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

[PaprusTeuton]

Kazzy (Not to be confused with Keezz)

"Gotcha!" cried the most famous Killik clan member as he fired at the first Jackal he saw and... hit a tree. Shortly after, JULIAN and the Guardian emerged, after which gunfire erupted as plasma shots raced towards the Guardian- and Kazaaak! Thinking quickly, the Pirate rushed to the side, barely being caught in the leg by 2 bolts, which while hurting plenty didn't harm him much.

Locking on with his Needler, Kazaaak fired upon the middle Jackal between him and Joth Cur (although he didn't know that name yet). His goal was for then to Supercombine and explode violently, creating room for his allies to shoot/charge at the leader. He communicated this, of course, by shouting "HEADS UP! THAT GUY MIGHT EXPLODE IN A SECOND! TAKE COVER!"

He followed his own advice, hiding behind a tree.

 

[Psymallard]

David Kavarr
-Early Morning, Tiberium Woods-
"This was presumed to be a jackal stash, ¿sì? That is the species I was referring to."

They approached the gaping maw of the cave, which was sprinkled with shell casings. David knelt to pick one up, inspecting it. Not because he didn't know what it was, but because it interested him. Either these creatures were willing to collect anything shiny, or there were likely gunpowder weapons in the area. The latter possibility earned a smile from him.

Though these energy weapons were effective, and the swordsman was certainly grateful for the ""bayonets"" on the end of the Spiker, he had always found himself to be more comfortable with gunpowder. However, the fact that they were spent meant they had to have been fired. Seeing as the Banished seemed to prefer energy weapons, he doubted this was just firing practice- though there wasn't any other indication of a battle. His eyes would constantly flicker back and forth between the casing as he inspected it and the cave.

After a moment, he stood, glaring into the darkness. He felt on-edge. Though he'd brushed it off earlier, being outside the network of planets he was familiar with had him feeling somewhat vulnerable.

"...I do enjoy walking into a dark cave as much as the next person, but pray indulge me for a moment. Come."

David waved him over to the left side of the cave, where the Spaniard raised his weapon towards the mouth and pressed himself against the wall. If Bisenti followed, David would continue with his idea.

"Ca-CAW!"

It did not sound remotely like a jackal's cry- nor any other known avian creature, for that matter. But he was hoping it'd cause some kind of stir in the cave. He listened out for movement, counting on a cave's natural acoustics to carry along even some of the otherwise quieter noises.

 

[comic]

INFORMATION RECOVERY​

—Tiberium Woods (UNSC FOB), Day 2 Early Morning—​

Copen’s fire at the grunt’s backs turned their attention. “Hurt you!” One claimed boldly.

The shotgunned brute became the most pressing concern, however, as he had roared back to his feet and charged toward Copen, closing the short distance rapidly only to similarly receive a face full of plasma, courtesy of Copen’s charged shot.

He stumbled to the side, crashing into and scattering several crates as he clutched at his face with a shout of pain. Now, the first brute had recovered, and while his flesh had clearly blistered over horrifying over his face, he still made to rush Copen as well - only for a bullet to crack his head back, the jiralhanae letting out a garuff as he stumbled back. Kaminski then refocused back on the two grunts, piercing one of their methane tanks with a subsequent bullet, forcing the unggoy to let out a shrill scream and run wildly - before his methane pack erupted, sending the grunt spinning through the air, over one side of the F.O.B. to the other.

One of the scattered crates had smashed open on the platform, scattering a slew of blades and knives previously contained inside. The final grunt fired back at Kaminski, forcing him to evade again as the two brutes, while heavily wounded, were still kicking - and extremely pissed.
​

THE COURIER​

—Tiberium Woods (Ambush Clearing), Day 2 Early Morning—​

Kazaaak’s plan was sound, but unfortunately, the blamite crystals didn’t obey his intended destination. Instead, the pink needles drifted down, aiming for the centermass of Joth Cur - and bouncing off of the jackal shields assembled before him to block just such an attack.

“Stupid insect!” Joth Cur hissed out with a laugh, firing a few carbine bolts at the tree the mantis was hiding behind. “Suppress them, I get Keezz...!”

The advancing four jackals fired relentlessly toward Guardian and JULIAN, focused on the automaton to keep it at bay as Joth Cur then darted from behind his cover, rushing towards the UNSC Captain. Keyes during this time had been returning fire as he backed up, and while plasma was the answer for those shields, he didn’t have the charge to warrant taking any of them out.

“Captain!” Lorens called out as Joth Cur nimbly darted forward, shifting away from her plasma fire as he zeroed in on Keyes. Kazaaak, for the moment, wasn’t under the focus of the jackals following him taking cover.
​

LOST LOOT​

—Tiberium Woods (Skow’r Cave), Day 2 Early Morning—​

“Oh,” Bisenti said as he watched David inspect the spent casings. “Right, yeah. I knew that.”

It was here that David pursued an idea, pressing himself to the wall of the cave’s mouth and waving the marine to him, who hastily joined his side. At David’s ‘caw,’ the sound echoed down the cave, fading and dying out.

“I mean, they’re mostly pirates and thieves. Opportunistic, they like shiny stuff. Uh... matriarchal society, too, only females have positions of power,” Bisenti said after a few moments of silence when nothing returned to answer Kavarr’s call. “They’re sneaky and quick, good snipers too. Them and brutes are the only ones that’ll actually eat you in the middle of a firefight. It’s uh... not pretty.”

As David’s eyes adjusted to the light, he’d notice splatters of something dark on the stone close by. Not human blood, as it was thick and purple, and seemed mostly dried by now.

Still, no sounds came from the cave. None yet, anyway.​

 

[ArmedBlue]

Copen
​

Copen's charged shot ended up going to the shotgunned brute, staggering him, while Kaminski landed a bullet of his own into the other brute.

A hiss and a boom came from below, the cyborg turning just in time to witness a grunt soar through the air. The methane tank on its back had been pierced, causing a violent explosion in moments. He'd have to remember that weakness. Weak as grunts seemed to be, dispatching of them in that manner would likely be optimal, additionally dealing some collateral damage when around other Banished troops.

Refocusing on the wounded brutes before him, Copen dashed forward, swapping the plasma pistol out for the M95 again. Noting the newly-scattered knives and blades nearby, Copen aimed the shotgun at the brute closest to them, trying to blast him center-mass before he could reach for any improvised weapons. Regardless of the result, he would follow up with a second shot to the other brute, taking advantage of their weakened state – albeit it was probably offset by their resilience and rage.​

 

[comic]

INFORMATION RECOVERY​

—Tiberium Woods (UNSC F.O.B.), Day 2 Early Morning—​

BA-THAM!

The nearest brute got his second chest-full of the future’s 8-gauge, this time shredding through his chest properly. A last breath escaped him before he collapsed, smoke drifting up from his bloodied lips. The other brute had quickly recovered from the headshot he’d received, charging wildly once again (thankfully neither had taken advantage of any weapons of their own). Copen turned, aimed, and fired.

The second brute’s head popped like a watermelon, bone and brain matter spraying out of the back of his imploded skull as his corpse dropped to its knees, standing on them for a moment... before the body collapsed at Copen’s feet.

The last grunt simultaneously let out a strangled cry that was cut short as another well-placed shot dropped him, and silence fell over the clearing. Kaminski emerged from the tree line, stepping between the grunt corpses as he approached Copen, ascending the ramp.

With a glance at the brute at Copen’s feet, Kaminski smirked and gestured to the M95 CAWS. “That’s why we in the marines like to call that the Universal Translator. She up to standards with you?”

The F.O.B. clearly seemed to be man-made, as opposed to anything designed by the Banished, as earlier seen at the prison. The console at the other end of the platform beckoned, and flashed with English lettering, further enforcing that this place was once controlled by humans, likely the UNSC.

The screen of the console was a deep red with large white letters across its surface that read ‘SYSTEM LOCKED: HOSTILES DETECTED.’
​

 

[ArmedBlue]

Copen
​

With some well-placed shots, the duo had finally emerged victorious. Copen lowered the shotgun following the brute's demise, his head turning toward the approaching Kaminski, who remarked the effectiveness of the M95, better known as the 'Universal Translator'. He couldn't help but smirk a bit at the marine's words, giving him a nod.

"Certainly. I'll admit, it's more powerful than I anticipated... Good work."

Stepping away from the brute's corpse, Copen moved over to the nearby console. Unlike the ones he'd interacted with in Grakken Prison, this system seemed much more suited to human use, most evidently in its use of a human language. Though, it wasn't quite accessible yet.

‘SYSTEM LOCKED: HOSTILES DETECTED.’

With a hum of curiosity, the cyborg placed his hands on the console, attempting to unlock it traditionally. Had the system locked because it had recently detected combat in the area? That didn't sound quite right. Could the Banished have altered the device to view non-Banished as hostiles? If the latter were the case, maybe he and Kaminski could bring up one of the brutes to the console...

Before trying that, though (and assuming the system had not yet unlocked), Copen would proceed to examine the console itself, looking for any interfaces or signs of tampering to clue into how to access it.​