A new Ally and searching for an old.
13 Jun 2022Cayce Luther
Cayce sat in his SRV's command seat, staring ahead at the two Scorpions ahead of him. He seemed to be weighing his options. It was 2v1 the hard way, odds Cayce wasn't exactly a stranger to those odds but as he heard a third Scorpion roll up behind him he growled. He could maybe disable one but three rockets would knock him out faster than he could act...and a ping came up on his screen."Commander, Incoming!" Shyanne's voice pierced comms static.
"I'm a little busy at the moment!"
"Commander if you can hear me, get clear, I've got a really stupid idea!"
Cayce glanced down at the SRV's scanner and the ping he saw made his eyes go wide. He looked up and then immediately ignored the SRVs ahead of him, slapped the button for reverse and every pip went into engines as he threw the throttle lever forward, the black scorpion responding by rolling backwards and slamming into the SRV that snuck up on him just as a black and red Alliance Crusader slams a volley of missiles at the ground, impacting and taking out both of the front Scorpions, Cayce quickly rotated his turret and slammed on the throttle, his Scorpion pulling away as he pummeled the one behind him with rocket and gunfire. He looked up to see the crusader in question, and then locked on to it for just a second, seeing the name on the screen he nearly shook his head in disbelief as the Crusader boosted off into another SRV. He rolled away from the last one near him and slammed it with more ammo as it started to pursue him. Cayce dumped pips into engines and kept them there, weaving around wreckage in an attempt to evade incoming fire.
Above, after yeeting the SRV into the office building at over 300m/s, the Folly had shot off to engage a trio of ships, two Diamondbacks lead by a Vulture, its beams and multicannons singing. Three-to-one may seem like a long shot, but the Folly had been more than engineered to handle such a situation, its Bi-Weaves bouncing shots left and right as Shyanne threw the airframe around almost as if the ship were a Cobra, the Anaconda class hull far more agile than its size let on, the big ship giving a hell of a fight to the three vessels, one of the diamondbacks erupting in an explosion as the ship's multicannons tear it to bits.
"We're going to have a talk when this is over, that ship should not be flying, especially without her pilot!" He locked the rear wheels, cut drive power to the fronts and sent the scorpion into a long, sharp drift, letting him get a visual on the trailing SRV without opening the turret cam and opening fire on his pursuer, another rocket to kill its regenerating shields, followed by the rest of his weapons cap on gunfire before spinning it out completely, watching the Crusader DPHS Dakota, as its pilot screamed 'TIME TO END IT THEN,' crash full boost into an unseen SRV, Cayce's own target exploding as a last Arceus takes it out of the fight, and Cayce looks up, surveying the gunfight. "...Well she's got that covered." Cayce evens out power distribution, reenables front drive and rear steering and driving out of the base to meet with the Dakota as it came in to land. He climbed out as the ship set down...surprisingly smoothly for the severely beat spaceframe of the ship and its pilot departed. Cayce had his eyes narrowed as he walked up to Ember, his hand resting on his laser pistol, a second Diamondback blowing up in the distance as the Folly continues fighting.
"Not who you were expecting I take it, but I couldn't wait or rely on comms. Ember Kurokishi; I'm a friend of Phoenix's." She tapped on her comms and sent Phoenix' message to Cayce's.
He gives a look at the ping and quickly reads the comm. His eyes scanning the message:
"Ember, its Phoenix I am sending you this message as Cayce is still on a communications blackout. I investigated that tip off... you know the one... and I can't shake the feeling I am being watched. I found some evidence that might interest Cayce and Madden. It tells us who he really is, Salvation that is. He's been alive a lot longer than we thought, and these logs strongly suggest he was behind the incident with the AEGIS Megaship, the Alexandria, the audio recordings point to "Witch" and Salvation being the same person. What I also found out here is an old INRA base... seems to have been long abandoned now... but something feels off.... "
"..." Cayce's fist clenched the link fell silent, and then played the rest:
"I knew I was being watched, at first I thought these people were just scavengers looking for something to steal.... but there were far to many of them for that... these guys looked military, and well armed.... I managed to escape them for now.... trouble is my DBX bugged out and is not responding to recall requests. These guys didn't seem like standard military either.. The scorpion was tough enough to keep me safe.... it is pretty damaged however.... Listen whatever happens you make sure this message gets to Cayce's crew aboard the Renegade... They're still looking for me... thankfully it seems they're having trouble spotting the scorpion from the air... I've found a bit of a cave which makes it that much harder to spot... that said, they are searching everywhere they can.... only a matter of time before they find me. I have no idea who these people work for... could it be I sprung the trap meant for someone else?"
Ember watched Cayce's body language for the time it took him to read it. "She was never the type to be paranoid; she knew something was wrong. Seeing it for myself though, I have to wonder why they attacked."
"..." Cayce looked up at the Folly, watching it engage the remaining dropship. His vision narrowed on it as the Anaconda boosted right into the Vulture, making it crash into the ground, effectively destroying the vessel, the Bi-Weaves shielding the vessel collapsing in the impact, but the ship's hull managing to take the hit with minimal damage. The ship reoriented and made its way back over Iraxon Lane, swinging around and landing once more before doing a full reboot, bringing the ship's shields back at 50%. "...Shyanne. Phoenix' SRVs were owned by the squadron. Scan for its signals.
"Working, Commander." The comms went quiet as they waited.
Cayce turns to Ember and takes his hand off his pistol. "...I have a few ideas, but right now my only concern is finding Phoenix. We can worry about who and what the fuck we're dealing with afterwards."
"Nothing Commander."
"Might be ground interference...get the ship in the air and start looking. I'll start searching in the Scorpion."
"Sir."
Cayce nods to Ember, then hurries back to his scorpion and, after fabricating repairs and ammunition for it, races off in a westward heading from the base.