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CONTINUATION...
Andrew: "What should I do once the shooting starts?"
North looks to the Journalist with a straight face (even though he is still messing with him and has been the entire race) and says: "What are YOU still doing here?"
Andrew: "The climax of my story is just about to happen....do you expect me to just imagine how it all turns out?"
North: "No, I s'pose not."
Andy, realizing a crossroads has been reached, decides to cross the line and take up arms with The Stormfront.
North: "Don't be stupid, H....you're a lover, not a fighter."
(Greg gives the classic "Eddie Murphy" laugh impression.)
GM: "Yeah, Greg gets the point."
Greg snarls at Phil: "F'K YOU KRULL-BOY!!!"
GM: "Hey-ey-EYY!"
Greg: "I'm sorry, guys."
Mike: "That's better."
Greg: "I'm sorry....THAT-KRULL-SUCKED....IT SUCKED BA77S, YES IT DID....SAY IT....C'MON, SAY IT, YOU KNOW I'M RIGHT....AND WHEN IT WAS DONE TICKLING TH' BA77S, YOU KNOW WHAT IT DID THEN?....IT TOOK A BIG HUGE CREAMY-")
GM: "THAT'S ENOUGH, GREG!!"
Mike: "B@STARD!!!"
GM: "Greg loses the point again for being a total d1ckhead, literally."
Greg: "WTF!?!"
(Mike starts to giggle.)
(Phil raspberries Greg.)
Greg: "This is SUCH BU77SH1T!!!"
GM: "You were duly warned....do NOT mess with "The Krull" again....you can not hope to withstand the power of The Beast and his Slayers."
Phil: "YESSSSSS!!!"
Mike: "Which one would I be?....The Beast or a Slayer?"
GM: "My man, you are DEFINITELY a Beast."
Phil: "WTF....why the f'k does HE always get to be The Beast!?!"
GM: "You get to be the Prince."
Phil: "Awww, f'k that....he was completely gay....didn't fool me for a second that he would be complete by spending the rest of his life with a "sexually incompatible" partner."
Mike: "Is that what they called it back then?"
GM: "No, I think the actual term was called "buggery"."
Greg: "GRrrmmmbbllhhhrrnnn....you're ALL so f'king retarded!"
North: "Once the team had launched, just get inside The Mayhem, you'll probably be much safer in there than anywhere else."
Andrew: "Any famous last words?"
North: "I gotta pee?"
They shared a final laugh together before they go their separate ways.
North: "No, seriously....I really DO have to take a leak, which way to the head?"
TO BE CONTINUED.....
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
The climax of the evening occured when Bart had scheduled a spectacular fireworks display to entertain his oil business associates, for which the entire city of LD-1 would have its lights extinguished.
The display was dazzling but none in attendance at the victory gala suspected something was amiss until after the fireworks had ended ten minutes prior and yet the power to the city hadn't been re-established.
As the din of not-so-distant city fighting began to rise above the music at the festivities and the arcology emergency lighting activated, a horrific sight awaited the guests.
Written upon the buildings which faced the arcology plaza, in massive letters etched in red paint across dozens of floors, read the following words:
"The blood of the fallen shall be avenged this night."
Portney looked to Knowledge but the The Jumper just gawked in disbelief.
The Sheriff gestured at North as if to inquire: "Was that YOU?"
His responce came in the form of a confused shrug after which the pair began to make their way towards their assigned positions.
Within minutes, the distant skies could be seen lighting up with explosions as LD-1's Sec-Force abandoned all illusions restraint in dealing with the rebellion, despite international press coverage.
The Stormfront had been caught off guard by the sudden betrayal and quickly scrambled to their positions for deployment.
As expected (at least to you the reader) The Super-Patriot had already lead her team into the tunnels as the fireworks began and was no longer in contact.
The team got into their armor and prepared the Motoslaves for launch but as they did, couldn't help but wonder what exactly they had gotten themselves into this time, but none would be quite so suprised at the truth of this stunning revelation than Portney Lee.
Confusion in the palace was high.
The rich and affluent who had gathered there to celibrate inevitably began to panic.
LD-1 Sec-Force stepped up to the plate and took control of the situation as quickly as they could, containing most of the guests that hadn't managed to flee the palace by then or simply shot the rest who failed to comply.
The horrific scene was caught in real time, full-color with super-high digital resolution for all the world to see.
Until the running lights on The Mayhem activated and Hammerdown triggered the rigs airhorns....just to make sure he had their attention.
Sec-Force elements in the main reception area had NO idea what hit them!
The since the recent improvements to the Motoslaves independant A.I.'s, it was decided that "quantity" would serve their needs better than "quality" and so the four Hard Suits and five Battlemovers AND The Mayhem then hit the Sec-Force with everything at their disposal.
The confusion enabled the group to quickly neutralize targets most likely to injure civilians first and then possible threats second.
Of the 100 LD-1 Secforce personal in the area, no one remained standing within five minutes.
Many civilians had been wounded and killed in the exchanges that followed but few, if any, had been caused by Stormfront.
The Hard Suits concentrated on infantry while the Motoslaves eliminated any heavy armor threats in the area of operations....of which there were many:
- Specialized Urban Combat Mini-Tanks.
- Vertical-Terrain Infantry Fighting Vehicles.
- All-Purpose Armored Personal Carriers.
- Trouble Bubble VTOL Infantry Platforms (GO, JOE!!!).
- Mobile Heavy Weapons Emplacements.
- Even the BF2142 EU Faction UD-6 Talon would make an appearance.
Regardless, all of Leisions fancy toys couldn't get the better the team.
TO BE CONTINUED.....
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
They couldn't possibly face the security forces in the open en-masse.
It would have been suicide.
Instead, they lured the LD-1 forces into the upper "rafters" of the The Magic Kingdom arcology, where their size and manuverability gave the the team the upperhand and decimated all opposition in short order...returning to finish off the ground elements after all immediate air threats were neutralized.
The VT-IFV's were particularly tricky and quite useful given the teams chosen tactics. They were however, no match for a battlemover.
The Talons were the biggest threats and were not only responsible for destroying Catherines Motslave during the combat, but damaging Rebecca's Motoroid in addition to nicking Maim. One gunship retreated after having Mee-Chan land right upon on its cockpit before tearing it away (and wagging his finger at the pilot and REO) while Gunship Two is blown clear out of the sky after Rebecca and Lisa teamed up to lead it's own missle back upon itself in a spectacular fiery finish that almost sees the helos remains fall upon Leision himself.
As for the APC's....they might just as well have called in sick that day.
Same goes for the Mini-Tanks. Unlike the VT-IFV's, mini-tanks couldn't find an appreciable tactical niche during the combat. They are too lightly armed to be scary and too lightly armored to stay in the fight for long. By contrast, using one of Maim's 8.8cm rockets against one is a waste of a good shell as the monroe-effect blast could easily melt through three of them!
The Trouble Bubbles were fun and made for an interesting diversion for a while, but the teams main advantage over them was too overwhealming tactically speaking. VTOL Pods (like a Trubble Bubble) have an operational ceiling of about 30 yards. Hard Suits (on the otherhand) have full flight with cielings upwards of 200 yards, so after a series of high altitude near vertical diving attacks (in the platforms blind spot both weapon-wise and visually speaking) and a few passes later, it's "buh-bye bubble boys".
The MHWE's were a mixed blessing. Yes, they could be devastating at anything they were aimed at whether Hard Suit or battlemover but the speed and manuverability of Stormfront was superior to the automaton-like weapon mounts. Their need to constantly reposition and brace before engaging its primary firing sequence was a slow and lengthy process (when using second-by-second turns) and was the source of the units Achilles Heel. They DID manage to kill more innocent bystanders than anything else involved in the combat with LD-1 Sec-force Infantry running a close second.
Sec-force Infantry used laser pulse weapons, which couldn't penetrate even Hard Suit armor but were superb against thinner-shelled (civilian) targets, or prototype Gauss Battle Rifles. The bad news was these rifles were easily capable of penetrating a Motoroid's shell. The good news was that they had a low ammunition capasity and a slow fire rate. With a 10 round magazine and RoF 1, they were very similar in function (if not form) to the high-tech creations used in the movie "Eraser".
TO BE CONTINUED.....
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
The Motoroids ran distraction while the quicker, more agile Hard Suits administered the coups-de-gras upon the unsuspecting infantry units.
The biggest hassle for the team was in keeping the d@mned Electric Mayhem out of the frying pan ALL of the time!
Despite its formidable weaponry systems (linked 20mm chainguns, MLRS CLGP launcher, TOW/AGM rack, vehicular mine droppers and flamethrowers plus a host of defensive systems) The Mayhem's pondrous bulk and slow speed made her a target on the battlefield no matter where she went.
Hammerdown's Mayhem however took 1st prize for being a "tank-killer".
No armored unit fielded could survive going head-to-head against Brother Jeremiah's battlewagon.
By that point the palace was starting to look like a slaughterhouse.
As fate would have it that night, good fortune had finally smiled upon Andy.
His live "Cloud Buster" mini-cam feed was the ONLY one that night to catch the whole event from the 1 yard line. No other journalist who attended the event and didn't flee (or give up his camera gear immediately to the LDSF) was ever seen again....all but Andrew Halloran.
Alphabet Agencies and world reknown news channels were cutting to his web pages live feed directly in their broadcasts (props to the A.R.F.), not only capturing the horror of the Sec-Force brutality but framing the events in a riviting emotional commentary as he postulated the reprecussions for the huddled masses of the city outside The Magic Kingdom and the citizens of the Federalist Republic.
Having accomplished their task, Cathy began to monitor for encrypted palace security transmissions which might indicate that the strike team had been detected or intercepted.
Now practiced in the rearming proceedure for many years, the team members quickly and efficiently rotated into The Mayhem (while time remained) to reload or choose new "plug and play" weaponry mounts.
They completed the loading cycle and the modified Mamluk pulled out of the palace grounds undercover of the night, leaving The Stormfront free to press their attack into the palace.
The Super-Patriots team had almost reached the ventillators to the prison level by the time the first explosions could be felt.
Rebecca the Patriot lead the way.
Portney and Brewter rode behind her with Sally and Stone bringing up the rear.
Despite a run in with a horde of old forgotten (violent) automata (presumably from the Hall of Dead Presidents) and a suicidal Goofy Boomer, Rebecca's group makes good time and manages to stay on schedule.
Infiltrating the prisoners level, the strike team manages to locate Governor Kitaine's cell and succeeds in releasing her but it ALSO alerts her guardian.
Finally, a Combat Boomer appears on the scene to gets its butt whupped....and there's not a single Hard Suit to be found anywhere!
Greg: "Thanks...THANKS a lot!"
GM: " Anytime buddy."
Brewster's Norinco Gong once again proves that size DOES matter.
The Matsucorp Pulse Rifles (from Aliens) probably didn't hurt either!
TO BE CONTINUED.....
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
The BU-38 was a new model combat Boomer that was the first of its kind to utilize non-fusion based regeneration and was notoriously diffcult to kill without destroying its main core chip.
The strike team quickly discovered that they didn't carry enough firepower to put it down for the count.
As quickly as they could, they absconded with the Governor and retreated back to the security tunnels, hopefully before the BU-38 could recover sufficiently to give chase once more.
The first thing the BU-38 did once it recovered was raise the alarm and call for back up.
Two more BU-38's and an BU-38B (female variant) we're released into the Magic Kingdom with the sole purpose of finding and retrieving Rebecca Kitaine.
As if that wasn't bad enough, the engineers who contructed The New Magic Kingdom, they knew they couldn't do anything about the myriad of tunnels that ran under the complexe, so the designers included a pump system that would flush sea water from the Gulf through the entire undertunnel complexe.
Standard proceedure during a breech is to flood the cisterns to prevent escape and eliminate any resistance.
Well, it prevented escape alright!
Above ground, things were starting to look bad.
The city was in turmoil and the F.L.F. (as was to be expected) began losing the battle, exactly as The Super-Patriot had predicted it would.
Sec-Force was too powerful for them to stand up against in open conflict.
Citizens standing up to their oppressors in solidarity only to be brutally cut down....and when they finally fought back Sec-Force got REALLY nasty.
They began the indescriminant shelling of the civilian targets in city sections directly outside The Magic Kingdom.
The death toll was catastrophic.
The Republic considered direct intervention but threats from Leision to seceed in the event of Federalist forces crossing the state line was enough to fore stall their responce.
Despite winning the ground battle, Leisions troops brutality (captured so vividly for the big screen) was in imminent danger of losing him the "popularity contest" with his FOS Pipeline associates who would never consider going in to business willingly with someone so wantonly bloodthirsty and treacherous.
(It would be bad for business unless your name happens to be Dick Cheney)
Fortunately for Team Alpha (courtesy of the pervert Leision himself) a moment alone with Catherine allows her the opportunity to plant a nano-tracer on his person.
No matter where he goes in The Magic Kingdom, she'll have a precise fix on his location at all times.
Cathy also detects increased traffic in the undertunnels as the security alert filters through the upper levels of the palace.
TO BE CONTINUED.....
-Peace
CONTINUATION...
Mee-Chan decides to take Leision out personally.
He orders Lisa to take Catherine, Maim and Rebecca to rendezvous with the strike team and effect immediate extraction if need be.
Rebecca protests and requests to accompany North, citing that a Knight never leaves her leige's side in battle.
Knowledge is unmoved by her plea.
She convinces him that like the Jumper, this is simply something she MUST do.
He reluctantly agrees and the pair quickly move to intercept Bart before he can escape.
As Lisa leads the balance of Team Alpha to assist Team Beta, they are beset by a contingent of Sec-Force Exo-Troopers, similar to those encountered by The Swords of Texas at The Battle of the Alamo.
Although outnumbered 6 to 1, the three girls and two Motoroids decimate their opposition before moving on to rescue their comrades.
Even Catherine is beginning to rack up a respectable body count.
The team even establish temporary contact with the lost strike element who report a dire situation and call "no joy" on the possibility of unf'king themselves from their current predicament....but it IS nice to hear their voices again!
Stormfront pick up the pace and in a moment that could only be described as pure cinamatic providence, Hurricane-01 (belonging to Maim) bursts straight through a reinforced blast wall and bull rushes straight into the approaching BU-38 that had dogged the strike team throughout their entire escape.
Just when it appears that Hurricane will obliterate the BU-38, it is ambushed by two other BU-38's who attempt to subdue it for their once beseiged brother.
The Female Boomer then emerges from around a nearby corner and retracts her main heat cannon array to destroy Maim's Motoroid.
Just as it's about to fire, it's struck by an 8.8cm rocket and explodes into a thousand tiny pieces.
The critical hit is such that the GM rules the Boomers normal regeneration doesn't work on a sudden injury of such magnitude.
The remaining three Boomers, suprised by the sudden destruction of their comrade, wheel around to see the source of the devastating attack and who might be next.
Maim can be seen linked to Lisa's Typhoon with small trenches carves into the ceraplast floor from it feet, created by the force of the recoil of the Rocket blast it aimed:
Maim: "NOBODY, shoots MY Motoslave!"
GM: "Yeah, that's good....point the man Mike."
Phil: "Motherfu-"
Greg: "Eat it Krull boy."
GM: "'EY....simmer down you, remember what happened LAST session?"
Greg: "No, I'm good."
Vortex (Lisa) charges up at the pair that hold Hurricane captive.
While she advanced, Torrent (Cathy) began to send a jamming signal to confuse and hopefully disorient the BU-38's.
Erica ejects from her Typhoon before joining the battle herself:
Maim: "Thanks for the lift...."
TO BE CONTINUED.....
-Peace
CONTINUATION...
Hurricane breaks the grip of one of the BU-38's and uses the free arm to power punch the other stunned BU-38 still grappling it.
The titanic strike sends the Boomer flying into the far wall head first.
Lisa takes out the "original" BU-38 in a combination N-PAWS particle cannon burst and inverted vaulting Knuckle Bomber strike to the top of Boomers skull....where its main control chip lay.
The devastating one-two combo had put the combat artifical down for the count on her first pass.
Hurricane turned to the sole remaining Boomer beside it, now beginning to break from the influence of Catherine's crippling software attack.
It then performed a flawless roundhouse kick to the BU-38's head that sent the unit flying towards the charging girls.
Maim would administer the knockout blow with a jet-assisted jump kick to the BU-38's skull that would end in her classic Boot Bomber finishing move.
She had pulverised the units entire head in a single powerful strike.
"NO regeneration for YOU!"
Mike: "Regeneration Nazi!!!"
GM: "And Mike moves up the board....give that man another point."
Greg: "Seinfeld....meh."
Phil: "Is there anything you DON'T hate?"
The remaining Boomer has picked itself up off the ground after imbedding in the far wall from Hurricane's "sunday punch".
Typhoon takes aim at the remaining BU-38 but holds fire as Tempest (Maim) is too close to the potential blast.
The Boomer begins its attack by launching into a strong spin kick to the head of Lisa, its intended victem.
Lisa easily dodges underneath the attack and the limb becomes trapped by Hurricane (who was standing directly behind Vortex) causing the Boomer to become "trapped".
It counters by rotating the trapped limb while completing a jump kick to Hurricanes head that now sees him facing away from the Motoroid.
Hurricane's cyclopian photo-receptor flashes angrily before taking the Boomers leg (still trapped) and while holding like a bat, swung the Boomer at the floor as hard as it could.
It was a devastating attack.
Had the impact struck the skull instead of the head it would have probably destroyed him in a single strike, but the BU-38 still clung bitterly to life.
While still imbedded in a ceraplast crater in the floor, Vortex (Lisa) uses her ribbon cutters and in an instant, had severed the Boomers torso a little above its waist.
Tempest (Maim) then did a preparatory jet-assisted leap towards the prone Boomer and came down with her fist in a flawlessly executed Knuckle Bomber dive attack, using gravity to boost her damage.
The explosive bolt from her attack put a second, smaller crater in the floor but had the primary effect of obliterating the BU-38's cranium.
Cathy: "That's how I like them....dumb and ugly."
Brewster: "What took ya?"
Rebecca the Paladin then barred Rebecca the Patriot from taking a further step.
Kitane: "What are you doing?....They're right behind us.....We have to move!"
Maim immedately took her by the throat and picked her up so suddenly that she almost bounced the clones head off the corridor's ceiling tiles.
This alarmed Portney Lee but after catching a glance of Catherine shaking her head as if to imply: "Don't get involved in this." he maintained a somewhat even keel.
Maim: "B@#$H....you've got some SERIOUS explaining to do!"
TO BE CONTINUED....
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
Leision was losing his mind.
The FOS Pipeline Associates that had not already fled had undoubtedly been killed....if not by the LDSF, then by the hordes of rioters in the streets.
Any hopes he held for a new deal were finished.
ALL his Rebeccas were now gone.
His beautiful city was now in flames.
The race had been a disaster.
His own vanity and greed had lead to his downfall.
And now, the LDSF were out there in the streets desperately trying to put of the fire with gasoline.
He could see the dreams he had once held all coming to an end.
If HE could not have The Magic Kingdom for himself....no one would.
Leision may never have acquired the launch codes but the LDSF had enough firepower at its disposal to level the entire city if the situation called for it and had practiced to do that very thing on many occasions.
He would gather the civilians into shelters and large capasity arenas with the promise of sustenance & aid and the ones who didn't die from tainted food and water would be shelled into oblivion shortly after.
Leision TRUELY was a monster of the highest order.
All he needed to do was reach his safe room and give the order to his troops and his rebellion problem would be solved within the week.
He also kept reassuring himself that ONE of his Rebeccas would be bound to turn up at some point...even if it was her corpse.
(He could always grow another)
So, you could imagine his joy (and terror) when Jewel the Paladin actually DID show up unexpectedly and announced that he would not live to see his next sunrise.
He has had plenty of time to look at footage of Kitaine or The Patriot and can tell just by looking at the Knight (even through her lifted visor) that she is neither one.
Leision: "That's i-impossible........you're dead-"
Rebecca: "I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I'm still here...no thanks to you."
Leision: "What IS this?"
She flexed her forearm which retracted her Ion Sword.
Rebecca: "Today's you're big retirement party Governor...."
Bec's was so intently focused on Leision that she ignored the fact that the main floor of the very room they had been standing in had begun to decend.
Rebecca: "Do you know how many people you've murdered....how many lives you've ruined....how many dreams you've destroyed?"
Leision: "I look at you and I wonder the same thing?" Bart responded "I think to myself; which one of us looks more like a taker of innocent life?"
Rebecca became silent as she looked at her own reflection in the floor.
Leision: "How many lives have you destroyed....how many dreams have you crushed under those heels?"
The platform cames to a halt and Cyclone snapped back to reality as the dull metal echo within the chambre begins to fade.
Rebecca: "I've lost count...theres no forgiveness for the things I've done....(steeling her resolve she raised the glowing, humming blade to his throat)....but YOU'LL be the last one."
Leision: "Admit it....we're two of a kind....we've both seen that dark side and we both know there is nesessity in the shadow of foul deeds."
She retracted her blade and looked Bartholomew in the eyes....and then held out her hand to him.
The moment he had longed for had finally come....even if his whole city burned, he would finally have his beloved Rebecca....or at least one of them.
He would now simply announce the existance of two Kitaine clones and state that HIS Rebecca was the Host entity.
Clones have no rights and under law if the Host is still alive, in most cases, clones retrieved from such mix ups are summarily "retired".
Bart took her hand....and Rebecca just about broke every bone in it with a single squeeze.
Rebecca: "What? You think I'm stupid or something? Like that Darth Vader s#@t is gonna work on me?"
TO BE CONTINUED....
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
The Knight then spun him around by his crippled limb and executed a point-blank range low-intensity repulsor burst into his stomach.
Ayers waited for his body to stop sliding along the floor before she spoke up again...
Rebecca: "Take a GOOD look Governor....I'M-THE-F'KING-ANGEL-OF-DEATH!"
She then began to slowly walk towards him as he writhed on the floor in pain, clutching the remains of his mangled fingers.
Rebecca: "MY FACE IS THE LAST THING YOU WILL EVER SEE."
Bartholomew tried his best to crawl away from Cyclone but it's painfully apparent that even walking at a leisurely pace, she'll overtake him in a matter of seconds.
Jewel then finishes her train of thought as she comes to a stop in front of Leision before leaning in to whispering to him:
Rebecca: "You will NOT die well."
At that moment, a large floor section began to retract (putting distance between hunter and prey) and an unusually large Boomer emerged from beneath upon a rising platform. The launch cradle coolant hoses began to detach in furious deluge of frost and fog as ice chucks began to drop from it's armored chassis while it stood up from it's saddle. Its red-tinged photo-receptors began to pulse menacingly as it made an inhuman sounding "growl" that almost shook the entire chambre...
Leision: "Oops....I guess I forgot about my friend here. Permit me to introduce to you to the latest & greatest innovation from R.N.C., the BU-40 multi-adaptive combat boomer."
Becca began to curse herself for not just shooting Leision in the face when she had the chance.
GM: "I CAN'T believe I caught you in mid-monologue!"
Mike: "Rasa-frakin' Muther-grubbin'..."
Leision: "It cost me more money than most of my private army combined to acquire it but I can see now that it was money well spent..."
The Boomer began to step up the Governor and paused just in front of him as it faced Cyclone.
Leision: "...BUT you ARE indeed correct about one thing....I guess we WON'T be having our little reunion after all."
Bartholomew then turned to his death machine and uttered but a single word:
Leision: "Go."
The BU-40 instantly charged directly at Cyclone.
Even Rebecca had been taken back by its sudden speed and apparent reaction time.
If it pocessed equal strength to match its other attributes, The Paladin wasn't certain she could survive the encounter.
Rebecca: "Chief, we may have a SERIOUS problem here-"
TO BE CONTINUED....
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
The strike team had just reached the rendezvous coordinates established for retrieval.
The Mayhem pulled up to the sewer entrance as the team was beginning to exit the tunnels.
At first it almost looked as if the rioters would storm The Mayhem but a short burst from her 20mm cannons convinced them otherwise.
Lisa maintained "overwatch" as the team scurried in through the trailers assault ramp.
Maim had been a bit rough with Rebecca the Patriot since rescuing them from the BU-38's so Portney had decided he would maintain a close watch on her while the team exfiltrated.
Erica objected to the idea right from the start.
She questioned whether Portney had kept his head "clear" and was still in the game.
He then did something to Maim which very few people can ever claimed to have done and lived to tell about it.
Silencing Tempest with just a "cold" stare and SHE was the one wearing the Hard Suit.
(Portney's obviously still got his s@#t together!)
News of the "other" Becca's betrayal didn't sit well with Jermiah or Bobby either.
Running rogue Black Ops is one thing....taking the fall for what was shaping up to be a complete genocide was QUITE a differnet matter.
After a quick vote....(which resvoled at 7 to 2 in favor of immediate execution by firing squad with two abstentions as The Super-Patriot and Governor Kitaine were told they had no voice in the matter)....her fate had been decided.
Unlike many other votes in the past, this one resolved in record time.
Catherine (who had been desperate to stop the kangeroo court) was the first to point out that for a vote to pass and be binding, ALL team members must voice their opinions. Knowledge and The Paladin had not had their say.
At first, the majority was prepared to disregard that restriction and throw caution to the wind until Portney very astutely pointed out that next time....(if there WAS indeed a next time)....it could be one of THEM at the wrong end of one of these votes, and wouldn't they at least like to know that if it was nothing else (when their turn came) that it's going to be "fair".
Even though two more votes wouldn't make much of a difference to the outcome, they all agreed it was the right thing to do and that perhaps The Paladin might prefer the honor for herself. Although the Super-Patriot felt undue relief to hear of her sudden "reprieve", mention that her batchmate might want to do it herself made her almost wish for the immediate firing squad.
This is when Governor Kitiane suggested a DOOZY of an idea!
Despite being overthrown by Leision supporters, she still maintained appeal with a high percentage of the population currently in uprising.
She postulated that if they could get to a broadcast station and allow her to speak upon the info-boards all over the metroplex that it might get the people to stop the destruction that was tearing the city apart.
Catherine pointed out however that Mee-Chan and Rebecca Ayers were still MIA and could be in need of their help even as they spoke.
Lisa (Vortex) decided that Catherine would accompany the strike team and The Mayhem to the studios to send the transmission.
She would take Tempest, Typhoon and Hurricane and return to The Magic Kingdom to find their errant comrades.
Catherine lead the effort to refeul the Motoslaves one final time while the riders mounted MG-442's to their "steeds"
It had been a hell of a ride so far but it wasn't over yet.
Phil: "Dude, this adventure is f'king insane."
TO BE CONTINUED....
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
The BU-40 had just reached Cyclone when as she opened up with her N-PAWS blasters (VIVA-AKIMBO!!!) and retracted her wing verniers to take flight before the Boomer reached her. The mini-linear neutrino particle accelerator blasts seemed to do little more than blemish the BU-40's thermally conductive energy-dampening armor. Seeking to escape into the air, she was suprised to see not only had it lurched skyward to catch her but did so with unbelievable speed.
The large red-shelled unit clothes lines her in mid-air and sent her spinning violently to the ground, just barely avoiding landing on the back of her neck by the barest of margins.
The impact of the landing had also damaged one of her flightpacks vernier wings and so from here on in, only jet-assisted jumping would be available to her.
Almost as if the attack had not caused her any pain (which it most certainly did) she rolled away from the looming opponent as the BU-40 executed a jet-assisted stomp kick attack that ruptured the floor plating and sent coolant mist from ruptured pipes, venting into the air in tremendous plumes that obscured its visual receptors.
Compensating as fast as it could, it began to cycle through wavelength filtres that would enable the BU-40 to rapidly reacquire its target.
It came upon the appropriate spectrum just in time to see a charging Cyclone coming straight at it.
The Boomer executes a strong spinning kick at the The Paladin but she nimbly moves under the strike and counters by landing a strong uppercut Knuckle Bomber strike to the Boomers jaw.
The attack staggers the BU-40 but Cyclone gives the Boomer no time to recover and quickly follows up a strong right-left combo that ends in a jet-assisted spinning jump kick Boot Bomber strike.
While the two punches land successfully, the BU-40 manages to catch Cyclone by the attacking leg before she can connect and without breaking her momentum, spins her around 720 degrees before releasing her into the chambres wall over 8 yards away.
The force of the impact alone causes her helmets inner visor to "spider" and sections of Hard Suit plating begin to crack and chip off upon striking and falling to the floor.
If I may.....
The Paladin is now stunned.
In GURPS, THIS is just about the most dangerous thing that can happen to a player.
Stunning can be as fatal as losing ones footing or weapon at a pivotal point in a pitched combat and in THIS fight, the "Do Nothing" manuver is an absolute DEATH SENTENCE!
The hulking BU-40 closes upon its prey.
Leision has just managed to reach the top of the "testing pit" when a wall of LDSF troopers began to file into the chambre and take up firing positions around the lip of the massive pit. Becca had been cursing into her suits internal mic for 4-5 seconds, for assistance, before she realized the radio system was also damaged and currently offline. Before she could stagger to her feet, it had grabbed her by the throat and hoisted her up with a single hand, despite her having a combined armored weight of almost 400 pounds. Just as it was about to snap her neck a voice yelled out from across the room...
Leision: "STOP!"
The glowing pulse burning in the BU-40's eyes began to slow and dim as the unit went into stand-by mode with a "disheartened" mechanical growl as it's only protest.
Rebecca still dangled in mid-air by the throat as she fought to draw each breath.
Leision: "I bet you'd wished you had taken me up on my offer now?"
Although fighting to keep from blacking out, The Paladin somehow managed to find the strength to flip Bartholomew "The Bird".
He began to laugh at her but just as she completed her rude hand gesture, she retracted her Ion Sword and severed the boomers arm at its weakest point in a single swing.
The Governor-for-Life stopped laughing.
TO BE CONTINUED....
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
The BU-40 re-engaged its DCR programming and quickly accessed the damage to its systems.
Rebecca had only just gotten to her feet when she noticed the Boomer begin to charge up its mouth-mounted plasma cannon.
Knowing she had only seconds before the pulse would reach firing levels, the expediture of two character points ensures a spectacular strike.
Cyclone fast draws with her arm mounted Railgun/Spikecaster and places a round dead-centre, smack dab in the middle of its cannons focal lens, a split-second before it fired.
The ensuing secondary explosion was large enough to completely obscure the BU-40 from anyones direct line of sight.
Still proud with the shot she had made, no sooner had this occured than the Boomers remaining over-sized arm stretched out from the obscuring cloud and took ahold Cyclone once more.
Almost half the Boomer's head had been blasted clean off the units shoulders in the explosion but it continued to fight on unhindered.
The problem was, she hadn't destroyed the "right" half.
Leision began to suspect that his Boomer might actually lose the fight and so he instructed the LDSF troopers standing witness to the combat that if his Boomer should lose, Cyclone was to be immediately cut down.
Nothing was to distract them upon pain of death.
Rebecca: "D@mn it all Knowledge, where ARE you?!"
Through road blocks and in hails of molotovs & gunfire, The Mayhem cuts a path through the chaos and destruction to the Teledome, source of all transmissions in the LD-1 Megacity.
In an unsual display of bravery, Catherine even elects to stand upon the top of The Mayhem as it makes it way through the streets.
Simply the sight of Torrent on the rig is enough to persuade the random rioters to cease attacking and actually creates a calming "Pied Piper" effect amongst the frightened citizenry as they begin to follow the truck.
A tense moment occurs when The Mayhem reaches a LDSF armored sweeper team that blocks their route to the Teledome.
The Mayhem can eat mini-tanks and APC's for breakfast, lunch AND supper but this time, the LDSF fields a full M5A2 Atlas units (comprised of six tanks) that utilize the latest in soft launching electro-thermal weapon systems in addition to the infantry that typically accompany a unit of that size (which in this case about 75).
They were outnumbered and outgunned but if something wasn't done fast, the cycle of violence was doomed to spread.
Hammerdown decided that the Mayhem would attempt to lure the tank patrol off while the strike team jumped ship and attempted to bypass the road block.
He hoped that he could draw enough of the enemy off to allow a fighting chance for the strike team at reaching the Teledome.
It was an incredibly brave gesture but it was also essentially suicide.
That's when Super-Patriot suggested that the team not go AROUND the road block but instead go UNDER it.
The tunnels that ran under The Magic Kingdom also run beneath the other domes of LD-1 as well.
A more direct and less dangerous route still lay underground.
The nearest possible entrance to the undertunnels of the Teledome was from the much closer Bonedome.
The cities primary medical facilities were amongst the first ones hit when the rioting began.
It still stood but many sections of its gargantuan arcology structure were still engulfed in flames or billowed smoke as EMR aerodynes attempted to quench the monolithic blaze.
A huge burning building somehow (at the time) seemed to hold more appeal amongst the team than that of suicide by tank so a quick change in plan took place, despite the schemes somewhat dubious author.
The Mayhem managed to run the emergency services fireline without incident and simply drove the truck straight into the building....as in through halls, up or down steps, in and out of the flames. Driving through a building over a mile high and a mile wide at its base, using its main 20mm cannons and TOW rockets to blow away obstacles or the odd pesky wall that got in the way of their progress.
TO BE CONTINUED....
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
The strike team reaches the deployment zone in the nick of time and manages to debark before having 1500' high melting glass cielings drop on their heads.
Likewise is the Mayhem able to blast its way (literally) out the far side of the acrology but in the process, providing Andrew Halloran with his most dazzling footage of the evening yet.
He would win a pulitzer in journalism for the accomplishment.
It was also the most frightened Andy had ever been in his entire life.
All the parts with his crying and whining like a ridiculous baby were editted out by him later as the original piece ran without sound.
Torrent, Portney, Sally, Brewster, The Governor, The Super-Patriot, Stone and Andy had not been travelling through the undertunnels of the Bonedome very long before wishing they hadn't ditched the "Dust Devils" when the tunnels had been flooded.
Torrent: "I bet those stupid "toy bikes" would've sure come in REAL handy right now...."
Catherine commented as she would easily jet-jump her way along ahead of the group....often pausing to wait for them to catch up.
Sally grumbled as she did her best to keep up: "SHUT UP!"
Stone allowed the smallest of smiles to curl one side of his mouth.
As always....no one noticed.
Then the situation became one of: Good News....Bad News.
The "Good News" was that they had discovered an underground utility mag-lev system that ran between the various domes.
The "Bad News" was that it was swarming with LDSF forces who were apparently holding civilians in a form of "kettled" detention, using the transit station as a prison.
The odd part was that the civilians were all squating or in "distressed positions" with hands locked behind them and being held at gun point.
It wasn't just civilians they had stumbled upon, but captured F.L.F. members.
From the groups high vantage point over the imprisoned, the could see large numbers of dead bodies in bags being stored JUST out of sight of those currently being detained. Blood ran from the mag-lev platform in volumes so great the echo could easily be confused for the sound of leaking pipes.
It wasn't a detention centre they had found....it was a mass grave.
Not a word was spoken by Portney, Stone, Sally, Brewster or Catherine.
A simultaneous nod from the others in agreement was the only precursor that was needed:
"No way are we going to let this happen."
TO BE CONTINUED....
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
Andrew and Kitaine would keep a watchful eye on The Super-Patriot protecting the flank while the group struck.
Sally would be "overwatch" with her 15mm Anti-Material Rifle.
Portney and Brewster would lay down suppressing fire for Torrent and Stone.
The Mechanic tried to convince Stone that she had the advantage of a Hard Suit and that him just leaping down into the middle of hornets nest with her was not the smartest thing to do.
He didn't seem to care.
It was a dramatic entrance to say the least....
First, Portney and Brewster dropped stun grenades upon the lot of 'em....both F.L.F. and LDSF alike.
Next, Catherine jet-jumped down into the middle of the stunned opponents and began to "bring da pain".
The normally pacifistic Catherine became a wildcat and unleashed every weapon at her disposal with pinpoint accuracy and suprising speed.
(Meaning she actually MADE her fast draw rolls for a change)
Stone simply leapt off the the concrete lip of the walkway above, vaulted off a suspended light fixture....(which weakened it signifigantly)....then down onto a pair of unsuspecting LDSF Sentries (not stunned by the grenades) using his momentum to knock them both simultaneously onto the charged mag-lev rail below them, turning them almost both instantly to charred flesh.
Portney and Brewster begin to take out any trooper armed with a Gauss Rifle at will before any LDSF can direct fire at Cathy or Stone.
Sally takes her time choosing targets and thanks to her keen eye and precision aim, not a single prisoner is lost in the ensuing fracas to overzealous LDSF.
As for Stone....well what can be said about him?
He was almost as deadly to the LDSF with a Bowie and Tomahawk as Catherine was with a Hard Suit.
Unlike Torrent, Stone is never struck by a single enemy attack throughout the entire assault despite being at the spear tip of it.
At one point, after leaping to the platform after flash-frying the pair of sentries, an unseen third has remained out of Stone's line of sight.
The trooper had actually managed to catch Stone "flat-footed" but before he could make the kill, the large suspended (and VERY heavy) lamp he had jumped off and weakened, dropped onto the guards head before he had even announced his presence.
Mike: "I absolutely f'king LOVE that guy....he's MINE now....I am using him in ALL my own games."
Greg: "But this is the ONLY GURPS game you play?"
Mike: "Naw, I'm buying my own copy tomorrow."
Phil: "What type of game you gonna run?"
Mike: "One with a big silent Indian in it who can't be killed by the hand of man!"
Greg: "So, it's a "fantasy" then is it?"
(The GM facepalms slowly and shakes his head.)
Phil: "That's NOT very nice."
Mike: "Hmmm, has all the feel of "racism" but you just can't tell exactly when....BRAVO, sir!"
(Greg takes a bow.)
The F.L.F. members thank the group for releasing them from captivity.
Although warned against it, the prisoners eventually discover the bodies of the dead that lay so close to them as they were being held.
Andrew is told to film the atrocity over his own objections. It would become one of his most acclaimed pieces.
They quickly summon an empty utility railrunner and begin to board the car and make their way to their final objective.
The surviving F.L.F. resolve to tell the others that Rebecca Kitaine is free and that an emergency broadcast is to be expected.
TO BE CONTINUED....
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
The view becomes that of slow-motion/bullet-time sequence in which:
It appears as if Rebecca has been thrown by the BU-40 and is about to strike the "observer" (from their respective point of view) but instead, she apparently strikes a pane of one-way reflective glass that shatters as she is sent careening into the room behind it only to impact (and crater) the far cement wall behind it landing so hard, her helmet flies from her head before she drops to the ground limp. Vortex is now in a mild state of concussion. She is still "awake" and somewhat aware but her body just doesn't seem to be responding. In her ears is a dull ringing that seems to drown out the sound of the approaching BU-40.
Explosions can now be heard getting louder in the chambre from the hall beyond through which she first entered Leision's testing arena and the intensity of the approaching fighting has now managed to distract Governor-for-Life Leision from his enjoyment.
Leision: "Would you see what that's about?"
The obediant lackey (LDSF Captain) immediately turns to go and look but has barely opened the chambre door when in fragments from nearby explosion pepper the room. The occurance attracts the attention of everyone else as the accoustics are very good in this chambre and the combat in the pit had reached a temporary lull. Despite keeping their weapons trained on the arena the the LDSF troopers begin to trade uneasy looks amongst themselves over their current standing orders. The Captain quickly closes and braces his back against the door as a look of fear begins to come over his face as he struggles to find the appropriate words...
LDSF Captain: "Sir, I thin-."
The door and a sizable portion of wall exploded in a massive fireball raining debris and flaming bodyparts from an 85mm HE recoiless shell that struck directly behind it.
Phil: "Well, that's gonna leave a mark."
(GM giggles.)
Phil: "Point?"
GM: "Point."
Greg: "F'k off already!"
Smoke completely obscured the chambres entrance but the sound of shattering marble can clearly be heard giving way under the J-Types foot pads as it approaches.
The LDSF all remain aiming at the pit (as ordered) but now a sence of urgency has come over them as a battlemover steps into the room and begins to level its gunpod.
Its chassis now sporting all manner of damage from small arms, rockets and explosives (not to mention blood and body parts....mostly caught between the units bird-like toes!) but clearly not enough to slow the mecha down in any visible way.
The majority of the soldiers all glanced nervously to the second in command (now that the Captain has been reduced to gelato) and all look at him as to say:
"WELL!?!"
The Lieutenant then clears his throat and finally speaks up:
LDSF Lieutenant: "Sir, do we have permission to engage the new target?"
Leision: "Retards...I have hired an army of retards..."
No sooner had he said the words when the J-Type chambered a new recoiless round, holding the gunpod one-handed....(which is NOT advisable even though it makes you look pretty freakin' bad@$$!)....while extending its twin MLRS racks, Metalstorm 25mm mini-electromagnetic grenade launcher racks and twin six-packs....all at the same time.
Leision: "Oh s@#t, here we go...."
TO BE CONTINUED....
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
The Lieutenant whirled to give the command to fire but before he could speak the words aloud, he was torn into confetti by Knowledges miniguns.
What transpired next went as follows:
Do you remember Robocop 2?
Do you remember what Robo-Cain did to the people in attendance at its unveiling ceremony?
Do you recall what he did to the Detroit City P.D. right after he was finished turning the party goers and spectators into little broken piles of meat?
You have that image firmly locked in your minds?
KEWL....now multiply that by two!
Knowledge was P1SSED....but all his anger couldn't cover up the one nagging thought that ate away at him even as he carved his way through the waves of LDSF: "Was he already too late?"
Leision, true to form, would flee blindly.
Everywhere Leision would run to, LDSF would try to swarm around him to protect him.
So, everywhere Leision would try to go, hordes of his soldiers would be mercilessly cut to pieces.
They tried to keep him covered as best they could, but after a few massacres, the LDSF began to flee whenever Bart would run towards them....scattering from the crooked politician as he scrambled towards them for assistance.
Knowledge finds himself surrounded and under hostile fire from all sides.
Bart hasn't escaped as of yet but the J-Suit has now taken moderate damage and the battlemover is now trailing black smoke in its wake as it grinds to a halt.
With the expediure of 5 character points, a game ending critical failure is turned into a critical success and a single "alpha strike" with the J-Type's MLRS system which decimates all opposition in the room and leaves not a single LDSF trooper standing.
All told....he had eradicated 30 soldiers outside the room and had then wiped out another 30 inside the room but the J-Type was now operating at 50% power output.
It had a bad limp from a leg injury which hampered mobility and was mostly out of ammo.
He began to comb the room for survivors or any sign of Cyclone.
Finding no sign of Leision nor Jewel the frustration became too much and he let out with a loud scream that amplified through his suits vocal print distorter resulting in a near beastial/demonic resonance that shook the room and halls beyond.
His "challenge" was shortly answered...
The BU-40 had walked literally through the wall that separated the two combatants.
Knowing she couldn't outfight her enemy....she tried to outthink it.
Keeping it in a confined space to fight such as the outlying corridor she had been thrown into would turn its size advantage to a disadvantage.
If she could last long enough, perhaps help would come.
The headless, damaged unit dogged after Cyclone relentlessly as she positioned herself in the hall for a counterattack.
It lurched forward and launched into a spinning kick which she barely dodged but then found that its foot had become lodged in the wall of the constrictive tunnel.
Cyclone counters by grabbing its remaining hand and judo throwing the unit to the ground and then vaulting over the Boomer while it's down.
Rising to her feet before her opponent can, she notices that above its head are more coolant pipes.
She triggers her remaining operational N-PAW and ruptures the mains with a series of blasts resulting in super-cooled gas obscuring the area.
TO BE CONTINUED....
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
Retreating up the corridor, she deploys a pair of S-Mines in the hallway set to proximity detonation.
The BU-40 lumbers forward into a pair of concussive blasts that bowl the unit over and sends it to the ground 2 yards away.
She looks like her plan is starting to work until the Paladin discovers she has run out of tunnel to retreat down now that the BU-40 is back on its feet again.
Realizing that she is trapped in the tiny tunnel, the Boomer engages its flight jets and barrels down the passage way to ram her into the concrete/ceraplast wall behind her.
Death seems assured this time, she can't possibly survive another hit by this brute and theres no room to manuver.
She hangs her head and braces for the inevitable impact when, at her feet, she notices she is standing on a maintenance grate.
As the hulking Boomer screamed inbound towards her, she began to use her N-PAWS and opposing Railgun in a "cookie cutter" manuver, that while alone is not enough to weaken the floor in time, when combined with the weight of her Hard Suit is!
Cyclone drops out of the line of sight JUST as the BU-40 streaked past and rammed into the opposing wall at high speed....which for the distance it had traveled was only about 100mph.
It struck so hard it not only went through the wall but the jarring impact caused it flight jets to malfunction, sending the Boomer tumbling down the ventillator shaft beyond that it had unwittingly penetrated into, falling some 250 yards to the bottom, ending in a distant fireball.
Cyclone peeked her head out of the hole she had dropped into only after all noise had stopped.
Climbing out, she gazed into the abyss which her opponent had fallen into and wondered if it had survived.
She didn't want to wait around to find out....as the "undentifiable" scream from Mee-chan could be heard in the distance.
Emerging from the hole made by the Boomer, the triumphant Cyclone stepped into the testing pit once more to find it curiously empty.
Rebecca: "LEISION!!!"
Her voice had barely faded to an echo when the sound of heavy metal foot steps began to sound....approaching ever closer....there was ANOTHER Boomer?
Becca's knees began to buckle as it the sound of "heavy metal" came to a stop.
She retracted her Ion sword.
The only lights still operational were located solely over the pit so, it was with no difficulties that Cyclone watched Bart fly off the lip of the pit to the bottom below (where she stood) with only the slightest of "acceleration distorted" yelps from the Governor-for-Life.
He bounced off the ground pretty hard and it was obvious that the impact had shattered his leg.
Rebecca looked up to the ledge where "Jackie" activated its running lights at 25% to show it was there...
North: "He was too small....I hadda throw him back."
Mike: "C'MON!?!"
Phil: "Point?"
GM: "Point."
Phil: "YESSSSS!!!"
The J-Type then turned around and kept a close eye on the only exit from the room:
North: "You might wanna speed things up a bit....I think we're gonna have company soon."
Bart screamed up from the testing pit as The Paladin limped up to him:
Leision: "WHO-THE-F'K-ARE-YOU-PEOPLE!?!"
Mee-Chan: "You SHOULDA had the decency to die back in N'Orleans you nasty sonnova b1tch-"
Rebecca suddenly hoisted him up to his feet and drew back her sword to strike. The Governor looked her in the eyes and screamed...
"After ALL I've done for this COUNTRY, WHY are you DOING this to me!?!"
Jewel held off on her strike long enough to pull his face directly to hers so their noses almost touched as she whipered to him:
"For life."
She then decapitated the "Governator" in a single strike and watched his skull roll into a pool of super-cooled liquid nitrogen which had formed from the BU-40's jet-assisted stamp kick crater. There would be no more sequels for Bart.
TO BE CONTINUED....
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
The LDSF had caught on to the idea of the F.L.F. using the mag-lev system to ferry troops and supples to hot spots around the city and thusly, made every effort to shut the mass transit system down.
Fortunately for the strike team (thanks to the urgings of The Super-Patriot) the group had commandeered a utility car which carry their own mobile power supply to used in case of events such as a power shunt, similar to the manual override attempted by the LDSF.
It prevented their transit module from deactivating but the tunnels switching over to emergency lighting (as the main illumination failed and faded into shadows) was a definite indicator that the reception at the Teledome would likely be a hot one.
To bypass the possibility of a messy protracted firefight shortly after arrival, Portney's team would ditch the utility car long before it would reach the terminus and in it's place, leave a little suprise for any LDSF welcoming party that might be (were almost certainly!) awaiting them in the mag-lev terminus.
Each of the Swords present in the car (of which there were only four....Catherine didn't count) chipped in a 1/2 pound of Semtex each to be conglomerated into one big demo-charge that was summarily fitted with with a proximity detonator and I.R. tripwire back-up with a standard liquid mercury anti-tampering countermeasure package. They slowed to enable the team to abandon their ride and Sally (the last woman out) activated the explosive.
Once more, the use of codes given to The Super-Patriot by the F.L.F. enable the team to gain access to the maintenance tunnels running parallel to the rail channel without raising the alarm. It wasn't long after that the teams "Easter Egg" was found by the security team assigned to guard the terminus.
The excessive amount of concrete dust falling upon the strike team at the moment of the blast spurred Portney to remark:
"I told ya you used too much."
Sally curls her lip in a sneer at the remark and holds up her hand as if she were going to slap the Waycross Sheriff.
Meanwhile, outside the Teledome, citizens attracted by The Mayhems initial approach began to grow in number after the explosion at the arcology's transit hub occured. Those that did gather were smart enough to do so outside of effective small arms range. News of an impending message from the deposed Governor of Florida and and one-time Mayor of LD-1; Rebecca Kitaine, had spread via the social networks....citizens from all over the city began to gather outside the communications & entertainment arcology building much to alarm of on-site security.
Most of the troops had been recalled to The Magic Kingdom and so only a skeleton force remained to qwell disorder in the streets. Both Normal Police and M.F.P. had been mobilized but were completely overwhelmed by the scale of the uprising. It would only be a matter of time before the Atlas tank patrols (just like the one the strike team had bypassed earlier) would turn their guns on the growing crowds and open fire. LD-1 however was not the ONLY city to have mass insurrections occur.
Although kept under a tight media black-out, Andrew pirated footage and transmissions had gotten out and three other large Florida cities were now issuing multiple reports of large scale violence and rioting. Since all the F.L.F. operatives had gone to LD-1 for the assault, these other rebellions had to have been started by the citizenry themselves. The Super-Patriots dying embers had suddenly sparked a flame!
TO BE CONTINUED....
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
Speaking of which, flames also gave Catherine a really good idea. For the first time Cathy becomes the MVP of the OP, by using "fire alarms" to clear the groups path as they make their way through the arcology.
Using her suits unique ECM/ECCM, Advanced Computer hardware/software packages plus her skills as a Slicer and security system expert, enable the strike team to spoof, redirect or evade nearly ALL LDSF sweeper teams and security personal/systems in the Teledome.
Sealing off paths behind them and ensuring clear corridors ahead, only on one occasion does the team need to eliminate a stubborn LDSF patrol and even then, it occurs quickly, quietly and without further incident.
Cathy even prevents "false" information from being relayed by The Super-Patriot on the layout of the Teledome, but the clone plays down the event and claims she was just mistaken and not acting malign in any way.
With her own designer viruses, Cathy infects the computer systems of the the Teledome while shielding the systems she needs protected and uses its own facilities to attack and drive out almost all LDSF personal from the structure before commandeering the main studio for transmission.
Despite the apparent ease with which the team has infiltrated the arcology and swept away opposition in the persuit of their goal, they know the LDSF won't be fooled for long and their squad won't be able to last long against their full might once push comes to shove.
In addition, Catherine has no idea how long she can maintain control of the Teledome's computer core before she is shut out of the system.
It is her estimate that the identical ease in which they got the better of the LDSF is likely to happen to them once control of the core returns to Leision's legions.
The main studios and master control booth are dark and empty when the strike team storms the room.
Nestled in the top of the main spire at the arcology's peak, the circular floor boasts a 360 degree view of the city.
For the first time, the true scope of the destruction that has been brought down upon the city "in their name" can finally be seen.
Portney turns to face The Patriot who stares out blankly at the cityscape, backlit in fire and smoke against the evening sky...
Portney: "Tell me, Was it all worth it?"
Kitane couldn't bring herself to speak.
She tried to think of something to say that could justify what she did to The Stormfront, to him and the people of the city....but nothing she could say would ever adequately explain why she made the choices she did.
So, she said nothing.
TO BE CONTINUED....
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
The Governor quickly jotted down a few talking points she would hit during her interview as Cathy and Andrew went to work powering up the control booth and studio equipment.
Cathy would make sure they stayed on the air as long as they could while Andy would auto-track the camera and ensure the Governor was mic'd up properly and on cue.
Portney and Sally would keep the studio locked down while Brewster and Stone held down the floors elevator/reception area.
For once Andrew was in his element while Stormfront & the Swords were "in the way".
He took a bit too long trying to "look good" for the camera but his triumphant return to the air was nothing less than "epic".
Amidst the interview he would splice in sequences of his footage from the evenings events to reinforce his talking points about the LDSF and the Usurper Leision.
Governor Kitane urged for calm amongst the populace and tried to warn citizens about the brutality she witnessed that evening, knowing if it continued, the LDSF would have no alternative other than to respond with everything at their disposal.
Her broadcast worked, but as typical of Stormfront OP's, not in the way she expected.
The truth of Leision's puppet establishment had been exposed by the transmission which displayed on every LD-1 display, info-board & news kiosk in the city (as well as several others). No one in The Magic Kingdom was in a position to terminate the transmission remotely.
Andrew and Governor Kitane told a much different story than the main stream reports being given by the traditional federal sponsored NPR organizations friendly the Leision administration. Hallorans damning video evidence and Kitaine's own words were a powerful combination.
Even though no word had reached officials about the fate of Bartholomew the III, they decided (in his absence) that the source of the transmission had to be neutralized at all costs before they stood any chance at establishing order. Their best people were working single-mindedly on the task of wrestling control back from Cathy, although at the time, LDSF had no way of knowing there would be a Hard Suit at the Teledome. All current intel indicated Stormfront was still at the heights of The Magic Kingdom and not miles away at Teledome.
The Overwatch Commander assembled his best sweeper teams and assigned them the task of taking back the main studio and control booth from "Ex-Governor" Kitane and her group "seperatist" sympathizers. LDSF had no way of knowing how many hostiles were inside the building but knew their advance into the arcology had to be precipitated by the Los Disneys/EPCOT egg-heads as they neutralized or bypassed Catherines defensive encryptions and algorithms. Three 12-man elements dashed into the arcology's lower reception area in two-by-two cover formation. Wounded LDSF troopers were only finally emerging from the mag-lev terminus bombing by the time they had arrived. Halon systems had snuffed out the flames in addtion to anyone unfortunate enough to have been sealed in a burning section. Thick smoke still choked the base of the structure. It didn't hinder the EPCOT Sweepers advance in the slightest.
TO BE CONTINUED....
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
Brewster had typically equipped her 20mm Norinco Gong and to keep it company, a Matsucorp M-42a 10mm Pulse Rifle (although in GURPS terms, its really an expensive Storm Carbine) with 20mm mini-grenade launcher (pretty standard stuff!). Her back-up of choice was a customized snub 44 Ruger Super-Blackhawk. Tucked into her belt, she kept a variety of grenades and for close encounters sported a retractable titanium, stun-tonfa.
Portney had gone with his favorite personal weapons throughout the entire race and the strike OP that came afterwords. Seasons may come and go but Bakers are creatures of habit. An antique IW-75 prototype to the Lee Enfield SA-80 5.56mm assault rifle that sported an M-320 40mm grenade launcher was his poison of choice. Over his left shoulder (in a custom made sheath) he kept his Ithaca M-37 Stakeout carrying mixed loads of tungsten buckshot (which conveyed an armor piercing effect to shot shells) , kevlar-tipped flechettes (which excelled at penetrating most modern ballistic weaves) and deerslug rounds. As sidearms, he had (ever at his side) his antique Colt Navy Dragoon, antique Colt Peacemaker and as back-up he packed a Bowie Knife. Grenades were something Portney could never enjoy a "good vacation" without and for good measure, kept a small sipping flask of sour mash firewater handy on his person.
Sally had abandoned her anti-material rifle after freeing the F.L.F. members (when she ran out of ammunition for it) and fell back upon a silenced caseless Urban Assault Weapon to see her through the Op. As pistol of choice, Sally came from the "School of Brewster" and kept a 15mm caseless Super-Magnum as her side at all times. Rumors suggested she even showered with it. As a back-up, she always kept a pair of Beretta Bobcats hidden up her sleeves....literally. She also had a nasty habit of playing with her Balisong far too much. After abandoning her sniper rifle, Sally had been elected the unoffical explosives custodian who held the strike teams supply of Semtex in addition to a few liquid-polymer explosive charges originally crafted as anti-vehicular limpets for the race.
Stone always carried a Bowie and Tomahawk but on this occasion had also chosen to field a Matsucorp M-42a Pulse Rifle with 20 mic-mic as primary armament. In shoulder holsters he kept an antique Colt M-1911A1 and SOCOM that he had been keeping for a "special occasion". He had also slung a 66mm M-72 LAW instead of his customary Hunting Bow.
Governor Kitaine had carried Sally's UAW at first, but now chose a caseless Turcotte Rapid SMG (a common choice of weapon made by LD-1 arcology security teams) that had been "liberated" from a fallen trooper.
Andrew only carried his 7.5mm caseless holdout pistol that was still tucked into his waistband which suited him just fine as he spent most of his time filming anyway. It is of note than Andrew (being a network journalist) has infinite experience in the workings of places like Teledome. More than at any other point in his time with Stormfront, he rises to the occasion in the preparation and execution of the crucial live transmission.
Cathy didn't carry any other weaponry aside from what her Hard Suits current configuration was equipped with. Of all the Stormfront Hard Suits, hers is the the most lightly armed. Despite her apparent short comings, her suit still packs more firepower than even Sally's AMR could bring to bear and combined with the fact that most of her given opponents this OP have been infantry, she has so far been consistantly unstoppable. It's also of note that Cathy (all "after the battle" repair work aside) has never been of more use to Stormfront on an OP as she has on this one. Despite the apparent failures, she has only surpassed all expectations.
Rebecca the Super-Patriot was unarmed. As far as the strike team was concerned, THAT topic was not up for discussion.
TO BE CONTINUED...
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
Cathy was the first to realize they would soon have company when she began to lose control of the lobby monitors and motion sensors:
Torrent: "Okay....guys, ten minutes, maybe less this....place is going down."
Portney: "How many?"
Torrent: "If I had to guess....based on their ambient heat signature and weight distribution on the pressure sensors....I'd say we have a heatwave coming in the mid-30's."
Brewster: "PLEASE, don't talk like that."
The Sheriff checked the magazine on his rifle and gestured towards Sally who acknowledged imminent hostile contact:
Portney: "Brewster....Stone....you hearing this s#@t ladies?"
Beulla made sure her grenade launcher was loaded before hunkering down behind some improvised cover:
Brewster: "Copy that....going hot."
Stone took up position directly in-between the two sets of elevator doors with Bowie and Tomahawk held across his chest.
The ex-state trooper gestured towards the Cherokee in international sign language:
Brewster: "Are you taking the first group or am I?"
Stone waves her off with his knife-hand before closing his eyes, bowing his head and concentrating on the battle to come.
The sound of the elevator lifts imminent arrival spurs Brewster to conseal herself.
The first set of lift doors part and a hail of fire emerges from the elevator as all four sweepers in the car begin to unload into the reception area as two more ride on top of the elevator car preparing to exfiltrate via the air ducts.
(As a foot note; Brewster is VERY happy with her decision to take cover!)
Seasoned troops that they are, once their primary weapons run dry, they quickly cycle over to pistols and while two begin to open the doors as another uses his sidearm to provide cover for the last sweeper who pauses to reload his rifle.
No sooner have the doormen moved out of the elevator when Stone sinks his tomahawk into the back of the neck of the first trooper (releasing the axe) only to grab the pistol of the second trooper and perform a flawlessly executed Instant Armory Disarm technique on it.
The guard behind goes to take aim at Stone but the remaining LDSF Officer outside the elevator obstructs his field of fire.
Stone grapples the "instantly disarmed" trooper and spins him around using him as a shield when the covering guard begins to open fire.
Now that the guard he holds is dazed and wounded, Stone spins the trapped trooper around and as the remaining trooper finishes reloading his rifle and raises it to fire....Stone push kicks him into the elevator at his comrades, spoiling their aims and knocking ALL of them down.
As the lift door closes, he flips the guards "The Bird"....except on his finger are pins from the "instantly disarmed" troopers fragmentary grenades.
They barely have enough time to scream before the doors close and the explosives detonate, killing all in the lift car & on top of it as well.
TO BE CONTINUED...
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
Mike: "Wheeeeeee-he-he-heee!"
Greg: "Dude, I think Stone is way too powerful for this game."
GM: "That's why he's only an NPC."
Mike: "Stone's MINE!"
GM: "You resolve all of Stone's rolls but you don't nessesarily have a final say on what he actually does....he's an NPC."
Mike: "No, I mean he's MINE....as in: "if we ever get divorced, he's coming with ME"!"
Phil: "Now THAT'S a disturbing thought....YOU two married?"
Greg: "Tell me about it....two of the hairiest keisters in the history of mankind?"
Phil: "Hehehe....if they bumped into each other "cheek-to-cheek", they'd stick together like velcro!"
GM: "Why are you dragging ME into this?!"
No sooner had Stone returned to cover than the second set of doors chimed to indicate they were about to open. Beulla popped up and launched a 20mm armor-piercing grenade through the door of the car before it opened to devastating effect. She emerged from cover and fired a second AP shell into the elevator only this time around, the screaming had stopped and the outer lift doors had ruptured. To be certain, she unleashed a few short bursts through the cars doors and once certain the threat had been neutralized, she called out into her mic:
Brewster: "Main lifts are disabled....targets down."
Portney gestured for Sally to watch the fire exits and ducting while steeling himself for inevitable breech. But there was a problem. Brewster's mini-grenades were not as powerful as the LDSF troopers regular grenades had been and so the two troopers who had hidden the top of the second lift had not been killed, nor had they been detected. It would soon cost the team dearly.
Knowledge had already gone to the test rooms control interface and after extending one of his suits retractable utility arms (designed for when keypad work such as was required) the pit began to reset not more than an instant after The Paladin had taken Leisions head. Jewel limped over to the J-Suit as she looked at the dead LDSF contingent that littered the room:
Cyclone: "I'm so relieved you found that control....I REALLY didn't feel like climbing my way outta there."
She paused in the middle of the carnage Mee-Chan had wrought and thinking it seemed little extreme.
Since including Halloran on the OP, his sanity had come into question a few times.
Cyclone: "Are you....alright?"
She asked when it appeared as if SHE were the one in need of hospitalization.
The J-Suit gave a thumbs up.
Cyclone: "Are you sure?"
Nimbus: "I REALLY have to p33."
Miss Ayers did her best not to laugh.
Nimbus: "You think that's funny? That's NOT funny."
TO BE CONTINUED...
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
She had been a bit upset by Nimbus' tardiness but overjoyed that she had survived her battle with the BU-40 and had finally taken her vengence upon Leision.
If he had been delayed by a "few" troops, that would be fine but it wasn't until she had reached the exit and saw the next thirty or so, strewn about the ensuing corridor all in varying states of "intact", that his delay began to make sence.
A resounding metal impact occured that deformed a section of the test pit's floor. Miss Ayers picked up her pace as she limped towards the battlemover and then leaned upon the mecha using it for cover:
Cyclone: "I think this one has "you" written all over it, Chief."
He retracted his flight verniers and performed a systems check, then took a quick inventory of any remaining ordinance. No sooner had she turned around when the opposing end of the hall filled with LDSF regulars. Knowledges first indicator that troops had arrived behind them (since we was still looking at the test room floor, wondering how long it would last) was when Rebecca gave out with her war cry and engaged her Hard Suits remaining operational weapon systems in an concerted "Alpha Strike" at the soldiers that charged up the corridor.
Nimbus: "Back in the room, back in the room!!"
But in the end he simply ended up hoisting Bec's over his shoulder (as she continued to fire) before carrying her away.
Cyclone: "Chief, I REALLY don't think you wanna go in there!"
She yelled as he whisked her back to the chambre but she could already see by the amount of armor chipping off that the Jumper's mecha wouldn't take much more punishment. They had just reached the lip of the room and took cover at opposing sides of the entrance when the BU-40 began to breech the test chambres reinforced floor plating. It had repaired most of the head damage it had suffered but the limb, severed earlier by Ion Sword (the only weapon which causes a type of damage that Boomers can't regenerate) still remained a useless stub.
Nimbus: "Sit on the door....I'LL take fugly!!"
His opening strike upon the red-shelled death machine was a double salvo of 25mm grenades from his Metalstorm clusters....17 of the 24, fired in less than a second, directly struck the target. The effect was pure devastation as BU-40 was temporally knocked offline. Realizing his gunpod was empty, he flipped the weapon around as his mecha began a jet-assisted charge at the already reactivating Boomer, and wielded it like a club. The combat artificial tries to avoid the incoming swing but only having one arm slows it down enough (when changing position) and enables the battlemover to land a crippling strike that sends the BU-40 back six yards and nearly takes it's head from its shoulders in the process. It renders the gunpod useless.
TO BE CONTINUED...
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
Possible lost post.
TO BE CONTINUED...
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
Cyclone rounds the the corner to the test chambre and ignites N-PAWS blasts, Repulsor bursts, Rail Needler salvos and Sonic Screamer pulses in a single devastating salvo down the access corridor at black armor-clad Sweepers in eerie visorless battlehelms (which enabled them the advantage of a 360 degree field of vision) making their way towards them. Despite the confined quarters, the fanatical LDSF continued to press their attack, unperturbed by the sight of so many of their slaughtered cohorts.
The Paladin made them pay dearly for every inch of hall.
Despite being originally designed to fight Boomers, the Hard Suits were used to absolutely devastating effect on thin and hard shelled infantry assets alike.
Though moderately damaged, Rebecca's Hard Suit continued to perform at peak performance levels but had been draining power at an increased rate.
Cyclone's armor was in danger of running out of juice and the harder she fought, the faster it would drain. Once depleted, her Hard Suit will return to feeling like its original 280 pound weight upon her weary bones at a point when she's on the verge of collapse due to injuries and fatigue.
LDSF field Turcotte Rapid SMG's, SCAR-11 rifles, Colt M-26 carbines, Bianchi light machine guns, Clark-15b Shotguns, Westinghouse laser pulse carbines and gauss rifles by General Electric. The firepower used in their advance was as unrelenting as it was deadly. For every three shots Cyclone could manage to get off, the volume of return fire came back amplified twenty-fold. Almost every time she emerged to "thin the herd", she would be struck by suppression fire directed at the test chambres entrance.
It took 3 or 4 effective hits before she abandoned akimbo attacks in favor of short accurate bursts.
It took 5 to 7 effective hits before she abandoned short bursts for pop-up attacks.
After 9 to 11 effective hits, she began to make wild, unaimed attacks intermitantly.
Once she had taken the twelveth, she was barely able to return to cover in time.
All of her suits sub-systems were red-lining and power had reached critical levels. Bec's was reeling from her injuries and was now fighting to remain conscious. While the LDSF attacks were not powerful enough individually to penetrate her armor, some of them were powerful enough to cause a "blow through" effect which had taken her below the zero HP level. To make matters worse, her FP was 2 and she had already sacrificed HP for FP on a couple of occasions already just to stay in the fight.
The Paladin had reached the end of the road.
Cyclone: "CHIEF....lil' help here!"
TO BE CONTINUED...
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
No sooner had she made the request when the BU-40 was sent hurtling past her, trailing smoke and sparks, into the group of LDSF troopers who were on the verge of breaching the room.
Cyclone: "Thank you!"
Emptying the last of his 25mm grenade magazines, he saturated the hall beyond with a high explosive salvo that emptied the corridor of resistance in a single strike....from all but one that is. The BU-40 began to rise once more but this time struggled to stand and maintain it balance. It had finally suffered some damage to the "right" side of its brain. Cyclone picked up on this detail almost immediately (after her lengthy confrontation with the Boomer) and conveyed it to Nimbus.
Launching his "grappling claw" hand, Knowledge takes the BU-40 by the throat and begins to reel the Boomer in towards him. It tries to resist but is unable break the much stronger J-Suit's grip. The BU-40 attempts to retract its mouth cannon but Mee-Chan takes its head with his remaining hand and holds the jaw shut so the weapon can not engage its firing sequence, although the lens pulses with energy causing strobe-like lightbursts to flash from the Boomers compressed jaw.
He gives with an extra-effort squeeze to force its jaw shut permanantly. Retracting a set of monowire claws from its finger tips, the Boomer manages to sever the grappling claw cables that connect to the hand at its throat.
Knowledge curses and throws the offending interloper into the closest wall head first. As it goes to stand up, Knowledge makes sure to stomp on (and flatten) the units remaining arm, and in the process, causes the Boomer to be pinned the the ground by its trapped limb. It tries to pull itself free and nearly succeeds (as its shoulder starts to show signs it will give way from under the battlemovers foot) when Mee-Chan begins to deliver a series of downward, strong punches brought down directly on the skull of the BU-40, ultimately pounding the units entire head literally into the ground, leaving its body "decapitated" and motionless.
All told, he successfully strikes the BU-40 in the head with rain of all-out, strong attacks....fifteen times in a row before it finally stopped twitching. Even then, he had paused after eight strikes thinking he was done. He had struck it so many times that the fingers on its sole remaining heavy-duty arm were almost completely mashed.
Phil: "Sit, Ubu sit....GOOOD boy."
(GM snikkers)
Greg sighs: "Oh, just take the f'kin' point already."
Phil: "Really?"
(GM simply nods as he is still giggling at the obscure Family Ties reference.)
Throughout the entire mission, Knowledge had experienced fear eating away at him from inside. The uncertainty of the OP had pushed to his limits and it had almost been the concensus of the team that he was burning out but pulling Jewel from the brink and defeating Leision and his monstrous BU-40 had restored his confidence.
The fear had subsided.
TO BE CONTINUED...
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
She had been yelling something at him but he couldn't make out the words over the the din of heavy metallic foot pads. He turned just as a squad of MWTE's had taken up firing positions and locked their firing solutions. Knowledge stood in the middle of the hall as he spun to witness the recoiless rifle battery that had established itself at the mouth of the corridor. He had no ammunition remaining and his battlemover was almost crippled. The armor was all but gone and feul tank was nearly dry. Smoke spouted from two sections of his mecha and it's engine had started to sound like it had bad "run-on". It appeared to be the end of the line but he wasn't afraid.
The sound of the turrets, chambering rounds to begin their firing cycle, echoed down the passage as the battlemover raised its sole remaining utility limb (as if pretending to have have a pistol in its hand) as the jumper closed his eyes tight and said:
"Bang."
Serendipity intervenes at the last possible moment as Tempest & Vortex use Hurricane & Typhoon's MG-442 autocannons to obliterate the automated turrets in a single concentrated blast (from just outside the building) before crashing through the bullet-proofed plexi-glass to breech the corridor where Nimbus and Cyclone had chosen to make their final stand. Lisa picks up The Paladin with her Motoslave while Maim and her battlemover assist the J-Type. Vortex (and by extension Hurricane) looks to Cyclone as she cradles her wounded comrade
Vortex: "Where's Leision."
Cyclone: "He's been impeached...y'know, if we keep doing this to politicians, it MIGHT become a habit forming?"
Tempest: "I bet you thought we'd forgotten all about you?"
Cyclone: "I did....but he didn't, not even for a second."
Vortex: "Really?"
Jewel rested her head in the bosom of the Cajun's motoroid:
Cyclone: "I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes....somehow, he just knew."
Knowledge didn't reply.
He instead looked out at the massive info-screens which littered the cityscape of Los Disneys, normally replete with government sponsered propaganda and LDSF security doctrines....as if a shepperd were concerned with a "doctrine" that makes the sheep they herd feel better about their own culling but instead, showed Andrew Halloran. The team took notice of the speechless Nimbus and then spun around to look at the screens themselves. Mee-Chan was the first to be able to put words to his feelings upon seeing Halloran fumble with his mic and incorrectly center himself:
North: "THIS ought to be good...."
TO BE CONTINUED...
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
Then suprisingly enough....he was! He was MORE than just good, better than inspired....he was positively brilliant. The more citizens stopped to watch....the less citizens remained to revolt. The message had EVEN begun to sink into the heads of some the LDSF Commandants who began to cringe at the thought of the eventual reprocussions of the evenings festivities, should a return to a more democratic regime occur. In the most unexpected way and at the most unexpected time, Andy had finally become a hero.
Then he did the VERY thing that everyone (except Knowledge) feared he would do most of all by completely acrewing them by inferingcomplicity in the whole affair by drawing the conclusion that if Stormfront didn't expect Florida to rise up and be free....why did they Leision remove in the first place? Why else had they freed Governor Kitaine? Why else were they out there right now out in the chaos and death, somewhere in the city....fighting for them?
Hurricane/Tempest screamed as loud as she could in frustration. It was unintelligible but that's probably for the best.
Typhoon shook its head (being slaved to Vortex), unable to express more than that due to her latest "passenger".
Cyclone remarked as her head sunk:
Rebecca: "I knew it....I just F'KING knew it!"
After their respective moments they all looked to Nimbus again, who was still strangely silent.
Nimbus: "We have to get to the Teledome."
Vortex: "You think they're in trouble?"
Nimbus: "No....but I AM going to kill Andy."
The team emerged out onto a heli-port pad and began to get bearings on which of the burning arcology's in L.O.S. was the Teledome. They hadn't been outside for long when Cyclone (despite her injuries) realized something was wrong. Typhoon/Vortex immediately took notice and asked, her voice now several octaves lower as she spoke through the Motoslaves audio interface:
"What is it?"
Hurricane/Tempest looked into the dark, overcast sky and swung her gunpod starwards as she feverishly scanned the cityscape for threats. No sooner had Maim called "no joy" than the team was engulfed in a light so bright, it threatened to overload the suits optical systems. They staggered blindly and tried to shield their optics from the source of the crippling brightness that swallowed the entire rooftop heli-port. Somehow, Leision had won after all?
Andrew and Rebecca Kitaine jumped uneasily at the sound of multiple grenade detonations in the elevator/reception area. He tried to carry on as the chatter of sporadic bursts from pulse rifle fire sounded off in the background...
Andrew: "T-t-They are h-HERE....they DON'T want you to hear tTHIS BROADCAST but it's ALREADY TOO LATE-"
Catherine begins to frantically give the pair in-studio the universal hand gesture for "wrap it up" as Portney looks towards the cieling and then gives with a sharp whistle at Miss O'Shea as he motions with his rifle towards the air ducts. Rebecca the Patriot tries to motion at Governor Kitaine to leave immediately.
TO BE CONTINUED...
-Peace-
CONTINUATION...
Andrew: "You have SEEN all you need to see....you now KNOW all you need to know....the rest is up to you....THE REST IS UP TO Y-"
Andrew is suddenly grabbed off camera by the Governor and her clone (knocking the camera over) as small arms fire rises from the rear of the booth and the signal goes to the "nazi-esque" Mickey Mouse test pattern that Leision had reduced the Disney legacy to. The sudden rise in tesion at that moment flowed like a wave across the crowds that had gathered across the city. To the dismay of the Teledome Overwatch Commander, the crowd began to walk as one towards the LDSF and emergency services barricades that had been established at the arcology's perimeter.
Portney: "CONTACT!!!"
Baker unleashed a long burst across the cieling ducting and was shocked when two LDSF fell from the suspended vents in the process.
Sally: "BREACH!"
Called out Miss O'Shea as she followed suit and opened up into the ceiling ducting above her to similar results.
The Sheriff approached one of the fallen troopers and stepped on his SCAR-11 as the dazed trooper tried to reacquire it and put a point-blank range three-round burst into his back as he tried to pick himself up. The troopers trauma plate would save his life but he wasn't going to bother anyone now.
Torrent's motion sensors detected the group of LDSF forming up outside the control booths fire exit but before they could effect forced entry, she unleashed a Repulsor pulse at maximum setting. It had the effect of turning the door into an projectile that crushed nearly everyone on the otherside, JUST as they were preparing to storm the booth.
The Super-Patriot pushed the Governor to the ground and covered her body with her own.
Andy simply crouched down, looking for a sign of Torrent as he clung to his holdout pistol in the hopes that he wouldn't have to use it.
Brewster looked to Stone and motioned for him to help Portney out, indicating she had the room well in hand. Stone had no reason to suspect the situation was anything but as she had claimed it to be and so, he quickly readied his rifle and prepared to return to the main studio.
Baker fast draws his Dragoon revolver (as an EPCOT Sweeper prepared to enter through a shattered exterior window via rappel) and puts a round directly into his visor while shooting from the hip. He was not killed or even knocked unconcious by the shot (owing to the strength of modern body armor versus the power of antiquated firearms) but was stunned, causing him to lose his grip on the rope and fall screaming (over a mile) to his death.
(Actually, he fell only a few hundred yards and whatever remained kinda rolled or dripped its way down after the first few bounces but "dead-is-just-dead" so what does it matter, right?)
Sally fires a short burst from her UAW into the closest fallen troopers center mass, putting his lights out when the emergency exit door behind her(that she had once stood very close to in anticipation of ambush) blows from its hinges and launches across the room. Switching to her secondary weapon, she drops to her knees before firing her UAW's integral underbarrel 18.5mm shotgun. The effect of the slug on target is devastating. While unable to penetrate the trauma vest it does succeed in caving-in the troopers chest cavity and sends him back into a nearby by comrade who is himself bowled over....causing him to accidently discharge the cluster grenade he had prepared in his electro-magnetic grenade launcher. Micro-bombs obliterate the entire stairwell entry team in a single series of rapid sucession mini-blasts.
Phil: "Yeah....dats right....been a while but, MISS O'SHEA INNA HOUSE....C'MON, give it UP, b@#$hez!"
Greg: "It was the GM's critical failure that did that, not you."
Mike: "Ignore him....he had a bitter childhood."
(GM giggles.)
Greg: "He'd BETTER not get a point for that!"
(GM laughs harder.)
TO BE CONTINUED...
-Peace-