Elite roleplay: Off station

OFF STATION

Your ship, deep space, anything that is not happening inside the Citi Gateway or Ingaba...

General Roleplay Etiquette:

1. Control only the actions of your own character(s). (AKA: God Mode)
This doesn't matter how small the action is, even if it is as simple as scratching their nose or a direct reaction to something else that just happened. This applies to everything from casual conversation to full blown fight scenes. If you'd like someone to do something specific, PM that person, however keep in mind they are completely within their rights to say no. Especially if said action is inappropriate to their character and/or circumstance.

2. Don't brute force your way into another persons RP.
Approaching with a conversation starter is fine, or indeed some other small action. However charging in, guns blazing and disrupting the flow of another person/pair/groups conversation/arc is about as rude as doing so in real life. If something is going on that you'd like to participate in, be subtle about it. Put out a gentle hook for someone to take, but again, be aware that said hook may not be taken. If you fear it was simply unnoticed, PM the person or people it concerns. Or even leave a message in the OOC forums.

3. Good grammar and spelling is preferred.
We're not asking you to be perfect, but please at least demonstrate willingness. no1 iz gna tak u srsly usng txt spk. There's a wide variety of people here, many who speak English as a second, or even third language. There are even some with varying degrees of dyslexia and/or likely other issues that affect spelling/grammar. We accept them all here. However, people who aren't accepted, are those unwilling to accept polite correction. Remember that even a small thing like the placement of a comma, or the wrong use of there/their/they're can completely change the definition of an entire sentence.

4. Accept constructive criticism gracefully and politely.
If someone spots an issue with your writings, they may wish to help you improve that writing. They may do this through PM or even publicly air their thoughts on the OOC forum. If they have taken the time to be polite and explain what is wrong with your writing, the best way to behave is to respond in kind, using the same manner they have approached you with. It means they have taken an active interest in what you have written and wish to see more. Basically, you have a fan!

5. Don't take the actions or opinions of things done IN RP, to be directly relevant to the writers thoughts or opinions.
Basically, if some ones character calls your character a jackass, it doesn't mean the writer thinks you are a jackass. It's a ROLE they are PLAYING. Watch a movie. The argument between the characters isn't an argument between the actors involved. The same applies here.

6. It's not a popularity contest.
Your RP might be bustling with participants. You have 3 people off station in a fire fight, while another 2 are infiltrating the darkest areas of the station, meanwhile a group of 4 others are tracking your movements in an effort to stop you. Good for you, I'm sure it will be a thrilling read! But you know what? Sometimes the absolute BEST work, comes from two RP characters having a simple heart to heart. Both are valid, both are great, but NEITHER is categorically better than the other. Period.


Inara RP Etiquette:

1. Respect the setting and rules of the universe.
Inara is an Elite: Dangerous 3rd Party Tool. The RP Forums are set in the Elite: Dangerous universe. Elite: Dangerous has rules, as any fictional universe does from Lord of the Rings to Star Wars, or Game of Thrones to Star Trek. If you intend to RP within the Elite: Dangerous universe you are bound by the history and rules of that universe. Simply put, this RP forum is bound by the same rules as the game, so if it can't be done in the game, it is not permitted here. This applies to things from a 50Ly Jump Range on a normal, unmodified Sidewinder, to the destruction of entire stations.

2. Respect the characters created by others.
We have a wide variety of characters already here. It's expected that some will be similar, just as it's expected that two characters will be vastly different. Opinions of each persons character will naturally be varied, but all are valid provided they follow the rules of the universe. You are allowed to interact with, or avoid interaction with, any character in the RP forums. But you have no right to belittle others for their creation. You are not an authority figure on writing, nor are you directly affected by another persons imagination. You might not like it, but you MUST respect it.

3. Be caught up on current events before joining in.
You need basic things like character descriptions in order to interact with them. You also need to know what's going on in the surrounding areas. This is simply because the people you are hoping to RP with, might be gearing up to something that you might not want to be part of. Or simply that the most recent post, out of context, could leave a different impression on the goings on than if you gather that context. We don't expect you to read every single post from the beginning of the forums, just enough to get that basic understanding.

4. Either subscribe to, or frequently check, the Roleplay: Q&A and OOC forum.
People may be discussing something relevant to you there, or even discussing you directly. Perhaps someone asked what the general consensus on the existence or non-existence of a certain object. Or we're just chatting about random gibberish. Either way, be aware of it and use it. If you're unsure about something, such as how guns would look and or behave, or even the music selection, use the OOC forum to ask. We don't have all of the answers, but the collective knowledge and logic usually allows us to overcome an issue and come to a decision on what should be allowed. Frontier Developments, and even David Braben himself, don't have the answers to every possible question that can be asked.

5. Large Scale events exploding out of nowhere are a complete no go.
We get it. Everyone wants their character to be noticed and for people to be tripping over themselves to interact with them. In some audiences, an introduction involving you blasting in for landing in a fiery wreckage of a ship, before cart wheeling out and sword fighting 35 Ninjas before whisking off with the local celebrity for a glorious night of passion, is in fact, cool. This is not one of those audiences. It is generally considered better to build your character up slowly over time. Eventually, you might even have a legitimate excuse to fight those Ninjas. Maybe even with other RP participants by your side.

6. Perfect characters are boring.
The point of a character arc, is that it is in fact, an arc shape. One who is morally unquestionable, fully kitted out and an infinite fountain of knowledge, cannot go through an arc. Give your character flaws. Be it a tendency towards befriending the wrong people, or a bad knee that frequently gives out at inopportune moments. It gives readers something to latch onto and empathise with. You can give your character exceptional capabilities at something, but it requires balance. She's a damn good pilot with no equal, but can't drive an SRV for peanuts. It can lead to some very interesting moments between characters, be it heartfelt or comedic.


Other Notes:
It should be noted that there can be exceptions to these points. For example, good grammar when a character is speaking is actually rare. Few people in real life actually speak with perfect eloquence after all. Or previously arranged actions during a fight scene, such as someone stumbling back after a punch. What's key to remember is context.

All in all, remember this is purely for fun. We have some seriously talented writers here, and others whose writing history starts and ends at high school. But many are willing to help out in whatever way they can. All it takes is that you ask nicely.

Also keep in mind that many people who RP here, also have logbook stories related to the character, or characters, they portray. If it looks like there's an "in joke" going on that you're unsure of, it's probably in those.

In fact, some users have even gone to the trouble of creating "alts" to RP with. If you read back far enough, it's usually pretty clear who has and hasn't, and which ones are the "alts". It's therefore not unheard of to see the apparent seizing of control of other characters. If you do spot one, point it out in the OOC section. If intervention is needed, it will be sorted quickly and (hopefully) politely.

Most, if not all RP participants here have Logbook stories pertaining to their character(s). These are for the reading pleasure of anyone who wishes to do so. While it can be useful to read them in order to gain a bit of backstory on a character you wish to interact with, it should not be assumed that your character shares that knowledge. Within the E:D Universe, these Logbooks either don't exist, or are private diaries kept by the characters. Either way, without explicit statements to say otherwise from the writer, your interactions should reflect that your character is in the dark about any information you, the writer/reader, have gained from reading the stories.
Kasumi Goto
21 Aug 2023, 11:20am
Both knives were in their respective holders, safely tucked in - a necessity especially without gravity. Enough ammo for a good few fights, providing I didn’t have to take down the majority of the targets. Both weapons held 12 rounds per reload, with seven spare for the railgun, six for the pistol. No real room for a third, but I shouldn’t need anything else.

Instead of taking the front elevator out of the Corvette, I opted for the port airlock, or one of them, to hopefully avoid being seen until I was down on the pad’s surface. Pushing down with the mag boots inactive, I waited until I was close to the ground to trigger them, to reduce any noise made. But there was no one to be seen anywhere.

“So much for security. Well, I guess they’re busy elsewhere.”

Right as I said that, two figures stepped into the hangar, prompting me to hide behind the landing gear.

“Me and my big mouth.”

I bid my time behind my cover, peeking out periodically. They didn’t appear to think of my ship as a threat, merely guarding the exit. Almost like they assumed I was friendly backup.

They’d soon be proven wrong. I charged the railgun up from the safety of my cover, and poked out from behind, carefully lining up.

The first shot effectively removed the head from the targeted raider’s body. While their companion recovered from the shock of getting covered in remains of skull, brain and blood, a second shot followed just a second later, leaving an ugly hole in their chest.

No one seemed to follow to investigate the - far from quiet - shots, possibly masked by the alarms. Or maybe whoever else was nearby received the round as it continued on its trajectory, and pierced through walls.

I moved out of the hangar after ensuring the ship was sealed, with internal defenses and anti-tampering mechanisms active. A waypoint activated on the HUD of my helmet, pointing toward the supposed meeting point. I expected nobody there, given the signs of trouble I’d caught over comms earlier, and prepared to reach out as I began to move toward it.

That motion was cut short by the sound of numerous boots rapidly approaching, and I ducked back into the corridor I’d come through, hiding behind a haphazardly placed crate as a bunch of heavily armed troops ran past. Then I opened up the secure comms channel.

“I’m in. Making my way to you now. Oh, and you’ve got some more trouble coming your way.”

I could have stopped the reinforcements, but had no intentions of taking on a full squad in full combat gear on my own. And I’d be able to get a few shots in before anyone realized I was on the side of the infiltration team, too. I activated my shield and pulled out my pistol while moving through the corridors, in case I needed to dispose of anyone before getting to the waypoint.

While nobody was there yet, the gunfire and shouting pointed me in the right direction. I came in on the side of the hangar somewhere, seeing carnage wrought by some form of heavy plasma weaponry, which left only one suspect. I decided to stay where I was, though with a present in the form of a shock mine placed a few meters behind me, and lined up a shot.

A few of the raiders were hugging their cover as closely as they could, what little good it did them, judging by the evidence. A light smile appeared on my face, hidden behind a helmet that followed the contours of my head closely, particularly around the nose, only two one-way vision ports located around the eyes. They were perfectly lined up for collateral kills, and pinned down by the hail of plasma currently keeping their heads tucked in behind cover.

There was still enough charge in the capacitors of the railgun left for one shot. Wasting no time, I lined it up, and pulled the trigger, watching the ensuing death with a certain grim enjoyment.

Part of me wanted to call out over open comms to taunt Diaz’s troops, but the rational part stayed focused on what I did best - cold, methodical picking of targets that weren’t aware of their impending doom. Seeing the firefight unfolding in front of me, clearly separated between the Anaconda and the main entry way, I had a perfect position to help even the odds, at least until I needed to abandon it and join the assault team.
Venus Duval
21 Aug 2023, 3:11pm
The moment Meowers began her assault Aventus directed his men to push forward. The two heavy gunners picked up their heavy machine guns and began pushing forward. Both men 6'8" 260lbs wearing heavy armor opened up their weapons and let them eat. Violet rounds formed a destructive plane of destruction. Slowly they began to push down the ramp. Rounds deflected off of the thick plates covering the commandos bodies as they made it to the bottom of the ramp.

Cooling lines ran from packs on the men's backs as well as a plasma chamber keeping the weapons cool and the firing chamber fed. The group Grenshaw had directed to flank and breach the Anaconda noticed the two men and opened fire on them from the rear. A few rounds ricocheted off the back of one of the heavy commandos. He stops firing at the main group and turns around to face the new threat. He ensures both ammo and cooling packs were protected by the heavy plates of both machine gunners. The following gun fire shreds the unprotected, would be flankers, in a few seconds.

'Ramp and hangar are ours! Oh shit! They're flanking us! Return....'

Aventus calls over the secured channel announcing their triumph only to be cut off by a kill squad having made it on board the Anaconda and flanking the commandos. The call is cut short by heavy gunfire. Grenshaw who was leading the assault group was making his way around to the side of the hangar Kira had taken not knowing she was present. He had deactivated his mag boots to move unhindered and deadly silent.

Grenshaw rounds the corner and sees Kira and immediately recognizes her. He grips one of the industrial looking frames and launches himself forwards at her. He makes contact with her and wraps and arm around her throat in an attempt to pacify her.

****

Down near engineering I'm enveloped in my own skirmish. I had managed to fight my way through the group of raiders and get out of the engineering room only to be caught in her another skirmish shortly after. The comms over the secured net had me worried about the events unfolding at the hangars. I was unable to help them and was taking fire myself.

Several rounds impact my armor scorching my plates and even managing to crack one of my thigh protectors. I duck into a random pocket in the wall and reload my rifle. Popping out I flip the mode selector to full auto and open fire. The depleted uranium rounds rip through their targets erupting in a cloud of sparks as they strike the hardened armor of some of the raiders. The ones not wearing armor are quickly dealt with as the rounds rip through their flesh dropping them almost instantly. Soon the magazine is empty again.

"3 mags down. Shit I really should have brought more ammo. Diaz should have more in the armory though. If I could just get there I could replenish my ammo supply."

I reach the stairs shortly after, reloading on the way. As I reach the top of the stairs the ships interior lighting shuts off entirely. I activate my visors night vision and proceed towards the armory. As I make my way to the stairs to head up to the armory emergency lighting kicks in. Everything is bathed in a warm red, slowly pulsating glow. Brief moments of complete darkness followed by a few seconds of light. The atmosphere in the ship turn almost eerie as a light haze fills the air.

'Please tell me this is something to do with that systems worm you set up Kasumi'

My voice is filled with concern as I speak over our secured net. The only thing that would cause this kind of effect is a powerplant failure and the emergency system activating. If that was the case then we were going to need to move quickly.

****

Diaz stands in the bridge barking out orders over the open comms on the carrier to his raider crew.

'Get your miserable assess to those God Damned hangars now! I don't care if they are Azimuth or not kill them.'

'Grenshaw you better have some good news for me and someone get Jules over to those hangars now! It's time for her to be put to work.'

'Guards on the slave deck no one gets in no one gets out. Anyone tries to leave, kill them. That includes Silvia.'

'Medical team euthanize that fox if anyone makes it there. I will not allow these assets to leave this carrier alive unless I am paid!'

He stops speaking over open comms and turns to the security officer in the bridge. The man is frantically attempting to regain control over the carrier but Kira's worm is locking him out at every turn. He turns to see Diaz staring at him, then almost as if he knows what's going to be asked he speaks to Diaz his voice filled with concern.

'Sir we are locked out completely. I can see though that the FSD Core Shutdown was activated. We are dead in the water.'

'Who shut the core down? I'll kill whatever traitor did this.'

'Sir it wasn't the engineering team....... it was...... her......'

The way the man said her was enough to trigger a fear response in Diaz. I was the only one he truly feared not because I was stronger than him but because he knew I would stop at nothing to tear down his empire. I would wriggle my way into ever facet of his operation and dismantle everything. I had powerful allies and if I could prove his involvement he would have to face the entire Imperial Navy who would relay the information to anyone who would listen.

'Duval...... I should have known you weren't on that Cutter. Men we are all screwed. Get your asses in battle gear and be prepared to shoot our way out.'

The command is unusually calm coming from Diaz. That is likely due to him knowing everyone on this ship was a dead person and it was only a matter of when that was going to happen.

Last edit: 21 Aug 2023, 3:25pm
Kasumi Goto
21 Aug 2023, 7:10pm
I reacted to the arm that was trying to wrap itself around my neck in the best way I knew how - an elbow delivered to the gut as well as I could move it rapidly, in zero G. The suit's servos assisted me in that, tuned to provide a certain resistance, reminiscent of what moving a limb would be like in Earth's environment. It automatically adjusted based on gravity, too.

Whoever had grabbed me grunted, but didn't let go, so I moved my right hand to the arm's wrist and pushed on it hard enough for the hand's grip to release, and allow me to remove it from my neck. Then, before they had a chance to react, I used that same hand to spin them around and slam them into a wall, pulling them off their feet despite mag boots.

My attacker was a man of fairly average stature, a little less tall than I was, with blonde hair, missing a finger on one hand. The armor he wore explained why my gut punch didn't have the effect it had, but he clearly had expected an easier target, instead of getting pinned to the wall by a rather thin woman. I could see it on his face, too.

"What's the matter, tough guy? Didn't expect the weakling to be quite so strong?", I taunted him, not realizing it was the Grenshaw guy that I'd been told about.

"You won't be so feisty when I deliver you to Diaz, bitch!"

"If this is the best he can send to bring me in, he'll have to be disappointed."

I aimed up a punch with my left hand, but he reacted surprisingly quickly to it, and kicked me away, pulling me off my feet. The action made me float off into the hangar, crossing a few meters until the mag boots reconnected me with the ground. I felt little pain, but it did allow Grenshaw to get back to his feet and begin to move toward me again, a gnarly knife in his right hand.

Not going to make this quite so easy, are you?

I looked for my railgun, but wherever it had gone, it was out of reach, and since that idiot was trying to push for a close-quarters engagement, it wouldn't be much use anyway. Couldn't expect any backup either - the boarding party and Meowers were still very much busy with the defense team.

I pulled my knife with the sharpened blade out, looking to end this quickly, and began to run toward a man whose lust for battle, and something else, were practically written on his face. But instead of fully committing, I jumped upward and turned my mag boots off, using the forward momentum to just about launch myself over Grenshaw, catching an arm on his left shoulder to spin around.

Atmospheric friction prevented it from becoming uncontrollable, and I quickly drew my pistol, delivering three plasma rounds to his back in a second, breaking the shield with the first two, scorching and cracking the armor with the third. He stumbled forward as I reactivated my mag boots and floated back to the ground, thanks to the magnetic pull.

"Come on! Thought you'd be harder to kill. Surely a man like Diaz wouldn't take a wuss for his second-in-command."

That was more a guess than me actually knowing that, but I still had a hunch about it. And my claim seemed to at least have the effect of making him more talkative, and annoyed. We both began to circle each other.

"He wants you all for himself after your little escapade at Gardner Point! And I'll gladly deliver you to him myself! He'll hurt you in ways you can't even imagine. I'll be right there to watch as he cuts off your tongue, too."

"If he wants it, he should have come to get it himself. Instead, he decided to insult me with you. Hell, if he knew who I was, he wouldn't be looking to kill me."

"All I need to know is that you're the bitch that got between me and Silvia, and I'll make you pay for it!"

"Oh, really, huh? Making this personal? Keep trying."

Grenshaw lunged forward, but I expected the move, and stepped to the side slightly, grabbing his left arm. The momentum almost carried me with it, but I let go at just the right time to avoid that, instead changing his trajectory to the corridor he'd knocked me out of. He had to have come from a different direction to avoid the mine I'd placed behind myself, but with some luck, it would still be there.

He caught himself on the wall with his feet, rather than take the impact to the chest, and pushed off from it to reach ground level again. Now, I'd pushed him far enough to pull out a weapon of his own, and it sure looked like something I didn't want to be hit by - it appeared like a very potent capture weapon, resembling a harpoon gun, modified to fire non-lethal ammo. If my shield dropped, that would probably take me out even with the modifications to my body. Hell, couldn't be sure a shield would be enough to stop it from knocking me out cold.

"This little beauty delivers enough voltage to knock anything we know out.", Grenshaw 'informed' me, a sadistic grin on his face. "So if you don't want to be on the other end of it, surrender. Now."

"Maybe that's just what you want me to do.", I replied, attempting to keep a semblance of calm in my voice. "Leave me in one piece, so your boss can have all the fun. But you don't really want to do that, do you?"

"Maybe I do, to watch you broken, beaten, and pull you apart limb by limb. But I'll enjoy making you pay with him even more."

"Still so confident. What makes you think I'll let you take me?"

"Nothing. Unruly catches like you are the most fun. And I've used this thing on the likes of you many times already. They never run after getting hit."

'You're an absolute maniac.', I thought to myself. then replied.

"If you really knew what you were dealing with, you wouldn't be so quick to try killing me. Azimuth would pay you more for me alone than Silvia and her pet combined."

"Then we'll just sell you both!"

Grenshaw raised his weapon, prompting me to hide behind a crate. But no shots were fired, and the carrier's lights suddenly flickered, then turned off completely, plunging everything into darkness. I had no night vision module on this suit yet, so I was temporarily blind as my enhanced vision adjusted, with the only light coming from gunfire until then. But Grenshaw was already gone by time I could see properly again.

As the red emergency lights came on, I heard a transmission from Venus.

"Please tell me this is something to do with that systems worm you set up, Kasumi."

"Damn it!"

I checked what the worm was up to, but it was obeying its original directives, leaving the reactor and surrounding systems alone. The Thargoids had to have sent even more of their ships in, but I couldn't really tell what was happening outside. The implant was seemingly blocking out most of the hive's transmissions, as if to let me focus on what was happening right in front of me.

"Hold on! I've got a problem myself up here!"

----

Outside of the carrier, the fighting continued to rage on with the same intensity as when the assault had started, though it had broken down into chaos of raider ships targeting anything that wandered into their sights, some of them fleeing, while Azimuth's own forces scrambled to restore some kind of order in their own ranks and avoid destruction by the Thargoids, strangely sparing the carrier and the group of FDLs covering the invaders.

An anti-xeno response force was on its way, but even they would struggle to resist the ferocity with which the Thargoids were fighting, let alone punch a hole in their lines, further ensuring that the distraction lasted long enough for Silvia's rescue to be completed before any chance of betrayal could occur.

Last edit: 21 Aug 2023, 9:54pm
Meowers
21 Aug 2023, 9:16pm
A response from Aventus, positive in the beginning, was cut short by sounds of gunfire.

"Damn it," I swore quietly, keeping my rifle aimed at improvised defensive positions, made of steel containers, pieces of heavy machinery and spare wall panels. Many of them were badly misshaped already and torn to pieces, jagged chunks of steel slowly floated in the air, reflecting the dimmed red emergency lights. Several dead bodies, and parts of human bodies, were scattered around the makeshift defences, adding to the picture of chaos and desperation: some of them were killed by Aventus' commandos on their initial attempt to punch through, some fell to my flanking suppressive fire.

Still, no luck. Something, or someone perhaps, still kept his squad locked up in a hangar, and the only path there was through the defences. They hadn't been placed against anyone going from the access corridor, yet... Shit. At least ten more bandits were hiding there and my element of surprise was fading quickly. Sending one burst after another, I tried to tear down as much of those covers as possible, though thick carrier bulkheads were a problem, especially from that angle, my shots grazed them without any effect. This was quickly turning into a damn whack-a-mole game with raiders' heads and guns, and my time ticking away.

Their shots were landing closer and closer to me, I had to move, laying flat on the floor is okay for a surprise attack, but the momentum was gone already. I squeezed the trigger to send what was left in the magazine at the raiders, and once my ammo counter flashed with red zeroes, I jumped towards the nearest container and leaned to it, grabbing another magazine from my belt.

And they had their eyes on me all that time. Once the barrage stopped, a ventilation grill in the ceiling went loose and one of their troopers, armed with a plasma shotgun, made a dive down to the corridor. Blue electric flame of disturbed personal shields flashed in front of my eyes and radio chatter faded under a wave of static. Magazine responded with a click, going into the well. Second flash of shields blinded me for a brief moment, but quickly disappeared, followed by an alarm beep in my helmet. Zero. I shouldered the rifle. A metal thump sounded so loud as if its epicentre was within my mind, and a sharp, piercing pain in left shoulder and forearm followed it. Through the shocking wave of pain, I felt a trigger slowly moving under my finger. Muzzle flash flooded my blurred vision, and, quickly, a tint of red appeared on the background, behind the scorching hot flashes.

It felt like an hour, but took only a couple of seconds for my combat suit med interface to administer the mix of military-grade painkillers, stimulants and other not-exactly-over-the-counter drugs, to alleviate the pain, replacing it with a feeling of numbness, and, quickly after that, I regained my vision. A shattered body of a raider was floating away, with his torso and stomach turned into mush. Severed leg was still standing on the floor, connected by a magnetic boot with some residual charge left, and his intestines were littering the air around, torn and scorched.

"...not getting paid for that, I'm not getting paid for that..."

Another bandit nearby muttered shockingly, staying on his knees with magnetic knee-pads. His pupils were dilated, his stomach was decorated with a grisly-looking wound, leaking blood with each heartbeat. With a look full of shock and fear, he watched his severed arm slowly floating away from him, stretching his good one in a desperate, subconscious attempt to catch it. Then, he noticed me. Or heard my laboured breathing. Our eyes met for a second.

With another press of the trigger, his head exploded, sending hundreds of small chunks of fractured cranium and burnt brain matter flying down the corridor. Plasma round continued travelling down his body, cracking his ribcage open and disintegrating the upper part of his spinal cord along with the discs, and finally stopped in the mid-section of the body, pumping even more blood out of the wound in the stomach.

No time to waste, I plugged a shield recharge battery in and peeked around the corner of my cover. Some raiders left their positions and were approaching my position already... Damn. Should've brought some grenades. However, a fake grenade did well too: I retracted the bipod to be just a bit more mobile and threw a depleted battery over my head and over the containers I've been hiding behind.

"Grenade!"

Idiots. I jumped out of my cover with rifle on the ready, and caught first of them literally with their pants down, crouching on the floor and covering their head with hands. Three rounds were a perfect solution, but fourth one was needed to make that show a bit more spectacular, with more... parts. Two more raiders took cover behind a container, though, a long burst was more than enough to delete both them and the metal box.

Hip-firing on the go, guided by the ballistic computer that was drawing a red dot on my helmet's HUD, I dashed to the defensive positions and took cover behind the bulkhead to reload and catch my breath before the next move.
Venus Duval
22 Aug 2023, 12:48am
Aventus stood in the cargo bay blood dripping off the tip of his knife, his breathing labored and a pile of bodies lay on the floor in front of him. 6 dead raiders and a single commando with a grazing wound on his left arm. With the kill squad handled Aventus and his team push out of the Anaconda into the hangar. The red glow from the emergency lighting bathing everything in an ominous lighting. The two heavy gunners began to push towards the hangar exit out into the access corridor, taking turns firing into the raider slowly pushing them back towards Meowers location.

'The hangar is ours. Taking the corridor.'

Aventus calls over the secured channel and his squad breaks off into 5 groups. 1 squad stays behind to ensure the hangar remains cleared, 1 squad rushes over to Kira to provide assistance, the remaining commandos push ever closer to Meowers to keep her out of the kill zone. The two heavy gunners reach her position first one of them grabs a raider by his head with both hands and squeezes as hard as he can crushing the mans skull while the raider screams out in agony until his head quite literally pops like a grape. His twin brother had picked up a large metal crate and threw it at another raider smashing him between another crate. One of the raiders tosses a plasma grenade between the two heavy gunners. One jumps out of the way activating his jetpack to avoid the explosion while his brother takes the blast full on causing several of his armor plates to shatter exposing a spot on his lower back. The coolant tank on his weapons pack cracks causing a small leak to occur.

****

I reach the armory and override the door control again having to force the door open due to the security locks activating. Once inside the armory I grab an ammo bag and load it with 16 more magazines which I place on my back. I replace the 3 empty mags on my chest plate and grab a few additional grenades. Once I have my resupply completed I begin searching around for Melli's armor if it was even in the room. As I am searching through the various cabinets and boxes a group of 4 raiders enters having noticed that the door was open as they were on their way to the hangars to provide support.

One of the men notices me and tosses a flash bang grenade in my direction catching me off guard and temporarily blinding me. 2 of the raiders rush in and grab me by the arms which was a mistake. I pull my left arm free and punch the man holding my right as hard as I can. Instead of armor plating my hand makes contact with a soft flight suit and breaks several of the mans ribs causing him to release his grip on me. The other man drew his pistol and fired at me, my suits shield absorbing the round. My vision slowly returns though everything is very hazy, with yellow and green streaks running across my field of view making it hard to see in the dim lighting. The other two raiders rush in firing their rifles in my direction accidentally hitting their partners. One of the men lets out a gurgling sound as his lung fill with his blood drowning him. The other reels around violently and uncontrollably due to having been shot in the head. I duck behind one of the weapons rack and grab a plasma shot gun checking the plasma chamber to see that it had enough charge for 8 shots.

I cock the shot gun with a satisfying action sound. Peeking around the rack I see one of the men alone about 3m away from me. I pop around into the pathway and unload 4 bursts into the man tearing him to shreds chunks of flesh and bone drift around the room. The second man sneaks around behind me and fires point blank, the rifle round ripping through my shields and striking me in the left shoulder causing me to let out a pained grunt. I whip around only for the man to punch me in the head my helmet breaking his hand in the process. I jump backwards firing the remaining 4 bursts of plasma into the man. The first shot from near point blank blasts a sizeable chunk of the mans right shoulder off. The second shot rips through his torso tearing parts of his ribs and lung out of his body. The last two tear through various regions of his body as the shots were further away the the initial two. My suits emergency medical kit dumps pain inhibitors into my body relieving the pain from the wound on my shoulder.

"Damn that hurts. Agh!" I mutter to myself as I get back to searching the armory for Melli's armor. In a crate tucked in the back of the room I find the small fox like armor and place it into the ammo backpack. I pull out my personal scanner and see that Melli is just down the hall about 50m from my current location. I poke my head out of the armory and verify that there are no raiders in my path. I rush down to the room where Melli is located and see that the room is the medical bay. I kick the glass window shattering it and step through.

'Melli! Where are you?'

The little fox like creature screams out in an angry manner allowing my to locate the crate she is trapped in. I pick the crate up and place it on a medical bench. I peak inside and see her tucked against the back of the crate fur raised, snarling and postering in an aggressive manor. Seeing she is ready to attack I remove my helmet allowing her to see my face. I open the crate and step back while removing the backpack and pulling out her armor. Melli attempts to exit the crate but struggles due to the zero-g environment.

'Melli let me help you please. Look I brought your armor. I know you can understand me.'

The little creature relaxes a bit and lets me pull her out of the crate. She sniffs my face and suddenly her entire demeanor changes and little shrieks of joy come from her. She licks my face furiously finally recognizing who was there for her. I let out a crying laugh being reunited with the little creature. I put her armor on her and she shakes around attempting to adjust it to be sitting more comfortably on her fur. Melli kicks her feet around goofily due to the boots constricting them in a strange way. I place my helmet back on concealing my face from view as Melli jumps around getting used to the environment.

'Come on Melli we have friends in danger at the hangars. Once we get them out of danger we are going to find Silvia and get the two of you out of here.'

Melli lets out a shriek and jumps onto my back her mag boots securing her to me and we rush out into the corridor. Ahead of us two raiders rush out into the hallway and turn towards the upper level where the hangars are located. I motion to the two men and grab Melli throwing her towards them. Her little boots making little noise in comparison to the heavy boots of the two raiders. Melli's quickly traverses the distance to the men and leaps onto the back of the one on the left. She bites into the woman's neck tearing out a sizeable chunk her razor sharp teeth easily passing through the soft material and flesh. The next actions from Melli are like a blur. She crawls over the woman biting through the soft spots on her armor tearing flesh and bone off of her. Horrified shrieks and screams from the woman echo through the corridor only to be quickly masked by the sound of me firing my rifle at the second raider preventing them from attacking Melli.

The Resulting carnage from the foxlike creature and my rounds is horrific. The woman's face is torn to shreds and several large chunks of flesh and bone are strewn about. The starving fox tears into the woman's stomach as she screams in horror and proceeds to tear out and feast on her internal organs. I rush towards Melli once the second raider stops moving. I grab her and place her on my back as I head up the stairs, deep red blood dripping from the metal helmet covering Melli's face and eyes. The black lenses reflecting the red glow of the emergency lights give the look of a demonic entity sitting on my shoulder.

'Good girl Melli. Now lets get our friends out of the hangar and get to Silvia.'

Melli lets out what I can only assume is a war cry from the creature as we make it to the top of the stairs.

****

There is a large explosion on the surface of the carrier as an Anaconda from Diaz's fleet slams into the hull Corrosion burns seen all over it just before it disappears in a ball of flames. Diaz slams his fist into the console in front of him watching his fleet get torn to shreds by the Thargoids outside, unable to help them in any capacity as Kira's worm continues to prevent the security team from regaining control of the carrier.

Jules rushes onto the bridge followed closely by a security officer. Diaz smiles when he sees her and motions the security officer away. Jules stands in the middle of the doorway breathing heavily as Diaz approaches. He whispers something in her ear and she rushes out of the bridge and down to the hangars.

Silvia hears the sounds of heavy boots running past and a bunch of yelling from the raiders responding to the hangars. The sounds of explosions outside the carrier cause her to jump and one even sounds as if is only a couple hundred meters from where she is located. The guard outside her room yells something to one of the passing raiders asking what the hell is going on.

'Duval has brought a commando wing and the fucking Thargoids are seemingly helping them. The carrier is dead in the water. We are all dead.'

Silvia's eyes go wide and her mouth hangs open. The name Duval causes her mind to race and emotions to go absolutely haywire. She was in disbelief that I could be here and that it had to be someone else posing as her wife. Her mind instantly settles on Kira. Kira was here there was no doubt about it but a fleet? how could she have gathered a fleet? Was Ina with her? Did she bring in an AXDF wing to help draw the attention of the fleet while Ina and Kira rushed in with a rescue squad to bring her home? The questions rushed around her head and she curled up next to the bed in the room. All she could do was wait and hope that Diaz didn't get impatient and pull her from her room.
Meowers
22 Aug 2023, 10:19am
"Ah, finally," I grunted, getting out of my cover behind the bulkhead. It seemed like my little assault was the last straw for that particular group of raiders. Vaulting over what originally was a cargo container, I approached Aventus' commandos. "Thought that little show might've been helpful for you. Can't say how many of them I got, but none less than... Seven, maybe."

A pained groan interrupted my speech and attracted my attention. One of the raiders, with his magboots still connected to the floor, was sitting crouched behind a crushed container, curled up, surrounded by a cloud of his own blood, holding one hand on his face and another one on the terrible wound in his side, with a sharp piece of metal sticking out of it. I raised my rifle and a superheated plasma round ended his misery.

"Eight."

Activating my comms, I tried to reach Kasumi or Venus on our secured channel.

"Kasumi? Venus? What's your status? The hangar is clear, I met Aventus' forces. Please respond."

My own wound wasn't that bad at all, just a blunt force hit with most of the shrapnel neutralised by the armour plates. Could've been much, much worse, if not for the armour. An active compound in the suit sealed the breaches already and med interface screen was showing that my blood pressure and heart rate were both in okay zone; both the shoulder and the arm were functional, minus the numbness. I used that brief respite to get three rifle magazines out of the backpack and distribute them over my belts, and then lit up a cigarette.

"Kasumi? Venus? Please, respond."

Last edit: 22 Aug 2023, 3:29pm
Kasumi Goto
22 Aug 2023, 11:21am
The troops around the hangar bay and entry corridor were claiming success, but my world revolved around me and Grenshaw - who was still nowhere to be seen. I knew what he was trying to do - use the environment to try sneaking up on me. My attention was accordingly heightened, watching dark corners near this hallway for movement.

The warning didn’t so much come through movement as my overly sensitive hearing picking up on a very faint thud to my right, somewhere. I spun around to that direction, not quickly enough to get out of the way, but it caused Grenshaw’s knife to miss the unarmored part of my upper arm, instead only leaving a scratch on the guard attached to the shoulder pad.

The attack still pulled me off the ground and into a wall, where Grenshaw tried to keep me pinned.

“I should make you scream like that cowardly bitch Jules!”

“Then why don’t you, asshole?”, I threw back at him through my constricted throat.

“Maybe I just should! Diaz only needs you alive enough to feel pain!”

“Well, then, impress me. Show a woman how strong you are.”

The sadistic grin that I so wanted to wipe off the man’s face returned.

“You’re going to regret asking me to do that.”

“Will I?”

Grenshaw couldn’t see the slightly smug expression on my face behind my helmet, as I saw the team coming to my assistance approach from behind him, but the tone definitely told him something was off.

As a few well-placed shots from my backup hit his back, absorbed by the shield, that gave me the distraction I wanted. I pushed my knife into him with my right hand, where waist and chest intersected, then pushed him back in that same motion, also freeing my knife in the process.

A grenade forced the team of commandos to scatter, evidently thrown by Grenshaw himself, then he looked at the newly inflicted wound, blood running out, holding his right hand to it. Then back up to me, a burning rage in his eyes.

“Gah! I should have killed you on Earth when I had the chance!”

“Then you should have done a better job of it. You had the advantage, and still failed.”

He screamed in anger and tried to lash out at me with his knife, rather predictably. I deflected it with my own, then knocked it out of his hand and slashed away at the exposed waist, underneath the armor, mostly cutting away at skin.

“You think that will stop me?”

Grenshaw backed off, as if trying to recalculate his moves. Whatever he’d done with his weapon, it was nowhere to be seen right now, and the knife he held had floated out of reach.

“No, I don’t.”, I replied, calmly. “But your team is dead, and whoever is left of ours will come to light you up with bullets as soon as they get here. Still fancy the odds?”

He gave off an angry, frustrated sound. “Those incompetent idiots! I’ll take you myself! And I’m going to enjoy every drop of blood I get to spill when I bring you to him!”

’Good. You’re not thinking straight any longer. That just makes you easier to finish.’, and resumed my combat-ready stance, knife in right hand.

Grenshaw rushed forward again, trying to pummel me with his fists. I blocked the first one, dodged the second, slashing away at the left arm. He moved back again, then tried to trick me into a false hook followed by a swing aimed just below my left shoulder, but my reflexes worked quickly enough to dodge and move past him, letting my knife cut into his lower waist.

As he stumbled, I plunged the knife into Grenshaw’s right thigh, dropping him to the ground. From there, I grabbed hisnleft arm and held it without effort, using pressure points to stop it from fighting back. It moved further and further back, until an ugly sound indicated that the bone cracked, then kicked him away, delivering the foot to the spine.

I registered a small movement in the corner of my vision, and noticed a grenade at my feet.

“Shit!”

A first thought was to kick it away, replaced by the reflex to jump backward as well as I could in zero G, accompanied by turning mag boots off to get more distance. What shrapnel hit me were absorbed by my shield, though the blast still knocked me into a wall hard enough to lose orientation completely.

When I regained it and remembered to reactivate my mag boots, floating back to ground level, Grenshaw was gone again.

“Slippery bastard. Where’d you go? Was hoping to finish you off myself.”

———

In the shadows of a corridor slightly further from the action, Grenshaw was contemplating his next move while ensuring he didn’t bleed out, observing me over the carrier’s camera system, or what remained functional of it. If he failed at this, he’d probably be dead, and falling back would likely be considered as a failure by Diaz, unless he brought me back.

But I’d already proven I wouldn’t come easily, and judging by the excessive strength for my body, he assumed I was the likely cause for the bruises Jules originally returned with, and there being less leftover tranquilizer than there should’ve been. Now that he had a proper moment, he also reported back to Diaz.

“The bitch that attacked Gardner Point is here, that’s what! I knew she was going to be trouble.”

“And you can’t handle a single woman on your own? Have you forgotten how to fight?”

As expected, Diaz’s voice was full of impatience.

“No, but she’s a damn handful. No idea what kind of shit she’s filled with, but it makes her way stronger and faster than she has any right to be.” Grenshaw’s voice was filled with a hatred for me, which would have made me smile in amusement if I’d heard him. “And those idiots that were supposed to help me keep that boarding party off the carrier are all dead! I could really use some damn backup!”

“I sent Jules down to the hangars. She won’t be causing any more trouble, but I expect that you won’t fail me again.”

The channel was cut off abruptly, leaving the second half of the sentence in the air as a damning statement. Grenshaw looked at the cameras again, and found me facing toward the landing pad, one hand raised to head level.

A plan formed in his head, accompanied by another sadistic grin, and he pulled out a pen containing a dose of sedative about three times as strong as anything Jules had carried. Alone, it had little chance of working, but he expected for Jules to arrive soon, which would help subdue me, with the use of the sedative.

First, however, he planned to make it hurt.

———

I found myself in the corridor I’d started out in, the shock mine still sitting there, just out of reach of the passage Grenshaw had used to get behind me. The commandos meant to back me up were there again now, stood on the landing pad, looking into the corridor as well. At that moment, I heard a plasma rifle fire, followed by Meowers calling out over comms twice, prompting me to turn back toward the pad.

“Still here, but not out ye - “

I was cut short by the feeling of something getting pushed to the back of my neck, just below the helmet. The commandos had their weapons raised, but didn’t fire, with me in the way.

“One move, and she dies. You assholes get that?”, Grenshaw threw at the commandos, holding a pistol in his good arm, then spoke to me. “Drop the knife. Now.”

I decided to obey, if only to stop him from being tempted to pull the trigger just yet.

“Stand down. You’ve already lost.”, one of them responded in a firm, commanding tone.

“Bullshit! This fight is over when I say it is. I want her, and the boss wants her. Let me walk away with this bitch, and I’ll let you live.”

“Are you serious? You’ve got a broken arm and multiple knife wounds. You wouldn’t be able to take me if you’d put a bullet into my head.”, I said, well knowing he wanted to take me in alive, and wouldn’t pull the trigger.

“Silence, wench! You speak when told to!”

He tried to hit the back of my head with his pistol, achieving little more than hitting the helmet, which took most of the force, and gave me the opportunity I needed. My left arm moved forward and then back, precisely hitting the first stab wound.

That caused Grenshaw to lurch forward and allow me to move away, spin around and punch him into the chest. The armor plate there was still intact, and so absorbed the hit, but that was of no importance. It sent him flying, right into the shock mine, which set off and flooded his body with electricity, causing him to convulse before coming to a rest on the ground, presumably held by some kind of magnetic plate on the chest. But no longer moving.

I walked over. The man still breathed, just about.

“You… won’t… win …”, he said, a labored breath between each word.

I shook my head. “You lost. Give it up.” I pulled my pistol out, and pointed it at his head. “You only had to do one thing, and that was to not piss me off by taking Silvia. Now, well… you can say hi to Diaz for me in the afterlife.”

Grenshaw spat out blood, hatred still burning in his eyes. “That trick you pulled at Gardner Point was nothing. You’ll never manage to kill hi - “

I pulled the trigger and ended his life, leaving a smoldering hole in the place of his face, then reached for the comms device on my helmet, connected to my earpiece.

“Now I’m done.”

I grabbed Grenshaw’s lifeless body by the left foot and began to drag it over to the commandos, tossing it forward as if to present it, and threw a somewhat longer look at Meowers.

“Bastard put up a fight. You …” I gazed at the wound on Meowers’ shoulder, then the pile of raider bodies, or chunks thereof. “… look like you’ve been busy.”

Last edit: 22 Aug 2023, 2:58pm
Meowers
22 Aug 2023, 5:53pm
I smirked, seeing Kasumi dragging a dead body by the foot. Yeah, I was glad to see her doing fine so far, though I knew it wasn't the end yet; but the picture itself was bloody glorious.

"Seems like that guy wasn't your common stupid goon. Dead meat now anyway, let's just throw him to the rest."

I let out a puff of smoke and nodded, looking at my left shoulder.

"Yep... Caught me reloading. Armour did well, nothing to worry about. Not now, when I'm not alone in the open anymore."
Kasumi Goto
22 Aug 2023, 6:05pm
“I’d say he wasn’t, yeah.”, I replied, looking at the body. “Might even have been his second-in-command. Shame about his face, but well, I guess he just picked the wrong side to be on today.”

My demeanor changed to something more concerned as I looked over the wound, given away largely through subtle body language as I studied it, given that my face was hidden behind a helmet - matching color to my black suit and armor - completely, and its vision ports around the eyes were one-way only, otherwise reflecting blue light.

“How bad is it really?”
Meowers
22 Aug 2023, 6:37pm
"His face, his arse... What's the difference now?" I chuckled. "I hope our blue-haired friend is doing well too. We still have no idea where Silvia and Melli are, and searching for them might take time we don't have..."

Pointing my finger somewhere at the corridor ceiling, I winked.

"Since our... More green friends may be doing quite nasty things out there right now. I've heard an explosion, seems like something big happened on the lower decks."

Kasumi's concerned voice have made me speak more quietly too.

"And this... Imagine being kicked by a horse. A horse on steroids. Med screen shows no blood loss or any other imminent danger, though that wasn't exactly a comfortable experience."
Kasumi Goto
22 Aug 2023, 6:48pm
“Well, then, make it be the last horse infused with steroids that kicks you today.”

The statement was a joke, but one that still carried some concern, and a warning.

“As for out there… I’m not sure what the angry space flowers are doing, really. That thing in my head has been keeping them quiet, like it wants me to focus on, well, not getting shot. Which I guess makes sense. Anyway… was about to ask about Venus too. No doubt she’s still around, but it would be nice to know where.”

I took a breath, looking around. My gaze fell on two heavily armed and armored individuals, one of whom was missing a few armor plates on the back, with a coolant tank leaking.

“Hey, you might want to get that looked at. That’s a disaster waiting to happen.”

I looked around again, hands now on my hips.

“Did anyone see my railgun?”

Unbeknownst to me, it was floating aimlessly through the hangar, somewhere above.
Meowers
22 Aug 2023, 7:28pm
"Ah, it was enough to wake me up, I guess," I chuckled and shrugged jokingly, fully understanding her concern. Then, pointing at, literally, myself, I added, "I'll be trying not to waste more of valuable AXDF resources fighting those idiots, they won't praise me for that."

"Ow," I suddenly paused, hearing about Kasumi's gun. "I guess we should search for it. You're definitely going to need a gun to talk with more of these," I nodded towards the pile of dead bandits. "Remind me to get you a sling after we return. Because making gifts is not what I'm really a professional at, phah."
Venus Duval
22 Aug 2023, 7:38pm
The heavy gunner looks at Kira then down at his pack and shrugs.

'Eh. I've had much worse. It'll be fine.' His voice is altered slightly by his helmets speech box giving him an almost metallic sound to it.

I come rushing down the corridor to see Aventus' squad, Meowers, Kira and a whole bunch of dead raiders. Melli let's out an excited bit of chatter when she sees the two women and leaps off my shoulder, drying blood covering her helmet and her booted front paws. I look at the man on the ground missing his face and crouch down to look over him.

'Looks like you finally met your demise Nick.'

I look up to Kira and Meowers my face concealed by the full face helmet with a violet tinted viewing port with 3 scratch marks over the left eye area.

'Who claimed the kill? By the looks of it it was a decent fight.'

Melli jumps around gleefully then takes a victory bite out of Grenshaw's forearm. I stand up straight again and look over at the heavy gunners. Noticing the small coolant leak coming from the tank on his back.

'Go replace your ammo and cooling pack and get the plate replaced. There is still much more to be done.'

****

The gunner returns from having his armor plate replaced, the once uniform color now mismatched the bright orange standing out against his dark colored armor. The fresh plates seeming severely out of place against the battle damaged armor covering the rest of his body. His brother lets out a boisterous laugh seeing the fresh plates and teases his twin.

'Haha. Look at the baby plates! Looking good princess.'

'Shut up it wasn't too long ago you needed to replace half your armor. Look you can still see the fresh plates there on your side.'

As the group is catching their breath the sound of heavy boots can be heard coming down the corridor. I turn around to see the light glint off the body of a small framed woman. Jules pauses at the end of the corridor and pulls something out of the pouches on the sides of her thighs. She begins to rush towards us releasing her mag boots and activating some form of booster pack on her back. As she approaches she throws the items she was holding at the walls creating a screen of smoke between us.

Jules emerges from the cloud of smoke and punches at me. I am caught off guard and take the punch to the face. Her cybernetic hand denting the helmet and cracking the viewing screen. I stumble backwards and she delivers a solid full force kick striking me faster than that of a viper striking its prey. I curl over in pain as the chest plate and magazines are crushed by the force from the kick.

'Turn back and get the hell off this ship. You will not survive if you proceed any further.'

Aventus' squad of commandos all aim their weapons at Jules with the heavy gunners grabbing her by both arms. Try as she might she was unable to break herself free from their grips. Looking around she notices Melli staring at her growling and snarling. The little metal ball of vengeance leaps at Jules and begins biting her trying to find weak spots in her armor of which there were seemingly none. Through pained gasps of air I call out to Melli.

'Melli..... stand... argh... down. She isn't... human... At least not fully.'

Melli growls and delivers a final bite to Jules' leg. The gap in the metal plating allowed her to sink her teeth into one of the only remaining flesh parts of Jules body. Jules lets out a shriek as Melli rips off a chunk of flesh as she leaps away from the woman who had shot her with tranquilizers and took Silvia away from her.
Meowers
22 Aug 2023, 8:20pm
A second ago, I was giggling while looking at those two giant men joking about 'baby armour plates', and then, all of a sudden, that fierce woman appeared out of the cloud of smoke and attacked Venus, intentionally targeting her, not anyone else from the group of people. She managed to land some nasty hits, but was quickly restrained, sooner than I was able to move closer and kick her in the side.

Last edit: 22 Aug 2023, 9:26pm
Kasumi Goto
22 Aug 2023, 8:42pm
I was about to comment on the remark of the heavy gunner when Venus finally arrived, and I had an armored bundle of fur running around between my legs, for a second, until Melli hopped over to Grenshaw’s body.

“That kill would be mine.”, I remarked to Venus. “Guess he didn’t expect me to pack quite as much of a punch.”

I turned back to Meowers, not bothering to point out the scratched black paint of the upper arm guard, below the shoulder pad, on my right arm.

“It - I mean, the weapon - can’t have gone far. Bastard knocked it out of my hands when he tried to take me down. Didn’t really get to look at where it landed, and well, its own mag locks are off when I carry it.”

I looked at the pile of bodies that was gestured to again.

“If you have any gift ideas, you’re welcome to provide them. I can imagine better than a pile of soon-to-decompose bodies and limbs.”

Silence had just barely started to settle in, and bodies stopped smoking from plasma burns, that a lone, thin figure rushed forward. I immediately recognized Jules, who tried to get a few knocks on Venus, but was quickly neutralized. After Melli ripped a piece of flesh off one of her legs, I stepped forward, stopping directly in front of Jules, and watched her pointless struggles for a moment.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d have said you’re fucking things up for yourself on purpose.”, came out as a remark, fully showing how much I despised this woman in my tone.

“Should I know you? All I see is a nobody wearing a helmet, spouting high and mighty remarks.”, Jules replied, equally despising in tone.

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess you should.” I realized that she would probably not recognize me too well without a face and the metallic filter the helmet added to my voice simply by wearing it. “The only one who isn’t leaving this ship alive is Diaz, and anyone who gets in our way. You…” I paused. “I’ll decide in a moment.”

Jules’ eyes widened slightly, part of the hatred in them getting replaced by fear.

“You… no… no! Let me go!”

Her struggles did little more than further tighten the grip both large men had on her arms.

“You’re not going anywhere until I’m through with you, bitch.”

I reached for the knife at the back of my belt, but it wasn’t there. Probably where I’d left it when I killed Grenshaw. The painful option it was. I placed my helmet back on my head, and pulled the other knife, on the left thigh, out.

The serrated edge of my primary combat knife entered the - her - right shoulder first, sparks getting sent flying by it piercing the metal.

“You had a choice to make, and you chose wrong.”

“I did it because I wanted to live! Is that so wrong?”

“You did it by trying to ruin someone else’s life! You kidnapped Silvia and Melli! And look where that got you.”

I pulled the knife out with its teeth facing downward, causing as much damage to the internal mechanism as possible. I’d be surprised if the arm even retained basic functionality after that, but no pain occurred. The primal part of my brain wasn’t satisfied, so my left hand shot forward and gripped the neck of the smaller woman tightly.

“No… please …”, Jules gurgled out from behind the choking grip.

“You don’t deserve mercy.”

The statement was cold, unfeeling. I had barely any sympathy left for this idiot, and it was further added to by the helmet concealing my face. But my entire body gave away how much hatred I held toward this weak individual.

My knife entered Jules’ left shoulder, and a muffled scream of pain came out of her mouth.

“That was for knocking me out with sedatives twice.”

The blade twisted in the cybernetic shoulder, causing an audible, blood-curling scream to echo through the hangar, even with my tightening grip on Jules’ neck. That arm was definitely useless now.

“And that was for taking Silvia.”

The anger in my voice went up in both sentences, continuing to rise until the end of my next statement.

“You’re a cowardly, weak bitch. You thought following this man’s orders to save your life would get you anywhere, instead of trying to run from him. I should kill you right here.”

I paused, watching Jules’ face begin to go blue, as she gurgled, trying to respond, in vain.

“All you’ve done is fuck up things for me and for others, yourself included. And yet …”

I let go at the last second, and the woman desperately gasped for air.

“If you’re lucky, you can find a spot to hide before the Thargoids decide to start searching for people when I’m gone. Or maybe the next bunch of goons that comes along decides to just ignore you.”

I tucked the knife back where it belonged, after shaking some of the mechanical fluids off, as I turned around and walked toward the group again.

“Ina, you do the honors. And try to let go of her arms before she gets thrown toward a wall.”

‘A few broken ribs is enough’, I added in thoughts.

Last edit: 22 Aug 2023, 9:53pm

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