[RP][Rise][M] The Woman Who Sold the Galaxy
Mar 7, 2017 11:53:47 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2017 11:53:47 GMT -6
“Fuck me.”
That was all June had to say on her current predicament. And really, what else was she going to say? Here she was literally tripping over… hell, it really was Siska. How many years had it been? How many decades? So much time gone by since she’d last laid eyes on the only person who June had considered a friend after her entire way of life was ripped out from under her. Still looking as young as the day they’d met aboard that damned elf’s ship, yet still bearing the weight of an entire lost world upon her shoulders. The screams of a billion dead echoed inside those eyes with just as much volume, even this much farther on.
And it occurred to June as she scrambled to her feet, grabbing Siska by the arm so as to drag her away from the encroaching horde of cosmic monster spiders that was currently ripping apart this flying spacedock, that this was a woman who couldn’t turn down the chance to make a joke. “I know, I know, you can’t fuck me!” Her shout barely rose above the din of gunfire. “Never wanted you to try!”
If Rouse had any retort, it wasn’t audible to June as they dove for safety. Of far more concern was their fighting retreat, the rush of her team to get themselves behind the soon-to-be-sealed bulkhead before they were overwhelmed by the spider-horrors that swarmed over every inch of the corridors before them. And for a moment, they were met with some measure of success - ice walls and armor-piercing weapons proved to be a hell of a delay. June’s respect for these people was rising from nothingness into somethingness quite rapidly - they may have been some real assholes, but Hail and John could sure as hell fight.
Others were met with less success. Before her eyes, their canine companion was beset by one of the monsters springing forward, punching through the ice block with ease. Blood flew into the air as its spike rammed through his chest cavity, the entire assembly of beast and arachnid flying forward and tearing through the outer hull like so much tissue paper. They tumbled into the air, the spider screaming as Marx realized that his final moments would be as long as they were agonizing.
Now he threatened to take the rest of the team with him.
The sudden rush of force, air from the station whirling out into the thinner upper atmosphere, was almost in perfect concert with a massive explosion from the other end of the station, one that sent quakes across the entire hulking airframe. Metal screeched under the strain as the rhythmic hum of the turbines that kept this place afloat were at once silenced, the destruction of their main power source rendering them mere giant shards of steel, unable to sustain themselves any longer. In an instant, the entire platform began to lose altitude, tumbling over into the perfect angle for June and her team to find themselves falling right towards the hole that Marx’s death had resulted in.
The sythoid could not find a handhold before she fell into the open air, a situation that every other living member of her team - and quite a few civilians - suddenly found themselves in. Debris and cargo rained all around them as the station hurtled towards the surface, mere minutes away from an impact that would level an entire sector below. In the panic as men and women screamed in the face of death, June’s brief flailing allowed her to latch onto the nearest person: John, currently still the best-armed out of all of them to deal with the mobs of spider-horrors that still dove after the survivors, pushing off chunks of falling debris to gain lateral momentum.
A million variations of the words ‘fuck’, ‘shit’, ‘ass’, ‘cunt’, and ‘dick’ were flying from the sythoid’s mouth as she latched one hand tight around John’s leg, the other holding out her pistol in order to unload several pulse blasts onto a creature diving for Siska. With a flick of her neck, she switched her built-in comms to the channel their mech should’ve been on, her eyes briefly flashing over to the sight of their target, the bulky cargo ship they’d come for, hurtling downwards at terminal velocity, the cargo crates with their bounty floating out into the air. It was so very, very near, yet so incredibly far - even for Hail, who now rushed down halfway between June and the ship, the sideways movement required would’ve made for a tricky proposition.
“Manakel!” she yelled as a kick pushed away one of the beasts who’d gotten way too close for comfort. “Need some help not falling to our deaths here!”
---
If the station team was having a party, then the embassy team was at a goddamn rodeo.
If June had been there, she would’ve been suddenly thankful that their employer had selected a group of individuals so hardy in battle. They were quick to address the screaming monsters trying to rip the group apart, starting with
Frank, ever the dependable ursine, was far faster than his rolls of fat might have led one to expect in his engagement of another creature. Bear hands proved to be shocking effective at causing sudden damage, his sheer strength shocking the creature as he managed to rip off an armored section of hide. Paulis’ expert toss turned the attack in a brutal 1-2 punch that left the creature reeling in terror… along with Frank, as some of the acid splashed directly into his eyes. The spider-horror dissolved straight down the middle in tune with the Khurr’s horrific demise, the substance burning straight through both sockets to dissolve the entire top half of his head.
Roland’s horror flew past the dissolving bear as his enormous corpse plopped to the ground, briefly emitting a joyful clicking noise at the sight before it regained its footing and barreled for the aging mercenary. The monster taking so much happiness out of an enemy’s gruesome demise experienced five seconds of bliss before its life came to a screeching halt - literally screeching - at the edge of a plasma blade ripping it almost completely in half. Chunks of it flew off with Roland’s swing, spewing green blood all over the ground around him and onto his distinctive armor.
Small victories, ultimately, in the face of the horde. Yet another group of dozens was fast approaching the team, far too many for them to have any hope of surviving. The drone that accompanied them seemed aware of this fact as it grasped at Roland’s arm, its actions seemingly unaffected by the surprise appearance of the old man. ”A wonderful display, all of you,” it addressed the team, ”But we need to push inwards, quickly!” It waved the other hand towards the flurry of fire deeper inside the embassy grounds, where NOR troops fought a losing battle against a squad of hulking Travesti regulars.
The machine’s camera focused on their newest arrival. ”Mister Roland, I would greatly appreciate if you could take point. I think Fin here can quite adequately cover our rea-”
As usual, it couldn’t finish a sentence. No time was afforded for Roland to question how the machine’s operator already knew his name before half the embassy was leveled by the impact of a small freight directly into the main building. Debris flew out along with a shockwave that sent the entire team sprawling away - some farther than others. The civilian craft’s crash put Hagen, Rhys and Shiver into a trajectory some distance away from the rest of the group. The casualty rate was quadrupling in an instant as all three were swarmed by spider-horrors, their end a painful one whose only upside was that the swarm of excited creatures paused their assault on the survivors to rip these poor bastards limb from limb. Inside the embassy, further deaths were obvious - three of the Travesti soldiers they needed to plow through were dead, leaving a trio of confused, fifty-foot regulars staggering back in shock.
From the smoking hulk of the crashed vessel a Tzeenosaur in a tutu scrabbled out of a hull breach, a single Haken Wastia plushie somehow intact after the crash falling next to its feet.