Stay where you are. If they're only looking for you, they'll leave their back exposed.
[ His fingers curl and uncurl at his sides. There's an odd sense of calm settling through him, something shifting gears in his mind. He's spent a lot of time over the past few months trying to reconnect to that human side of him, in the hopes of filling in the pieces he's so obviously missing.
He needs to sever those ties, for the moment. He has to be cold, if he wants Taylor back in one piece. ]
There's only one way out of this sector. They pin me down? I'm fucked. I need to be mobile or you're walking right into a firing squad.
[ Loadout swapped, Vulpes bends to help speed Delta along, breaking the layers of encryption that keep this fucking door locked. Next chamber has a vent, he'll be able to go UP instead of out. ]
Gonna see if I can't get to the ventilation system and go up a level, buy myself some space.
Keep me informed of your position. I'll find the best position to clear a path for you.
[ There's nothing else he can do but wait. Wait until they're close enough for him to drop, to make his way towards the facility, which is now alert and looking for signs of intruders.
That motion sensor's going to go off no matter what. Better just to keep moving, as quickly as he can. ]
[ Through and up and- oh. Shit. Looking down the business end of plasma rifles. Apparently they knew their own blueprints pretty well. ]
Contact!
[ Tapping into the speed module to get the fuck out and get somewhere he's less likely to be cornered is risky- but he can't make it to the evac point and the quicker he moves? The better. He slams on the mod, pops three shots to center mass and hauls himself out. Delta keeps time as they tear down the hall and skid around the corner, vaulting over a line of assholes, twisting to pitch a grenade as he slams into an empty lab and shuts it off. ]
Jesus fuck that's disorienting. Second level, eastern corner, empty lab.
[ It's not quite chaos, but it's getting there. A stun grenade is lobbed at a group making their way towards the stairs, and he draws back quickly behind a corner before it detonates.
That's five. Exact numbers are running through the HUD as he picks up scans on his tracker, but he's already thinking as to how they're getting free. And it's not going to be the front door.
As soon as the smoke starts to clear, he bolts forward. ]
I got six coming down the north hall and three heavies coming down the east. Someone just put a call in for 'the new suit' so watch your ass.
[ Mid range combat- not his favorite but nothing he can't swing. D's got trackers and markers set up on his blind side- Vulpes picks his cover and swings up to start picking them off. Shoulder, torso, headshot.
Click, click, click, just like in the training sims. Nevermind the blood spatter behind them, never mind how much he'd wanted to not be in this position again. It is what it is and it's them or him and it sure as fuck isn't going to be him. ]
Four on the north, the heavies are still advancing. Looking for alternate route.
[ Heavies in the east, him coming in from the west. It gives him a position to get into from the corner of the stairwell, lining up a long-distance shot while he's still invisible to them. Aim where the armor's weakest. Breathe.
Take the shot.
Without flinching he fires, and a bullet rips through the throat of one of the advancing soldiers. Immediately they draw weapons, but Cerberus pulls back to cover. Reloads. ]
Two in the east. Pulling them past your position, if I can.
[ Delta spinning numbers and angles along his HUD, giving him a half a second to pick out his next target as he turns to fire- blows out the knee of the northern soldier readying up a stun grenade. He goes down,grenade goes off, he's got a window to run-
If it were just him? He'd run. Cerberus is here and he's not leaving a single guard standing if it just means they'll swing past to him. Vulpes takes the time to line his shots up neatly, torso, torso, head- the one on the ground getting the last shot before he ducks back down to reload. ]
[ Things are calm, now. He can feel his breath, feel the pressure of his finger on the trigger, the weight of the rifle in his hands as he shifts out of cover. Aim for the visor. Smaller on these models, but--
The shot spiderwebs the glass, and the second sinks. But there's no time to reload and take aim again. The last of the heavies has a rifle of his own, opening fire as he quickly advances on his position. Cerberus pulls back into cover, drops the rifle to his side...and his hand falls instead to the hilt of the sword at his hip.
[ The last of the heavies gets one shot off, just over his shoulder, before Cerberus lunges upwards. Inside the reach of his gun, it's useless to him, and a second later the sword activates, and surges through armor, flesh, and bone to break through to the other side in a brilliant spike of light.
Twisting it once for good measure, he hears the pained gurgle beneath the helmet, before reaching up to push him away by the breastplate, letting him topple to the ground before stepping over him. ]
Vulpes slips out to peer down the hall in time to see- sword. Glowing fuckoff sword. He'd seen it in videos and training sims now and then but god and damn. Ok roof, to the roof. ]
Copy. Taking North stairwell.
[ It's closer to him anyway and the new suit or whatever it is still seems to be coming up the west. Vulpes slips out, flicks on camo (paranoia is his best friend right now) and sprints for the stairwell. ]
[ The West stairwell is still the closest to him, and it's more effective to simply turn back at this point and make his way up, quick as he can. If they're lucky, they'll make it off the roof and into the shuttle before the new suit catches them.
If not...
If not, they'll have room to maneuver, cover of some sort, and reduced points of possible attack to consider. The odds remain in their favor.
[ Up one level, all clear. He hits the door to the roof and it is, thank fuck, empty. ]
On the roof, looks like we're good to eva-
[ There's a crackling like lightening, a sub-audible hum like the engines of the MOI hitting warp and a painful twist in the air dead center of the roof that erupts in a thoomp of displaced air not unlike thunder, a shockwave that sends Vulpes skidding back against the doorframe. A similar series of sounds and shuddering air can be heard behind Cerberus from lower within the stairwell ]
Scratch that, not clear. Very much not clear-
[ The 'New Suit' proves A) this module works so. Good for them. But B) There's this mean looking rifle in their hands that's coming up with a high pitched whine and that? That's never good. Vulpes dives for the next outcropping of cover as the door to the north stairwell fucking melts into superheated slag. ]
Fuck fuck fuckity fuck- big guy's up top and he's got a new toy-
[ Cerberus takes to the stairs even faster, launching himself up in leaps and bounds, grabbing hold of the railing on the next landing to keep momentum going. When he arrives on the roof, it's with a crash and a tumble through the door, which shorts out the camo on his suit for seconds.
Enough time to be seen, and he's on the move again before the suit can fire again. ]
We need an analysis on that suit.
[ In the meanwhile, he's content to reach for his own rifle, firing off a round in retaliation. ]
Some kind of plasma rifle, heavy plating, D gimme a read.
[ HUD scanners can only do so much but with all the data they've scraped out of Charon lately? They should be able to put some kinda profile together. Delta patches himself through, providing the requested intel to both Vulpes and Cerberus. ]
Analyzing: EVA suit Mark 2.3, equipped with Teleportation Module 1.26, Strength Module 2.0, Healing Module 1.5, and Time Distortion Module Beta 0.93. The likelihood of employing the last successfully is less than 5%. Highlighting thinnest points in the armor now.
[ The joints and throat are painted vivid red against the otherwise black matte armor, the bulky shape of it swinging around to fire in the direction of Cerberus. Vulpes takes the opportunity provided to advance, Rifle cracking three quick shots at the back of it's head, aiming for the neck. Bullets ping uselessly- Delta adjusts the model as required. ]
[ Code whirls and clicks in the back of his head while D shuffles and calculates the optimal odds for survival, what modules to use, how to keep this thing's attention without overt risk. Good thing is this thing turns slow, giving Vulpes a chance to activate two modules as he swings left in a combat roll while that fucking hideous whine kicks in again. ]
Time the charge on that thing, give us a counter.
Affirmative.
[ From the first high pitch to the pull of the trigger, 3 seconds. Not bad. No real rapid fire on that thing though with how the concrete sizzles in a burnt out ellipses behind him? Probably doesn't need it. Vulpes dives one way to take a shot that pings off the EVA's shoulder just as a secondary crack and fizz- a sidearm? rings out and catches him in the throat. ]
[ He's supposed to be waiting for the camo unit to recharge, but he forgets all of that in a blind, white rage as he watches that bullet hit home.
Within seconds he's pulling a stun grenade, rolling it across the rooftop before launching himself up onto the ventilation pipes running the length of the roof, ready to use the detonation to draw his attention and drop down at close range here and now.
But wait.
Where is the body? He should have fallen just there... ]
As you provided none for your use of the holographic double, this is a fair consequence.
[ Vulpes shimmers into place five feet to the left of where the double blinked out of existence, rolling up to his feet in a stagger. At least he AND the big guy are stunned- but only one of them is used to flying blind. ]
I'm fine, C blind but fine-
[ The whine picks up as the EVA swings the rifle to bear at Vulpes. Three seconds to roll away, slamming up the hard light shield against that blast. ]
He's alright. Maybe a little rockier on his feet but he's alright. He can still feel that cold chill in his spine but slowly that knot in his gut starts to unwind, and he drops back and out of sight behind two of the larger pipes.
[ Ok the shield can take glancing blows of that rifle and- honestly? Vulpes wants to keep it. Something like this could be real fucking useful- they just have to kill this motherfucker first. There it is, there's that frustrated cocky mentality, that old skin settling over bones as he ducks in close, slamming his shield under the asshole's rifle and using him as a step ladder to vault over him and slap a mini EMP charge to the back of his helmet. Whether it works or not depends on how well it's ground but it goes off as he rolls away.
[ But Cerberus has gone quiet. Two seconds, one...
And the camo falls into place. He climbs back into position on top of the pipes, watching as the EVA suit turns back towards Vulpes...
Leaving his back exposed.
There's no time wasted as he charges in, and the first sign that he's there at all is when that sword flares to life, arcing upwards towards the suit's neck a half-second later. ]
[ Watching that sword blink into existence and shear through plating like a hot knife through butter is both five kinds of surreal and three kinds of hot. Maybe four. It's distracting for the half second between blue and the blip of a lifesign winking out- only to be replaced by the rumble of whoever the fuck else wants some in the stairwells and the rather blinding pitch of spotlights from the adjacent artillery field being turned on the roof. ]
Oh. Fuck.
It appears they have us surrounded. Calling in the shuttle will likely result in our being shot down.
I'll handle the testing facility, I said, I know what I'm doing, I said. Have it on the record that I'm a fucking moron.
[ Retrieving the rifle from the fallen soldier, Cerberus immediately takes aim at the doorway to the stairwell closest and fires, melting it just the same as the other. Let them work to get up here at them.
Although that did leave them with the issue of how to escape. And since they were already robbing the dead, here...
Cerberus drops to a knee, hands running over the various units plugged into the suit. ]
no subject
[ His fingers curl and uncurl at his sides. There's an odd sense of calm settling through him, something shifting gears in his mind. He's spent a lot of time over the past few months trying to reconnect to that human side of him, in the hopes of filling in the pieces he's so obviously missing.
He needs to sever those ties, for the moment. He has to be cold, if he wants Taylor back in one piece. ]
no subject
[ Loadout swapped, Vulpes bends to help speed Delta along, breaking the layers of encryption that keep this fucking door locked. Next chamber has a vent, he'll be able to go UP instead of out. ]
Gonna see if I can't get to the ventilation system and go up a level, buy myself some space.
no subject
[ There's nothing else he can do but wait. Wait until they're close enough for him to drop, to make his way towards the facility, which is now alert and looking for signs of intruders.
That motion sensor's going to go off no matter what. Better just to keep moving, as quickly as he can. ]
no subject
[ Through and up and- oh. Shit. Looking down the business end of plasma rifles. Apparently they knew their own blueprints pretty well. ]
Contact!
[ Tapping into the speed module to get the fuck out and get somewhere he's less likely to be cornered is risky- but he can't make it to the evac point and the quicker he moves? The better. He slams on the mod, pops three shots to center mass and hauls himself out. Delta keeps time as they tear down the hall and skid around the corner, vaulting over a line of assholes, twisting to pitch a grenade as he slams into an empty lab and shuts it off. ]
Jesus fuck that's disorienting. Second level, eastern corner, empty lab.
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That's five. Exact numbers are running through the HUD as he picks up scans on his tracker, but he's already thinking as to how they're getting free. And it's not going to be the front door.
As soon as the smoke starts to clear, he bolts forward. ]
Hostiles cleared in west stairwell. Advancing.
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[ Mid range combat- not his favorite but nothing he can't swing. D's got trackers and markers set up on his blind side- Vulpes picks his cover and swings up to start picking them off. Shoulder, torso, headshot.
Click, click, click, just like in the training sims. Nevermind the blood spatter behind them, never mind how much he'd wanted to not be in this position again. It is what it is and it's them or him and it sure as fuck isn't going to be him. ]
Four on the north, the heavies are still advancing. Looking for alternate route.
no subject
[ Heavies in the east, him coming in from the west. It gives him a position to get into from the corner of the stairwell, lining up a long-distance shot while he's still invisible to them. Aim where the armor's weakest. Breathe.
Take the shot.
Without flinching he fires, and a bullet rips through the throat of one of the advancing soldiers. Immediately they draw weapons, but Cerberus pulls back to cover. Reloads. ]
Two in the east. Pulling them past your position, if I can.
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[ Delta spinning numbers and angles along his HUD, giving him a half a second to pick out his next target as he turns to fire- blows out the knee of the northern soldier readying up a stun grenade. He goes down,grenade goes off, he's got a window to run-
If it were just him? He'd run. Cerberus is here and he's not leaving a single guard standing if it just means they'll swing past to him. Vulpes takes the time to line his shots up neatly, torso, torso, head- the one on the ground getting the last shot before he ducks back down to reload. ]
Northern hall clear. Reloading.
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The shot spiderwebs the glass, and the second sinks. But there's no time to reload and take aim again. The last of the heavies has a rifle of his own, opening fire as he quickly advances on his position. Cerberus pulls back into cover, drops the rifle to his side...and his hand falls instead to the hilt of the sword at his hip.
Wait. ]
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[ Chatter on the line, spiking, spiraling- something coming up the western stairwell. Reinforcements? ]
New suit's coming up fast, you gotta move.
[ He says, hanging back, knowing better than to get into the line of fire when a sniper's at work. ]
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Twisting it once for good measure, he hears the pained gurgle beneath the helmet, before reaching up to push him away by the breastplate, letting him topple to the ground before stepping over him. ]
Stairwell. Move to the roof.
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Vulpes slips out to peer down the hall in time to see- sword. Glowing fuckoff sword. He'd seen it in videos and training sims now and then but god and damn. Ok roof, to the roof. ]
Copy. Taking North stairwell.
[ It's closer to him anyway and the new suit or whatever it is still seems to be coming up the west. Vulpes slips out, flicks on camo (paranoia is his best friend right now) and sprints for the stairwell. ]
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If not...
If not, they'll have room to maneuver, cover of some sort, and reduced points of possible attack to consider. The odds remain in their favor.
At least for now. ]
no subject
On the roof, looks like we're good to eva-
[ There's a crackling like lightening, a sub-audible hum like the engines of the MOI hitting warp and a painful twist in the air dead center of the roof that erupts in a thoomp of displaced air not unlike thunder, a shockwave that sends Vulpes skidding back against the doorframe. A similar series of sounds and shuddering air can be heard behind Cerberus from lower within the stairwell ]
Scratch that, not clear. Very much not clear-
[ The 'New Suit' proves A) this module works so. Good for them. But B) There's this mean looking rifle in their hands that's coming up with a high pitched whine and that? That's never good. Vulpes dives for the next outcropping of cover as the door to the north stairwell fucking melts into superheated slag. ]
Fuck fuck fuckity fuck- big guy's up top and he's got a new toy-
no subject
[ Cerberus takes to the stairs even faster, launching himself up in leaps and bounds, grabbing hold of the railing on the next landing to keep momentum going. When he arrives on the roof, it's with a crash and a tumble through the door, which shorts out the camo on his suit for seconds.
Enough time to be seen, and he's on the move again before the suit can fire again. ]
We need an analysis on that suit.
[ In the meanwhile, he's content to reach for his own rifle, firing off a round in retaliation. ]
no subject
[ HUD scanners can only do so much but with all the data they've scraped out of Charon lately? They should be able to put some kinda profile together. Delta patches himself through, providing the requested intel to both Vulpes and Cerberus. ]
Analyzing: EVA suit Mark 2.3, equipped with Teleportation Module 1.26, Strength Module 2.0, Healing Module 1.5, and Time Distortion Module Beta 0.93. The likelihood of employing the last successfully is less than 5%. Highlighting thinnest points in the armor now.
[ The joints and throat are painted vivid red against the otherwise black matte armor, the bulky shape of it swinging around to fire in the direction of Cerberus. Vulpes takes the opportunity provided to advance, Rifle cracking three quick shots at the back of it's head, aiming for the neck. Bullets ping uselessly- Delta adjusts the model as required. ]
Sonovabitch-
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With a grunt, Cerberus shoulders his rifle, reaching for the sword at his hip instead. Joints and throat it is. He just has to get in range.
And with that strength module, he doesn't want him to have the chance to strike back. Which means taking him by surprise. ]
Keep him busy. Twenty seconds. Then fall back. Taking up position against the north ventilation fan.
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[ Code whirls and clicks in the back of his head while D shuffles and calculates the optimal odds for survival, what modules to use, how to keep this thing's attention without overt risk. Good thing is this thing turns slow, giving Vulpes a chance to activate two modules as he swings left in a combat roll while that fucking hideous whine kicks in again. ]
Time the charge on that thing, give us a counter.
Affirmative.
[ From the first high pitch to the pull of the trigger, 3 seconds. Not bad. No real rapid fire on that thing though with how the concrete sizzles in a burnt out ellipses behind him? Probably doesn't need it. Vulpes dives one way to take a shot that pings off the EVA's shoulder just as a secondary crack and fizz- a sidearm? rings out and catches him in the throat. ]
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[ He's supposed to be waiting for the camo unit to recharge, but he forgets all of that in a blind, white rage as he watches that bullet hit home.
Within seconds he's pulling a stun grenade, rolling it across the rooftop before launching himself up onto the ventilation pipes running the length of the roof, ready to use the detonation to draw his attention and drop down at close range here and now.
But wait.
Where is the body? He should have fallen just there... ]
no subject
As you provided none for your use of the holographic double, this is a fair consequence.
[ Vulpes shimmers into place five feet to the left of where the double blinked out of existence, rolling up to his feet in a stagger. At least he AND the big guy are stunned- but only one of them is used to flying blind. ]
I'm fine, C blind but fine-
[ The whine picks up as the EVA swings the rifle to bear at Vulpes. Three seconds to roll away, slamming up the hard light shield against that blast. ]
Stay down, I got this!
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He's alright. Maybe a little rockier on his feet but he's alright. He can still feel that cold chill in his spine but slowly that knot in his gut starts to unwind, and he drops back and out of sight behind two of the larger pipes.
Ten seconds. ]
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Not now, D.
[ Ok the shield can take glancing blows of that rifle and- honestly? Vulpes wants to keep it. Something like this could be real fucking useful- they just have to kill this motherfucker first. There it is, there's that frustrated cocky mentality, that old skin settling over bones as he ducks in close, slamming his shield under the asshole's rifle and using him as a step ladder to vault over him and slap a mini EMP charge to the back of his helmet. Whether it works or not depends on how well it's ground but it goes off as he rolls away.
Five seconds. The EMP does-
fuck and all. ]
Looks like they're learning-
no subject
And the camo falls into place. He climbs back into position on top of the pipes, watching as the EVA suit turns back towards Vulpes...
Leaving his back exposed.
There's no time wasted as he charges in, and the first sign that he's there at all is when that sword flares to life, arcing upwards towards the suit's neck a half-second later. ]
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Oh. Fuck.
It appears they have us surrounded. Calling in the shuttle will likely result in our being shot down.
I'll handle the testing facility, I said, I know what I'm doing, I said. Have it on the record that I'm a fucking moron.
no subject
[ Retrieving the rifle from the fallen soldier, Cerberus immediately takes aim at the doorway to the stairwell closest and fires, melting it just the same as the other. Let them work to get up here at them.
Although that did leave them with the issue of how to escape. And since they were already robbing the dead, here...
Cerberus drops to a knee, hands running over the various units plugged into the suit. ]
Which one of these is the teleportation unit?
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