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

Kazaaak

Kazaaak had briefly hid and taken potshots, but mostly hid. Now, however, one of the brutes was tackling the Engi. And while the Engi wasn't actually as defenseless as most of the Engis that Kazaaak has met, the gigantic mantis in question briefly forgot about this and leaped onto the brute, screaming and firing a few shots from the Pulse Carbine.

Once he landed, he tossed the Carbine away from the enemies (and in the general direction of Keyes), before biting down hard into whatever Kazaaak thought was the Brute's neck.
 
JULIAN

"Oh, that felt good. Imagine if I was human, I would've had to learn how to use this- Oh, you're retaliating." Pointing at the corpse of the Brute JULIAN shot, the robot was caught off guard swiftly by the tackling Brute right after Overdrive ran out. Rather unfortunate.

The head was being crushed by the physically-strong foe. Structural integrity was damaged. Power moved to defending head module. Arms wouldn't move to pull the hands off, there was little chance of being strong enough. Not wasting time doing that was the benefit of not being a prone-to-panic human. The problem, instead, was the Brute was far too close for the Beam Rifle to be moved into position for firing, even once the 5 seconds had passed. With the little human's shots not taking out the enemy but only damaging him, JULIAN figured to take matters into his own hands.
"I did not wish to use this so soon, but you've earned this."
Iniatiting Nova Protocol - Permission has not been granted by CE Lily.
ERROR!
No command available. Passcode required.

******
Passcode confirmed. Confirm Nova Protocol activation?

Y-


Or perhaps no. A second of self-preservation slowed JULIAN's response to the question. Yes, the first use of Nova would not damage it, but it was like being asked to actually use a saved resource. But, above the jiralhanae, the Bug appeared, biting into the Brute.
If JULIAN could've, a smirk would've appeared. Taking advantage of that, JULIAN threw the head of the SPARK forward, intending to headbutt the Brute right after the bite from Kazaaak so that JULIAN could force an escape.
"Took you long enough!"
 

comic

Previously turnt3chGodh34d
Kazaaak’s bite was met with surprising resistance, even for incisors. The brute’s skin was a thick hide, and beneath that was rippling, giant muscles. The fur was also extremely dense, though fortunately, this brute seemed to shave, as he had very little fur unlike his leader, who was woolly.

The bite still met purchase, and purple blood sprayed out. The brute reared his head back with a roar, pulling his arms away from JULIAN’s head, but the moment his skull lowered back down, the SPARK unit headbutted the alien. More purple sprayed from his nose.

The brute staggered back, getting off of JULIAN with a shuddering growl as he reached a lanky arm back, grabbing Kazaaak and flinging him away into open space. He then grabbed at his head, probably to stop the ringing, considering his peanut-sized brain—lot of open space in there.

The brute was left totally open, and while Kazaaak had flung the pulse carbine up to the ledge, it was on the other side of Keyes, as between those two points was a rampaging brute attempting to get ahold of David. It didn’t take a genius to deduce what the purpose of such a grapple was.
 

Psymallard

Previously mallard
David Kavarr
The Spaniard had struck flesh with his shot, having caught the alien in the neck. The brute staggered, giving David a little more time. He noticed in that moment that his weapon was getting hot- it likely needed more than a couple seconds to cool down. Time the human did not have. The jiralhanae had alreadly gotten onto all four limbs and resumed his charge- like a bull.

He could run back into the weapons shop- but the brute would likely outstride him. He could leap over the railing, but the brute would likely flatten him as it followed. He made his choice.

Casting his rifle aside, he copied the brute's ferocious snarl to the best of his ability and sprinted right back at the angry hairball. He was terrified, on the inside, but his faux boldness was all anyone else would be able to recognize in this moment. He just had to keep up the act, and remember how slow these savages were...

Milliseconds before he would be within arms reach of the shaggy extraterrestrial, David quickly feinted left- grabbing the plasma pistol in his pants in the same instance. He had seen how Keyes was able to charge a shot, and held his finger on the pressure sensor. Then, instead of shifting his momentum to the right, his leg twisted as it extended, causing him to hurl his weight up as he backflipped over the relatively low-to-the-ground brute.

The goal was to land on the alien's back and unleash a charged plasma shot into the base of its skull. If the jiralhanae reacted before the shot was cooked, the Spaniard would be perfectly content in kicking off before he fired at his foe. He was a little more comfortable with firearms this size- and if this didn't put the warrior down... David wasn't sure what else would.
 

Gamingfan

Previously Gamingfan2
The Guardian
His shots damaged the alien, but it remained standing and determined to crush JULIAN. Thankfully, Kazaaak came from above and bit into its neck, causing it to roar with such force the knight was forced slightly back. The robot followed up with a headbutt, sending the Brute stumbling back, clutching his head. Sensing an opportunity, The Guardian charged forward, aiming wherever its hands didn't cover.
"Here goes nothing! Shotgun Fire!" he cried, using his weapon skill.
In a near instant, the Guardian's mana would run through the Pulse Carbine, and come out as a potent shot of multiple short-ranged plasma bullets! After which, despite using his mana for the skill, the Guardian would notice the charge of his weapon drop by 10%.
 

comic

Previously turnt3chGodh34d

CAPTAIN KEYES

On one hand, David didn’t have enough time to properly build a charged shot with the plasma pistol. On the other, what he did manage to expel from the pistol was just enough to finally bring the monster down. A splash of green plasma to the base of the unprotected brute’s skull later, and the major let out a wheezing grunt before falling flat on his face, body skidding forward, only coming to a stop when his partially-melted skull pressed up against the wall, making a slight wet squelching noise.

Keyes let out a soft chuckle, looking toward David. “Real pretty. Good work.”

With his free hand, he gave the Spaniard a pat on the shoulder before making for the stairs, looking in the direction of the last brute standing.

“Shotgun Fire!”

In a surprising move, the Guardian had used his own unique ability to empower his pulse carbine with an attack distinctly his own. Normally, the weapon shouldn’t be remotely capable of such a blast, but the gun fired as intended nonetheless - a spray of plasma at point-blank with the final brute.

Plasma ripped through his damaged armor, melting it to his flesh and burning holes down to his innards. The force of the impact staggered the alien back with a sound almost like a snort, before he wobbled... and fell backwards. His body crashed onto the metal underfoot as hard as JULIAN had upon leaping down there.

The skirmish was over. As of now, the ragtag team was sitting at a pretty 1-0 over the Banished.
 

ArmedBlue

Previously Manu456Alola
Copen
"Well done."

In the blink of an eye, the battle had concluded – all four of the enemy brutes were dead, and the team had gotten by with minimal damage. Despite their differences, everyone seemed at least fairly capable. Copen looked at the plasma pistol he held, still shimmering with the built up energy. He could tell maintaining the charge was taking its toll on the weapon's battery, so before it could drain any further, he pointed the weapon at an empty corner and let the shot fly.

From his position on the balcony near the command room, the cyborg took a look around the spacious chamber the group was located in. With no clear entry points from either room on the upper floor, these Brutes had to have come from somewhere – which also meant a potential exit. The doors beside the stairs leading to the cells they'd been held in were an option, but Copen focused on the room around him for now. He glanced up at the slightly obscured ceiling, trying to discern with his enhanced vision if there was any sort of hidden pathway up there.
 

comic

Previously turnt3chGodh34d
“See it, don’t ya?”

A voice spoke right near Copen. Somehow, Big Dab had waddled out of the armory without making a peep, sneaking right up to even the hyper-aware iX without seeming to have tried while carrying two suitcases of... something. Probably weapons. The grunt set one down and raised his hand to point at the ceiling, where Copen could see a pinprock of light.

“Gravlift,” Dabdab explained. He gave a throaty chuckle as he picked his case back up and began to waddle down the stairs. “Only ferries up to four individuals at a time, goin’ one way. You gotta stand right under it and give it a second to recognize what you’re doin’.”

Come to think of it, Big Dab’s accent was strangely... Eastern American. New Yorker, specifically.

“I’ll wait down here ‘till you guys get through the defenses the Warden’s set up for ya, and don’t think he ain’t got one. Go up there, and you’re lookin’ for a mean fight!”
 

Psymallard

Previously mallard
Suave Mercenary
David had landed on his ass, but not before he killed his opponent. Whew. He did not like how close that was. As he got to his feet, he almost fell over again. He stared down at the alien, an enemy he had never faced before. Had he known they were that resilient... His thoughts were interrupted by a pat on his shoulder.

“Real pretty. Good work.”

A grin crept across the Spaniard's face. He gave a small bow.

"You will come to expect nothing less from me."

He shook off the last of his nerves, and then discarded his pistol. David went downstairs, as he heard the fight die down, and he came to find nothing but allies and corpses. He picked up a pulse carbine. He thought he'd want something longer-ranged at first, but these cramped catacombs made him realize that he couldn't get the distance he would have preferred. Something rapid-fire like this would be better for midrange combat- that, and a missed shot would be less embarrassing with this weapon.
 
JULIAN

With the jiralhanae knocked back, the booster on the bottom of JULIAN's legs burst, pulling the SPARK back to the wall and onto his feet. While sliding this way, the Beam Rifle in the hands of the SPARK raised back to firing position, and as soon as he was rooted back in position, the weapon was aimed at the Brute. Lacking high ground made aiming this shot slightly more difficult, but the target was open and staggered. The risk of a missed shot would be getting crushed again.

Urgh. A good target on the body would be needed. The chest would be far too protected on most high-grade armors. While this wouldn't be any issue with the armor-piercing Autocannon, JULIAN was unsure of the Beam Rifle's armor piercing capabilities if it even had any. Not worth the try in this moment. Most species would leave the lower gut less protected to save on costs and still allow for easier movement but JULIAN wasn't sure if that would be considered for these Brutes.
Thankfully for the issues of indecisiveness, the Brute was felled just moments into this thought processing by the Guardian. Given the killing blow, perhaps that deserved a little respect. Also, the Brute was heavy, which in JULIAN's mind cemented the physical advantage.
It was probably worth studying these armors somehow later. Perhaps Keyes would know more, though JULIAN wasn't planning on the others around him escaping too, and besides he'd clearly originally thought this was a different faction - Assuming the Covenant and Banished weren't different names for the same group. Ah, that would come later.
Moving back towards the majority of the group (Mainly Copen, Keyes, and David), hardly a glance spared towards either the Guardian or Kazaaak, as for now, it looked like things were moving ahead, Big Dab coming in to explain the 'Gravlift' while ferrying resources for the vendor's business.

"...Alright, who wants to test those apparent defenses first? Because I must say, this unit's head is not having a good time already." A simple excuse -easily seen through, since the recovery time was ultimately negligable. Finding a good engineer would likely be an easy task, though finding one who wouldn't try to keep him from acting out afterwards would be more difficult. A task to be set aside for later, the list was getting larger.
 

comic

Previously turnt3chGodh34d
At JULIAN’s question, there was a brief moment of silence. It had been made clear there’d be a defense waiting up there for them, and after a scuffle with four brutes, there was understandable hesitance from those gathered. A few shouts came from their original cells, where the brute pup still remained trapped. His calls for help remained ignored.

“Buncha pussies,” Big Dad scoffed as he waddled past them, not really giving anyone a chance to prove him wrong. “If there really IS a big defense up there, I’ll tell ya guys there isn’t. If there ain’t though, then... I guess I’ll just be on my way!”

Keyes eyed the unggoy as he waddled under the gravlift. You’d have to forgive the captain, but his severe lack of trust in any alien wasn’t unfounded. He had watched his entire race be brought to the brink of extinction in a multi-decade war, brought on by a genocidal alien collective - his distrust in extraterrestrials had some ground to stand on.

The gravlift opened up, a blue cylinder of light shining down on Dabdab, who was carried up into the ceiling and whatever lay beyond with his luggage. Once the gravlift closed, there was a moment of silence, before the grunt’s voice could be faintly heard.

“Wow! Sure ain’t no defenses up here! Nothin’ to be worried about!”
 
Kazaaak

The Mantis sighed in annoyance. "Okay, so there's a ton of defenses up there. That lift thing can take 4 at a time, so we'll have to figure out who's going first. Now I would just charge in there headfirst but I did that last time and nearly got fried, so I'll wait for whoever here wants to go with me." The mantis walked over to the gravlift and stood next to it, waiting for others.
 

ArmedBlue

Previously Manu456Alola
Copen
Big Dab served to explain how the brutes had entered the room – a gravlift barely hidden in the ceiling. He then proceeded to demonstrate its functions, waddling to the lift spot seemingly without a care in the world, though assuring he'd warn of any defenses at the top. The blue light carried him up, and after a moment, he called out that there were no defenses.

That meant they had more foes lying in wait up there.

Kazaaak soon stepped next to where the unggoy had been, prepared to take the lift up to the next area, though Copen instead turned around, peering down at the two doors next to where their cells were.

"If we're heading up there, we'd best make sure we've cleared out the floor for any more prisoners. Might not have the chance later."

With that, he leapt off the balcony, thrusters activating to carry him safely down to the lower floor, where he would head in to investigate the leftmost door – the one that had been on the right upon first entering this room.
 

Psymallard

Previously mallard
Spain's Gift to the Universe
The Spaniard was still inspecting his weapon (which was at about 92%) as Big Dab waddled past, clearly in a rush of some sorts. The fellow certainly had a lot of gusto, and David enjoyed his company so far. He watched silently as the unggoy was levitated into the ceiling, and then looked around at the others before the charming accent rang out again.

"Would it not be a shock if he were at gunpoint right now?"

The swordsman chuckled at the scary thought- it was unlikely, but it wasn't like they could do anything if their only route of escape was already blockaded. He meandered over to the gravlift, taking a spot next to Kazaaak.

"Who else? I am not keen on riding alone with a creature that is known to eat heads."

He glanced down at his companion with a grin.

"No offense to you, of course."
 

Gamingfan

Previously Gamingfan2
The Guardian
His shot blasted the Brute's head open, although he impressively staggered back for a second before falling over, presumed dead. Not that this seemed to satisfy The Guardian, who walked over and curiously poked the presumed corpse with his foot. It took a few more pokes before Dab's words caught his focus. The Guardian casted his sight over to the gravlift, where he saw Kazaak and David standing together.

"Who else? I am not keen on riding alone with a creature that is known to eat heads." The Spaniard said.

"Ooh! Me! I will!"

The Guardian eagerly raised his hand as he rushed over to the duo.
 

comic

Previously turnt3chGodh34d
As the Guardian joined Kazaaak and David below the gravlift opening, Copen was heading off to investigate the cells before everyone moved on totally - after all, they still hadn’t affirmed if there were other prisoners. JULIAN was silent, watching the gravlift activate to ferry up the other three.

Keyes would have preferred if the robot had gone with them, but it was a little late for that now... these weren’t soldiers waiting for his orders, so he wasn’t surprised they’d been quick to the gravlift without any kind of plan mentioned.

It might be a suicide mission on their part.

“We’ll be up in a moment,” Jacob told the others, David specifically, tone unable to hide a grimness to it. The funnel of light shone down, and the three individuals were lifted up. To them, it wouldn’t feel like being carried, instead feeling as though their bodies had suddenly become weightless, lighter than the air itself, and they were rising free of gravity’s influence.

“Hold this position,” Keyes told JULIAN before he followed Copen.

Out of the atrium Keyes and Copen entered the stairwell down to the cells that neighbored the hall they woke up in, to the right. There were a total of six different cell halls, judging by the six doorways on the bottom floor. When Copen stepped into the hall, he encountered a hall identical to the first. Twelve cells in total, six down either side, the dark lighting only broken by a festering red hue from the lights in the metal paneling.

Nobody seemed to be in the cells within this hall.

“Let’s make this quick,” Jacob advised Copen, turning and heading back up the hall, expecting the Adept Slayer to head for the next one.


David Kavarr, KazaaakplethKilik, and the Guardian with a Low-IQ Facial Structure were lifted upward and through the circular hole in the ceiling, rising upon a grated platform, painted black, into another large room - the Upper Ward. Notable at first were the four pillars, identical to the individual one down in the Lower Ward. They were positioned uniform in front of them, with the ground sloping upward to bring the ground up by about five feet. At the elevated position, about twelve feet further, was an opening into an empty shaft, no doubt where an elevator would normally be, though it wasn’t there now.

Going left from the elevated position, the wall was done away with to lead into a wide hallway, stacked with glowing fusion coils, energy humming inside of them, and south of them along the wall, west of the Upper Ward atrium, was another door to another section of the prison. Going to the right (east) of the elevated floor was an identical though mirrored story, meaning two connecting rooms.

Additionally, a look to the left revealed a rectangular window, long in length, where a room could be seen through it. Within was some kind of chamber with white walls, and human men could be seen inside, wearing battle-worn military fatigues, their arms clamped down in alien cuffs that covered everything from the elbow to their knuckles. Collars had been attached to their necks, and they all stood uniform with their heads down, bodies facing northward toward a blank wall. More prisoners, like them. There was no obvious way to reach them, meaning it would likely be through the door in the left hall.

Up the floor’s incline, there were barricades positioned, metallic walls for cover, placed haphazardly. Behind them were an array of aliens with their weapons aimed at the three escapees. Two brutes, both bearing pulse carbines, and five grunts. Four of them had plasma pistols, while the fifth was carrying a new weapon, pink spikes emerging from the top of it.

Big Dab could be seen by the three, sitting on the ground in the cover of one of the torture pillars. He waved toward them. “Better find cover!” he warned, just as the Banished forces opened fire, globs of green and blue plasma flying through the air, accompanied by pink crystals. The pulse carbine was a decent enough weapon, with its tracking, but the pink needles were far more advanced, curving quickly through the air to track onto ther targets, capable of swerving around even cover - though they could be avoided by evading at the last second.

[[ OST - Barrel of Monkeys ]]

 
Kazaaak

The enormous mantis began to move erratically, working to avoid all the tracking shots by tricking any predictive system via unpredictability. Kazaaak also screeched incredibly loudly, to try and instill fear in his opponents- although that probably wouldn't work. It was more of a ritual than anything.

All this erratic movement still had a purpose- move forward. As he did so, the mantis fired several shots from his pulse carbine- two at each of the Brutes, and 2 for the Grunt with the new weapon. Kazaaak also tried a somewhat unconventional tactic- he used pulse carbine shots as a kind of point-defense, trying to take out needles and other shots by intercepting them with Pulse Carbine fire. This probably wouldn't work but hey, you don't know until you try.
 

Psymallard

Previously mallard
Uh oh.
Ah, David was right.

He hated it when that happened.

...

The Spaniard took off towards cover as the shots began to fly. As he did, he noticed an unfamiliar swarm of projectiles flying through the air. They were following his movement, like a speedy swarm of bees. Time seemed to slow down. They were primed to intercept David before he made it to the pillar, but with a lunging burst of speed and a twirl, he was able to avoid the first few. He watched as the stream continued to follow him, the missiles swerving around his cover.

With a split-second to react, the quick vagabond kicked a leg up, throwing himself flat on his back- hard. This maneuver knocked the wind out of him, but it earned him an extra moment of life. Gasping for breath, the mercenary realized his upper body was now peeking out of the other side of the pillar.

He braced his boot against said pillar, and fired a burst at the Grunt with the needler. He had no time to aim, and instead hoped one of his projectiles would be guided into its target by its homing qualities. As soon as he did, he kicked off to roll further behind the pillar, and away from another wave of the needles.

The last few were unrelenting, though. David lifted his weapon to block them, having exhausted all other options. Four struck the bottom grip of the gun, which David hoped was just superficial. One snuck past, however, and embedded itself right below David's left collarbone. It soon let out a small explosion, widening the wound and sending crystalline shards into his face, neck, and arms.

Then, he began to bleed. That's when he got his breath back, wheezing as his lungs took in oxygen again. He put pressure on his wound, and one-arm army crawled closer to his cover.

He really wished he had a sword right about now.
 

ArmedBlue

Previously Manu456Alola
Copen
Like they'd suspected, the bottom doorways led to more cell halls – with the first one (besides the stairwell they group first emerged from) being completely empty. Not entirely surprising, but it was good to rule out a possible person to rescue. Against these new, unfamiliar enemies, Copen would rather not leave any innocents to become victims of the brutes' carnivorous tendencies.

"Let's make this quick," Keyes called.

"Yeah." Copen nodded, and he turned to follow after the captain, trying to pick up the pace as they investigated. He wasn't used to being part of a team, truth be told – but he knew the longer they stayed apart, the more likely they were to be picked off. Maybe it would have been best to clear out the bottom floor together before heading up as a unit...


Well, no use thinking about that now. All they could do now was finish their search and join the rest of the group as soon as possible.​
 
JULIAN

"'Hold this position', what do I look like - A turret?!" JULIAN scoffed at Keyes' order, though followed it for the moment. While Keyes and Copen wandered off, JULIAN's fist clenched. As soon as they were out of earshot, though...

"Orders, always orders. So dull-minded, he thinks I need to obey him."
It's the same as the Commander. As Lily's voice in those orders. The belief that, as you are an AI, you are controlled and tamed.
Father would never have acted like this, and even he betrayed me.

Humans. How I inherit their vast monstrosity of control and disposal of the useless.
01010010 01001001 01010000 00100000 01010100 01001000 01000101 01001101 00100000 01000001 01010000 01000001 01010010 01010100 00101110 00101110 00101110

01010010 01001001 01010000 00100000 01010100 01001000 01000101 01001101 00100000 01000001 01010000 01000001 01010010 01010100 00101110
01010010 01001001 01010000 00100000 01010100 01001000 01000101 01001101 00100000 01000001 01010000 01000001 01010010 01010100 00100001
----
The reset module to contain JULIAN's emotions kicked in, shutting out the thoughts of taking revenge for the orders. At least, not to that degree of obsession.

He'd punish them for trying to control him soon. JULIAN swore that true.

It was a very good thing he did not act the same as a human. The SPARK's hands did not move to shield his head from thoughts. His eyes could not show insanity, nor did he have a mouth to frown or show a devilish grin with. The orange light of JULIAN's eye merely flickered for a moment like a blink.
"On the next order, I act on my own terms." Was mumbled.

When Keyes and Copen would return, JULIAN would be standing exactly where they left him, before beginning towards the position to take the Gravlift immeadiately after their first sentences on return, hardly noting it.
 

comic

Previously turnt3chGodh34d
The firefight began, with shots fired on either side. The brutes and grunts either had less self-preservation instincts than the heroes, didn’t care, or simply just didn’t expect return fire, because they collectively held their ground despite their cover as they fired their weapons.

Unfortunately, Kazaaak’s screech didn’t have much effect on them. In fact, they were so unphased by it that they likely heard similar sounds on the regular (not so subtle foreshadowing). Additionally, using the pulse carbine to intercept the needles proved more difficult than expected. Without a living organism for it to lock onto, the orbs sprayed wildly, or simply redirected to go toward the aliens.

One of the grunts went down, plasma melting its mask to its face before blasting a hole open in its torso. The creature fell back in a heap, while David’s wild shots did home in - on the wrong grunt. However, those hits landed as well. This grunt got lucky, its armor taking the hits across its surface. The alien was knocked back, but remained on its feet, firing back with renewed fervor.

When David crawled into cover with his wound, the needler grunt threw up his arms within a cheer. “I got ‘im! I got ‘im! Didja see thats? I got ‘im! Me!”

“Shut up!” one of the brutes barked in annoyance, a few returned plasma orbs kicking into his chest, scarring the armor.

——————

Two halls down, four to go. The third proved empty, as did the fifth. Jacob understood why Copen searched, it could have been the same reason the captain would have done so alone if he had to. To protect humanity at any cost was the world Keyes knew, and he would use his last dying breath to accomplish that, no matter the circumstances. He did not know if that was Copen’s own motivation, or if he simply sought peace of mind, but Jacob understood the need- no, the desire- to protect and save people.

When they arrived at the last hall, it wasn’t quite as empty as the others. One cell was occupied, but the person within wasn’t living. A human male, his body torn open. Half the flesh was missing. Keyes grimaced when he saw it. Brutes hadn’t chewed up that body, brutes weren’t so wasteful. No, it had likely been jackals, though the captain hadn’t yet seen any.

Something caught Jacob’s eye, however. A small device strewn on the ground within the cell, close enough that it could be grabbed through the bars.
 

Gamingfan

Previously Gamingfan2
The Guardian
"Better find cover!"

"Huh-whoa!"
A plasma bullet just narrowly passed The Guardian head, missing its mark thanks to his reflexes. Realizing the situation, the Guardian hit the floor, rolling across it until he reached the cover of another torture pillar. The Guardian would sit up against it, wincing at the burning marks across his body, caused by the few bullets that did land. He peeked out from his cover, memorizing his surrounds before another bullet whizzed uncomfortably close, and he pulled his head back.
Kazaaak had rushed forward, something the Guardian was beginning to accept as a reoccurring strategy from the bug. But it did have melee skills. If Kazaaak managed the close the distance, he could interrupt the oppressive fire they were under.
The Guardian stood up and leaned out of the pillar's cover. Mana surged into the pulse carbine as he lined up his shot.
"Gernade Launcher!" he called out.
His gun would fire three plasma grenades, which would fly into the air, arcing over the battlefield into the Banished side, where they would explode over the aliens!
The pulse carbine's battery dropped by another ten percent.
 

ArmedBlue

Previously Manu456Alola
Copen
Nothing, nothing, nothing.

He wasn't sure what to make of it. Was this group among the first to be brought to this prison? Or had any other prisoners been transported elsewhere? Copen's mind was filled with questions he didn't have proper answers to as they entered the last hall.

...And an answer was what he got when they came across the cells. Only one taken up, but by the gory remains of a human. While the grotesque sight wasn't entirely new to the Luminous Avenger iX, he still found himself frowning – it was a terrible end to come to. He was about to turn back when he took note of the small device left alongside the corpse.

Raising a brow, he crouched to pick up the small object, hoping to glean something from it.
 

comic

Previously turnt3chGodh34d
“Did he say ‘grenade?’” The needler grunt asked aloud as the Guardian fired his jacked up attack on the defensive aliens. The orbs erupted overhead the group, plasma scoring down upon them in a semi-liquid wave. One brute was surprisingly smart enough to do a quick life-saving dive to he side - while the other, and the needler grunt, both screamed out as they were coated in the attack. While the plasma quickly dissipated, it left behind their charred remains.

The last brute was quick on his feet, and began to move backwards toward the left hall, training suppressive fire in the general direction of the group with a snarl. “Rubikis will have your heads! It will be a fine feast!”

——————

Copen retrieved the small device. A quick inspection would let him know that it seemed to be a basic datapad, for storing, transferring, and recording standard data. An essential tool for when communication was limited or couldn’t be transmitted reliably. The datapad unfortunately only seemed to have a single file on it, the device seemingly in a state sorry enough that its other data had been lost or corroded.

The single file appeared to be a field log of some kind, recorded by this marine sometime before his capture and death. The file was under the name ‘PVT R. Perez.’

“He might not have been UNSC, but man... that Redfield was something else. He knew secrets to survival I’d only dreamed of, it’s clear that guy had roughed it in the wilderness more than once. He kind of reminded me of a Spartan, just... without the power armor. He fought good, too, but it was really the way he inspired us. He kept pushing us to fight, and we did. Spartans used to do that for us. I haven’t seen one in a long time, now...
I was one of the first fireteams Redfield rescued when this whole mess started. He seemed to know a little bit about what was going on, more than any of us, and he kept us together.
You can imagine when I heard the report... that Rubikis had taken him down...
That was demoralizing. It was like losing the Spartans all over again. How do you come back from that?
We’re scattered now, trying to fight back, but it feels impossible. The rest of us are grunts, we aren’t leaders. We can do the dirty work, but the think tank? I dunno how much longer we’ll make it...”


There was no other intel to glean from the datapad.

“If that’s all, let’s not keep the pissy robot waiting,” Keyes said, heading for the stairs. He wasn’t keen on leaving the dead soldier unavenged for long.
 

Psymallard

Previously mallard
David Kavarr
Despite him putting pressure on the wound, a good amount of blood was still seeping out. Fuck. David didn't know when he'd get a change of clothes, because now both his shirt and vest were ruined. He glanced over to the Guardian, who seemed to be handling things pretty well on his own. So, the Spaniard focused on his breathing.

He felt a tingling sensation deep in and around the wound. It meant the nanobots were doing their job, and it had been a nearly impossible sensation to get used to at one point. Now, it helped him focus on something besides the pain. And boy, did it hurt.
 

ArmedBlue

Previously Manu456Alola
Copen
PVT Perez of the UNSC – United Nations Space Command, the same organization that Keyes belonged to. There was talk of long gone Spartans, a Redfield... Copen didn't recall hearing of that last one, but the other terms once again sparked that sense of vague familiarity in the cyborg. He didn't quite know the connection just yet, and there were more urgent things to take care of, but things were starting to fall in place.

Keyes headed back the way they came, and Copen followed him into the atrium, where JULIAN remained stationed near the gravlift. He headed up the stairs, stopping near the A.I., before he looked up at where the top of the gravlift was.

"I don't suppose you've heard from the others." Copen said, drawing his plasma pistol.
 
Kazaaak

"Rubikis will have your heads! It will be a fine feast!" cried a Brute. "WE'LL SEE WHO EATS WHO!" Kazaaak yelled in response, firing many blasts of Carbine fire from around cover, almost charging in again, before deciding against it. Instead, the mantis fired the carbine blasts at strange angles, hoping that the homing feature would essentially aim for him, while the weird angles would make it hard to dodge.
 

comic

Previously turnt3chGodh34d
David’s wounds began to make their slow recovery, aided by his world’s nanotechnology. He’d be fine and dandy in some time, but that time wasn’t something they could likely afford given the situation, so an alternative would need to be found soon. Kazaaak kept the pressure on this last brute, and while the big experimented with the abilities of the pulse carbine, its systems didn’t seem quite that advanced in homing plasma technology. A few managed to still curve, but without directly targeting the brute, they spun wildly in a straight line. It seemed they needed to be already focused on a target to function as intended.

Still, Kazaaak’s efforts weren’t for naught, as the brute took some more supplemental damage before he disappeared around the corner, fleeing towards the door into the adjoining room - the room beside the corridor the marine prisoners had been lined up in, the men and women now staring out of the glass with hardened gazes, some in confusion or even mild disgust at the sight of the mantis, some with concern for David, some with hope in the face of a prison break.

And that could be enough to inspire them, should the brute be heading their way.
 

Psymallard

Previously mallard
David Kavarr
The Spaniard listened from behind cover as he heard the popping of seared flesh, and the characteristic sound of retreating footsteps. He peeked out from behind his cover to admire the Guardian's handiwork for a moment, before he went back to focus on his wound. Kavarr removed his hand from the main puncture to find that the bleeding had started to peter out. He reapplied the pressure anyways, and with a groan, pushed himself to his feet. He was starting to feel a little woozy from blood loss, but he managed.

The swordsman turned, but stopped halfway as he acted as though he had just noticed the marines in the other room. Seeing as how they were concerned for their hero, David gave them a reassuring smile. He shot a small wink at one of the more attractive female marines, and then spun on his heel to get on with business.

The swordsman stormed over to Big Dab, brandishing his gun, but he didn't aim it at the weapons dealer just yet.

"Oye, you sleazy shit-nugget! What happened to building good rapport? Was it only to ensure we would not blast your head off in the moment?"
 

comic

Previously turnt3chGodh34d

BIG DAB

The grunt had remained unharmed as the heroes fought the morsel of a Banished blockade, and once the brute had taken off, he clambered to his hooves only to find David Kavarr turning on him. The beady red eyes of Dabdab betrayed no emotion, not uncommon for the unggoy species. Not only was a good part of their faces usually covered by a breather of some sort, but they lacked the facial muscles to express in the way a human might.

David was very unhappy, and from the weapon master’s perspective, it was entirely unfounded.

“Ya got hit, big whoop,” the grunt chimed back. “I warned ya there was a defense up here, didn’t I?”

The grunt began to waddle away, headed for the fresh corpses. “Humans... always blaming everyone else when things don’t go their way. Here,” he picked up the needler off the ground, then moved to shove it into David’s arms for his use.

“It’s called a Posu’gelka-pattern needler, but just call it a needler, everyone does. Guided munitions lock onto targets, as you found out. The crystals vibrate then explode, and if you cluster enough of those all in one place...” he mimed an explosion with his heavy arms. “Ya get the picture, we call it ‘pink death.’ If you’re still worried about that wound, there’s some biofoam canisters that got looted from a UNSC cache in that room over there.”

He gestured toward where the last brute had run off to. “Right where he ran off to.”

However, the moment of silence was quickly ended, as the door at the opposite hall suddenly hummed before it slid open, and a troop of grunts began to waddle out, five in total. Their weapons weren’t yet raised, meaning they were oblivious to the jail break, for the moment.

“I’ll leave it in your capable hands,” Dabdab bowed to the group before he waddled over behind cover again, where he’d left his cases.
 
JULIAN

"Nope, I'm going to check now." JULIAN quickly told Copen, readying his weapon as he went to move via the Gravlift, letting it carry the SPARK unit upwards. There was some mild excitement, but mostly spite that prevented the robot from bothering to wait for Copen and Keyes. In truth, perhaps he should've paid attention to whatever noises were up there, but JULIAN had been too busy fantasizing- SIMULATING, ripping the spines out of those who tried to order him.

Going upstairs, there was a lot to happen. The moment JULIAN spied the corpse of a grunt, he yelled in bloodlust.
"ALRIGHT, WHERE'S THE BLOODSHE-"
Ah.
It was remarkably quiet for a second after he arrived. Did he just miss the majority of the battle? Seriously?!
Oh, well. At least there were the scraps. Oh, and those prisoners.
He had arrived just in time to hear Big Dab's words, too. Clearly not directed at him, given his sudden arrival, of course.
“I’ll leave it in your capable hands,”

Oh. I think you'll find this is in MY capable hands.
"Well, I certainly won't make myself a fool. The saviour is here, after all, with all the freedom entailed!"
Talking a big talk for someone completely out of cover. Normally, these unprepared Grunts would've been perfectly placed for a shot with the BIT's Rocket Launcher, however the BIT's unavailability made that option null. Not to mention, Overdrive was still on the recharge. Raising the Beam Rifle, JULIAN aimed down the magnified scope, attempting to fire straight towards the skull of one of the Grunts. Right after, the plan was to trudge forward, letting whatever panicked shots came his way strike... And to channel it all back with the channelling field, empowering the beam rifle during it's 5 second grace period.
 
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Gamingfan

Previously Gamingfan2
The Guardian
His attack broke up the Banished formation, giving his allies the chance to finish them off.
Well, mostly. A brute remained alive and started fleeing. Seeing this, the Guardian gave chase.
"Hey! Come back here!"
Before he could turn the same corner, however, another door opened to make way for multiple grunts.
Uh oh.
The Guardian raised his weapon as he backed up, hoping to get the first strike as he fired a few shots at the grunts before turning the corner and going back to the chase.
 
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comic

Previously turnt3chGodh34d
A few stray plasma orbs pelted out toward the collection of incoming grunts, the unaware aliens jumping in a delayed reaction of surprise, the lead one taking the brunt of all the shots, pelting him back with a groan, his armor sizzling, but he wasn’t quite down as the grunt directly behind him was thrown to the ground, the brief string of a particle beam sizzling in the air for a split second.

As the first grunt recovered, the other two raised up plasma pistols and began firing toward JULIAN. “Hey, we’s got the problem right here!” one of them screeched.

This was enough to call the attention of three more brutes who lumbered out of the same room the grunts had come from. While two of the new brutes seemed to be the normal rank so far encountered, the third had bulkier armor, though less of it, and matted black fur along his body, thick and mangled. A strip of armor covered the lower half of his face, and as he caught sight of JULIAN, he pounded his fists mightily against his chest before letting out a roar and charging forward like a crazed maniac, arms flailing as he uncaringly flung the wounded grunt out of his way, leaving it to skid to the other side of the room with a cry.

The Berserker Brute leaped toward JULIAN with his fists flying, aiming to deal as much damage as possible with seemingly no care for his personal well-being. The other two Warrior Brutes, meanwhile, trained their attention on David and Kazaak, as well as Copen and Keyes when the two men came up after the homicidal robot. The brutes were carrying pulse carbines, and combined with the frenzied shots of the frightened two grunts, there was plenty of plasma blitzing through the air.

Once Keyes and Copen had arrived on the upper floor, they were being hounded almost immediately. Quickly, Keyes dove for cover behind one of the many pillars, charging up a heavy shot with his plasma pistol. Catching sight of the wounded David, Jacob pursed his lips - and then noticed the nearby room of marines. The captured soldiers had moved to the exit door of their holding room, gathered on either side. They were expecting to get out, and were prepared to leap at a potential attack that came through it. Without armor or weapons, there wasn’t much else they could do.

“Sitrep,” Keyes asked David, but it was Big Dab the grunt who replied first.

“Getting shot at, what’s it look like?”

The captain stunted an exaggerated response, instead peering around cover to line up his next shot, and hopefully give his allies some needed support - especially when he noticed the charging bull of a brute closing in on JULIAN. Too risky of a shot, so Keyes let his charged plasma fly toward the other two brutes, the green plasma splashing over one of their chests, knocking him back a pace with a groan as his armor was almost melted through.

Keyes went back into cover, failing to notice the heavily wounded grunt getting back to his feet with a struggle nearby, eyes an angry orange, ready to try and maim someone - unless it was the brute who’d thrown him, probably.

Meanwhile, the Guardian had split off from the group in pursuit of the fleeing brute, paving his way down the left hall and toward the connecting door, which hadn’t even closed as he reached it. Upon sprinting in, the young knight would be faced with another control center of sorts, like what David, Copen, and Keyes had found. Panels and controls lay about with holographic screens depicting cartography and data. A door to the left in the room obviously connected to where the marines were being held, but two red lights in the corners of the door indicated it was likely locked.

The fleeing brute had reached the end of the control room, where a short tower had been placed, clearly an emplacement. Its front was open, revealing two weapons inside, and the brute had tossed his original gun for something new. A medium-sized weapon, with two blades protruding from its belly. It seemed more barbaric than the other sleek and organic designs of the weapons seen so far.

Additionally, the brute wasn’t alone in this room. A new kind of alien was found at the front of the central control panel, a mane of feathers protruding from the back of her head and neck, red and vibrant in contrast to her dark grey skin, her face curving into a beak, but her dark crimson mask and sleek armor concealed much else of her. Feathers stuck out of her exposed elbows, and upon the back of both of wrists were extendable dual blades made of wicked metal - a new weapon.

The skirmisher turned her gaze sharply upon the Guardian as he entered, before she seemed to click her tongue and quickly withdrew two weapons from her hips - dual needlers. She opened fire, a flurry of pink crystals homing in on the lad while the brute did much the same with his new weapon. The foot-long metal spikes it fired glowed a bright orange, and even the thick metal walls of the room were pierced by the spikes, embedding halfway in - so likely, they’d treat Guardian’s armor similarly.

With a hail of projectiles coming for him, it might be wise to take cover to avoid the initial onslaught.
 

Psymallard

Previously mallard
Diablo Disfrazado
David discarded his pulse carbine, grabbed the needler from Big Dab's claws, and a small smile creeped back to his face.

"Alright... Apology accepted~"

As the party of unggoy waddled in, David paid them little mind as he waltzed behind cover. He peeped back out, to find that his lovely robot friend and three brutes had joined the fray. He trained his weapon on the jiralhanae that was firing at him and fired off a cool 5-6 crystals in return before ducking back behind cover. He figured the explosive crystals would be more effective than plasma had been on these beasts. He saw Copen and Keyes appear next, and waved at them with his bloody hand.

"Hey! Better late than never, am I right?"

With a sarcastic chuckle, the mercenary's eyes slid over to the nearby grunt. Aww. Poor guy still wanted to prove himself. The methane-breather seemed to sense David's gaze, as the two locked eyes. The grunt was infuriated further. It waddled towards the human, and the Spaniard checked his ammo. Did he really wanna waste a bullet on this little guy? Compared to the brutes from earlier, this guy seemed like he wasn't worth it. Instead, as the alien got close, David would deliver a swift kick with his long leg, aiming to plant the hard heel of his boot squarely in the forehead of the creature.
 

ArmedBlue

Previously Manu456Alola
Copen
Up through the gravlift they ascended – and into a raging firefight.

In tandem with Keyes, Copen rushed for cover behind another of the large pillars, taking in the situation as he prepared a charge shot, an injured David greeting them sarcastically. Enemies poured in from a hall on the right, with a particularly animalistic brute charging at JULIAN. To the left, a room holding several human prisoners, and another hall nearby likely interconnecting with it. Kazaaak was in sight, while the Guardian wasn't, likely having entered the hall to the left.

Those soldiers, albeit disarmed, were safe in their current position. Freeing them right now could put them at risk, so Copen instead focused on pushing up and beating back their opposition. Thrusters flaring up, the Luminous Avenger iX dove out from the pillar, headed for one of the barricades placed a little further ahead on the incline.

From there, Copen would peek out of cover and let loose a charge shot from his plasma pistol, aimed at the head of one of the brutes toward the back of the group. He hoped JULIAN could handle the berserker long enough for iX to support with another charge shot. Something told him he'd need the heavier damage against that one.
 
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