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

[Psymallard]

Kavid Davarr
The Spaniard kicked the grunt, heard a crunch, and watched the alien slump over. Huh, guess they weren't as tough as they looked. He turned his attention back to the brutes. The robot remained active to take the majority of their fire- good.

David cautiously leaned out from behind his cover. He fired the needler, in spurts, from his hip. The mercenary figured the brute he was aiming for wouldn't have the agility to repeatedly dive out of the way like last time.

If and when the jiralhanae was felled, the next shots fired from his weapon were aimed at the remaining grunts- though David was beginning to run low on ammunition. He turned his head to Big Dab.

"I do not suppose this thing runs on energy. Do you have any helpful tips on how to reload it?"

 

[comic]

Kavarr’s needler shots flew true. The last-standing brute had eyes solely on JULIAN, even as green plasma took down his buddy, and as he charged forward while firing shots from his pulse carbine, he saw the pink crystals too late. The first round rammed into his chest, stunning him and forcing him to take a step back, before a second spurt impacted him - then the third.

“NOOOO!” The brute bellowed, throwing aside his weapon and bounding forward with the clear intent of getting close to JULIAN - but he didn’t cover the distance in time. The cluster of needles erupted in unison, and the brute vanished briefly within a cloud of explosive pink mist, which quickly dissipated to reveal the brute on his back, dead as a doornail, a massive hole where most of his chest should have been, smoke drifting up from him.

A few needles managed to get the frantic grunts, but they only seemed to erupt individually along their pyramid-shaped backs. Some green fog began to hiss out of the corners of one of their tanks, but the both managed to disappear around the corner and into the cover of the nearby room, while the sounds of battle could be heard clearly from the opposite room, where Kazaaak and Dumbface had run off to.

Seeing the danger was quelled for now, Big Dab waddled on over to the corpse of the needler’s original owner, and began to search him over before procuring a single slab of pink crystal, like a large and slender rock, chiseled into a specific shape. The weapons master handed it to David. “Slide it in through the bottom, a button on the side will open the valve. Then just shake it once, make sure to hit the weapon’s butt at the end of your shake, and it’ll carve up the crystal proper.”​

 

[ArmedBlue]

Copen
​

With a powerful display of electrical power from JULIAN and some well-placed supporting fire, most of the enemy reinforcements were mowed down. The last couple of grunts ran off in a hurry, clearly not as willing to to die for their cause – that of the 'Banished', as one of the brutes mentioned. Copen seemed to recall hearing that name right before he'd been captured.

Naturally, he found himself intrigued by the newly-revealed properties of this unfamiliar machinery and weaponry. The shots that had collided with JULIAN simply dispersed against his chassis, rerouting the energy to fuel his weapon to great effect. A fascinating mechanism, no doubt, as was the electric field that had briefly repelled the berserker brute, reminding Copen of the defensive abilities some Azure Strikers displayed.

On the other hand, the needler weapon David was about to recharge was particularly deadly against the brute he'd unloaded on. The crystals it expelled seemed to react upon enough convergence on a singular spot, causing some sort of chain reaction that practically ripped its target apart. Were these projectiles specifically engineered to achieve that, or was it a natural property of whatever mineral they were made from?

The mind of the scientist was already heavily theorizing on the subject, but he forced himself to remain focused on the task at hand. Those grunts had fled into the adjacent room, where there would likely be more defenses, while gunfire continued to ring out from the opposite hall, where he'd briefly seen Kazaaak head into to presumably support the Guardian. He figured it would be best to help them out with greater numbers, so the cyborg sprinted down the hall and toward the room they were battling in.

When he rounded the doorway, he was met with the sight of a large dome of light, shimmering in red, outputting all kinds of sensory disruptions. It was no doubt at its worst in the center, and it was taking up a great deal of space within what he recognized to be a control room. Copen caught a glimpse of the armored boy rushing into the field, confirming it was not solid, though he wasn't as willing to dive into the shroud screen.

Instead, he hugged the right wall as he walked into the room, keeping his plasma pistol trained on the field of holographic light. If this was anything like a smoke bomb, it had to go down at some point, and he wasn't about to fire blindly into it with two team members inside. Besides, staying outside would potentially let him catch a glimpse of any incoming reinforcements from further back in the control room, which he couldn't quite see any of at the moment – but that could very well soon change.​

 

[PaprusTeuton]

Kazaaak

The brute Kazaaak was harassing got annoyed, and pulled out some kind of... what was that, a grenade? Right as he was moving away, the brute slammed it into the ground, and the world turned white. The mantis couldn't see or hear a thing as the device projected a massive amount of light and sound. It was hot, too, but Kazaaak didn't really notice that.

Turning in confusion, the legendary thief was hit by the arm of the brute, flinging him down. Kazaaak confused and in pain, fired several blasts from the Pulse Carbine into... ugh, from that stench it was the brute. Kazaaak had regained his senses and his footing, now able to look at the ugly alien

He spit at his opponent, aiming the acidic ball of pain directly at his face, before firing several Pulse Carbine shots at him and rushing in, screeching and leaping.

 

[comic]

Kazaaak was caught by the arm and flung to the ground, and tried to fire at the brute, who was already backpedaling from the orb he’d created. It was enough to avoid the pulse carbine’s initial shots - not enough to avoid the acid loogie spit at him.

It coated the alien’s face, and he let out a shout as he brought a hand up to wipe the juices away, even as they sizzled at his fur and flesh. The pulse carbine shots came next, pounding away at his chest, but the stubborn brute just wouldn’t go down yet as he let out a snarl as Kazaaak leapt.

The brute’s arm raised and he pushed the mantis back roughly to throw him the other way. “Bah! I fart in your general direction!” He declared, and fired his spiker at Kazaaak when he landed.

Meanwhile, as Copen rushed into the room, and so did the Guardian, both seemed to overlook the red-armored Skirmisher as she darted just out of Copen’s line of sight. When Dumbface moved back around the corner to fire toward the brute’s direction, his weapon was suddenly batted to the side. His shot fired wildly into the wall, plasma splashing over it to little effect, the material burning and sizzling but not by much.

The skirmisher had one of her needlers holstered, her free hand having hit Guardian’s weapon, and then her nanobarbed talons extended from her wrist, the double blades shooting out to rip into the knight’s weapon, tearing through it to render the weapon useless before she swiped for his chest, to maim him, kill him, or drive him back, she didn’t care, as she immediately moved to the side and rammed her blades into the door controls, the metal sliding shut to lock out Guardian with the intent of trapping Copen and Kazaaak with her and the brute.

The skirmisher then quickly leapt back and sprinted after Copen, firing her needler toward him as she dragged her extended talons along the ground beside her, sparks flying as she left a trail in her wake. “Prey thinks it can escape...” she cooed. “How delicious...”​

 

[Gamingfan]

The Guardian
"Whoa!" The Guardian winced as his weapon was struck to the side. The skirmisher had snuck up on him and redirected his shot, before striking out her weapons. They tore through the Guardian's weapon, forcing him to let go of it as he narrowly dodged the skimisher's swipe. The skirmisher then stabbed into the door controls in an attempt to shut the Guardian out of the room. Acting quickly, the Guardian leapt forward in an attempt to slip through. But as the opening grew narrower, he realized he wasn't making it. Not fully, anyway
Both doors shut with the Guardian between them. While one struck his side, The Guardian had the reflexes to catch the other with his arm. The doors pushed with alarming amounts of pressure, threatening to bisect the Guardian if he didn't get out of the way. Meanwhile, the knight already struggled enough to keep them open, let alone move forward.

Crap.

He was stuck.

 

[Psymallard]

Intergalactic Vagabond
David plucked the slab of crystal from Big Dab's clutches and pursed his lips as he inspected it. His eyes wandered to the weapon itself as the unggoy explained. Finding the button Dab mentioned, David inserted the mineral into the bottom. He shook it once, and lifted his knee to strike the bottom of the gun at the tail end of the shake- he had opted to rest his wounded shoulder. Just as intended, a cluster of the deadly-looking spikes protruded from the top of the weapon. It was definitely a safety hazard, but it certainly looked cool. Besides, most firearms would be considered a safety hazard anyhow.

With his weapon reloaded, he strode over to the room where three other of his fellow inmates had gone. He didn't bother chasing down the grunts, as he was in no shape to be leading an attack into a new room. He figured he had struck some sort of breathing system, judging by the gas, and they would be scrambling to save their supply before even thinking about regrouping. Plus, he wanted to get some credit for saving the soldiers.

As he rounded the corner, he saw the doors start to close on the Guardian. He let out a whistle, and then moved to peek inside the room, which still had plenty of commotion going on inside of it. Sure enough, there was an avian alien lady gunning for his friend with the unintellectual visage. Immediately, David stuck his needler through the gap in the doorway and fired a few rounds at the skirmisher- hopefully taking her by surprise. If she avoided, there would be a second burst coming her way. With that problem taken care of, David looked over to JULIAN.

"Hey, robot! Come get this door open before our beloved Cara Tonta is killed."

He seemed to be slightly agitated at this development, but otherwise remained mostly calm.

 

[comic]

A sudden hum filled the main room, where JULIAN, David, Keyes, and Dabdab were.

“Uh oh...” Big Dab muttered, and waddled off to find cover once again as Keyes moved towards David’s side, giving a brief inspection of the Guardian’s predicament - undoubtedly JULIAN would be necessary for freeing the poor kid.

“Hang on, we’ll get you out in a second,” he assured the boy, suppressing how impressed he was that the armored kid hadn’t already been bisected - he must have been strong enough to be a Spartan, even without the Mjolnir armor. Was he a product of another batch from Project Orion?

The entryway into the empty elevator was suddenly filled as a platform descended, and a bellow filled the air - a brute, no doubt. This one was different from the others met so far, for as he emerged from the elevator and set his sights immediately upon the heroes, a film of fuzzy light enveloped his body, orange and lined almost like television lines.

Thermal shielding.

“Rubikis wants their heads!” he commanded, and three creatures leaped out of the elevator after him, similar creatures to the skirmisher battling Copen, though with less armor and holding yellow shields in front of their bodies, two holding plasma pistols while the third held a needler, sticking out of the side of their point-defense shields.

The shielded brute was holding a new kind of weapon, large and bulky, and he bared his fangs in a terrible grin. “He did not say what we do with the rest!”

His armor was gold beneath the shielding, and he sported a pack on his back, no doubt for boosted movement. As he hefted his large weapon, he aimed it slightly high, almost like he was aiming for the ceiling - before it fired. A sudden and rapid hail of red plasma was shot upward, and it quickly arced down to fall at an angle above the heads of the heroes, indicating this plasma was somehow heavy, enough to quickly fall to gravity. Upon impacting anything, it would splash like crimson water, the plasma almost like a gel as it splattered around the area and began to burn whatever it touched - and it was aimed primarily for JULIAN, at the moment.

The Brute Captain laughed with confidence as he rained plasma upon his enemies with his trusty Ravager, all while the three jackals slowly advanced, offering suppressive fire behind the safety of their shields.

This conflict had just been dialed up to eleven.​

 

[ArmedBlue]

Copen
​

"Dammit..."

He'd been too focused on the shroud screen to notice the new, avian-like enemy in the room. Before he could react to her attack, the skirmisher had already slashed at the Guardian nearby Copen, tearing his weapon apart and nearly locking the knight out of the room – he managed to move right in the middle as the doors closed, getting stuck between them, something iX found impressive.

Not that he had any time to dwell on it, as the new foe was already upon him with a burst of needler shoots, dragging a new melee weapon beside her. As the crystals came in, Copen's armor changed once again, entering Bullit-Shift to fly upwards, hoping to throw off their homing qualities by switching position at the last second. He was headed for the ceiling of the control room, taking a few pot shots with his plasma pistol at the skirmisher upon reaching it, before he ricocheted off of the ceiling to then zigzag downward along the walls of the room, keeping his speed and momentum up.

Like in the first encounter against the brutes, Copen was trying to make himself as difficult to hit as possible, thrusters carrying him back down until he was almost level with the skirmisher – at which point he suddenly zipped in his foe's direction, aiming a high-speed fly-by kick right to the head, aiming to overwhelm her with pure speed before she could get a good shot in with her needler or slash with her blade.

He could hear more and more commotion outside the room, so the sooner they could deal with the enemies here and get the Guardian away from those doors, the better.​

 

[comic]

The skirmisher proved to be fairly slippery as well, bounding around Copen’s plasma shots as they came while he avoided the needles. The alien pointed her weapon ahead of him, letting the crystals fly into his path, though he managed to keep ahead of them, zipping about to force her to empty the needler.

And empty it did, crystals done spewing out of it before the skirmisher tossed the empty weapon aside and pulled out her other one. Copen swooped in with his attack, but the skirmisher ducked as she took aim, letting the pink crystals shoot right toward the android nearly at point-blank. Speed overtook the brutes, but it didn’t seem to totally outstrip the flighty bird-like creature.

She then bounced back and away from the Adept Slayer as she heard the telltale sounds of another needler going off, her feathers bristling as she recognized it and glanced back. David’s needles came for her, but when the skirmisher lifted her nanobarbed talons, the needles that struck it were deflected, flying elsewhere off-track. Whatever metal her melee weapons were made from seemed to defy the established properties of the needler.

“Prey is scared,” she mocked, firing her needler toward the trapped Guardian.​

 

[PaprusTeuton]

Kazaaak

Guardian was pinned! And being fired at! Kazaaak was also being fired at but that didn't matter. He'd had his entire ship explode around him before. But this human... He had to save them! He didn't matter, there were trillions or more Mantis, he was just one person. But humans are smaller, weaker, and... need to be protected.

Dashing in front of the explosive projectiles in order to block them from hitting Guardian, the mantis grabbed one of the human's arms and yanked hard, attempting to pull them back into the outer room with incredible force as he was hit by shot after shot. Plasma shots partially melted his carapace, making it easier for needles to drive deep into his back.

Once Guardian is free, the legendary thief turned around and... well, would have charged, but he was incredibly damaged. He crouched low and began firing as many Pulse Carbine rounds as he could, attempting to avoid being hurt by rolling around and dashing- although his ability to do this was limited by the damage he had taken.

 

[Fraseandchico]

JULIAN

"Stomp, stomp, stomp." JULIAN, for his part, spent a... rather concerning amount of time after his kill was confirmed and the remaining foes felled on a specific action - Stomping on his kill's head. Which, in of itself, would be a rather concerning action for most. But savouring such a moment was a missing feeling...

Hm, perhaps it was not a feeling JULIAN relished as much as he assumed. Odd. Alas, the situation would be cut short by more arrivals, underscored by a faint hum. Paying little mind to the situation regarding the smaller human beyond Keyes's assurances. More enemies arriving to be in the way, underscored by a volley of plasma that splashed in a bubble.
And of course, aimed for him. JULIAN raised his fist, striking at the plasma as it splashed into crimson goo. Some of the energy still transferred to the channelling field, though more notable was that it felt like slightly more damage.

---
Outer Exterior Damage: 18%. Negligable Damage - No Tactics Switch Required
---
"You're hiding behind underlings? Cowardice isn't something your allies demonstrated before this, but I suppose it isn't surprising."

Ugh, Suppressing Fire, from the Brute Captain's underlings - That added a difficulty... For most. JULIAN was not most, he was a robot with armor designed to hold off blows, and an AI with a mind that knew such a thing.
"How Pathetic." Unable to take cover, the Suppressing Fire battered against JULIAN. It threw off visual sensors slightly, so JULIAN reconfigured himself to view through the scope as closer as possible, right for the first of three Jackals. He then fired the Beam Rifle, the shot slightly empowered by the shots fired against the SPARK.

Then, JULIAN began to move forward towards a second, letting red plasma rain down. The Damage would soon begin to stack up, and Overdrive was still unavaliable...
JULIAN launched his Strike towards his second targetted Jackal.
"HEY! DO SOMETHING!" JULIAN's voice yelled out backwards to his own allies.

 

[Psymallard]

David Kavarr
The bird woman blocked his fire, the blade glimmering in the light. It was beautiful, finally something he could use. However, there wasn't much he could do to get to it right now, especially as JULIAN was preoccupied at the moment. The Spaniard figured that the life of the Guardian should probably be his priority in the moment. So, just as Kazaaak began to pull from the other side, David would plant a kick squarely into the blonde's side to shove him through. As he kicked, he pushed off from the knight to simultaneously avoid following through and allowing him to turn towards the main battle in the atrium.

He rounded the corner, firing upon the thermally-shielded brute. David didn't know what kind of shielding it was exactly, but he figured these needles would be able to penetrate defenses better than most weapons. He hadn't ignored the existence of the point-defense shields- perhaps even better tools than the bladed weapon David had just seen. He needed something to help him avoid being shot. ...Again.

 

[comic]

Kazaaak moved in the way of the skirmisher’s crystal-fire - and the needles struck true. What should have been an easy killing of the mantisfolk proved to be anything but, however. Almost all of the needles that struck Kazaaak bounced off of his hard-shelled carapace, in a way similar to how the skirmisher had used her nanobarbed talons. Only two needles actually managed to stick, barely embedding into his body before they erupted to little damage, and the others that deflected left scratches and scrapes, but not much else.

Fortune favored the mantis at this moment.

Doubly fortunate were the combined efforts of Kazaaak and David. Their unified action was enough to pull the Guardian solidly through the partially closed door, and just as his boots slipped through, the door slammed shut. Dumbface had been spared from a potential bisecting, now in the room with Kazaaak and Copen.

The brute was still standing, and he wasn’t keen on being forgotten as the shroud screen dissipated to reveal him holding a blue ball, reared back for a throw. With a deep cackle, the ball suddenly glowed and fizzled with white-blue energy, before it was chucked toward Kazaaak and the Guardian. On contact with a weapon, armor, carapace, clothing, or flesh, the ball would stick unless transferred to another such surface. It would not, however, stick to architecture, including the walls, ceiling, and floors of the room. If it missed either hero, it would bounce a couple times and come to a stop at the door. If it stuck to one of them, they would quickly find it was almost impossible to remove without transferring it to something else.

And after only a few seconds, the Plasma Grenade would detonate, enveloping everything around it within a 5 foot radius in star-heated white-hot plasma, and in a 6-to-10 foot radius, immense heat and radiation would bombard those within the blast, not to mention hit with a concussive force to knock most off their feet.

Meanwhile...

David’s needler shots flew toward the Brute Captain, and when the crystals struck, they detonated prematurely. This seemed to disable any potential for a supercombine against the thermal shielding, but some slight damage still seemed to be dealt, as the red-orange shielding with flare at the impact points with a dark red glow. It wasn’t enough to cause the captain any concern, however, as he simply moved his ravager shots away from JULIAN and toward David’s direction, which subsequently included Captain Keyes.

Jacob dove to the side with a grunt as he charged up a plasma shot, then fired it toward the brute captain. The green slug splashed over the thermal shielding to surprisingly minimal effect. The entire shield flared deep crimson, but reverted to its orange lines quickly, remaining strong. These two attacks were clearly not the thermal shield’s weakness, so that potential weakness had to be something else.

“I thought your grunt friend said this place was low on troops and supplies,” Keyes grunted in annoyance to David. “Is THIS supposed to be the easy stuff?”

JULIAN’s particle beam shot, aimed for the gap in the first jackal’s point-defense shield where it had pointed its needler, and the slightly-enhanced shot spewed out, ripping the weapon apart and carving through the jackal’s fist. The alien stumbled back with a hiss, shaking its ruined hand in more agitation than actual pain.

The second jackal, which had grown nearest to JULIAN, was approached by the SPARK unit, who reared a fist back to strike the creature, smashing metal into its shield. The jackal was pushed backwards, lifting off the ground, but it had braced for the hit, and surprisingly hadn’t been wiped out by it. Instead, its claws skid on the ground before it stopped, before it anchored itself in place and began to fire rapidly at JULIAN, easily tripling the incoming fire. This retaliation lasted only a couple seconds before it reverted to advancing with suppressive fire.

The third jackal, meanwhile, had moved around to JULIAN’s side, spraying plasma shots toward him, the three clearly trying to break through the AI’s stalwart defenses.

“Hiding? I’m right here, little robot...” the captain sneered, his yellow fangs baring as he ceased firing towards Keyes and David, lowering his weapon and stomping confidently toward JULIAN. This brute’s fists seemed larger than those encountered so far, as he was bearing mechanical gauntlets, no doubt increasing the physical damage he could deal, their design almost like that of an external skeleton made of steel. With a laugh, the captain launched his fist forward, letting his other hold the ravager at his side. After his fist struck, or an equivalent action happened, he’d pull his fist back and ram it forward again, stomping forward as he continued to cackle, throwing his mechanical fist forward quickly, one after another, using his strength and size to attempt bearing down on JULIAN in a way that the AI probably wasn’t used to from his enemies.​

 

[ArmedBlue]

Copen
​

Copen's kick missed its mark, the cyborg soaring past his foe, twisting in midair to face the skirmisher as his Bullit Dash petered out, returning his armor back to Break-Shift form – and with little room to deal with the point-blank needler shots. He touched down, skidding back a short distance, before he immediately charged forward again, thrusters flaring with pink flame as he swung his right arm out in front of him, his left feathering the pistol's trigger to fire a short burst of plasma at the skirmisher.

The crystals made contact, though the motion coupled with Copen's highly durable armor while in Break-Shift caused a majority to bounce off for minor damage. Not a completely effective strategy, as three needles embedded into his forearm, and he recognized they would go off soon. As such, he continued his charge, firing a couple more shots at the skirmisher to force her to dodge or block, though once she leapt any one way, iX would dash to intercept her with a slightly greater burst of speed.

What seemed to be a pinkish film of energy flashed over Copen's body for a moment, and he would aim to quickly shoulder tackle the skirmisher into the wall with deceptive power, making use of his Recoil Dash, additionally hoping to time the crystals' eruption right as he were to make contact with his foe. Despite the damage he would take himself, the cyborg would press on, firing further plasma shots at the skirmisher.

He caught a glimpse of the nearby brute throwing something at the others, but he couldn't deal with it as of right now.​

 

[Psymallard]

David
His weapon did not, in fact, pierce the energy shielding. That was unfortunate, especially as the jiralhanae beast turned his attention towards the Spaniard. As Keyes dove away, David split off in the opposite direction, running across the main room as he ducked and dodged the liquid plasma. He heard Keyes's complaint, but found himself a bit too preoccupied as he moved towards the cover in the form of a pillar.

By that time, the brute had taken his focus off of the vagabond, now focusing on the robot. Everyone had their focus on the robot now. Taking advantage of this fact before their walking tank would be taken down, David emerged from the other side of the pillar, flanking one of the jackals. He let loose a burst of fire towards the one, and would do the same to any of the other jackals that seemed exposed as he moved further south, taking cover behind yet another pillar.

He had been in a prolonged firefight before, but he didn't prefer it. Especially with all these strange weapons. To make matters worse, he still had nothing to actually protect himself. That's why he was hoping one of these jackals would go down quick: so he would be able to snatch up one of the point-defense shields and much more effectively defend himself.

 

[comic]

Copen’s burst forward caught the Skirmisher by surprise, her feathers flaring the split second before the iX collided his arm with the T’vaoan female. She skid back from the hit as plasma shots splattered over her armor to little effect, hissing as he charged in again with virtually no relapse. The skirmisher’s agitated hiss whistled out into one of excitement, as she stuck out her arm, her nanobarbed talons on a collision course with the Adept Slayer during his shoulder tackle, her aim toward his centermass.

Regardless of the damage dealt, Copen’s tackle had utilized the needles stuck in him to splash their shards over the skirmisher upon eruption, her visor splintering at the sheer proximity to it as she was knocked back again with a pissed-off trill, before she sprinted to the side, avoiding more of his plasma fire. “Prey thinks it is spartan! Prey is no hero!”

Tucking away her needler, she extended the blades of her left arm, giving her two pairs of talons stretching out from her forearms as she charged nimbly toward Copen, leading with a rapid flurry of slashes before jumping back, then sprinting to the side in a rapid circle around the android, taking swipes at him as he or she grew close.

—————————

The jackals, too focused on JULIAN, failed to give David the attention he deserved. A burst of needles was fired toward one of the jackals, impacting it from behind. The jackal buckled and turned its ugly head to look at him, eyes wide and angry as it let out a squawk - only to realize what the Spaniard was holding.

Somehow, the jackal’s eyes went wider as it looked around frantically, with no solution in sight - before it disappeared in a pink eruption, splitting the alien in half, its shoulders and head flying across the room to leave its legs in a heap on the floor.

The point-defense shield happened to be on the other side of the room now, too. With the jackal’s death, it had deactivated, but was far from ruined.

With the Brute Captain and JULIAN focused on one another, the remaining two jackals turned their focus on David and began firing at him, one with a plasma pistol, the other with a needler. Some of the fire was taken off of the renegade, however, as Keyes opened fire on them with his plasma pistol and divided their attention.​

 

[Gamingfan]

With a pull from Kazaaak and boot by David, The Guardian finally slipped past the doors and landed with an "Oof!"

The Guardian quickly rose to his feet, about to give Kazaaak his thanks before noticing the brute rear his arm back. It threw a ball that crackled with energy, which at this point the Guardian could only presume was a bad thing. Almost instinctively, the Guardian jumped into Kazaaak, aiming to tackle the mantis away from the orb and subsequent explosion.

"Watch out!"

 

[ArmedBlue]

Copen
​

"Ngh..."

The skirmisher's blade flashed over Copen's body, sparks flying off upon contact as the weapon cut slightly into the armor. She'd aimed at his center mass, meaning she'd struck the most durable part of the armor, which was ideal to iX. Not just that, but his Recoil Dash had gotten the needles to erupt close to her body, trading out some of the damage Copen himself took in the process. Still, her armor was remarkably durable. Standard plasma shots didn't do much to it, and while those crystals appeared to be more effective, he doubted he could pull off that exact same tactic on her again. If only he had his Razor Wheel...

"Prey thinks it is spartan! Prey is no hero!"

"It doesn't matter what I am."

His opponent charged in, sticking to the blades for now, and Copen leapt backward in response, aided by his jets. She was agile, though, able to stay within close enough range to slash multiple times at him again. With some agility of his own, he stepped and ducked out of the way of some attacks, though he was forced to deflect three of the swings with his arms, racking up a bit more damage on the already damaged right arm.

Before long, the skirmisher let up, choosing to rapidly circle around him while Copen held down his weapon's trigger, noting the pistol's battery was almost halfway spent. As it neared completion, the cyborg dashed in at his foe again, and were she to lash out with her blades, Copen would duck, deflecting slashes if necessary to then suddenly leap up with a thruster-enhanced flashkick, aiming to land a fast blow to her chin – which would quickly be followed a close-range charge shot.

Regardless of the attack's effectiveness, Copen would enter Break-Shift again, before rapidly zipping across the control room and towards the brute attacking the others. Like in the previous battle, iX aimed to smash an elbow into the ursine alien's head and rapidly bounce off elsewhere – specifically, toward the control panel in the center. He'd end his Bullit Dash there to take cover behind the console, looking to rapidly tap into it in hopes of finding any technology, weapons, or information of use. He knew what to expect from the system a bit given his use of the first panel alongside Keyes.

Given nothing was backing up the skirmisher or the brute, Copen thought accessing defensive mechanisms to be less likely, but if he could at least get the broken door open... it would be good to get their allies back into this fight and away from whatever was happening outside.​

 

[Fraseandchico]

JULIAN

Oh dear, they appeared to be surrounding him. Blasting fire into JULIAN's body, the SPARK jolted a little - Not helped by the approach of their leader, refuting JULIAN's insult of hiding. Luckily, David pulled the Jackals surrounding JULIAN away, stealing their attention.

"Well, let's see - You stand behind your shielded allies, launching artillary, and only move when insulted. Textbook egomaniacal coward." Slightly bluffing (How would an AI even begin to psychoanalyze someone? That would be insanely hypocritical anyway.), JULIAN readied for the blows coming his way. Raising his own fist against the fang-bearing Brute's own, JULIAN's Strike clashed against the Brute. The Brute had a strength advantage against even the Strike, strength more like a Berserker than anything else. The Berserker Queen would be a better comparison. Blows kept coming, and as quickly as JULIAN could try to strike and counter, the strength left him on the backfoot alongside the struggling strucural integrity from the clashes and the previous shots. He needed time.

"I take back what I say before, that was my mistake. How about we come to a deal - You don't kill me, and I'll assist the Banished without hesitation. I am a highly advanced AI, after all, fully sentient with over 20 years of experience in robotics manufacturing and 5 in direct combat." It wasn't a fully serious offer, just one intended to make the Brute speak back in some respect. If the Brute did accept, then perhaps it would be safer than working with the Humans, etc. and then he could work on his own individuality beyond the Banish-
The thoughts rushed, seemingly distracting JULIAN.

Before a blow clattered with the SPARK's head, laying him out on the floor for a moment.

And putting JULIAN in a position to fire the Beam Rifle up the moment his foe either let their guard down from words or took advantage of the fall, Channelling Field empowered.

----
Outer Exterior Damage: 43% and rising. Seek strategy change.
----

 

[comic]

As JULIAN was floored by the captain’s latest hit, the brute gave pause, lips peeled back as he gave what could only be assumed to be his best evil villain laugh impersonation. “Foolish machine... we already have your superior. And what Iratus lacks... Teseo makes up for. A hollow offer, hahahaha!”

Purely confident in his position, the captain reared his head back for a bold laugh, either failing to notice JULIAN raising his empowered particle beam, or simply too confident to care. Yet when the shot fired, it cut off the boomig laughter immediately. The channelled beam shot ripped through his thermal shielding, finally bringing it down with a burst of orange light. The captain took a step back from the force of the hit, the shot having dissipated in the effort to eliminate his shielding.

The captain was quick to regain himself with a sneer. “What’s this? Still fighting?” He gave a dark chuckle as he callously tossed his ravager aside (its energy already under 30%, the brute having been generous in its expenditure) before he slammed his two metallic fists together, a heavy clang ringing out as sparks flew. “You will be melted down... reduced to nothing more than light armor for the weakest among us...”

With a shout, the brute raised both of his arms and brought them down like a jackhammer, intent on crushing JULIAN’s chassis, still cackling away as he went.

—————————

A knee rose up to strike the Skirmisher’s , and one of her fangs went flying away as she stumbled back, momentarily dazed with a feeble chirp. Then the following charged shot splashed over her armor, punching her back and melting a good deal of her armor, sticking it to her scaly flesh - but it also seemed to snap her back to focus as she tucked and rolled backwards only to spring quickly up after with a hiss, shaking her head in pain and irritation.

Copen had already redirected to the brute, who was aiming his spiker at the exposed Guardian and Kazaaak, and before he could fire, the android’s elbow smashed into his skull and stumbled the alien with a growl. Copen, busybody as he was, had already bounded off to the room’s controls and began to interface with the central panel.

There was no digital defense like before, the system still logged in and functional. However, the alien glyphs were difficult to decipher, leaving Copen to stumble in the near-dark. It was thanks to his earlier display from Keyes that he wasn't completely clueless - and fortunately, despite the language barrier, this technology was surprisingly easy to access and manipulate. This checked out, given the varrying degrees of intelligence the aliens had so far displayed.

Copen was able to bypass the exit door fairly easily, but more than that, he also unlocked the door to the holding room that contained the marines within.

Seeing this, the Skirmisher let out another hiss as she looked to the brute, who was rubbing his head in irritation. “Humans escaping; we flee!”

She took off with her impressive speed, bounding deftly over the Guardian and mantis into the hall beyond, leaping against the back wall and pushing off of it to continue her sprint toward the main room. This left the brute warrior to grumble before he began to charge forward, clearly intent on bowling through Dumbface and Kazaaak should they not move.​

 

[Psymallard]

David
After receiving the hostile attention he deserved, David ducked back behind the pillar. He waited for the needles to fly around the bend, and kicked off of the pillar, going into the open. He leapt to avoid those that curved around to try and impale his legs- it was easier to avoid these shots now that he knew what to expect. That's when he noticed the jiralhanae's shields were down.

The swordsman took this opportunity to unleash a spray of violent crystals as the dumb brute prepared to pounce on his metal "pal". He did so while strafing right, and ended his onslaught with a twirl- avoiding another wave of needles and making it to cover. David's current plan was to make it to that point-defense shield on the other end of the room.

 

[PaprusTeuton]

Kazaaak

"What are you doing!?" Kazaaak shouted as Dumbface sought to protect him, "I did all of that for you!" The mantis tried to push off the Guardian until the plasma grenade detonated, showering both in heat and radiation. The mantis hunkered in as the Guardian protected him, and as such suffered very little damage.

"You... saved me," the legendary thief said in wonder. It had been the third time he had ever been saved in his life. He still wasn't used to it. As he tried to process it, a Skirmisher jumped above them, and Kazaaak turned to see the brute to charging straight towards them. "RUN!" Kazaaak cried, pushing the Guardian off of him and grabbing their hand to pull them out of the way of the charging Jiralhane.

 

[Fraseandchico]

JULIAN


---
Names Logged.
Iratus - A Brute called him my "Superior". Likely an AI. Latin name meaning to be angry, leading to the word "Irational". Assuming Irony is not at play, such a being likely has a temperment and a half. I'm almost jealous.

Teseo - "Makes up for" what Iratus cannot provide. Named similarly to a type of missile from 1977 - A weapon related to technology, like a Codex, perhaps. Non-Threat, despite this Brute's words, if this is the case.
Log further details when I'm not getting the SPARK's head caved in.
---

The Brute declined JULIAN's offer with a laugh that the AI could admit was amusing, disregarding the AI as giving a hollow offer - . If the SPARK had one, an eyebrow would raise. JULIAN felt mild anger boil over - How dare this organic meatbag IDIOT treat him as though he was inferior!?
But the talking served it's purpose, opening the target to a shot... Which did not take down the foe.

Hm. That was not the hopeful outcome, JULIAN noted this result as the orange glow went by. Some sort of shielding presumably...Energy shielding, that was new - And the shot seemed to remove the shielding. That WAS good. Still, his foe reacted and stopped laughing, tossing his weapon aside (Presumably, it was either no good for this range or it was out of ammunition - He'd have to take a look after this rat was squashed.) - Calling out that JULIAN could still fight and giving a rather personal threat with a metal clang.
"You will be melted down... reduced to nothing more than light armor for the weakest among us..." Said the Brute Captain.

...Was this Brute TRYING to piss him off? If so, it was a wonderful job being done, prompting JULIAN to bark back as he slid the Beam Rifle to the ground.
"REDUCE THIS MODEL TO NOTHING BUT LIGHT ARMOR!? I'LL RIP YOUR DAMN HEAD OFF!" Despite the lack of mouth, it was clear that JULIAN was...well, shouting. Loudly. Angrily. Hatefully.

Emotional Limitations Activated.

Anger subsided. Being an AI came with wonderful benefits once again, prompting JULIAN to act with a hint of ration seeing the Brute's fists coming down like a power tool. Act swift, act fast, act deadly.
With the Beam Rifle dropped, that meant JULIAN could act with both hands - And did. Both shot up, Electricity surrounding them as Strikes against the Brute's own blows. The Brute was much stronger, especially at this angle, but the clash of fists would buy JULIAN a few seconds... Coinciding as he noticed a spray of violent violet crystals going right for the Brute.

"Alternative offer, Furball; How would you like to DIE!?" In a moment, JULIAN pulled one fist back - His left fist would have to keep the clash, for the single second it would hold - and relaunched the Strike, intending the shove it straight for the Brute's gut (or whatever was in the Brute's body at the typical location of a human gut) to push the Brute away. If the AI was right in his assessment, those crystals from David would make his offer non-negotiable.

Of course, failing that, getting a direct beating into the chassis, at this angle, with this power, would sting - A lot, probably putting JULIAN closer to the 60%~ damage threshold. That was his assessment.

If the Brute was shoved away, JULIAN would take the time to awkwardly grapple for the Beam Rifle to return to hand, the SPARK slowly getting to it's feet.
"I'll make sure to tell these superiors of yours who sold their names so freely." Sure, the claim would likely be to a corpse, but that wasn't pointless in the eye of JULIAN.

 

[ArmedBlue]

Copen
​

Not having to deal with defenses was quite fortunate. Before long, he was able to open the exit door back up, as well as the one holding the marines. Certainly a boon, and the alien foes didn't seem appreciative of it.

“Humans escaping; we flee!”

Instead of doubling down on defending their position or taking out the prisoners, the skirmisher called for a retreat, leaving the room with remarkable agility, while her brute ally simply charged toward Kazaaak and the Guardian as he headed for the exit as well. With the rest of the team positioned either at the other end of the room or just outside of it, Copen held his fire slightly, firing out a couple of patient shots at the brute's upper body in hopes of staggering it or giving the others time to deal with it properly.

With that, he turned to the newly-released marines. They had collars around their necks, and those cuffs on their arms left the humans unable to do much with their limbs. Breaking them was an option, sure, but Copen lacked anything precise enough to do so safely, and as far as he knew, neither did his allies. His best guess was that a specific panel command could unlock their restraints.

"We'll get everyone out as soon as possible," he assured the prisoners, stepping slightly away from the console in case he'd need to chase after the aliens, letting his Bullit Dash recharge. "Does anyone know how we can get those cuffs off of you?"​

 

[comic]

The charging brute warrior was intercepted by a few pot shots from Copen, causing the great beast to stumble. It was enough for Kazaaak to successfully pull Dumbface out of harm’s way, just before the brute regained his footing and thundered on... only to finally lose all of his steam. That last shot from Copen seemed to finally do it, as the brute suddenly fell face-first where the Guardian had been a moment before, siding to a stop just before the doorway, and going still.

This left only the newly-freed marines to occupy the attention of the three in the room.

With attention divided properly now, the remaining two jackals were quick to coordinate themselves. They split up, going left and right, trying to get on either side of the Spaniard to split his attention and try to make him make a mistake, or leave himself open, one firing a plasma pistol and the other firing a needler.

When JULIAN’s electrified fists met the brute’s, the energy coursed easily through the conductive metals of his gauntlets and armor. He let out a growl as he took a step back, body shuddering, but he quickly shrugged it off in time for JULIAN’s second Strike to come in.

The thick metal of the captain’s armor dented, and he let out a huff as he took another step back, noticing David’s crystals closing in out of the corner of his eye. Raising his gauntlet up, the ursine alien let the needles impact his left gauntlet, biting into its side as they gathered up.

With a dark chuckle, the brute wasted no time in rushing forward, throwing his now volatile fist at JULIAN in a strike of his own, intent on using the supercombine to what advantage he could make of it. At the crux of his fist’s throw, the needles would detonate, and the brute captain was flung back, landing a few feet away with a heavy thud that shook the ground - his left arm up to his elbow completely gone.

Yet he wasn’t down yet, rising back up with a snort as the skirmisher skid to a halt beside him, hissing out a command to him.

Despite his rank, the captain seemed to answer to her, as he let out another snort and pulled a plasma grenade out, hurling it in David’s direction, though without much energy. He didn’t want to be leaving the fight, but he’d been ordered to.

Stepping back onto the elevator, the skirmisher leapt onto his right shoulder, clinging on as the jet pack activated, and both suddenly went flying up the chute - unless someone intervened. Keyes fired shots their way, but the plasma pistol just wasn’t powerful enough for their higher grade armor.

Meanwhile, as Copen tried to figure out a way to free the marines from their shackles, one of them suddenly raced over to the dead brute and began fruitlessly kicking its corpse with a fervor. “You like that, huh? Why don’t you get back up so he can kill you again!”

His kicks didn’t seem to even budge the body.

“No idea,” one male soldier told Copen with a gruff and gravelly voice. “Try smashing the console, that usually works.”

There seemed to be eight UNSC soldiers in total, which would certainly prove helpful once they were armed and able to contribute to the escape.​

 

[Psymallard]

El Pícaro
The Spaniard peered out from behind the pillar, seeing as the aliens started to flank him. David glanced at his Needler- there were only four needles left in the gun. He was cornered, wounded, and low on ammo. He figured now was a good time as any to surrender. However, with the half-hearted grenade pitch of the retreating Brute, that option was seemingly eliminated. It was time to move it.

Move it he did, racing into the middle of the room to deny an effective pincer. He fired the last handful of needles at the needler-holding Jackal to keep it occupied, if only for a moment, and then discarded his weapon. He stayed low as he sprinted through the room, using the barricades the ambush had used to his advantage- it provided cover for the plasma pistol fire from the south.

The needler was another problem, for the crystal shards of pain followed his movements. But by now, he was aware of what was necessary to avoid them. The swordsman watched the needles fly closer from the corner of his eye, until the very last moment. David planted his boot on top of one of these Banished barricades and leapt through the air. He flipped through the air over the needles- and over JULIAN (or what was left of him).

The Spaniard landed on his feet... but hissed and recoiled in pain, as his wound did not appreciate this increased activity. Still, he pushed through it, closing the distance to the point-defense shield. He slid to grab it with his good arm, and fumbled to activate it in time to protect his Spanish ass from the continued fire.

 

[ArmedBlue]

Copen
​

The fleeing brute fell before he could make it out of the room, and that left only a couple of threats in the atrium. One of the marines rushed over to the alien's corpse and began kicking it repeatedly, to Copen's slight surprise – he must have had a lot of anger pent up toward his captors.

In any case, there was no concrete way to free the marines outside of destroying the nearby console, which was not too far from the cyborg's own train of thought. Having dedicated so much of his life to robotics and technology, outright destroying a potentially useful device before getting as much information as possible out of it first was not his preferred method of doing things. It was what he'd done with that otherworldly Blaster Rifle, after all. Perhaps with Keyes' help in understanding the foreign language, they could tap into any other systems or clear a route to escape through.

Speaking of which, he could hear the elevator outside starting to move.

"Let's go about that once the area's secured."

With that, he rushed toward the exit door, saving his Bullit Dash as he bounded over the fallen brute. Even with Bullit-Shift's added speed, he doubted he could catch up to any remaining enemies atop the lift. Instead, as he landed back in the hall near his allies, Copen fired small bursts of plasma toward each of the remaining jackals, aiming to either destroy their unfamiliar energy shields or keep the heat off David enough for someone to finish them off – pushing the pistol's battery into the low forties.​

 

[Gamingfan]

The Guardian
"You... saved me," the mantis said, as if is disbelief.
The Guardian reflected his confusion. "Yeah? We're working together, and a it's by duty as-whoa!"
Before he could finish, Kazaaak pulled the Guardian away from the incoming brute. Another potshot from Copen, and it was taken out. The Guardian landed on his feet, flashing Kazaaak a grateful nod before running towards the fallen brute. The alien corpse was being repeatedly kicked by a marine, who seemed understandably pissed. Careful not to disturb them, the Guardian gave a friendly wave as he approached the body.
"Hello! We're here to save you!" he greeted the man as he knelt over the fallen brute, looking over the body in search of any cool weapons.
"...Who are you guys, anyway?" The knight asked as he looted the body.

 

[Fraseandchico]

JULIAN

As JULIAN realised the Brute's punch was coming with the Needles attached, it was a tough choice. It was too late to dodge the attack, nor would it be wise to directly counter the punch and take it's impact - It was a huge risk. Instead, JULIAN decided to take another path, raising his arm and putting the Beam Rifle between the Brute's attack and JULIAN. Cue the explosion of energy, which sent the Brute flying back and forced JULIAN back himself. The Beam Rifle was out of commission, clattering to the floor with a thud as the weapon took the brunt on JULIAN's side of the detonation which took the Brute's arm. JULIAN himself noticed some harsh denting on the front of the Spark's arms.
One of the others muttered something, JULIAN logging a need to learn translations at some point, prompting them both towards their platform. The AI logged the sound of a jetpack revving, and snarled as they began to move upwards in escape.

"GET BACK HERE!" JULIAN was not about to let this Brute get away if he had a will in the matter.
Once David had finished his leap, the Spark moved forward, with a hard stomp onto the ground before the boosters on the soles burst with energy, launching JULIAN into the air! Primarily, these were designed for scaling buildings, albeit at most 2 story ones, so this would all have to be done as fast as possible - Before the enemy could leave range. If he could reach the Brute and Skirmisher, it would be clear what the goal was, an attempt at grabbing the Brute Captain by the lower leg and using force to tear him apart from the Skirmisher and force back down to ground level. There was the matter of disabling the jet pack and the other foe, of course - But JULIAN felt confidence in the combination of his weight and gravity in pulling the Brute down with him even if it meant letting the Skirmisher escape (Such as by taking the jet pack for herself, which would be the smart and logical move that organics had displayed themselves incapable of making time and time again). Someone had to live to tell the tale, after all.


----
If dragging the foe down to the floor again was a success, it was suddenly very clear once again that JULIAN was rather angry, as he attempted to slam his fist into the Brute's skull several times.
"HOW! DARE! YOU!" Each strike was punctuated, intended to take full advantage of the Brute's gone left arm and the right arm being held down, to torture and punish the Brute Captain. "INSULTING FATHER'S DESIGNS, KIDNAPPING HIS CREATION, DENYING MY MERCY, ALL UNFORGIVEN! LET YOUR FRIEND FLEE, KNOW WHO IS GOING TO RIP YOUR PATHETIC BANISHED TO SHREDS WITHOUT A HINT OF HESITATION JULIAN SHEN, THE SPARK!"
Finally, the coup de grace - Using full power to rip the Brute Captain's head off as best he could. Not a clean finisher, if the enemy was even alive at this stage, but certainly one that entranced JULIAN.
Oh, that was right - It wasn't the post-killing mockery that truly got JULIAN. It was the kill. The rush. The light that dared leave the mortal eyes.
----

Regardless of the leap's outcome, the aftereffects would result in JULIAN needing a new weapon, spotting the previously discarded weapon of the Brute Captain. There were still other enemies, after all. Stomping towards it, JULIAN would lift the Ravager, before pointing it upwards in much the same motion. The remaining foes were two jackals, split in two different directions - And while JULIAN didn't care for the Spaniard David, he did know that it would be better to take out the targets now. He was in a position and timing that made it difficult to figure how many shots the Ravager had, so it was best to prepare for a single attack. Still from his landing spot, JULIAN decided to aim it towards the pistol-wielding Jackal, firing the plasma through the air. The shot...wasn't perfect. The Sustained damage wasn't doing favors, nor was JULIAN's unfamiliarity with this exact type of weapon that had to be aimed in such a way.
"Oh, what fun it is, frolicking in these halls." He mocked, treating the situation as a cakewalk. However, damage was high. Repairs were needed - Hopefully his compatriots were worse off, JULIAN had little time to analyse them.

 

[comic]

The marine finally stopped kicking the deceased alien at the Guardian’s question. He flashed a quick smile and saluted with two of his fingers. “Right, not in uniform right now... Private Bisenti, UNSC,” he glanced back at the others. “All of us are. We’re uh... uh...”

He seemed to grow distracted, squinting his eyes at Kazaaak, before looking back at Dumbface and visually inspecting his armor. Bisenti cleared his throat. “Uh... wait a second, who the hell are YOU?”

However, at that moment, Copen had dashed past them and out of the room. “Hey, what about...!” the rough-voiced marine called to the Adept Slayer in vain, before shaking his head, the marines standing there awkwardly and feeling rather useless.

Out of the Guardian’s pilfering of the brute warrior’s corpse, he was able to retrieve another blue orb, identical to the earlier plasma grenade. Outside of that, it seemed the alien had used up what else he’d had in the firefight.

JULIAN seemed to enter a berserk frenzy not unlike that which the brutes themselves had displayed a propensity for. He pursued the captain and his skirmisher commander like a bat out of hell, leaping up after them right at take-off, and he successfully grasped onto the captain’s leg. The added weight stalled the boostpack, which seemed to act as a one-way propellant rather than a sustained jetpack.

“Arrogant...” the captain growled as he looked down with a scowl.

“Your sacrifice is noted,” the skirmisher hissed, and leapt off of the brute, using his head as a launching point to boost herself up almost the rest of the distance, easily a fifteen foot leap, before some small thrusters in her suit pushed her up the rest of the way, allowing the T’vaoan to scramble up the side of the elevator shaft to the next floor, and disappear from view, while the captain was forced to go down with Julian, letting out an infuriated roar as he did so.

When the two hit the ground, synthetic seemed to trump organic in this instance, as the brute was winded by the fall, letting out a grunt as he tried to get up, while JULIAN didn’t require any time to recover - all business. He descended upon his foe with a fury, launching his fist again and again, forcing the jiralhanae to raise his remaining arm to absorb the blows, disallowing him from getting back up into a more advantageous position, baring his fangs as he did so.

“RAAAGH!” The brute roared as JULIAN now made the attempt to separate skull from spine and neck. The alien’s arm came up, prying at JULIAN’s, still exerting great strength. For a moment, it even seemed as though JULIAN’s lapse in rapid punishment would be his undoing, as his arm started to give way under the brute’s pressure. “You believe yourself powerful? Hahaha...”

Despite the pops of bones as he head grew nearer to separation, the brute laughed in JULIAN’s ‘face,’ purple-blooded fangs gleaming. “I am nothing in the face of the Banished. You have seen nothing yet... you only delay yoUR—!”

His taunting was cut short, as his arm gave way to its strength, and his head was pulled clean off with a sickening suction sound, laving JULIAN the undisputed victor in that intense engagement.

As Copen happened upon the scene, he found David had successfully managed to acquire the point-defense gauntlet he’d been seeking. The needler jackal had tucked itself behind its own shield, having let the needles fired at it bounce harmlessly off to hover lazily in various, safe directions. It returned fire to David, but his shield gave the needles the exact same treatment, completely sparing the Spaniard from any semblance of harm. In fact, the needles didn’t even weaken the integrity of the shield in any way.

JULIAN stepped from the shaft, dark purple blood splashed over his front as he acquired the once-disposed-of Ravager, and fired it off toward the other jackal, who quickly brought its shield up. Despite the volatile nature of the weapon, it splashed almost harmlessly off of the shield. However, it had its back to Copen, who fired shots off to it. The alien buckled forward with a sharp caw, just as JULIAN’s initial assault ended, before it swiveled about, its yellow shield barely affected by the remaining shots when it was brought to bear - until Keyes fired off another charged plasma shot. The green energy hissed out to punch the shield, and broke it, the plasma dissipating as the jackal was pushed back a pace with a startled trill.

“He’s all yours,” the captain told Copen as he began to advance, laying suppressive fire on the needler jackal to keep its shield turned toward him, and keeping its attention off of David to give him or JULIAN the opening they needed to finish it off.​

 

[ArmedBlue]

Copen
​

Only the jackals remained by the time he'd returned to the main hall – the skirmisher had managed to get away, while the brute captain finally met his end at the hands of JULIAN, who showed a level of pure violence that Copen rarely saw from an AI. Evidently, whatever this foe had done or said really ticked him off.

The jackals' shields held up remarkably well under the pressure raining upon them, but one eventually gave way to a charge shot from Keyes, the captain calling for Copen to take it down. He gave a nod in return, the cyborg's thrusters flaring to life as he dashed in, firing a burst of plasma toward the unshielded jackal at quickly shortening distances, before finally––

"Ngh!"

He aimed a shoulder check at the avian to finish it off, Copen looking to drive the jackal into a wall with great speed and force, courtesy of his Recoil Dash.​

 

[Fraseandchico]

JULIAN

After firing his shot, JULIAN took a moment, inspecting the arm which had been pried at by the dying Brute prior. The Brute's strength left an impact on the metal, damaging it, leaving JULIAN to let out an annoyed huff.
"As much as I enjoy this, do they have to be so stubborn in death? The nerve..."
Looking back towards the field, the Jackal who had been fired upon by the SPARK unit had blocked it... Only to swiftly become overwhelmed and shield taken down. With Copen targetting that one, that left the Needler Jackal.

It appeared this weapon was incredibly ineffective against shielding, and while the shield did appear occupied, there was always the chance for something JULIAN didn't anticipate. So, keeping the Ravager in one hand, JULIAN surged forward once again - stomping onto the ground on the way - towards the Needler Jackal's side, poised to take advantage of the foe focusing on the randoms (As JULIAN saw them) who had just arrived. He reared his arm back, energy surrounding it, as he let loose another Strike towards the Jackal - This time, to launch the foe upwards at an angle. If the enemy survived the blow, the aim was to force the enemy into the air and leave them exposed.
"I should start keeping track of my kill count here..."

 

[comic]

The unshielded jackal turned to run away, now unshielded and not feeling quite as brave as he had before. Copen’s suppressive fire impeded progress, plasma slugs knocking into his armor quickly and making him stumble, before the Adept Slayer boosted forward with a shoulder bash. The jackal screeched as it went flying into the wall, smashing into it with a snap — one of its legs now bent at an unnatural angle as it fell to the ground.

JULIAN’s strike was a hard hit, and the jackal simply lacked the strength to hold against it. Its own yellow shield was crushed into its body as its arm folded underneath the hit, resulting in a dead jackal flying down the hallway to the closed door where the earlier two grunts had disappeared.

The wall-thrown jackal, meanwhile, wasn’t quite down yet. Struggling to cling on, he reached for the discarded plasma pistol of one of the dead grunts littering the floor.​

 

[ArmedBlue]

Copen
​

While JULIAN's target went down swiftly, the jackal Copen had attacked was still hanging on, albeit barely. It attempted to grab at a new weapon to defend itself, and the young man was quick to sprint over to where the injured foe sat, before he placed a boot on top of the pistol. It'd make for a good replacement for the one he was already depleting - even more now that he was preparing another charge shot.

"You're done."

Offering the avian little reprieve, he let the charge shot fly toward its head. At the moment, he thought it best to finish off any remaining enemies. They still had an escape to complete, not to mention properly free the marines and figure out if anything of note lay beyond the closed door opposite of the control room hall. With how much bigger this battle had been, as well as the skirmisher getting away, it could be a matter of time before reinforcements or further security emerged to stop them.​

 

[Psymallard]

Star Tramp
David was fine just where he was behind the shield as his allies finished the raptors off. Not that he was in the shape to assist them, anyhow.

As Copen blasted the head off of the last bird, the Spaniard stood.

"Ah, there you are. I was wondering if you had gotten cold feet!"

David deactivated his shield and gave JULIAN a glance. The robot seemed pretty beat-up. Who knew how much punishment the AI's chassis could withstand before the Brutes started charging the small fries... David shuddered at the thought. Instead on focusing on the negative, though, he slunk over to the room where the Marines still were held.

David leaned coolly on the doorway, or as coolly as he could with a nasty wound across his shoulder. He was a little pale, but flashed a smile all the same. The starfarer was about to say something, but he noticed that the humans were still in their shackles, which caused David to frown.

"How come you good people have not yet been freed?"

With a scoff, David scooped up the Spiker from off the floor and fired it at the control panel. Destroying the console usually worked. Upon (assumedly) freeing them, the Spaniard grinned and gave the marines another wink. Unfortunately, the adrenaline was starting to wear off, and his aching wound would soon make it more difficult to keep up appearances.

 

[comic]

David, despite his injuries, was the first on the scene. He may not have heard the gruff marine’s advice to Copen, but he seemed to understand the universal language that came with space-age technologies. The heated metal spikes pelted into the control console, busting it up and sending sparks flying. The screens above it began to flicker and sputter as small red lights on the marine’s cuffs and collars winked off, and unlatched.

The soldiers were quick to remove the iron bands around them. “Thanks,” the gruff marine said to David as he approached the Spaniard, rubbing at his hands. “Corporal Freid, UNSC Infinity.”

Before the marine could say much more, Jacob Keyes followed David inside of the room, and upon catching sight of him, the marines collectively snapped to attention, recognizing his insignia. “Captain!” Freid shouted.

“At ease,” Keyes replied, glancing around the room before he gave David a nod, then turned back to the corporal. “What’s the situation, son?”

“Yellow, sir,” Freid answered, his eyes flickering a few times to the captain’s nametag, a name he seemed to recognize. “Putting it brief, sir, we aren’t in the Milky Way any more.”

“Another galaxy?” Keyes narrowed his eyes.

“No, sir. A wormhole gobbled us up. Infinity’s AI, Roland, confirmed we were transported somewhere beyond space.”

Keyes didn’t show his confusion nearly as much as he was feeling it, the experienced man pursing his lips, but stayed rigid. “Infinity? It’s operational?”

“Sir...” the marine swallowed. “The wormhole goes beyond, uh, time. Infinity became operational in 2557... three years ago.”

Jacob Keyes stared back at the marine for a long moment, as though trying to force the man to declare he was joking. When he didn’t, Keyes cleared his throat. “We can discuss this more when we’re somewhere safe...” he turned away, glancing to each of the marines. “I don’t know how much longer we have until reinforcements arrive. Find a weapon and fall in at the elevator in the center room.”

“Sir!” Freid snapped a smart salute before he waved to the other marines. “You heard the man, move out!”

Keyes ground his molars together, thinking hard about what the corporal had told him. The man’s year was 2560, but last Keyes had known, he’d been living in the final months of 2552. The UNSC Infinity was supposed to be a next-generation ship to rival the Covenant supercarriers in direct conflict, but even Keyes with all his decorations and high clearance knew very little about the project, but what he did know was that it was unlikely to be finished before the Covenant discovered Earth.

If this man was from 2560... maybe the war was over. Maybe humanity had even won. Maybe that’s where this Banished came from... some kind of remnant, or splinter faction, like he’d assumed. The Covenant might even be gone, with the Banished replacing them as foes to the UNSC and humanity as a whole.

Keyes looked toward David once more, eyes darting to his wounds, before he raised a hand and stopped a marine passing him by. “Sir?” she asked.

“Do any of you marines have medical supplies?”

“The Banished stripped us of anything of value,” the marine said. “If I had to guess, they’d keep any form of medical supplies or worthwhile items in or around their bunks, or the Warden’s office.”

“And you know where that is?”
“Yes, sir,” she nodded. “It should be just down the other hall.”

“What’s your name, Private?” The captain asked.

“Lorens, sir.”

“We need those supplies, lead us there.”

“Sir!” Private Lorens snapped a salute like Freid had, and hurried her way to the door as Keyes followed in stride, motioning for David to follow while the other marines, including Freid and Bisenti, collected one of the many scattered weapons from a dead Banished soldier in the center room.​

 

[ArmedBlue]

Copen
​

The jackal fell, and Copen swapped out his pistol with the fresh one he'd been stepping on. David commented sarcastically on his late arrival back into the atrium, which the cyborg responded to matter-of-factly as he followed the man.

"The avian that escaped was far more cunning than previous enemies. Let's be on our guard should we encounter them again."

While he was still on-task, he was appreciative of the Spaniard's release of the marines, even if it immediately destroyed the console he'd been hoping to get more out of. Unfortunate, but they'd just have to do without that. Now that things had settled down somewhat and the marines were properly free, Copen listened in to their report. Transported somewhere beyond space...

He thought back to the moments before his first encounter with the Banished. Traveling back from the Grave Pillar through a wormhole summoned by the Razor Wheel's teleporter program. The visions he saw within super-dimensional space, the collapse of the rift, his sudden arrival here – it was all similar in some regard to what the marine described. A world transcending time and space, bringing people of all kinds of backgrounds together...

At the time of arrival, his theory had been that the Nexus from that space-time anomaly nearly a year ago was involved in some form. That had been just a hunch based on his previous experience, but with this new information, perhaps that initial guess hadn't been too far off. Still, he couldn't be completely sure yet.

An AI aboard the 'Infinity' – a spaceship, he assumed – had helped them make sense of the situation. If they could reach that AI, or a similar one under this same UNSC, there was potential of learning more about this world and the nature of their opposition. And, with any luck, this 'Roland' could even help track down Lola's location, being a fellow artificial intelligence. Copen's own sensors weren't picking up her location, it seemed, and he hoped that was not because of battle damage.

In any case, Private Lorens revealed they could obtain medical supplies at the quarters beyond the hall across from there – and that was their next destination.

Wordlessly, Copen followed Keyes, Lorens, and David to the door.​

 

[Psymallard]

Kavarr
Ah, a place beyond space. Nothing David was unfamiliar with- he had visited pocket dimensions and mythical realms before. It didn't trouble the Spaniard as much as it did Keyes. They could learn more once they were out of this military basement.

The topic switched over to treating the nasty needler wound. As much as his ego wanted to reject help and power through, the wound was nasty. It wouldn't heal for another several hours, and hampered his ability to fight effectively. Plus, it hurt a lot. David followed Lorens across the room, slightly embarrassed that he was the only one injured.

 

[PaprusTeuton]

Kazaaak

Kazaaak was deep in thought. He'd been about to die. He was no stranger to near death experiences, but... this person didn't know him. The Captain had known him as a famous thief, the crew was a friend, but this person saved them just because... why? They'd said it was because they were working together, but... that didn't mean anything.

He shook his head. The time to think about that was not in the middle of a prison that they were escaping from. There was discussion over Kavarr's needler wound. He seemed somewhat embarrassed over it. The mantis walked up and followed alongside, and in an attempt to cheer him up, said "Hey, those things are really hard to dodge. Don't feel bad about it." He gestured the various scrapes and other marks on his carapace from the needles that were fired at him earlier.