before it beeps and complains "[Unable to translate, root concept Photography has only a partial analog. Sub-concepts Video, Broadcast Network, News Program, and Television, have no analog. Please restate.]" the poor machine having finally given up on trying to invent metaphors for things Comon Vori lacks the words for.

Kol has however retrieved the large shotgun-like weapon that the bigger one took a chunk out of her armor with, and seems to be trying out the grip on it. "Don't usually use muskets..." she mumbled, bringing it up to eye level and trying to figure out the sights before joining Jenny and Hannabelle.

[CyberDragon]

"What... what if they don't," Jaken asked, trying to hide the fear of being prey again.

"Then our job becomes much, much harder. Possibly even impossible. The people we're dealing with are powerful. Untouchable, even, in their current positions. Gather video of them murdering a "child" and suddenly taking them down becomes nearly effortless." Hivemind explained. He knelt down to Jaken's level. "It's ok to be afraid about this. You just have to remember though that it isn't you down there. You aren't in danger. You aren't the one they will be hunting. They'll be after the droid decoy you are controlling."

--------------------------------

Sana took a breath and let it out slowly. "Not so much," she admitted. "The Felis pure wouldn't care and the one planet of Wolven? More likely to be a cheerleading section for the Varanians given history. They used to be expansionist and tried to add asixth planet to their empire a few hundred years back. Could always try the Canid Confederacy. They're allied with so many races they're practically neutral."

"So..." Hivemind said, rubbing his forehead in frustration. "The only people willing to help the Celician population from being slaughtered and enslaved are people who will literally help anyone and the people, if I'm not mistaken, Celicians used to eat? How does that even happen?!" He sighed, annoyed, and looked at Sana. "I think your governing body needs a change of foreign policy. Anyway, we should try the Canids. I highly doubt they're allied with the Varanians."

--------------------------------

"Well," Seena said proudly, "we were wondering if, in the current situation - what ever it is - you could use a Doctor and a living commlink?"

Colorado nodded, "As much as I like lounging around all day, I like doing my job more. If you've got any positions available, I'd love to see if I could use my skills to help your effort."

"No one on our side has been hurt so far, so we don't really need a doctor yet. However, I am trying to contact potential allies and see if they will assist. You two can head down to Champion tower if you want to help. I'll show you the way to the command room from there."

--------------------------------

"If i remember what father told me right they operate by shifting probability, as long as somethings only improbable, not impossible, it can happen. They're more often preemptive than reactive, they're controlled entirely by the subconscious, and they tend to prioritize immediate desires over long term needs." June explained as she relaxed in her virtual aquarium, reciting the words from memory even if she didn't understand some of them.

>That is the very definition of convenient.
>Let me know if there is anything you desire.
>I will finish what you set to do here.

Outside, the Predator drone erupted from the base's ceiling and immediately cloaked itself. Armed with it's newfound luck it took almost no time at all to round up every single Varanian at that base until his storage array was completely full, and the base was completely empty. As he ran on an antimatter reactor, the increased energy cost induced by the lucky power was completely within his tolerable range. Before Predator did anything else, he flushed the Varanian "Passengers" out of his storage array by uploading them all to a larger one on the Beacon. Soon, June was the only one he still had stored on his person, and he was ready to take on the next task in his queue.

>Question: Would you like to help me test a new feature?
>My last update, in addition to apparently planting the seeds of sentience, enabled me to transfer control temporarily to a passenger.
>Would you be willing to help me test this? I have a feeling it will work perfectly.

--------------------------------

"he does realize our gear is bolted in place, right? Ejecting them sheds armor, that's hardly fair." Kobor complains, glancing at their squadleader.
>Close quarters could get messy. If i start bleeding, DON'T TOUCH ME.

"Do you want to tell him tha..."The Wyvern started before being interrupted by the Shipmaster. "Then remove whatever armor you must. All of you, remove a portion from your armor. I will do the same. You first though."

The Wyvern nodded towards his team. He pulled off his helmet and gauntlets, tossing them onto the ground.

Corp, having magnetized his boot, looked the Shipmaster up and down - or, rather, up and up before coming to a decision. "A soldiers' honour," he admitted. The gun had no chance. Neither did his normal blades probably. He'd more than likely have to try those psionic... things. But not first. "I'm keeping this," he said as he put the gun down, "if we win." He shucked his blades out on the rig and made ready for combat.

Liz and Lewis shared a look. Were they supposed to trust this guy? Wyvern hadn’t dismissed this “Shipmaster’s” offer immediately, which suggested there was at least some weight behind his words. ”What guarantee do we have that your superiors won’t go behind your back and cancel that order?” Liz said, lowering her gun very slightly.
While his mother was doing that, Lewis sent a message to the other members of the team. Try to focus on putting holes in his armor. If Liz can touch some exposed skin, she should be able to acquire him, and that could tip the fight in our favor. He pulled out another nano dagger as he slowly positioned himself to the Varians left, already eyeing spots like the elbow, where the armor would have to be thinner to avoid comprising the wearers mobility.

"To be clear," Corp cut in quickly, still looking for weak points as he moved. "Your honour is not in dispute. You have a soldiers honour and that we all respect and you are the Superior officer on this ship. We saw that in how you had to duck to get through. But we know nothing of your warlord and his honour. There is always the concern that he may overrule you, sir."

The Shipmaster paced for a minute, glaring at Liz and seeming like he was considering his words carefully. "Far be it for me to go against our Lord's wishes, or to speak ill of him. He has been my friend since the day we hatched. Recently, however..." He paused, then seemed to skip ahead. "He would be within his rights to overrule my orders. Whether he would or not, however, is irrelevant. Should you win, by the time he finds out it will likely be too late for him to intervene. Should you lose, there will be nothing he need concern himself with."

--------------------------------

A bunch of stuff mostly involving traveling to the destination

When the team got to the new location, Gadgeteer immediately got to work. He pulled out the Hive relay, an antenna-like device, and started working on attaching it to the Communications Array antenna, hoping to use the Comms array to boost the signal of the much smaller device. "This should only take a minute." He stated.

Archangel landed, dropping off Traci and Rika while MT dropped off Recon after Gadgeteer had already jumped down onto the roof. "Keep an eye on the rooftop access door. I don't think the Varanians bothered to take this building, but they might have spotted our movements. They could be on their way."

[Buster]

Heading over to the door, kol takes note of the metal frame, the weght, and the stairwell immediately behind, before disappearing inside.

Repeated shots and cracking concrete can be heard inside before kol returns holding a severed door handle in one hand, and trying to get chunks of stairwell off two others. tossing aside the debris and the now spent vanarian shotgun she had brought with her, she comments "Well, now they have to climb the last part of the way up, and have nothing to pull the door open with."

- - - - - -

With a pop and a hiss the sections of talya's plating that support the missile pod, particle canon, shield generator, and the minigun's ammo drum fall away, clattering to the floor.

[Welsh Halfwit]

"It's not OK to be prey," Jaken said without realising he'd just said a line like that. "Time to stand and fight."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"OK," Sana remarked chirpily. "I'll put a call into their operations centre." She sighed as she started sending out the request signal. "Why they went along with the Human architect and called it 'the kennel' I don't know..."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Corp unhooked some of his pouches and let them drop. "Can't remove more," he admitted. "I have no idea what most of this stuff does."
--------------------------------------------------------------------
"Ulrich," Jenny asked, "if we get this door open can you put a force field inside so we can see who's coming without them shooting at us first? Kol? Wanna 'open' the door..?" She traied off as Kol made her move. "Great minds think alike," she said with a chuckle in her tone.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Hannabelle took up position near to the edge of the building and lay down to snipe from cover as she heard the cries below. She didn't know why Hive wanted her on the non-lethal weapons and, right now, she didn't much care. She'd work by his rules for... clump of Varanians gathered in the street. Squeeze the 'trigger'. ...for now but she hoped his reason was... Army troopers taking fire. Switch settings to 'help.' Fire. Switch back to 'normal'. Target Varanians. Fire....had better be good.
------------------------------------------------------------------
With a little curtsy and a grin, Seena headed for the command centre.
------------------------------------------------------------------
"Gram'ma's on Teevee," Golten said as Jenevive got back to their apartment. He'd been sitting on the settee, looking at the wall as she'd entered and the monitor was showing an advert.
"Probably an X-rated show," she muttered. "Where's your dad?"
"He's taken Corvis clothes shopping to distract him."
"That boy and his clothes..." She sat next to her son as the cartoon he was watching. "This isn't..."
"Oh, I meant she's on the television tower," Golten said blithely.
"R...rrrrrriggghhhttt..."
Golten began to look a little scared. "I'm... losing the picture..."
"I think that means Hivemind had put the shields up," Jenevive bluffed. "No signals in or out." She tapped him on the head.

[Legotron123]

Kolt moved closer to Gadgeteer, putting a forcefield around them so any Varians that came up wouldn’t be able to interrupt his work. ”So, you used to work for these guys right? What, um, what made you leave?” He asked, trying to make small talk to pass the time while waiting for the next fight.
-
Liz and Lewis each took off their boots and gloves, as those were the easiest to remove, before putting their guns in their hammerspace pocket. ”We’re ready if you are.” She said, wanting to get this over with.

[Deske]

Ulrich nodded, a thin blue line appearing around the door frame, fully forming into a wall of light when the door is opened. He tuned it so that weapons from the team would pass through, but the enemies wouldn't.

[CyberDragon]

"It's not OK to be prey," Jaken said without realising he'd just said a line like that. "Time to stand and fight."

"That's the spirit." Hivemind said, encouragingly. "However, in this case, the best way to fight is to let them think they are the hunters, when in reality they are the hunted."

--------------------------

"OK," Sana remarked chirpily. "I'll put a call into their operations centre." She sighed as she started sending out the request signal. "Why they went along with the Human architect and called it 'the kennel' I don't know..."

Hivemind face-palmed at this but said nothing. Instead, he simply waited for the connection to be established.

With a little curtsy and a grin, Seena headed for the command centre.

When Seena entered the room, Hivemind greeted her. "Thank you for coming. Seena, this is Sana. Sana, this is Seena. Seena, Sana is trying to establish a connection with the Canid Confederacy. I was hoping you would be able to help secure the connection."

--------------------------

With a pop and a hiss the sections of talya's plating that support the missile pod, particle canon, shield generator, and the minigun's ammo drum fall away, clattering to the floor.

Corp unhooked some of his pouches and let them drop. "Can't remove more," he admitted. "I have no idea what most of this stuff does."

Liz and Lewis each took off their boots and gloves, as those were the easiest to remove, before putting their guns in their hammerspace pocket. ”We’re ready if you are.” She said, wanting to get this over with.

"Not yet." The Shipmaster said. He removed his shoulder pads and helmet. Wyvern couldn't tell if he looked more like a giant raptor or a Komodo Dragon, but he could tell at first glance that taking the helmet off just made the Varanian even deadlier.
Tossing the armor pieces down, The Shipmaster reached behind him and pulled a fifteen foot long double bladed ceremonial battle axe from it's place on his back. It was a testament to how massive the Shipmaster was that he was able to hide it behind him this whole time. He held the battle axe vertical before letting it drop with a BANG as the end of the handle rapped against the floor. He lifted the hammer, and let it strike the floor a second time. Then he repeated once more, letting the axe hit the ground sending it's distinctive sound echoing throughout the hanger, possibly beyond.

Less than a minute later, a group of Varanian guardsmen marched into the room, each one carrying a ceremonial weapon. There was a war hammer, a battle axe, dueling swords, a sword and shield, a maul, and a spiked mace. All of them very basic, very durable, and with no frills or spinning rims attached. The guardsmen presented the weapons to the Champions. "It is not an honorable challenge if you are so under-equipped to fight it. Choose your weapons, and prepare yourselves."

--------------------------

Heading over to the door, kol takes note of the metal frame, the weght, and the stairwell immediately behind, before disappearing inside.

Repeated shots and cracking concrete can be heard inside before kol returns holding a severed door handle in one hand, and trying to get chunks of stairwell off two others. tossing aside the debris and the now spent vanarian shotgun she had brought with her, she comments "Well, now they have to climb the last part of the way up, and have nothing to pull the door open with."

"Ulrich," Jenny asked, "if we get this door open can you put a force field inside so we can see who's coming without them shooting at us first? Kol? Wanna 'open' the door..?" She traied off as Kol made her move. "Great minds think alike," she said with a chuckle in her tone.

Ulrich nodded, a thin blue line appearing around the door frame, fully forming into a wall of light when the door is opened. He tuned it so that weapons from the team would pass through, but the enemies wouldn't.

Kolt moved closer to Gadgeteer, putting a forcefield around them so any Varians that came up wouldn’t be able to interrupt his work. ”So, you used to work for these guys right? What, um, what made you leave?” He asked, trying to make small talk to pass the time while waiting for the next fight.

That touched a nerve. "I. NEVER. WORKED. FOR. HIM." Gadgeteer growled with absolute venom in his tone. His movements as he put the Hive Relay together got aggressive and exaggerated. "He was always power hungry. Even for a Varanian. Others saw it as him being ambitious. I saw it as him being a threat to everyone around him. He had a thirst for power, but with no desire to earn it."

Hannabelle took up position near to the edge of the building and lay down to snipe from cover as she heard the cries below. She didn't know why Hive wanted her on the non-lethal weapons and, right now, she didn't much care. She'd work by his rules for... clump of Varanians gathered in the street. Squeeze the 'trigger'. ...for now but she hoped his reason was... Army troopers taking fire. Switch settings to 'help.' Fire. Switch back to 'normal'. Target Varanians. Fire....had better be good.

"Balista Missile inbound. Support drop inbound. Balista Missile inbound."

Hivemind had loaded up the Balista Missiles bound for the surface with warheads filled with the same amber like substance he had taken to placing in high caliber bullets. The new warhead wouldn't have the same Area of Effect as the standard Balista Missiles did, but he thought it might actually be more effective in stopping the Varanians, who tended to get right back up after being hit with high explosives. Amber seemed to be quite effective in keeping them down, and it was non-lethal to boot.

(normally this would take two turns to arrive, but because you guys blocked the fight from happening, I'll just fast forward a tiny bit.)

The first missile struck and detonated in the middle of the first group of Varanians. The shockwave from the blast sent the sticky golden substance flinging in all directions like a giant water balloon full of honey had just exploded at high velocity. Left and right, the Varanians found themselves pinned down or encased in the amber, unable to move in the slightest. The amber hardened quickly to become too strong for even the Varanians to break through.

The second item dropping from the sky wasn't a missile, but a pod of some sort. It fell into the center of the pinned down Celican troopers. The pod opened up on all four sides and an antenna jutted out of the top. The pod emitted a dome-like shield, covering the group of Celicans. Each of the four openings contained a heavy weapon of some kind or another for them to use in their fight. As an added bonus, each of the four openings also contained emergency medical kits, amber grenades, and even space warping grenades based off of the ones Kolt gave to Hivemind.

The second missile went off much like the first, pinning more Varanians down and encasing them in rapidly hardening amber.

- - - - -

With the door blocked by several means and the efforts of everyone there, Gadgeteer had the device up and running in no time. "Done. Hivemind, it's your show now."

"Understood. Initiating Phase 3."

- - - - -

Quite suddenly, every hive droid in the storage facility Keeva was inspecting woke up and started marching out of the room through various portal doors, including the Warriors.

- - - - -

Archangel grinned. "Any of you ever seen the sky fall?" He asked.

[Welsh Halfwit]

Jaken helped himself to a piece of meat and took a seat as the NotJaken was taken where it needed to be. He tried to feign being calm but still had to keep his hand steady.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After inspecting the weapons, Corp made his choice and took his silvered knives from the knife rig and replaced them with the duelling swords, affixing them to the rig now it was extended and the hilts just about fitted when the manacle section of the rig was taken to maximum width. "For what it's worth," Corp said, "there is a captured soldier in our ship.
He has told us nothing and acted with absolute honour." He knew there was no point in making an obvious appeal to the Shipmaster to treat the soldier kindly in the event... So he hadn't.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"It's all going to plan," Jenny reasoned. "Now's the time for full alert." She brought the Varanian gun she'd borrowed up, ready to use.
------------------------------------------------------------------
"No impunity to your honour was intended, I'm sure, big fella," Hannabelle called, not turning to look at the friendly Varanian after he yelled and wondering how many... She suddenly had a thought and looked up at the Terna building opposite. A building nearly the same height as theirs... "Heads up," she shouted, aiming at the rooftop and firing as the first enemy tried to jump the gap.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Sana and Seena," Sana said lightly. "Good job we both have clear ears or that'd get confusing." She offered a small hand.
"Then call me Cherry," Seena replied, shaking the hand and taking a seat as Corgan Canine face appeared on the screen. "I work in communications."
<<And I work in Military liasons,>> the Corgan said. <<How can I help you?>>
"Err," Sana said, getting her marbles back in order. "I'm IOC agent Sana and I'm calling for some assistance from the Starship 'Beacon of Hope' with the invasion of Celica... Fighting it, I mean."
<<Who's the invaders?>>
"Varanians."
<<I'll talk to the Hivemind if you could?>>

[Hlaoroo]

Sarah looked at Cailean's sleeping face and decided she'd rather chew her own arm off than disturb him by moving it right now. She laid back on the big bed and watched the ceiling, tensing a few minutes later as she sensed movement. She relaxed as Conall put his head around the door and, using her slightly rusty one hand signing, told him about Cailean's trouble sleeping" She patted the bed on the other side of her as an invitation. It seemed there was just enough space for Coanall to lie atop the duvet with her.

Conall shakes his head, deciding it inappropriate to join the lovers.
"Shall Ah bring ye some breakfast in bed?" he signs.

[Buster]

Pulling their legs in closer together, narrowing their footprint from 4m wide to 2m wide, The twins posture shifts, raising them from a standing height of 2.5m to 5.4m now that their legs are vertical and mostly straight rather than bent in an 'N' shape and out to the sides. both of the arms split up the segments, separating into six independently mobile limbs. one reaching for the offered maul. behind them all eight of kobors armored tentacles are unfurling from where those limbs had been coiled up hidden to avoid being scorched by their thrusters. the tips of two just barely reaching the ground, while the others are fanned out to the sides and curving forward in a grappling posture like an angry octopus.

- - - - - -

Seeing where Hanabelle's attention was focused kol made a light snarl sound before dropping into a sprinter's stance and bolting for the edge of the roof. jumping and slamming her staff down into the edge of it in gravhammer mode at the last second, launching herself across the same way she had when she jumped out of the dropship during the evac mission. Bringing it up ready for a breaking strike mid landing, she seems to be aiming to goomba-stomp one of the soldiers on the other roof.

- - - - - -

"Alright, i suppose i could try..." june answered, wondering how she was supposed to control anything from in here.

[Legotron123]

Kolt took a few steps back, surprised by the Gadgeteer’s sudden outburst. ”I-I, I have no idea who you’re talking about. I was just asking what made you leave this empire we’re fighting. They don’t seem like the type to let people not join the military. But never mind, this is clearly a sensitive topic for you.”
-
When the weapons were offered, Liz and Lewis reluctantly hovered forward to grab them. Liz took a sword, and Lewis took a shield, deactivating one of his daggers and clipping it to his belt. As they floated back, Liz sent another message to the rest of the team. Go for the knees. We need to weaken this guy’s mobility. She nodded at the Shipmaster, acting like nothing was off. ”Now are things to your satisfaction?”

[CyberDragon]

Jaken helped himself to a piece of meat and took a seat as the NotJaken was taken where it needed to be. He tried to feign being calm but still had to keep his hand steady.

Hivemind noticed that Jaken was still afraid. "Jaken, remember: NotJaken is not you. You are not being hunted. You are not going to be their target. You are hunting them now. You are luring them into a trap. Not the other way around." He sat down next to Jaken. "If it makes you feel better, I based this technology off of my own power. When one of my droids is destroyed, I feel nothing. It doesn't hurt me. At worst it's like suddenly having a blinder placed over an eye and a piece of cotton stuck in one ear. You'll lose the ability to sense things through the droid. It will feel weird, but the feeling will pass."

- - - - -

Meanwhile, Hivemind and NotJaken entered a hanger where a rather large ship the size of a small cruiser was docked. "This is an Albatross. It's a civilian transport. I'd like you to go down with it and ensure people who are evacuating get to it safely."

-------------------------

"Sana and Seena," Sana said lightly. "Good job we both have clear ears or that'd get confusing." She offered a small hand.
"Then call me Cherry," Seena replied, shaking the hand and taking a seat as Corgan Canine face appeared on the screen. "I work in communications."
<<And I work in Military liasons,>> the Corgan said. <<How can I help you?>>
"Err," Sana said, getting her marbles back in order. "I'm IOC agent Sana and I'm calling for some assistance from the Starship 'Beacon of Hope' with the invasion of Celica... Fighting it, I mean."
<<Who's the invaders?>>
"Varanians."
<<I'll talk to the Hivemind if you could?>>

"I'm here." Hivemind said. "We are currently attempting to repel the Varanian invasion force attacking Celica. We are looking for support mainly in the form of medical assistance and ground forces."

-------------------------

"Alright, i suppose i could try..." june answered, wondering how she was supposed to control anything from in here.

>Very well.
>Transferring control to P-001

The ocean started to fade away. A bright light was collapsing in on June as the simulated environment vanished from view. When the light faded, June would find herself standing over a broken miniture version of the Varanian base.

Only it wasn't miniture. June was now a 30 foot tall winged wolf-raptor war droid.

Some text would appear in her vision. >Control transfer complete.

-------------------------

After inspecting the weapons, Corp made his choice and took his silvered knives from the knife rig and replaced them with the duelling swords, affixing them to the rig now it was extended and the hilts just about fitted when the manacle section of the rig was taken to maximum width. "For what it's worth," Corp said, "there is a captured soldier in our ship.
He has told us nothing and acted with absolute honour." He knew there was no point in making an obvious appeal to the Shipmaster to treat the soldier kindly in the event... So he hadn't.

The Shipmaster simply nodded in response.

Pulling their legs in closer together, narrowing their footprint from 4m wide to 2m wide, The twins posture shifts, raising them from a standing height of 2.5m to 5.4m now that their legs are vertical and mostly straight rather than bent in an 'N' shape and out to the sides. both of the arms split up the segments, separating into six independently mobile limbs. one reaching for the offered maul. behind them all eight of kobors armored tentacles are unfurling from where those limbs had been coiled up hidden to avoid being scorched by their thrusters. the tips of two just barely reaching the ground, while the others are fanned out to the sides and curving forward in a grappling posture like an angry octopus.

The Shipmaster seems mostly intrigued by this change of stance and appearance, as if he is expecting a good fight ahead of him.

When the weapons were offered, Liz and Lewis reluctantly hovered forward to grab them. Liz took a sword, and Lewis took a shield, deactivating one of his daggers and clipping it to his belt. As they floated back, Liz sent another message to the rest of the team. Go for the knees. We need to weaken this guy’s mobility. She nodded at the Shipmaster, acting like nothing was off. ”Now are things to your satisfaction?”

Once Wyvern grabbed the mace from the guardsman, the Shipmaster nodded. "Indeed." The Shipmaster took his battleaxe in both hands and stood ready for combat. "Prepare yourselves..." He waited. One of the guardsmen pulled out a ceremonial pistol and pointed it into the air. After a few seconds, the gun fired.

The Shipmaster opened by stepping forward and swinging the axe in front of him in a wide, powerful, but fairly predictable arc. Wyvern jumped back to get out of the way.

-------------------------

"It's all going to plan," Jenny reasoned. "Now's the time for full alert." She brought the Varanian gun she'd borrowed up, ready to use.
------------------------------------------------------------------
"No impunity to your honour was intended, I'm sure, big fella," Hannabelle called, not turning to look at the friendly Varanian after he yelled and wondering how many... She suddenly had a thought and looked up at the Terna building opposite. A building nearly the same height as theirs... "Heads up," she shouted, aiming at the rooftop and firing as the first enemy tried to jump the gap.

Gadgeteer simply grunted irritably.

Varanians are not exactly known for super jumping abilities. The soldier who jumped did make it over to their building... by smashing through the window three floors below where he intended to land. Sad trombone.

Seeing where Hanabelle's attention was focused kol made a light snarl sound before dropping into a sprinter's stance and bolting for the edge of the roof. jumping and slamming her staff down into the edge of it in gravhammer mode at the last second, launching herself across the same way she had when she jumped out of the dropship during the evac mission. Bringing it up ready for a breaking strike mid landing, she seems to be aiming to goomba-stomp one of the soldiers on the other roof.

"Balista launch aborted. Friendly contact in the area."

Archangel looked on the sight of the enemy soldier suddenly vanishing as the concussion staff plowed him through the roof into the floor below. He went airborne to see if there was a way he could help out.

Kolt took a few steps back, surprised by the Gadgeteer’s sudden outburst. ”I-I, I have no idea who you’re talking about. I was just asking what made you leave this empire we’re fighting. They don’t seem like the type to let people not join the military. But never mind, this is clearly a sensitive topic for you.”

"Who do you think I was talking about?" Gadgeteer said, looking up at the sky where the Beacon was visible. Hundreds of small, burning lights were starting to obscure the view. "Right on time."

"Heads up, everyone! Support is on it's way!" Recon said before making a flying leap across to the other building to join Kol.

(The fight on the building across the street is unscheduled. I'll let you guys decide on the strength of the forces there.)