Private/Closed Bootleg Bros. Ultimate - The Banished Campaign (Act 1)

[Captain Cardboard]

Courier Six

Blake had managed to grab the Brute's weapon, eliminating the two grunts. But to the Courier's surprise, the brute had survived the grenade explosion! Blake turned, firing off a shot at the Brute, but it was too late. The molten spike ricocheted harmlessly off the energy barrier. What the shit? What type of shitty grenades did these Banished aliens make, that couldn't even kill their own guys? Blake sighed, shaking his head and lowering his weapon.

The brute spoke, laying against the wall across from the entrance to his cell. Blake seemed to be ignoring the alien, turning his attention to the Defiler he had been trapped in. That was, until the Brute mentioned the island was going to be glassed. Blake paused, giving the brute an interested glance, before looking back to the defiler. Using the blade of the Spiker, he attempted to pry open the base of the torture machine's control panel.

"Well, that sure sucks for me, don't it?" Blake said to the Brute. The wastelander was hard at work. This defiler was able to inflict an incredible amount of pain, while keeping him suspended in trapped. Clearly, it was using a lot of energy. Energy that Blake would attempt to redirect back towards the energy shield that was keeping him trapped here. If he could overload it, it could give him yet another moment that he could use, an opening that could allow him to escape!

"So, can I know the name of the clever enemy that has doomed me to such a fate?" Blake asked the Brute over his shoulder as he worked.

 

[comic]

THE COURIER​

—Arcturus Pit, Day 2 Early Morning—​

Keyes’ lips noticeably tightened together at Copen’s question. The captain gave a glance at Kazaaak, then back at Copen. “M.I.A. right now. Kazaaak didn’t find a body, so I can only assume the kid was reacquired. Only place he could be taken to is our primary target: the Apex.”

Jacob let out a slight sigh. While his team was certainly faring a lot better than anyone could have expected from them in such tilted circumstances, without only three KIA’s and one MIA, they still had a metaphorical mountain to ascend after this, and the bulk of their force would likely run out of steam before the well-rested, well-prepared enemy did.

They needed to stay focused. But with the assault on the apex drawing nearer... There was an opportunity here. Keyes took a brief moment to mull things over in his mind, standing idly at parade rest for its duration, before his chest swelled as he drew in a deep breath. “Okay, our situation isn’t FUBAR just yet. Copen, you’re my fastest. If we’re going to get everyone still in this pit, and rescue Guardian, then we’ll need to split up one more time. I need you to take a fireteam and scout ahead, test the walls of the Apex. You can pick your team.”

With that, Jacob turned toward David and Kazaaak. “You two, you’re nimble. We’ve got a secret entrance here, and my gut instinct says we can use it. You have JULIAN to thank for its discovery,” as he spoke, the captain moved toward the wreck of Kazaaak’s ghost. “I need the two of you to investigate it, see if there’s a way inside the facility. Banished have dug in behind that blast door. That machine you all brought could knock it down, but it’s a fortified position. We’ll lose too many trying to get inside that way. If there’s any way to flank...”

He shoved a chunk of metal aside and dug into the destroyed ghost’s internals, before pulling out some kind of long black tube. It usually operated as a ferry for plasma energy from the ghost’s reactor to the machine guns, so it could withstand immense punishment, while also being generally plyable and elastic. Unburdened it was only five feet in length, but it could easily stretch up to five times that before the tube became too taut. “Use this as a safety device,” Jacob brought the tube toward the pair. “I’ll let you decide how best to use it.”

Now, the captain turned to address the rest. “Dig in marines. Banished reinforcements will arrive shortly, so we’ll hold off on busting those doors to deal with whatever they send our way. Can any of you pilot that machine?”

“Sir, I can,” Kaminski quickly raised a hand.

“Then get on it, private.”

Kaminski gave a toothy grin and waggled his eyebrows at Copen. “Aye aye, captain.”

As he hurried over to the Mantis to take its controls, the other marines began to distribute the new weapons and equipment David and Bisenti had brought back for everyone. “Same goes for everyone else,” Keyes called. “No rest stops for us yet, get moving!”

Finishing giving his orders, the captain moved his way toward one brute corpse. He thought he’d seen something just a moment ago, something useful, and his observation proved fruitful. He scooped up a Banished communicator, giving it a look over, before he turned to JULIAN and tossed it to him. “Won’t offer us any two-way communication, but that’s a back door into the Banished subnet. Think you can tap it, hear their comms channels?”
​

Blake focused on his resourcefulness, digging the spiker into the control panel to dig out its cover as he spoke. The brute outside had left a streak of navy blue blood down the wall, almost black it was so dark. Despite his grievous injuries, he still clung on, at least for the moment to give a bloody sneer. “The Chieftain ordered it so... but don’t flatter yourself... it’s not for you...”

He coughed up some more blood down his front, starting to slump over as his orange eyes closed.

Blake was successful in prying off the console, exposing the innerworkings of wires and tubes. It seemed both familiar, and alien. Familiar in that universal need for wires to connect components, but unfamiliar in that each one connected to a spherical mechanism deep in the side of the Defiler. The purpose of each wire was unknown if they all connected from and led to the same place.

Regardless, it was clearly the power core of the Defiler, its own battery or reactor.​

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Courier Six

Success! Blake was able to access the inner working of the defiler. How ironic, that the instrument of his torture and containment would be working towards his freedom from this place. The brute responded to his question, and Blake shook his head as he worked.
"I was talking about you." Blake said to the brute. "The one that survived a point blank grenade just to fuck me over. Tell me, which is it. Are you one particularly tough bastard, or do you folks just make some shitty bombs?"

It was likely that the brute was unconscious or dead, but Blake kept talking to him anyway. The cowboy sorted through the wires of the machine, nodding.

"I mean, if you're a tough bastard, I get it. I'm one in the same. You know one time, I sprinted 200 yards through mortar fire? That fucking sucked, let me tell you. I ended up hopped up on so many drugs I was seeing shit for weeks." Blake said as he worked. The wastelander stood up and stretched, shaking out his limbs and trying to get his blood moving. If he could just redirect the energy from the defiler to burn out the energy field...

...

A little while later...

"Okay, let's give it a shot!" Blake said, standing up and clapping his hands. He had done his best to change the energy feed system from the defiler's battery to its external points. A lot of the energy had been focused on his wrists and ankles. With the changes Blake had made, hopefully the overflow of the energy would be focused not on the points where a prisoner's limbs would be, but instead towards the energy barrier keeping Blake trapped here!
"One, two, three... Ice Cream!" Blake exclaimed, switching in the defiler to its highest setting!

 

[comic]

THE COURIER​

—Arcturus Pit, Day 2 Early Morning—​

The brute didn’t respond. His wounds had overtaken him, so there was nobody to hear about Blake’s drug habits, unfortunately. Maybe Chubub or Wikpit, if he hadn’t KILLED them!

Not that Blake minded, though. He passed his [Science: 80] check in working on the alien technology, reversing the projected energy to be a little more external than its original intention. Cranking the settings on high, the Defiler started to produce its energy, crimson light shining brightly, glowing brighter and brighter - before the machine overloaded, releasing a great pulse of energy as the battery shattered.

It was enough to throw Blake back off his feet, heat washing over by proximity.

But it had worked.

The one-way barrier dissipated, falling away and leaving Blake with nothing in his way to the exterior.
​

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Courier Six

The resulting explosion of energy knocked Blake off his feet. He landed on his back, but quickly sat up.
"Oh, yippee!" Blake said, seeing that his little science experiment was a success. Dr. Klein and the Boomers would be proud. Blake stood up, brushing himself off.
"Tell me what's in a kiss, if your heart's not in it?~" Blake hummed to himself, picking up the Spiker. He stepped out of his cell, and holding the automatic weapon at his hip, fired a shot through the head of the dead brute. Blake didn't want to take any chances with that. Chubub and Wikpit were definitely dead, so Blake didn't feel compelled to double tap them.

"We could have wedding bliss, if we'd only begin it~"
With practiced and nearly reflexive movements, Blake searched the bodies of the three aliens. Not much. A pair of plasma pistols from Chubub and Wikpit, and some more ammo for the Spiker from the brute. Blake picked up the pair of plasma pistols, nodding cheerfully to the corpses of his alien guards.
"I'm feelin' low- Gee, thanks fellas!" Blake said, interrupting his own singing as he pocketed the pistols, sliding them into his waistband. "I'm feelin' low down. You know what I'm talkin' about!"

Blake topped off the ammo in his Spiker, pocketing the rest of the ammo. And with that, he was ready.
"You let the blues move in, now I'm movin' out~"

Blake crept down the hallway. His footsteps completely silent, the shadowy corners of the hallway seemed to mask his presence nearly perfectly. The Courier's senses were on full alert for the sounds of any Banished troops in the area. If he made it to the Generator Room, he'd try the door to peek inside...

 

[ArmedBlue]

Copen
​

M.I.A... he was afraid that'd be the case.

Copen listened carefully to Keyes' report and directions. With Guardian captured and having less and less time to work with, the captain called for iX to lead a squad towards the Apex. It was a way to get a head-start, evaluate defenses and pathing, and potentially set up an ambush or infiltration in tandem with the rest of the group's arrival.

He was given free reign to choose his allies for the scouting operation, something he mulled over momentarily. A small team would be ideal, no more than five people total, Copen figured. Aside from speed, which Keyes had pointed out as one of the cyborg's strengths, there weren't many standout skills he thought would be useful for the mission. The marines were sure to be reliable all-around, with dexterity and experience suitable for the job.

With Kazaaak and David set to investigate the secret entrance, Copen's idea to bring mostly marines along seemed to be correct. Kaminski wouldn't be joining this time, clearly eager to have his own turn putting the Mantis' firepower to use. Without much to go off of in regards to any of the other UNSC members, he began to take his picks mostly at random.

"Alright, I'll take..." Copen spoke up, pointing a finger at Matthews, then Toomes, then Willis. "...you three."

He then glanced to JULIAN, the AI just having received an assignment from Keyes. His robotic body didn't seem necessarily built for stealth, but...

"Keyes. Would it be alright if JULIAN joined us? I believe we may have a better understanding of the Apex's systems and defenses if he's able to remotely tap into their network."​

 

[comic]

THE COURIER​

—Arcturus Pit, Day 2 Early Morning—​

Now a free man, the courier set his way down the hall. While stealthy, his humming kind of made that moot - not that anybody appeared to stop him. It seemed his jailbreak had gone unnoticed, for now. Blake decided to stop at the first door he found, the mechanism sensing his approach and sliding upward quickly with a light hiss. Immediately, heavy scarlet light poured out of the room.

In the center of this room was some kind of energy source. A strange platform was raised from the ground, connected to an identical one above it, as seven pylons were erected around it. The sound of rumbling power emitted from the centerpiece spectacle, as between the two platforms was the source of the scarlet, blinding light. Energy caught between them, shimmering and pulsing, only some kind of reinforced alien glass sealing it away. The surrounding pylons seemed to act as conduits for the energy, keeping it under control. Blake’s hair all over his body started to stand on end the moment the door opened, and he could feel his stomach starting to churn at the proximity to this power source.

Touching it wasn’t recommended, if he could bypass the glass.

Powerful technology. Strange that it was practically unguarded. Either this kind of power was commonplace, or the Banished were simply that confident in their own defenses. Of course, the third option was that it had been abandoned, given he’d just learned the entire place would be glassed soon.

Undoubtedly, this generator gave power to the facility - maybe even the entire island. Destroying it would certainly cause quite some damage - though it could also trap Blake down here with no way to escape. Remote detonators or an equivalent would certainly be welcome, if destruction was desired.

Nothing else occupied the room.

If Blake were to pay any attention to his looted plasma pistols, he’d find that their batteries had suddenly been fully charged just by proximity.
​

Copen’s chosen marines shared glances with one another. Being fresh to this ragtag group, they were no doubt conflicted about taking orders from what they’d consider a civilian. Copen certainly didn’t look like UNSC, nor did he bear any insignia. Still, it was under the captain’s command, so they hesitantly assembled.

“Bright mind, son,” Keyes pointed at Copen, giving a nod. “The less damage JULIAN takes, the better. Can’t exactly make repairs here.”

Jacob handed off the component to JULIAN. “If you can, tap it on the way to the apex.”

With that change, everyone had their orders.
​