Radiance Ch2: Talon V Massacre (hint, hint)

[RangerAidan]

ooc: and alas, I am late again.

The smooth, blue-white tunnel of the warp conduit collapses quickly and ordertly back into the brilliant pinpricks of stars on the fabric of space. A reddish planet loomsin front of the "Roc"s cockpit plexisteel. The ship's intercom switches on
Attention, Captain Holliday, we have returned to realspace and manual controls are unlocked. Talon V is within visual range.
Says the smooth, pleasantly feminine voice of the ship's computer. The crew of elites, either laying down or sitting up in their tight quarters in the aft, hear the announcement. Their armor, charged, waits in the cargo bay along with fully locked and loaded weapons.


ooc: alright then, take 'em in. The rest of you had best get suited up.

[Psycho Mantis]

Thank ya ma'am. Holliday says to himself. He fastens the straps on his flight helmet and activates his visor. The grey-tinted visor slides over his eyes from the front of his helmet. Co-ordinates, numbers, and text begin to scroll across the inside of it.

'Longshot' attaches his Scion rebreather to his helmet, a bulky black metal piece with slits in the front. He pushes it to his mouth and speaks.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. He crackles over the ship intercom. Talon V is 5 klicks off our starboard. We'll be entering orbit in T-minus 2 minutes. Initial readings indicate some atmospheric disturbances over Talon V. Looks like we'll be in for some chop.

He lets the com-unit built into his rebreather fall back against his shoulder, and cracks his knuckles. Swiftly he plays his hands over the ships controls, his fingers dancing in lightning quick motions as he begins preparations for orbital entry.

Vector locked...adjusting internal compensators. He says to no one in particular.

Computer, set gravity compensator in the cockpit to 95%.

Yes, Captain. The computer responds from behind him. He liked to be able to 'feel' the ship, and so he always set the gravity reduction settings lower than most pilots. It gave him an edge in maneuverability, but he had to be careful not to black-out. That’s what the rebreather was for.

He continued his pre-entry preparations. Adjusting thruster speeds...

[slightly aboveaverage man]

ooc: nice quote from the X-wing series there. :D

ic: Krennel walked into the cargo compartment and put on his equipment, double checking everything as he went. he paused just as he was attatching his holsters to his thighs.

I can feel them.
he said ominously.

Like a dark cloud stretching over the entire planet.

he then sat in the corner of the launch bay... leting the rage build.

[lazy man]

Mike was suited up and ready to go. He double checked his rifle just in case. Extended clips, check. Scope, working. Safety, on. Everything was fine. He sat down, ready to start shooting stuff.

[Tenjin Matsukaru]

Ashan calmly suited up despite the jolting and shaking of the ship. He checked his wrist blades and then activated his HUD "Ashan S'jet reporting: ready to rock and roll"

[Psi_Zeta]

He sat quietly in his seat his eys closed as he was deep in meditation. He had set up all his weaponry earlier his twin guns strapped to his thighs, his father's rifle sitting on his lap, and his wrist blades feeding off his mental powers. He was prepared for the oncoming storm. It is time for the holy fires to scour this planet clean of this dark infestation. And so from the skies came down the angels of justice and with their cleansing fires they destroyed all that was impure.

OOC I have a flair for the theatrics at the moment leave me alone... I know it's cheesy

[Psycho Mantis]

Reports filtered in from his earpiece within his helmet. Holliday pulled the control stick, slowly veering the ship towards Talon V. The bloated planet crept into view from the right, now massive and unavoidable.

Orbital entry in T-minus 1 minute. If you want to survive entry, I suggest you grab a seat before we hit the atmosphere. He says through the ships intercom.

[slightly aboveaverage man]

Kyle rose from the corner, a fire burning in his eyes, he did not take a seat, instead he telekinetically latched himself to the deck.

[Tenjin Matsukaru]

Ashan strapped himself in and glanced around the room, waiting for the call to deploy.

[Psi_Zeta]

He grinned as he strapped himself into his seat now fully prepared for battle.And so it begins. The angels of justice begin their descent into the world filled with the impure and evil. Lo' there shall be a cleansing battle in which I will be kicking some major Gurz ass. Let's go go go go!

[RangerAidan]

Christine simply sat, fastening her gloves, and strapping into one of the wall harnasses, a wicked grin speading across her face as she switched on the generator in her plasma rifle, the dull hum rising in pich to a dire whine, and disappearing into ultrasound noise. (think the sound of the ghostbusters' proton packs activating)

[Psycho Mantis]

A low rumbling filled the ship as wisps of atmosphere begin rushing past the cockpit. The rumbling increased as the vessel gained momentum and was pulled into the gravity of Talon V.

The ship began shaking from disturbances and currents in the atmosphere. A large shudder ran through the ship.

Holliday kept his hands on the controls, calmly guiding the vessel through the turbulence. A flashing message popped up on his visor.

Hold on! He said helpfully. The hull groaned as the ship jerked violently, as if hit by a missile. The shaking intensified. The rumbling of the ship crescendoed to a deafening roar.

Then, suddenly, they were through the worst of it. The ground of the planet was vaguely visible many miles below.

The rumbling died away to a hum and the shaking ceased. The ship glided down swiftly towards the surface.

Loading drop point co-ordinates. We'll be setting down in 45 seconds! Get ready to rock and roll! His voice barks over the intercom.

[RangerAidan]

The craft sets down with a thunk, steam hissing out from the landing gear as the antigravity field disengages. The computer chimes in again
quarter-mile perimeter scans show minimal life signs, probable gerzling scout activity within 500 meters. Awaiting depressurization and cargo bay opening commands.

-The landing site is about 2 miles from the edge of the settlements, which themselves are built all the way up to the hill the fortress is constructed in. The whole trek is about 5 miles through farms and moisture harvesting plants that were once busy, but now show no signs of life, friendly life, at least.
-Talon V is topographically, very similar to Mars, but with frequent oases and a reddish tint to the sand. Teh air is breathable, and temperatures are stable around 92 degrees F this time of year. Your suits should keep you comfortable, though.
-Aside from the info I already gave to mantis, we're dealing with aliens very similar to the zerg, but with some additions, to include the drones from the Alien Trilogy. If you don't know the name or description of something I present, just ask about it.

[IHateMakingNames]

OOC: Forgot about this RP... And is - OOC for you?

IC:

Kelic stood up from his seat in the corner of the ship, then approached the bulk of the group. "I'll go scout."

[slightly aboveaverage man]

Kyle stepped forward.

I'll join you. You take East, I'll take West?

he turns to Christine.

Any special orders?

with that he pulled out his pulse rifle and it switched on.

[RangerAidan]

I want at least one rifleman and at least one fighter in each search team. Let's scure the landing site and proceed to the objective.
she said, pulling down a small eyepiece from her helmet.

[lazy man]

"And what's my job at the moment?" Mike asked as he got up and stretched as much as he could in his armor.

[RangerAidan]

What you do best. Scope out the field and provide necessary cover. For the moment, at least.
She responded, opening the cargo bay door.

[slightly aboveaverage man]

Kyle activated his cloak and exited the cargo bay, scanning the surrounding area with both his eyes and mind.

All clear.

and he started heading westward.

[RangerAidan]

Christine climbs into the main cargo bay and a rumbling is heard throughout the ship, as the main loading platform in the ship's rear drops and she glides out in the seat of a hover bike.
Silenced emitters and drive engines, for covert ops, everyone.
She revved the fusion drive, which let a small whine out of the back of the bike (think speeder bike, but bulked up to carry heavier loads.)
Hurry up the prep, this ship's got to be running CAS (Close air support) for the escape. That means in the air within 1 miunute. People to save, folks!

[lazy man]

Mike climbed on top of the ship and started to look around the surrounding area, not seeing anything of interest. He didn't see anything at all and this was supposed to be a hostile area. It was starting to piss him off at how icredibly quiet it was, even though the Gurz were know for taking over planets in very short amounts of time.

[Tenjin Matsukaru]

Ashan glanced around "Okay... so wheres all the storming down the landing ramp, guns blazing much to the delight and admiration of the female colonists?" He looks around again and shrugs "guess that comes later"

[lazy man]

As Mike looked again, he thought he saw something strange near a settler's house. The ground looked different and it didn't look like the right color or texture. Then he saw something start to move from that area. He couldn't see what it looked like, but whatever it was was coming right in their direction. "I've got something people. Looks like our favorite lilttle things have begun to show themselves," he said into the com.

[Psi_Zeta]

He stepped down and out of the cargo bay leading a small speeder. It is big enough to carry him one other person and his equipment.Let's do this thing.

[Psycho Mantis]

Holliday stayed in the cockpit, monitoring sensors and indicators.

He patched into the Christine's headset frequency. Commander, Longshot standing by for dust-off on your signal. Beginning sensor sweep of nearby area.

[slightly aboveaverage man]

I see it.

Krennel ran to the top of a rock and knelt down, taking aim with his pulse rifle. he closed his eyes, tracking the thing with his mind.

he fired.

the blast was guided straight into the head of the blur, stopping it dead.

Tagged it.

he stalked up to the now dead alien.

looks like we got a Gurzling.

[Tenjin Matsukaru]

Ashan looks at the mangled Gurzling and shakes his head "No matter how many times I see these bastards they still look just as damn ugly." He looks up towards the settlement "I suggest we get moving, this one was a scout so more shouldn't be far behind it"

[RangerAidan]

harnassing her plasma rifle across her back and mounting a speeder bike, Christine says into her helmet mounted comm unit
Roger that, Captain, we're clear. Dust off ASAP, just keep the sky clean for us, eh?
Turning now to Ashan, she says with a smirk
Do I look like a boring person? We'll stay covert through the expanses of the settlements as much as possible, but judging by the time since incursion, we'll have some slime to splatter in about 2 minutes.
as she revvs up the bike, saying one last thing
mount up! I've got one more seat here, and we've got no time to lose!

ooc-enough speeders have been unloaded for everyone to get a ride

[Psycho Mantis]

Roger, Command. He says, pulling up on the controls.

The powerful engines come to life, spitting fire and pushing the ship off the ground. A whirlwind of dust swirls away from the engines like mini tornados.

The ship roars overhead.

Holliday activates the ships powerful weaponry, slaving the weapons to track targets via the HUD built into his visor. Bill tests his work, moving his head from left to right and watching the gunnery follow his movements.

He grins to himself.

[slightly aboveaverage man]

Kyle leaped onto the back of Christines bike, Cloak still activated.

I managed to scout about 700 meters before I found the Gurzling, I don't sense anything nearby, but if one's here, there's sure to be a nest within a few klicks. I suggest we take extreme caution. You keep driving, and I'll keep watch.

with that, Kyle relaxed in his seat, and concentrated on probing the surrounding areas with his mind.

[Tenjin Matsukaru]

Ashan smiled to himself "ah yes the splattering, nothing like iit for releasing much uneeded tension" He ambed over to a bike sat on the back.

[lazy man]

"I'll stay here. I don't think I'll be very useful close up," Mike said as he found a good hiding/sniping spot.

[Psi_Zeta]

Tau clenched his fists and his blades extended.My blades they hunger for the blood of these Gurz. He let the blades slip back in and revved his engine softly.

[RangerAidan]

Good stuff.
Said Christine as she tore off in the direction of the settlement, leaving a small cloud of dust in her wake.
Eyes open, Kyle
she says, the red ground blurring under them as the suspect settler's home gets closer and closer, it perversion becoming more and more apparent.

[Psycho Mantis]

Holliday had the ship keep pace with the speeding bikes. The colony rapidly growing closer and closer.

His sensors were off the charts. He was getting contacts from all over the place, but it was all blurry. He couldnt pin anything down.

He patched into the squads headsets.I'm getting some weird signals. Whatever's in that colony is putting out some kind of interference. I'm reading multiple signals, but I cant pin them down. Keep your eyes open, I'll watch your backs.

[slightly aboveaverage man]

Kyle sat, searching the lay of the land with his mind.

I feel it, Holiday. something is ahead, we may want to change direct-


his eyes shot open.

Christine! Hard to port now!

[RangerAidan]

She banked hard on the speeder's handles and leaned low to the left, the sharpp direction change causing the frame and antigravity modules to give a small whine in protest, (think the screech from the speeder bikes from Star Wars) a sound that doubtlessly alerted whatever else was waiting in the colony. She took a wide arc to the left and around to see what she had missed...reapers, gurz tactical units. (they look similar to zerg hydralisks). They got the name from the scythe-like forearms under the retractable headpiece that could spew spines at extremely high velocities.
Good call
she talks into her comm unit to the rest of the squad
take care of it on the way, it's looking at us right now.

[slightly aboveaverage man]

Kyle activated his comm.
Mike, do you think you can snipe it from where you are?

As he spoke he slowly pulled out one of his phase pistols and locked it on one of the Reapers.

[IHateMakingNames]

"Let's just kill them and be done with it." Kelic said into his comm.

[lazy man]

"Yeah, no problem," Mike said as he took aim. He shot one right in the head and quickly aimed at another.

[slightly aboveaverage man]

Think about this Kelic, if the whine of the engine didn't bring down the whole nest on us, a close range gunshot would. better to take 'em out quietly. Kyle muttered into his comm.

He then focused his mind on several nearby rock formations. he telekineticly pulled out a small boulder and hurled it at another reaper, crushing it's skull , before sending the boulder flying into another one.

[IHateMakingNames]

"Then stop curshing them with rocks and let me handle it." Kelic said before turning his bike off and activating his claoking suit. Quickly yet quietly, Kelic began to sneak up on the Reapers, waiting to see if the boulders would stop so he doesn't get hit by friendly fire.

[RangerAidan]

good intuition, and nice shot, but cool it with the rocks, don't want to hit our own man.
she said into the comm, maintaining a wide, but narrowing circular path towards the reapers, in case kelic needed help.

[GM mode]
The remaining 2 reapers stood on their serpentlike "leg," hissing angrily at the circling bikes, shifting around the upside down craters they had made upon bursting from their burrows. Their sunken eyes glint in the sun, a vile glob dripping from their jaws. The large heads opening in preparation to attack with their vicious spines.
[/GM mode]

[Psycho Mantis]

The "Roc" roared by on an attack run.

Explosions raked the sand around the Reapers. The skull of one exploded like a watermelon, spewing fluids and brain matter. The high powered blasters mounted on the ships wings spilled their deadly fire into the beasts, punching jagged holes in their flesh.

'Longshot' grinned under his rebreather.

He pulled the ship hard to port, circling back to the squad. One of the Reapers twitched and began pulling itself back to a standing position, despite massive wounds in several places.

Gah! He said under his breath.
Looks like you got one still twitching, there.

[Tenjin Matsukaru]

Ashan lept from his speeder, activated his blades and slammed into a Reaper stabbing it with his wrist blades over and over until they both contacted the ground, the reaper of course now a mangled wreck. The speeder in the meantime had coasted to a pleasant stop 50 metres away. The young Charon narrowed his eyes at the other Reapers and grinned "Alright who's next?"

[Psi_Zeta]

Tau stopped his bike and moved off the bike in a relaxed manner as he extended his blades. A great grin appeared on his face as he charged a Reaper.

A burst of acidic spit erupted from the reapers jowls. He started to grin bigger as he used his Psionic ability to push himself off the ground sending him over the acidic breath and behind the reaper. May you fester in HELL!!! He spins around with his blade fully extended and lops the head of the reaper off.

[slightly aboveaverage man]

Kyle reholstered his weapon after the last Reaper had been killed.

I think we should head east for about two klicks before heading back on course. I feel that something's comming our way and it would probably be wise to go around. he said to Christine, making sure all hints of his exhaustion were disguised.

Damn. he thought to himself. It gets harder every time.

[RangerAidan]

That did seem a little easy...but we can't lose any more time. Mike, mount up and stay about one klick behind us until we enter the fortress. We won't take the main road, but going around is too long of a trip
She looked at the settlement, the fortress looming beyond, considering her options.
along the ridge running throuhg the east side of the settlement. Strategic high ground, and a straight shot to the fort, albeit a little treacherous...

[lazy man]

"Alright, I'm coming," he replied as he climbed onto the only bike left and sped after the group.

[Psi_Zeta]

Tau mounted his bike and nodded as he recieved his orders and followed close to the front his eyes ever watchful for movment in the horizon. They are near I can feel it in my blood.