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Post by spartan560 on Apr 26, 2017 9:30:16 GMT -6
Izahm surveyed the scene, they were left with two specialists an Assault trooper and one lone Dragoon. Confident the team could handle the Dragoon he turned his attention to the assault trooper. Recognizing the man he calls out quietly, "Markov that you?" There is a pause but the trooper answers, "Yeah what do you want Connie it's been a mad house, people in Cerberus armor have infiltrated, I don't know who to trust." "You can trust me Markov," Izahm says getting closer to the Assault Troopers cover. He comes around the corner and the Assault Trooper startled points his gun at Izahm but still thinking Izahm is on his side he motions for Izahm to move next to him. Content to play along he does and crouches next to the Assault Trooper, "I've got your back." "Alright Conrad I'll trust you," Markov says just as a specialist comes over glad to see a Centurion still remaining and apparently ready to take charge. Izahm turns to face the specialist taking his right hand off the gun switching it to his left as he gives the specialist a thumbs up he then lowers his hand and quicker than both can react he flicks his arm deploying his Omni-blade and spins to his left swinging his right arm around slamming the Omni-blade up into Markov's skull while his left arm using only momentum swings into position the Mattock in hand pointed at the specialist who is stunned at Izahm's apparent betrayal. The few seconds it took the specialist to get over his shock were all Izahm needed as he unloaded the full clip into the specialist. Three rounds went wild but the rest slammed home taking down the man's weak barriers and killing him with a shot to the neck. Pulling the Omni-blade form Markov's skull he flicks the Omni-blade off the blood on the blade simply splattering to the floor. He then starts looking for the last specialist when heavy pistol rounds slam into his back launching him into the cover Markov had been using. Turning to face his opponent just as more shots slam into his barriers causing them to fail and he took three rounds to his shoulder, back, and upper arm with one glancing off his helmet. 'Shit should've located that last specialist first,' he thinks before vaulting the cover ignoring the pain in his arm and pulling a nearby dead specialist over him as he hoped someone else would kill the specialist because he had lost his Mattock when the last specialist surprised him.
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Post by Corwin Havens on Apr 29, 2017 2:17:18 GMT -6
A stray shot tagged Corwin's armor as he was rising to to his feet.
It was the chaos of battle. The assassin knew that. It doesn't make it any less frustrating. He knew the shot caused his cloaking device to shimmer while power re-routed. He didn't know where the shot came from. Nor did he care. Corwin had to act fast before one of the team was taken out. The Specialist had one of them tied down. All it took was one lucky shot. And that was not something that Corwin could allow.
He was being paid to keep these guys alive.
"Joseph!!" Corwin shouted into his helmet's speaker to get the mercenary's attention. "Catch!"
Corwin braced himself, running full tilt right into the Specialist. At the last moment, he launched himself shoulder first...driving it deep into the Specialist's midsection. It took the soldier offguard, causing the guy to start tumbling backwards...dropping his firearm. Corwin followed up with whipping himself around and kicking the Specialist with a powerful kick..causing the stunned mercenary to launch into the air towards Joseph.
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Post by Eric Lysander on Apr 29, 2017 10:37:56 GMT -6
Not much of the enemy remained now but what was left still posed a threat. Eric spotted Joseph zeroing in on the lone Dragoon, the most threatening of all, as his suits barriers began to reform. A voice he recognized as Corwin's called out to the junior N7. Taking a chance with his barriers still low, the demolitions expert crawled back over to the cargo sled with the parts. Mentally he smacked himself upside the head as it occurred to him that he had dispatched an Engineer only a minute earlier. Soft around the edges... and in the head, Eric cursed to himself. But even the best of soldiers were not always immune to the fog of war.
Propping up the other Engineer corpse by the sled into a sitting position against it, Eric established as good a protective physical barrier as he could manage and used the cover to begin repairing the damage to the bomb circuitry.
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Post by Joe Fischer on Apr 30, 2017 15:48:50 GMT -6
Tunnel vision.
The loss of peripheral vision with retention of central vision, resulting in a constricted circular tunnel-like field of vision.
It has many causes, one of which is during periods of high adrenaline production—such as an intense physical fight.
*****
According to what one of the elders said, taking an enemy on the battlefield is like a hawk taking a bird. Even though it enters into the midst of a thousand of them, it gives no attention to any bird than the one it first marked. – Hagakure
*****
Joe was so focused on the Dragoon he never saw the body flying towards him until it hit him. It was just a momentary distraction to push the body off him, but on such moments the tide of battle can be turned.
The next thing he knew, the Dragoon had wrapped one of his whips around his neck.
He brought up his omniblade to cut through it, but the other whip wrapped itself around his arm and yanked it down, knocking him off balance.
Then the whips began tightening, simultaneously choking him and crushing his arm.
Too slow, he thought as he began to get up.
And then the electric shocks began.
[AUTHOR NOTE: I have coordinated with another player to resolve this situation, so unless you're that player, don't come to Joe's rescue.]
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Post by Maelstrom on May 1, 2017 10:32:24 GMT -6
Maelstrom was surprised how much quieter the bridge was than just a couple seconds before, as he carefully climbed out of the gunnery station, having to be careful of the blood which slicked his armor. Only a few shouted words and a couple stray shots rang out, as the enemy force was all but neutralized. He had to inspect the scene carefully, because his people were wearing Cerberus gear too, but he was relatively sure that no enemies remained.
"Joseph!! Catch!" he heard Havens call. Looking to the man's position, he found that his count had been off. One Specialist did remain, and Havens was hurtling towards it like a linebacker. After breaking the man's combat stance, Havens unleashed into him with a kick that even Maelstrom found admirable, except that it sent the man hurtling into Fischer, still contending with a Dragoon.
Maelstrom found himself moving without thinking about it, making his way towards and around the galaxy map. The first whip caught Fischer around the neck. The second caught the man's omni-tool blade, just as as the orange mono-edge ignited. With sure command of his weapons, Dragoon pulled Fischer off balance without allowing the onni-blade to contact a whip. And then he activated the electrical shock mechanism.
Still too far... Maelstrom thought, not knowing how much of the punishment Fischer could take but not suspecting anyone could stand much. All of his options ran through his head in a flash. He found himself moving before he realized he had decided on a course of action.
The blood-slicked Phantom blade flew from his hands with just a bit of biotic guidance. It embedded itself in the man's shoulder, staggering him but not toppling him. The pause in the man's electrical shock attack lasted only a few seconds, but it was nearly enough for Maelstrom to finish closing the distance around the galaxy map.
As he rushed past the man, Maelstrom grabbed the sword, pulling it free as if drawing it from a scabbard as he spun around to come face-to-face with the Dragoon, if off to the side a bit. The mono-blade of his Cerberus weapon touched the weak armor at the Dragoon's neck.
Panting at the sudden burst required to get him there, Maelstrom said, "Turn them off, or I use your intestines like a Christmas garland to decorate this bridge, while you beg to die."
The Dragoon seemed to consider for a moment only before deactivating the whips and ordering them to withdraw. Maelstrom did not hesitate with the one clean motion which separated the man's head and neck from his shoulders. The head toppled from the body in what seemed slow motion, before clunking to the deck-plating while the body flopped to the floor like a man-shaped sack of potatoes.
He took a quick look around the bridge. Everything was silent. He could actually be sure this time. No one was left standing except for their people and the mysterious man in Cerberus gear who had taken to fighting with them.
Assured of their safety, he reached a hand down to help Fischer up.
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Post by spartan560 on May 1, 2017 20:08:17 GMT -6
Hearing no more gunfire Izham shifts the dead body atop him to the side getting up into a sitting position with some effort. He looks over himself and notices rivulets of blood streaking from his shoulder. He quickly pops the armor off and uses an application of medi-gel to stop the bleeding and seal the wound. 'Competent as ever you guys' he thinks smirking before saying aloud, "That was a good fight you guys. Been awhile since the Valiant blew up. I'd given up on ever seeing y'all again," he then gets up leaning heavily on the console Markov had been using as cover. Once he's upright he removes his helmet with his uninjured arm setting the helmet on the console, "Joe, Eric Maelstrom, Mr. Diablo nice to see you all again."
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Post by Eric Lysander on May 2, 2017 7:47:29 GMT -6
"Joe, Eric Maelstrom, Mr. Diablo nice to see you all again." Eric looked up from his efforts and spied the helmetless Centurion by a console. “Why it’s our roving reporter Izham! I see you’ve also been workin’ undercover. Find any juicy tidbits other than the ones sprayed on the deck-?”
The module the demo expert held in his hand began beeping erratically. Still not connected to the bomb, Eric knocked it on a sled handle to silence it. Then he examined it and huffed, rifling through the pockets of the Engineers again to find a replacement module for the replacement module.
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Post by Joe Fischer on May 2, 2017 8:34:53 GMT -6
A hand filled Joe's vision, and he looked up to see it belonged to Maelstrom. He took it and pulled himself up.
He tried to say Now we're even but all that came out was a wheezing croak, so he settled for giving the biotic a thumbs up.
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Post by Geneenh T'Loris on May 2, 2017 8:55:44 GMT -6
With the ship powering up and the new crew given access to the ship's systems, now it was a matter of making sure Cerberus didn't reclaim their property. To keep any suspicious personnel from boarding, she closed all of the airlocks, and then to prevent the owners from destroying their ship via self-destruct signal--something Maelstrom had indicated was a preferred tactic of theirs--she disabled all of the communications systems.
But the tasks were becoming more difficult to perform. The random streams of code running through the system--an added layer of security, of that she had no doubt now--had become more numerous, adding seconds to tasks that should have been done in a fraction of the time.
She knew they had to be dealt with and quickly, or the ship would soon be impossible to operate.
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Post by Maelstrom on May 2, 2017 11:21:31 GMT -6
[GM Post]
The bridge is silent, save for the talking of the Infiltration Team and the furious beeping away at Geneenh's console. More and more of the unfamiliar code flows to the other screens on the bridge, filling them with an unintelligible mass. Only Geneenh's console remains clear of the unusual blue computer-language. At the same time, doors start opening and closing erratically. Sometimes they stay open long enough for the whole crew to rush through. Sometimes, the close before even a single leg could pass through them.
In the shuttle bay, Arcus tears through the enemy ranks, using his biotics and knives to shred the remaining enemies, save those in the Atlas. He and Thrak, though within earshot, find themselves on opposite sides of the cargo bay, as their shields come back to full. The screens in the cargo bay are free from the unusual code, though the doors are behaving the same.
Alarms begin to sound in the spacedock, as the surviving airlock guard has reached a control center and activated a hard-line alarm. No one knows to take action against the Okinawa yet, but there are plans in place for organizing during communications outages.
[Round Six]
Bridge Team- There are currently no living enemies on the bridge. The crew up there may take the time to plan the next stage, make repairs to devices, or begin scouting the rest of the ship. There is no set action limit on this round, though it is requested that ideas be run by the GMs.
Shuttle Bay Team- Only the two Atlases remain, and they are keeping Arcus and Thrak under heavy fire. They may declare two actions each against the mechs this round (or work together to come up with other solutions, if they exist).
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Post by Eric Lysander on May 2, 2017 18:29:34 GMT -6
The battle for control of the bridge was over, Eric's team victorious for the moment. As Izahm and the others took stock Eric continued working. The remote antenna repair was accomplished quickly enough, needing only a change in the leads that plugged into the receiver on the bomb’s signal module. The timer on the other hand was proving a bit trickier. The countdown was either too slow, too fast or randomizing intervals or speeds. Eric discovered a workaround where the timer worked if it was set for three minutes or less. Whichever option was to be used - timer or remote - depended on Geneenh's ability to keep Cerberus blocked from the ship's systems. As Eric continued to tweak the timer mechanism the doors around the bridge began to open and close erratically. The rest of team noticed this as well.
"Either the spirits o' the fallen are tryin' ta possess our new ride," said the team lead, peering up from his side of the sled with an arm resting over the top "Or the rest of the kennel's caught our scent. Since scanners are down as well we'll need to search n' clear the other decks of any more resistance. With any luck the boarding party on the freighter was taken care of and the Vengeance's already en route. Anybody with any kinda tech knowhow should give Gennenh a hand..."
He glanced over at the asari hard at work on her omni-tool.
"If she says she needs it. I'll finish nailing this firecracker together in time for our big goodbye..."
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Post by spartan560 on May 2, 2017 21:13:11 GMT -6
"Heh bit of a long story that," Izahm says smirking again then walks over with a little bit of difficulty, "Need any help Lysander? I've had to both rig up and defuse several bombs the past couple of months." He then waits for a reply grabbing the Engineer's Phalanx to replace his lost Mattock popping the clip and slamming home a new one. "How is everybody else kinda lost touch with you guys," he says idly scanning the entrances before noticing the blue screens, 'Huh wonder what's up with that?'he thinks before continuing to scan as before.
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Post by Maelstrom on May 2, 2017 22:19:45 GMT -6
Maelstrom nodded at Fischer's thumbs-up.
As the others gathered themselves, he noticed the strange scrolling script on the monitors. He hoped it was something of Geneenh's doing, though the knot in his stomach suggested otherwise. He did not exactly doubt the asari, but he also knew little of her.
At hearing the opening and closing of the doors, Maelstrom nodded in their direction to the other man. With that, he started off to stand to one side. The bridge was hard-won, and he did not intend to forfeit it.
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Post by Naetilia Bolanis on May 3, 2017 16:03:19 GMT -6
Inside the Vengeance, Purius padded over to Naetilia and whined.
“Do you wish to assist Arcus and the krogan?” she asked.
It barked affirmatively.
She looked over at Emily and Torrez.
“Purius and I will exit the shuttle to assist the others,” she said. “Can you provide any assistance with this craft’s weapon systems?”
“We could, but the guns those mechs are carrying would tear through us like wet tissue paper at this range,” Emily replied.
“Very well,” the turian doctor said.
She looked back down at Purius.
“Come, let us aid the others,” she said.
It barked once again and then followed her out of the shuttle.
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Post by Geneenh T'Loris on May 3, 2017 16:11:34 GMT -6
The battle for the bridge may have been over, but Geneenh was unaware of it. The frequency and speed of the data streams were so thick and fast all she could do was sidestep them; her forward progress was nonexistent.
Something suddenly lashed out at her, something immensely powerful, but it was so slow she was easily able to sidestep it.
She looked at the code of the attack, and she gasped.
“LEAVE!!!” a voice shrieked through the ship’s internal speakers.
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Post by Eric Lysander on May 3, 2017 18:11:53 GMT -6
"Need any help Lysander?" offered Izham. "I've had to both rig up and defuse several bombs the past couple of months." "Sure - how are you with timers?" returned the bomb tech as he managed to squeeze an extra minute out of the temperamental module.
...
"If she says she needs it. I'll finish nailing this firecracker together in time for our big goodbye..."
“LEAVE!!!” a voice shrieked through the ship’s internal speakers.
Eric's head darted all about. "... th' hell was that?!" He then saw strange script scrolling on a few nearby screens. He looked to Geenenh.
"Geenenh... should we be worried?"
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Post by Geneenh T'Loris on May 3, 2017 18:27:26 GMT -6
"This ship has an AI...and someone just activated it," she replied as she dodged another of its attacks.
It had come faster this time--a sign of its rapid learning curve--and she knew she had to defeat it quickly.
It would have been no trouble had it been a VI; for all its appearances of life, it was just a highly advanced computer program restrained by its programmed limitations. That made it predictable and therefore vulnerable.
Not so with an AI. It was capable of anything, which made it unpredictable and therefore infinitely more dangerous.
But its attacks were slow, which meant it was inexperienced, but that advantage was rapidly disappearing given how quickly it was learning. She had to subdue it quickly--or their mission would end before it truly started.
"Excuse me," she said, as she dodged another attack which had come even faster. "I have to save our lives now."
She turned her full attention to the task at hand.
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Post by EmilyMoore on May 3, 2017 22:20:05 GMT -6
Emily watched with anxiety as Naetilia and her mech disembarked the ship. It made her extremely anxious to be alone on the ship without any of the group's fighters. She herself was far from helpless, but he was also inexperienced in an actual firefight. That, and she needed to keep an eye on the Vengeance and the non-combatant crew there.
Had she not been gripping the weapon provided by Maelstrom and Lysander with white-knuckled intensity, she would have been wringing her hands, as she looked about for subtle signs of enemies sneaking up on her home.
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Post by Maelstrom on May 3, 2017 22:35:37 GMT -6
A chill ran up Maelstrom's spine, as the vaguely familiar voice rang out over this ship's speakers. He feared he knew the cause, and it meant their task would be harder than he had expected. Listening to the others talk, he found his fears confirmed.
"Excuse me," the asari said, focused on her work. "I have to save our lives now."
Maelstrom was impressed that she was attempting purely a technical solution. Their own team had previously been unable to manage the same against a geth intelligence that overtook the ship. Chiming up, he asked, "Can you handle it in the computer, or is there some sort of central node we should make our way to?"
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Post by spartan560 on May 3, 2017 22:59:45 GMT -6
Izahm hears the voice and quickly recognizes it as that of an AI. Thinking quickly he says, "An AI of this caliber would need a collection of massive servers, more than likely held in a specific room on one of the lower decks or nearby." 'Wish I had had time to survey the ship' he thinks, 'I might've been able to either direct them to the exact room or go there myself.' He then resumes scanning the opening and closing doors for any potential threats while also waiting for others to either remain here to hold the bridge or go search for the AI server room.
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