Kate Kate got out of her once again damaged ship. "I'm so sorry to do this to you hope." She said apologetically. As she got out a gruff looking man running towards her. He noted the injury she had. "Hands up girl!" he ordered. Kate had seen this coming, she raised her hand. "There no time for small talk... the inferiors, there planning something!" He eye'd her, looked her up and down then said. "Come with me girl." they hurriedly ran to Simons position. Kate wasted no time with small talk, she got right to it acting as if time was short. "You, that offer to join the NCF is that still up? That elf that I was trying to protect that one time betrayed me, and all the other non humans proved them self to be savages." Kate gulped, she had to be convincing but was afraid of what she would have to do to earn his trust. "Let me fight them. Let me exact my vengeance upon those terrible creatures. Let me kill them." Her faces was stone cold, but her heart was screaming n her chest. She needed to have them accept her no matter what, she knew she would have to attack her own allies to do it. She brandished her bolt pistol and pointed it at the zone of combat. "But before I go in, I need you to cover me, that is if you are willing to give me a chance?" Suddenly a hail of bullets whizzed past her, rebels someone was firing at them! "Or how about I help you with that guy!" Kate yelled ducking to the ground.
Alistair was suddenly knocked off his feet by a sniper’s bullet. Indira could hear the shot cut the air as it whizzed by at hypersonic speeds. She instinctively pressed herself flat to the floor, making use of what little cover the roof offered. The dark elf lost his footing. He desperately clung to the beam for a few seconds before plummeting through the hole. Indira watched as he fell to the bottom. More dark elf magic saved him from taking the brunt of the impact, but she could see he was still in bad shape down there. To her surprise, he got up and activated his weapon, as if preparing to fight. Aeros screamed for her to run, but she didn’t move. A damned dwarf tried to pull her to her feet and drag her toward the hatch. Indira caught him by the wrist and, in one swift motion she had him on his back with a knife to his throat. She said nothing, but the message was clear: don’t ever lay a hand on me. She glanced back and saw Aeros trying to line up a shot. “Idiot!” she called back to him. “He’s dead to us! You can’t counter-snipe with that rifle. Call it in and let air support do their damn job!”
Simon At this point, his Spotter's Scope being destroyed no longer fazed him. Or his spotter. However, not in the mood to die himself, Simon quickly rolled onto the side of the hill facing away from the facility; whoever shot at his team couldn't kill him now. He would try sniping from somewhere else, preferably far from this location but still close to the battle; he'd have to use his sniper rifle's scope instead, but he could make do. Of course, he also had the girl. She had come up to him with the flanker at her side right before his spotter was killed, blathering about being captured and how horrible the fantasy races were. To Simon, it sounded like she had decided to join the NCF, and may in fact have become an Exterminist. Good. His somewhat small faction needed all the help he could get. The flanker had pulled her down the side of the hill Simon now rested on, so everyone was safe now. He turned to her. "You see that?" Simon pointed at the dead spotter and ruined scope on the top of hill. "That, right there, means it'll take me twice as long to find targets to kill. And with a Rebel trying to kill us on the roof of that building, I won't be covering you any time soon." After thinking a bit, he added, "However, you can try to get yourself up onto the roof and kill the Rebel. I have a feeling it's an elf; not many other pests can shoot that well, and in fact they shoot better than most humans." He resisted the urge to brag he could probably out-shoot a trained elf; well, he thought he could. "So, if you know anything about elves that'll help you fight it at close-quarters, use that knowledge now. I'll try to look for a new sniping position in the meantime."
Kate Kate nodded, "Understood they have an aircraft in the area, there's a 75% chance it will come for you. Be careful." Now Kate had to give it her all. Nate picked her up, then zooming in with his robotic eye he lay suppression fire on were the elf was. "Please, please let it not be and elf I know." She prayed. Nate carried her at break neck speed his cyborg legs moving much faster than any organic could ever hope to run he blazed across the moons surface towards the erupting battle field. She realized what being a double agent would mean, she would have to fight her own people. How could she do that? how would she live with her self? Nate jumped on the wall and started climbing his powerful limbs smashing make shift holes into the walls as he scaled the plants wall. She could here shots being fired from the roof, The man was still there. "Please, please, please don't be someone I know." She prayed as Nate jumped up onto the roof. It was Aeros and the Camil girl. "Damn it! Aeros I have to fight you, please forgive me for this." Both Nate and her charged forward. "I'm soooooo sorry!" said running forward pulling out her bolt gun.
Captian Kelly McKeller "Liberty, there is a sniper somewhere on the hillside. We need him taken out." One of the soldiers on the ground said into her radio. "Roger that. On my way." She began to shift away from her onslaught on NCF at the entrance of the facility sending one of her missles down for good measure. Suddenly there was a flash of light from below the ship. Kelly's elvin instincts took over her body before her mind could even processes what the light had meant. Her hand instinctually jerked the ship to the side, an anti-aircraft missle missing Liberty by inches. Damn it. That vehicle down there must be loaded. How could I have missed that? She sent down another missle, aiming this time for the vehicle. Whether or not it hit her mark she didn't stay to see. Her men were being picked off by snipers. At the moment that was her main concern. She rounded the facility and found a hillside covered in heat signatures. None of them emmiting a Rebel signature. "Let 'em have it, boys!" "Yes, Sir!" They replied letting off a volley of bullets in the direction of the hill.
Alistair He spun here and there, wielding the halberd like a dervish. After just moments he had cleared a wide swath in the lobby of the NCF. He had to stop, to meditate, to let his body recover from the strain he was putting on it. There was an assault vehicle parked amidst a pile of rubble, lighting up the room with a heavy machine gun, and a giant of a Judicator all in black armor, at the far end of the room. Alistair figured he had a limited time left anyway, so he might as well go all out. He put a vortex right around the Judicators head. From where he stood, the gravity field was enough to protect him from the machine gun. As the Judicators heads up display went dark, he flailed for a moment. Alistair advanced. He aimed his halberd for the joint of the Judicators right knee. He rushed forward and stabbed the blade into the joint, not deep enough to inflict bodily harm. He then pivoted off the staff and felt the shin piece of the the armor slide out of position. The Judicator went down in a heap, the knee joint would take a few minuted to put back in place. He threw another small vortex right in the face of the gunner on the assault vehicle, sending his neck snapping back. Alistair felt he was getting close to the end of his power, was slowing down. He'd likely used up fifty years worth of his life in less than ten minutes. His heart couldn't take it. Just a little more... he thought, I can still get out of this. He turned tail from the assault vehicle, there was still gun fire pouring out of it. The fallen Judicator was just getting up, and Alistair ran over his back, stabbing his blade into the shoulder joint and using it like a pole vault. Again, he couldn't get it deep enough to actually get at the operator, but he was going to have a hard time recovering from that attack. He rushed to the opposite end of the lobby, through a doorway deeper into the plant, around another corner into a service corridor, then he yanked open a hatch and threw himself into a maintenance tunnel, collapsing on the ground. He had made it, just in time. He had no choice but to go into meditation now, even if only for a few minutes. The Vo-su meditation was used by all dark elf void mages to generate energy from the dark matter that swirled in subspace. If he didn't start right now, he would die. He closed his eyes, went through the mental exercise, then let his consciousness slide into the darkness of the void.
Indira v. Terminator Nate Indira turned when she suddenly heard the sound of footsteps approaching fast. No one could possibly be coming from that direction. There was no other way onto the roof. She spotted Kate and another man running toward them. How did they get up here? she thought. "Damn it! Aeros I have to fight you, please forgive me for this," the human woman said. "I'm soooooo sorry!" “Not sorry enough, human,” Indira said as she drew her handgun. She already had her knife in one hand. But Kate went straight for Aeros. Indira and the dwarf, Haldrin, were forced to deal with Kate’s accomplice…who looked eerily similar to Kate, as if they might be related. The man had a double-barreled gun in his hand. The dwarf had an assault rifle with a mean-looking bayonet. He charged at the man, while Indira slipped away, trying to circle around and end this quickly. We don’t have time to play with these humans, she thought. Securing the plant is our priority. But as Indira closed in on the man she realized something wasn’t right. She came up from behind, but he seemed to instinctively detect her. His hand shot out to swat her away and she narrowly ducked under his swing. He was far too fast and powerful to be an ordinary human and his reflexes were amazing. Genetic engineering? Strength-enhancing drugs? Is he some kind of super soldier? Indira thought as she backed away to rethink her strategy. She knew a way to find out. With the blade of her knife, Indira made a small incision on her hand, just enough to get a few drops of blood on the blade. The cut sealed up when she was done. Now all she had to do was cut him once and the nanovirus in her bloodstream would tell her everything she wanted to know about his body. She moved in again, making swift erratic movements while the dwarf had him distracted. When she saw an opening, she attacked. Just as the man moved to block Haldrin's bayonet, Indira slipped in from behind and slashed him with her infected knife. Got you, she thought. The infected blood slithered into the knifewound like worms burrowing into soil and tried to find its way into his bloodstream. She dropped back again and waited to see what her microscopic minions would find… But nothing happened. Indira’s nanovirus had never failed before, but now it wasn’t sending back any information about the man’s biology. There was no information. Suddenly, she realized what was happening. He’s not biological… he’s a machine.
M braced as the liberty moved to avoid a missile. The ship moved as Kelly returned fire, moving away before they could see if it hit. They rounded the hillside, on Kelly's console M could see heat signatures. M smiled, time for some fun. "Let 'em have it, boys!" Kelly shouted. "Yes Ma'am." M said dropping his coat as he ran to the back and leapt out. He could feel his gland pumping as he fell. His heart started racing, speeding up to pump pixie around his system. His skin started darkening as he grew as his face elongated. In a few seconds he was 9 feet tall and dark as night. Two pure red eyes twinkled down from a top a beast like face. M smiled a sharp toothed smile, he was full pixie now. With a crack he hit the ground leaving a small crater. Letting out a noise half way between roar and laugh M swatted one of the snipers away before chopping his jaw down around another. He started laying into them left and right. The snipers didn't stand a chance. Finished with them he headed back towards the solar farm. In the air he could smell something faint, something he didn't like. He liked his lips as he barreled through NCF troops looking for the source. Im coming Judicator
Nate and Kate in combat Nate blocked the bayonet of the dwarf ignoring the miner scratch it received from the knife. Grabbing the dwarf be the scruff of the neck; and with one fluid motion flung the hapless creature right at Indira. She easily evaded the dwarf who sailed through space before crashing back down with a sickening thud. Nate garbed hold of the dwarf rifle and bent the nuzzle in this hand. His eye's glowed red, he charged Indira his heavy footfalls likening more unto a beast then a man. Indira realised her disadvantage in this fight, The cyborg would be immune to poison, and would be largely unfazed by knife strikes. She however had developed a plan just as Nate lunged in for the first blow. She evaded and struck for his arm joints, her first strike missed it's mark glancing off Nates elbow. He swung at her again, quickly ducking to the side she struck for the joints in his leg trying to atleats mane him. Her blade found its mark and got lodged under the Cyborgs kneecap. No cries of pain were uttered, Nate just struck back, his programming going into over drive. *Smack!* Nate had caught her as she dove for his knee smashing her onto the roof, and then suddenly, instead of trying to finish her her whirled around and leapt towards Aeros! Kate ran in and raised her bolt gun, She had no intention of killing but she at least had to fight. Aeros moved in drawing his blade as she tensed the trigger. She fired and to her surprise the bolt gun was no longer directed towards him! Aeros flicked his blade in a small ark knocking the barrel of the gun to the side just as Kate fired, never had she encountered one who could match her speed. Then in one fluid motion he flicked the blade towards her neck. But now it was Aeros who was caught off guard by Kates reflexes, flinging her head back the cold broad side of the blade just skid over her chin. Aeros wasted no time pondering at how this human was matching an elfs speed and followed up his attack by carving his blade down towards her head. He had her, even with her speed she couldn't dodge at this range, and in her off balanced position. *CLANK!* Aeros heard metal hit metal and a second of confusement was all Kate needed to attack; moving in she smashed the metal part of her forhead into his nose. In the light of pain Aeros understood, The girl had titled her head 15 degrees right before the blade struck, in that area it was covered with metal, very hard metal the girl had metal plating on her head! The force of metal smashing his nose confirmed it, but while she was quick she still lacked the training of a accomplished warrior. As he reeled back bleeding from the force of the blow he grabbed Kates hair, and yanked causing her to fall over with him, then before she could figure out how to respond using his strength advantage he over powered her,and forced her onto her back with a quick roll with him on top. She struggled to throw him off but while she was no weakling Aeroses strength proved too great. All she could manage to do was squirm helplessly under him. What would Aeros do? finish her? he understood why she was fighting him right? The answer wouldn't come. Aeros suddenly rolled off her frantically, Nate was charging him with a fury he swung at Aeros just as he got to his feet. Aeros blocked but the force of the over powered cyborg sent him rolling across the roof, he rolled to his feet beside Indira. Kate panted exshuasted from her efforts he was strong no doubt. "Maybe you should run away? I think we have been convincing enough?" Kate suggested, not looking forward to fighting him again.
Riley and Danyl* The plan was working, the distraction was a success. More and more of the facility's defenders were rushing to the lobby to fight off the NCF attackers, but Riley's defence was impenetrable. Or so he thought.* His surroundings began to spin as Riley experienced a severe migraine. Interference with his helmet crackled in his vision like a broken screen. It was over in a second, but one second too long. The dark elf was upon him.* Cormac rose his shield to block the attack from a long weapon, but had the wrong footing and was too late. The dark elf caught him in the knee, ducking over the Judicator's swing while pushing his weapon further into Riley's knee guard. Crack. The Judicator's knee had been dislocated , and he fell down on it. Riley winced. Danyl fought off to the side against an elf, wielding a machete in one hand, his knife in the other. The elf parried his strike with a short sword, knocking the machete to the side, and went in for the kill. But it wasn't good enough. The Judicator's armor took the thrust like a glancing blow as the tip shattered. Danyl stabbed the elf in the abdomen with the knife in his left hand, twisting the blade before throwing the naive rebel aside. He then looked over at his commander, a dark elf standing threateningly over him.* Danyl dropped his blades, rolling to his left to pick up the rail gun he had tossed aside earlier - melee combat was more fun anyway - and opened a barrage of bullets in the direction of the dark elf, who at this point was mid air, vaulting over Riley, his halberd stuck into the back of the commanding judicator's breastplate. Danyl took aim again, but the elf was slippery, and managed to escape through a door that ran deeper into the facility.* "Alright commander?" Danyl spoke into his helmet. His voice was surprising soft for someone with a fetish for murder.* Riley popped the knee joint back into place, letting loose a low grunt. It clicked as he stood back up. "Just a scratch!" he growled, putting his shield up to block more incoming artillery. He looked at the door the elf had escaped through. Riley wanted so much to go after him, but he was needed here. "Go after the bastard!" He commanded Danyl, who instinctively slung his rifle around his shoulder and picked up the knife and machete, all on the move. Just then a missile hit the roof above them, spilling a tonne of debris onto the assault vehicle. It took out the machine guns and five men, meaning they now only had four left, including the trigger happy driver.* Damn it! There had been no warning from Simon. Where was their leader? They had no means of escape, and no one had called backup yet. Riley decided to take matters into his own hands. Bullets spraying off his armor, he radioed NCF Command. *"Commander Cormac requesting backup at the facility and an emergency evacuation squad. There is at least one rebel bird in the sky. Repeat, immediate backup and evacuation needed!"* He then radioed Arun. "I hope you're close, because we can't hold this for much longer. We're making a last stand!" **** Arun heard his commander loud and clear. "Roger that, we'll be entering the objective area shortly." Him and Kerys stood at one the bottom of the glass dome, by one of four titanium spires that reinforced the solar farm. "Ready?" Kerys asked. Arun nodded. He clutched the device in his hand.* She aimed for the top of the metallic spire, some 75 feet in the air, and fired the tripwire from her wrist. It shot true, connecting firmly to the tip of the spire. Then when her and Arun both had a hold of it, Kerys reeled the wire back in, pulling them to the surface of the dome. At the top everything was glass, and it looked like someone was already here. On the far side a battle raged. On one side were two humans, on the other, two elves and a dwarf. Those weren't even odds. But who was this girl? None of the NCF soldiers were instructed to climb the dome. How did they get up here? Arun looked below him. There was a large drop to the solar panels at the bottom, but his mission objective stood at the very centre of the room. The primary reactor rose to about half the height of the dome, and it was entirely equipped with solar panels. Arun also noticed that on the sides of the dome were walkways, leading downwards through staircases.* Arun didnt want to fight, it was a very delicate operation, but If they broke the glass here, they would draw the attention of the rebels on the other side. So, it looked like there was no choice. He pulled out the sword from his back and tossed the device over to Kerys. She quickly caught it. "You're going under," he pointed at the fight in the distance. There was an empty panel where glass had previously been smashed. "Provide cover from below." Kerys thought for a second, but then knew exactly what Arun was thinking. "Roger that!" she replied. They ran over, Arun in front, sword at his hip, and stopped one hundred metres from the fight.* "Drop your weapons!" Arun warned over the intercom in his helmet, knowing full well it would go unheeded. He pointed the sword at the elf woman with a knife in her hand.*
Aeros "Maybe you should run away? I think we have been convincing enough?" Aeros silently considered her suggestion. If we don't run, this will only end in someone's death. His consideration was interrupted when he saw a dark figure looming over Kate's shoulder, roughly 100 meters back. ”Drop your weapons!” Aeros saw the Judicator before he spoke. It’s impossible to be inconspicuous covered in that useless armor. No sooner had the Judicator spoke than Aeros had drawn his pistol from its loose, discrete holster at his hip. He lifted its barrel to the Judicator, spent the blink of an eye lining up his shot, and pulled the trigger. He fired one round after another into the Judicator’s abdomen and chest, knowing fully that the bullets were too weak to pierce the armor. He dropped his magazine, instantaneously reloading, and continued to fire. He looked to Camilla, who held her knife in her hand, legs poised to launch her forward at the ready, and Haldrin, who was lifting himself to his feet, rifle aimed at Nate. “You two handle the Earthlings. I’ll take the Judicator!” He emptied his magazine into the Judicator, and sprinted the distance between them, reloaded midstride, and continued to fire. 5 rounds left, 20 meters to cover. He was almost within arm’s reach of the Judicator when he spent his last round, and in one fluid motion, re-holstered his pistol, and unsheathed his blade as his closed the gap. He lunged forward, controlled and calculative, stabbing his blade toward the throat of the Judicator. It struck hard on the armor, causing the Judicator to lose his footing, but leaving its wearer unphased. Just as I expected. Aeros ducked quickly as the Judicator struggled to regain his balance, and swung a machete at his head. He effortlessly dodged the blow, and charged forward again, jabbing the man in his throat; the Judicator stumbled clumsily, unable to gain an offensive edge in the conflict. Suddenly, the two men stopped. Aeros sheathed his sword, standing unarmed nearly face to face with the Judicator. They stared at each other for an eternity, until their honorous silence was interrupted by a powerful trembling beneath their feet. The Judicator looked down, but Aeros kept his eyes on him. The glass around their feet splintered and shuddered. Before the Judicator could attack, the roof collapsed beneath them. Aeros smirked defiantly as they fell through the palladium chasm, rapidly approaching the ground below.
"Maybe you should run away? I think we have been convincing enough?" the human suggested. “Run away? Watch your mouth, little girl. The last human who told me to retreat was sent home in a bucket,” Indira hissed as she got to her feet. The cyborg had slammed her hard -- so hard, he nearly knocked the blue out of her. Her attempts at attacking his joints failed. In the future, she would bring an RPG or a missile launcher if ever she encountered that abomination again. But he wasn’t the real issue. Indira had infiltrated the NCF enough times to understand what Kate was going through. She needed something more convincing than this. Kate hadn’t even drawn blood. Indira had seen better fights in a schoolyard. “This isn’t enough. She’ll yield better intel if the NCF sees her slay an elf,” Indira whispered to Aeros. “You’ve seen my acting firsthand; I can make this look convincing.” He would understand what she meant by that later. Indira was about to charge at Kate, but was interrupted by the thunderous steps of a Judicator running toward them. He stopped at a distance, sword in hand. "Drop your weapons!" the armored Judicator demanded over the mic. Perfect. We have an audience, Indira thought as she locked eyes with Kate. But Aeros had a better idea… or a worse one, depending on one’s interpretation. “You two handle the Earthlings. I’ll take the Judicator!” the elf said. “No, wait!” Indira called after him, but he was already running. They were on the roof, in the open. The Liberator’s guns could handle the Judicator, instead of risking direct combat with that tin man. But it was too late to stop him. Indira turned to the dwarf. “Don’t run off and do anything macho. I’ll need you after this, understand?” He nodded and she charged off toward Kate. She held nothing back and attacked like a wild woman. Indira went straight in, moving in predictable patterns while slashing with her knife. She had a pistol in her other hand, but didn’t use it. Kate dodged the first strike and the second and the third… “Dammit, human!” Indira said in a whisper. “Take the shot already! I can’t make this any easier for you, stupid girl!!” To force her to take action, Indira slashed at Kate’s jugular. The attack would have slit the girl’s throat wide open. It was too close to dodge, so Kate did what she had to do to defend herself… There was a loud bang and Indira suddenly jerked back. She staggered as the bullet sank into her abdomen and blood began to stain her uniform. She could feel the nanovirus trying to heal the wound, but she forced it not to. Not yet, she thought as she dropped to her knees, clutching her abdomen. Not yet... let it bleed a little more… let them see what Kate has done… The Judicator was busy dealing with Aeros, but she hoped he saw. She wanted them to know Kate was a cold-blooded elf-killer. She looked up into Kate’s eyes. “Humans… so predictable,” Indira said before she collapsed and slowed her heart rate to hibernative levels. Her pulse dropped until it was virtually undetectable. She was ‘dead.’
Kerys Kerys reacted before it had happened. She saw the glass crack - It wouldn't take the weight of both Arun and the tall elf. Immediately she drew her hand gun, letting loose several rounds into the panel next to the one they stood on. She ran, and as the glass beneath the elves smashed, she fired the tripwire from her wrist, dropping her gun. It caught and tied around Arun's shoulder. She jumped atop the panel she had fired on, smashing through the glass and falling through as well. The wire was on the beam between the broken panels, and as Kerys stopped it, both her and Arun abruptly jerked upward. They were safe. At least for the time being. It was more than she could say for the rebel elf. Then she noticed that she had dropped the device. Sh*t!
Kate Kate seemed stunned for a moment, she didn't mean to kill her it was true she didn't like her but. "Oh no...I ,I'm so sorry.." She shook a little disturbed at what she had done. "I swear..I didn't you mean to-" Suddenly more glass began to crack, the Judicator and Aeros where in a desperate battle with one another, she was about to tear up from what she had done. Kate was loosing control of her emotions half way between regret and fear when suddenly; she was whisked off her feet by Nate. He already sensed the danger and with out hesitation he ran with her towards the Judicator. As the glass under the Judicator broke Nate leapt through the air and grabbed onto the plants inner wall. With Kate on it's shoulder the auto sapien climbed down a bit before dropping safely, guns were still ablaze in the plant, their battle was not over. Kate finally pushed Camilia's death out of her mind, she would avenge her later. Suddenly a strange device fell and conked her on the head. It rolled on the floor and stopped. Kate picked it up curiously, "What was this?"
Haldrin the dwarf couldn’t believe everything that had just happened. When the dust settled, everyone was gone. Aeros and the Judicator had fallen through a hole. Kate and her accomplice had disappeared as well. He was alone with Camilla, who was currently lying in a pool of her own blood. Don’t panic. Don’t panic, he told himself. He was a seasoned soldier, but everything had gone to s*** so fast, he didn’t know which way to turn. “Psst… psst… over here.” He looked around, wondering where the voice had come from. Haldrin quickly drew a shotgun from his pack. The cyborg had wrecked his rifle, but he wanted to be ready if more trouble was coming. “Stupid dwarf, over here,” the voice whispered. It was Camilla. Rather than be relieved she was alive, Haldrin looked annoyed. Even beyond the grave, she’s an arse, he thought. “Get some binoculars and make sure there’s no one watching us. No snipers,” she whispered. She didn’t move from where she was. It was like a dead body was talking to him. That’s creepy, Haldrin thought as he retrieved the binoculars and scanned the surrounding area. When he didn’t see anyone, he looked to Camilla. “All clear,” he said as he put the binoculars away and retrieved some bandages and painkillers. “Are you okay? Do you need first aid?” “From you? Of course not,” she said as she sat up. Her hand was covering the gunshot wound. When she pulled it away, she held a bullet in her palm. Some of the blood on the ground began to recede. It was sucked back into the wound, which slowly sealed up. Within a minute or two the gunshot wound was all gone. Haldrin’s eyes were wide as he watched the entire process. His jaw hung open in amazement. “H-how did you-” “It’s a long story,” the elf said as she got up. She dropped the bullet in her pocket and smiled as she wiped the blood from her hands. “I’m going to return this to that human when she gets back from her assignment. But first, we have a mission to finish.” She began to walk away, but the dwarf blocked her. “Not so fast,” he said gruffly. “I’ve read Camilla’s file from cover to cover and I don’t remember nothin’ in there about… this,” he said, gesturing to the blood on the ground. “She doesn't know any magic. I knew there was something funny about you. Who are you, really?” “Magic?” she laughed. “No, no, dear boy. It’s science!” But he wasn’t amused. Haldrin stood his ground. He was much shorter than the elf, but nearly twice as wide, and had a shotgun in his hands. She had already holstered her pistol and knife. Big mistake, he thought. “Fine, shoot me,” the elf said with a smile. “It didn’t work so well for Kate, but please be my guest…” “Nice try, but I doubt you can do that trick twice. Let’s see how you handle a shotgun to the face, elf.” “Is that really the way to behave when our only power station is about to go up in smoke? I think your priorities are a little out of order, dwarf.” She had a point and he knew it. As much as he hated this elf, she might be all he had left. There was no sign that Aeros or Alistair were alive and the plant was crawling with NCF. “What have you got in mind?” Haldrin asked tentatively. “Lower that shotgun and I’ll tell you.” “Not gonna happen.” She sighed in annoyance. “Stubborn little man… okay, follow me. We need to get inside. Let's see if you can climb and point that shotgun at the same time," she teased.
Danyl Danyl walked through the corridor. It was dimly lit, but that was no problem, not for a Judicator. Danyl smiled under his helmet - he liked hunting. He followed the corridor the only way it went. around the corner. At the end of this corridor, the path split in two ways - one continued the way he was going, the other lead behind a door that read 'Staff Only'. It was a service corridor. If I were a man running for my life, which way would I go? Danyl contemplated. He kicked down the service door, machete and knife at the ready. The coast was clear. Piping ran along the undecorated walls, several doors on either side. Danyl breathed softly, listening for even the quietest of sounds. Clank. It echoed from below him, to the right. There was a hatch at the bottom of the wall. It was big enough for a man of the dark elf's size to fit through. Danyl smirked again. "Here kitty kitty," He said, as he sheathed his weapons and dove through the hatch. Arun and Kerys Arun fell too quick to notice the two beings jump down past him. But soon he hung in mid air, approximately 60 feet from the bottom. He looked at his shoulder. Kerys had saved him. "Arun!" she spoke through his intercom, "I've dropped it!" She alerted him. The mission was a bust. The device wasn't sturdy enough to survive that fall. Arun sighed. Again, it would be his fault. The wire started moving, he was weighing her down. "Get me down there." He instructed her urgently. It was a miracle they hadn't been spotted by the remaining rebels above them. Kerys did as she was told, slowly moving back up to the top, while releasing the wire to get him on the ground. She reached the beam, and suddenly it became increasingly difficult to lower Arun, she had to hold on tight. She looked around. The dwarf and the elf girl were heading in the opposite direction. Hopefully they wouldn't see her - she was a sitting duck.
Kate meets a Judicator Kate looked up, there was a massive man in an armoured suite slowly being wired down. "Whoa!" She said in wonder, barely resisting the urge to point. She looked back down at the device in her hands, then back up to the human tanks. "There with the NCF aren't they Nate. Maybe..." She sent a message to them with her brain it read. "This device you dropped, is it yours? what should I do with it? What exactly are we trying to accomplish here?" She hoped they had some sort of messaging system in their head. She also hoped they would hurry, she was detecting more units and a huge energy signature some where on the battle field heading this way. What in the world was that? she didn't want to know.
Haldrin had fought in lots of battles. He was a dwarf, but most people ignored his size. His strength and endurance is what made him an asset on the battlefield, not his shortness. But this damned elf seemed determined to remind him how small he was, mentally and physically. “Rule Number One: ‘Never let the enemy dictate the tide of battle,’” Camilla said, lecturing him on the art of war while she unfastened the bolts on a ventilation duct. They were going to get into the power station the same way rats and other vermin got inside. “I should have gone with Aeros or Alistair,” the dwarf said. “I would sooner plummet to my death than resort to crawling through vents with a shady she-elf.” He kept the shotgun trained on her while she worked. “Rule Number Two: ‘never choose dignity or honor over victory,’” Camilla explained. “There’s some action in the main lobby, directly beneath us. Let them have their fun. That room has no value to us. While the guards trade bullets with them there, we can focus on securing the parts of the facility that really matter: the control room, the photovoltaic arrays, and the cooling reservoirs that keep the batteries from overheating.” “Oh, now you’re suddenly a technician again?” the dwarf grumbled. “Psychopath one moment, healer the next, and now you’re a technician?” “Rule Number Three: ‘become whatever the battle requires you to be,’” the elf said as she finished the last bolt and the grate came free. They now had access to the ventilation system. “We’re going to have to leave our supplies behind. Our rucksacks won’t fit,” she explained as she took a handheld holo projector, a few packets of C4, a handgun, and her knife. “Wait a minute, what’s with the explosives?” the dwarf asked as he shrugged off his rucksack, taking only a shortsword, his trusty shotgun, and some frag grenades. Camilla smiled. “Rule Number Four, of course. ‘Everything is better with explosives.’” “You’re just making these up as you go.” “Rule Number Five: ‘Improvise,’” Camilla said with a devilish smirk. “Stop that,” the dwarf grunted in annoyance. With his shotgun, he ordered her to get in the vent. Camilla obeyed and crawled inside. After some hesitation, he did the same. “Where are we goin’ anyway?” “Control room,” she said as they crawled through the maze of air ducts. The space was so tight, all he could see in front of him was her bum. Under different circumstances, he might like that. But he loathed this elf too much to enjoy the view. They soon reached a vertical shaft, where they descended a few levels. He could hear gunfire through the walls. Sometimes, he could look through the vents and see guards fighting off NCF soldiers. I should be out there, with them, Haldrin thought. Instead, he was crawling through the ducts with a crazy elf. Camilla’s holo projector showed a blueprint of the facility, including a layout of the ventilation ducts. Finally, she stopped. “We’re here,” she said as she placed some C4 on the walls of the duct and backed up a few feet, forcing him to move back as well. “I can see the control room through this vent. We’re directly above them…” “Who?” the dwarf said. “What do you mean ‘them?’” She pulled out a detonator and squeezed the trigger. There was a sharp ‘bang’ and the vent collapsed. Camilla and the dwarf fell about a dozen feet to the floor of the control room. He landed flat on his face, tangled in the wreckage of the ductwork. She landed on her feet like a cat and immediately pointed her gun at the two men in labcoats operating the plant controls. “Lock the door, dwarf. We’re sealing down this room and taking control of the plant,” Camilla said, while holding the two men at gunpoint. When he didn’t move right away, she looked to him with an intensity he had never seen before. “Did you hear what I just said, Haldrin? Lock the damn door before the guards come.” “No. This is wrong. We should-” With a flick of her wrist, she sent a red needle flying at him. It landed in the side of his neck, like a dart. When Haldrin reached to pull it out, the dart was gone, as if it had sank into his flesh like a parasite. Suddenly, he didn’t feel so well. His vision blurred. The room swayed at weird angles and, before he knew it, he was on the floor convulsing. The elf kicked his shotgun away. “You broke rule number two, dwarf,” she said as she marched over to the heavy steel door and engaged the locking mechanism. Nothing short of an artillery strike would open that door. He was now locked in a vault with a psychopath. The control room was built to withstand a blast if the solar arrays went critical. “You’re… insane…” Haldrin managed to say, despite his slurred speech. “I’m just playing by the rules,” the blue elf said as she tied up the two operators and took a seat at the main console, as if this were her throne room. Blue elf… Haldrin thought. No... I... I must be seeing things… He blacked out, quivering in a puddle of his own drool.
Alistair He opened his eyes. He'd gotten about 10 minutes, it wasn't enough, but at least he was out of danger for a while. His heart beat was regular and he even felt the surge of the void, he had regained some charge. Enough for another vortex. He breathed deeply. He still didn't feel great, but better than he had a few moments before. Then his heart sank as he heard a bang and saw the top of a Judicator burst through the access hatch. He leapt up, grabbed his pistol from his belt. The Judicator slid through and stood up, pulling a bastard sword off it's back. Alistair leveled the pistol on the Judicators head, and fired three shots into it's visor. It was hardened paladium glass, just like the plant's dome, but still is fractured and cracked. His halberd was closed and he didn't have room to open it in here, but still he swung it, in staff form, as hard as he could at the Judicators head while it staggered from the gunshots. He hit it twice more until the helmet flew free. There was a young human male inside. Alistair raised the pistol again, but before he could fire, the bastard sward was flying at him. He just barely dodged out of the way and retreated a few steps back. The maintenance way was to narrow for this type of fight, there was no room for him to get his halberd out. "I've got you now darkie!" The human yelled and charged. Alistair rolled back again as the sword crashed into the floor where he had stood a moment before. He jabbed at the Judicators abdomen with his staff, staggering him slightly, them he lined up the tip with its head and released the blade. It shot strait out at the Judicators exposed head. It barely missed, the walking tank had managed to move just in time to avoid his head being a shishkabob, then grabbed the halberd by the staff and yanked it from Alistairs hands, tossing it behind him. "Uhp! Say goodbye to your stick!" Alistair staggered forward, as he went though, he braced his shoulder and pushed off, hitting the Judicator right in the chest. they both went down. The human punched him in the face, opening a deep gash on his cheek. In return, Alistair drove his palm into the human's nose as hard as he could, felt it give then smashed a closed fist into his eye. The Judicator kicked him off and spat blood on the floor. A long cut by his eye and blood streaming from his nose. "You broke my nose!" The human said, furious. Alistair pulled the "hot knife" from his pack and lit the blade ablaze. "That's not all i'm going to break." Alistair said calmly, and attacked with the glowing knife. The human brought his sword up, but Alistair planted the knife through the broad side of the giant sword, then sliced the point off. The Judicator was so shocked that he barely noticed as Alistair freed the knife and planted it in his abdomen. He looked down, in shock, then sank to his knees, metal clanking on the floor. The knife sputtered out, fusing itself with the armor. "Damn elf..." The human said as he collapsed completely on the floor. Alistair was breathing heavily. This was the hardest he'd fought since his special forces days. "Damn human." He gathered his things and slid back out the hatch he had entered through. He knew he had had no choice, but still felt guilty abandoning the mission for as long as he had. "Let's see how bad it's hit the fan." He said as he made his way back toward the lobby.
M ran along on all fours, scatterin troops left and right. He'd been hoping for a winged form but this would do. Under his thick almost armoured skin he could feel strong muscles. Whether they could pull a judicators armour apart he didn't know but with his claws he could certainly do some damage. With a roar he bouldered through a wall into the farm just in time to see Aeros falling and a judicator hanging from the roof. M leapt into the air, catching Aeros mid fall and carrying on into the opposite wall. "Don't worry I've gotcha." His deep voice said. He slid down the wall, placing Aeros on his feet before turning towards the the judicators. He could see another now, sitting up on a beam above him. The one on the Beam was lowering the other down by a rope. It was like she was fishing. I better take the bait M walked below the dangling judicator. "I can wait." He called up. The human girl was looking up at him like he was a god. Arun had never seen such a gaze. Then she sent him a message. It displayed below the radar in his helmet. She had the device! It was right in her hands - in perfect condition. He didn't know where she came from, but this girl was proving to be useful. The mission could still go on. That's when he saw it. He didn't know how he could've missed it - a giant pixie was staring at him, waiting, like a predator stalking its prey. Pixies were rare to come by, but this wasn't a time to gape at its power. Arun noticed his sword a few metres behind the human girl and her companion. He would need to get to it. "That doesn't look good!" Kerys' voice sounded. She too had noticed the Pixie, but still kept lowering Arun. "Give me a smoke screen," Arun replied, "I'll take care of this." "Roger." Before he hit the ground, Kerys had thrown all the smoke grenades she had, until that portion of the room became a giant cloud. Arun turned his heat vision on. He stepped over to the girl while he still had time, and spoke to her directly. "You need to get out of here fast. Plant the device on the main reactor, and then get out of here." It was quiet. Too quiet. M laughed as the gas spread out. It was meant to block sight, and to a lesser extent smell. He wish he'd aniticipated this before changing, Pixie's had different sight but it didn't appear to pierce the smoke. Thankfully M had sensitive ears, even more thankfully the judicator was wearing the noisiest armour ever created. "I can hear you you know." M said. His body wasn't metal so the judicator would have a hard time hearing him. He dropped to all fours padding silently towards the source of noise. Arun turned to look at the creature, its heat signature was already charging towards him. He tried to move, but before he could, it was upon him. A giant claw appeared out of the mist sending Arun sprawling a few metres backward, four marks across his chest. He only fought one Pixie before, and it didn't hit anything like this one. The scratches on his armor ran deep. The Judicator drew his hand gun, opening fire on the beast before him. The bullets hit thick, meaty flesh, but appeared to not even phase the creature. The smoke was beginning to clear, he could see his sword - his one hope of winning this fight. Arun stood up, taking several steps backward. All he needed was another charge.
Kate Kate stuck her finger out, pointing at the pixie and shouted louder than she ever had before "WHOA!" The pixie immediately started fighting Arun. She shook her head got out of the state of awe she was in, nows not the time for gawking at strange sights. Kate dashed of while Arun was fighting the pixie, her plan was simple, she would hand the device over to Aeros, then claim she got ambushed and had it taken. She carefully approached him while the judicator was too busy fighting to notice. "Take it. I won't be able to help you like this often so make this count. I'm going to help the Judicator out a little I think the rebels should scat while they can. also... sorry...about your nose, and Camilia" She moved off as quickly as she came. Wisely she waited a few minutes before returning to Aruns side. The rebels would win this fight no doubt, thanks to her, Needless to say she felt proud. She turned to face the pixie, what a horrible monster, rebel or not she was terrified of it. She raised her pistol and unloaded shot after shot into the creatures back as it thrashed at the judicator. The shots didn't do much, but the ammo she carried delivered electric shocks when they hit flesh. This monster back was being covered in them, she ran over to Arun shouting. "We should flee! this battle is pointless,the rebels, they have come with more forces than anticipated. I wasn't able to get to the main reactor, hell I'm lucky to be alive. Come on lets get out of here while we can!"
A fish out of water Indira had the control room all to herself. There was a dwarf slobbering on the floor and two humans tied to a column with duct tape over their mouths. Strangely, she didn’t feel the desire to kill them. Maybe later, but not now. She might find a use for them. With no one around to see, she returned to her natural state. Her skin turned pale blue and her eyes darkened. White markings appeared on her face, giving her a fierce, warlike appearance. Camilla’s auburn hair receded and smooth blue tentacles grew in its place. But, even in her natural form, Indira still had the angular features of an elf. Her long pointed ears stood up like daggers or devil horns. Indira took off Camilla’s glasses and twirled them between her fingers while she relaxed in the big swivel chair in front of the plant’s main console. She called up Daryn, her second-in-command, on the neuro-transmitter in her left ear. “Plague Leader to Alpha Squad. Can you read me, Alpha Squad?” He confirmed his identity and she asked what she’d been dying to know for hours: “How did the operation go? Did you get the supplies?” “Affirmative. Everything went off without a hitch,” the dark elf on the other end replied. “The synchronized detonations worked like a charm. The whole base was in chaos, trying to figure out where the ‘attacks’ were coming from.” She couldn’t help but laugh. “Excellent. Casualties?” “None. Two guards got wise and we were forced to return fire, but kept it clean, just like you asked,” Daryn replied. “I think we grazed one, but they’ll live.” He didn’t sound pleased. Indira usually ordered her men to shoot to kill. They weren’t used to carrying out an operation without bloodshed. She wasn’t used to this either, but maybe it was something she could come to like. A partnership with the Rebellion could prove fruitful. “Good work,” Indira said. “I’ll regroup with you at Outpost Omega once things are wrapped up here. Keep in touch. Plague Leader, out.” She severed communications and sank back in her chair. Indira sighed. She studied the video feeds from the surveillance cameras. The lobby was a mess. There was smoke clouding the screen. The cameras watching the reactors, the photovoltaic arrays, the batteries, the cooling reservoirs… they all showed no activity. Geez, are they going to sabotage the plant or not? Indira thought as she watched and waited. She thought taking over the control room would give her a tactical advantage, but what was the point if nothing was happening? Then, just as she was starting to get bored, the smoke in the lobby began to clear. There were three cameras there. One had been shot out in the fighting, and another was knocked out-of-focus when the armored truck crashed through the wall, but the third had a clear view of a Judicator getting thrashed by a pixie. Interesting… But, as exciting as that was, Indira’s attention was on the scene behind the epic fight. Kate was speaking to Aeros behind the Judicator’s back. She placed something in the elf’s hand before turning away and speaking frantically with the Judicator. The video had no audio, but her gestures said it all: They’re pulling out. Let’s see if I can help things along, Indira thought as she reached for the power station’s public address system. She cleared her throat and switched on the microphone: “ATTENTION VISITORS! This is your overlord speaking! I, an emissary of Black Death, hereby claim this power station in the name of justice. All humans and NCF-sympathizers have ninety seconds to clear the premises... or be purged in FIRE. Goodbye, humans. May your souls burn in the afterlife as my hatred for you burns in this one.” She signed off with an evil laugh and activated a false alarm, setting off flashing lights and sirens all over the power station, proclaiming a reactor meltdown. Indira made her way over to the collapsed vent, waving goodbye to the humans tied to the pole. She was still laughing as she began to climb into the vent, but a hand suddenly caught her by the ankle and pulled her out. A half second later, she was on the floor. Haldrin was standing over her, with a boot on her chest. He snatched the shotgun from her hands and quickly turned it on her. “You’re under arrest, elf… or… whatever the hell you are,” he said, his speech slurred by the lingering effects of the toxin. “Mermaid,” she clarified. “Whatever. You’re mine now.” He relieved her of her weapons and moved away to untie the humans, but kept an eye on her at all times. “I heard everything.” Dwarves were heavy drinkers. They had an amazing metabolism. She considered that when she administered the poison. But, not wishing to accidentally overdose him, she had slightly toned down the dosage. Indira had to laugh at such irony. Of all the people she’d killed, she was now being arrested for choosing not to kill one. “We’ll see if you’re still laughin’ when we get back to base,” the dwarf said as he returned and bound her hands behind her back with the same rope she’d used to tie the humans. Is there no end to the irony? Indira didn’t resist. She took a seat on the floor while the dwarf unlocked the sealed door and used his neuro-transmitter to call Aeros, while the two humans tried to shut down the false alarms. “We have a situation in the control room,” the dwarf said, speaking to Aeros's neuro-transmitter. “You might wanna come see this.”
Alistair vs. Kate Round II Alistair jogged into the solar farm. It was a disaster, there was smoke everywhere, another Judicator was being thrashed by a pixie--Alistair guessed that was M--Aeros was cringing on the floor against a far wall, and the human girl, Kate, was unloading into the Pixies back. Without thinking he lifted his pistol and took a shot at her. He missed by a hair, but it got her attention. He opened his halberd and rushed her. "Oh!" She said in surprise. "Its you again!" She said as she flowed under the swipe, then grabbed the shaft and kicked him hard in the stomach. "Sorry!" She whispered, "I have to make this look convincing!" Alistair had nearly forgotten that she was supposed to be on his side. "Funny, you seem like you're trying hard enough to me!" He gasped as he grabbed her arm and kicked out the back of her knee. He knew he wasn't thinking this through enough, but he didn't care. She was a human, and she had bested him and that was something he could not abide. As her knee buckled forward she spun and delivered anther hard kick, sending Alistair reeling. This girl was unbelievable. As he got to his feet, she was already running at him, leaping, knee forward, crashing into his chest, then delivering a solid blow to his jaw. He still had strength on her though. He threw her off, leapt to his feet and swung a powerful overhand with his halberd.
Simon's Death Simon glanced down at the makeshift bandage around his leg; it was made from some cloth the flanker tore from Simon's clothing, and would hopefully prevent Simon from bleeding to death until he could get help from a medic. The injury surprised Simon more than normal; his life had become awfully formulaic recently. At battles, he'd shoot a few people, but once he aimed or fired at any Rebel with any sort of importance, a hail of bullets, whether from a plane or somewhere else, would always interrupt him, killing everyone but himself and always ruining the spotter's scope. In a way, this battle was exceptional because the bullet storm had actually harmed him, and he had managed to shoot that annoying dark elf off the roof, hopefully to its death. There were screams from the snipers in the distance. What was going on? "Pixie incoming, sir." Fright tainted the flanker's voice. Oh: that's what was killing them. Full pixies were some of the nastier vermin around. "Shoot at it. A lot. It won't die, but it'll slow it down enough for you to stab it." The flanker nodded as if in agreement. Then, a large hand, black as night, knocked the nodding head off its shoulders. Resisting the urge to scream, Simon stood up, drew his short sword, adrenaline allowing him to temporarily ignore the pain in his leg. Smiling, the creature simply lunged and chomped down on his neck. It then loped off into the distance. Simon fell hard onto his back, blinking at the quickness at which everything had occurred. When he imagined his death, he imagined living in a relatively modest house, in a colony free of vermin and with some job that would help sustain that lack of pests. Maybe he'd simply climb ranks until he was a general, or higher. Not some pixie rushing him during his first mission with him as leader. White spots were beginning to obscure his vision. If any vermin dare to walk within a yard of my grave, I'll grab them and drag them in with me. If it weren't for the fact his trachea wasn't functioning, Simon would've laughed; the idea of a dead man managing to perform an act only the living could do amused him, somehow. Only the superstitious would believe in such a thing, and Simon knew the NCF had quite a few of those. There would undoubtedly be some soldiers who would avoid this hill for thirteen days after his death, or would try to convince others his rifle was cursed, or other such things. He wondered if any Rebels believed in this type of foolishness as well. His vision was nearly completely consumed by whiteness, now. Eventually, he would be unable to think; then, it was just a matter of the NCF putting him in a lowly soldier's casket and letting his body rot under a pitiful rock of a grave. Simon thought he could hear a voice. It was coming from inside his head, and distinctly sounded like Merridew. It reminded Simon of a past remark Merridew had made, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Well, it appears the PC's unrealistic luck finally ran out.
Kate round two! Kate jumped back as he swung his blade down on her, she was clear out of the way by the time the halberd finished its swing. But Alister followed by extending the blade to its farthest length. It shot out like a viper, Kate twisted to the side the blade making a shallow wound in her rib. "This man, he's actually really trying to harm me." She frowned and grabbed the staff just below the blade with one hand then raised her bolt gun. Alister side stepped then using his greater strength swung the halberd just as Kate fired. The shot missed him, and Kate was thrown to the ground. He dived in to finish her with a lunge to the chest. There was no time to get up, no time to roll, she blocked the stab by sacrificing her bolt gun; putting it in the way of the bladed point, the halberd crushed the bolt gun, and pushed Kate even further away. She rolled to her feet, Alister wiped out his pistol, he had her. His finger tensed the trigger and suddenly he was smashed with a huge amount of force. A vicious blow rocked his side armour *Bang!* his shot still fired, Kate felt a searing pain shoot through her arm. A sharp yelp of pain sounded from her lips as she clenched her bleeding injury. "He really was going all out!" She thought, "My lifes in danger!" Alister slid across the floor from the force of the blow, he got to his feet quickly as a Cyborg who looked just like Kate jumped for him souring 10 feet in the air, Alister managed to move, the edge of Nates boot skinned his shoulder. Nate landed where Alister just stood creating a large crater, and without thought charged him. Alister blocked one punch with his arm, the force sending him reeling. But as Nate closed in he swung his halberd, Nate tried to block but at the last moment Alister swept low knocking the feet out from under him. He spun his halberd and went to impale the offending robot. Kate ignoring the pain rushed forward to the aid of her twin. Alister caught her approaching and raised his pistol and fired! Kate lowered her head right as he pulled the trigger and the sound of metal hitting metal again could be heard, the bullet glancing off a large black metal plate. Kate staggered from the force, but to Alisters shock was unhurt. "What are you!" Alister roared as he aimed for another area of her body when, *Bam!* Nate struck at his knee causing him to stumble, Kate leapt at him! He raised his pistol, but she was too close she batted the gun out of his hand just as it fired. He leapt back just as Nate jumped back to his feet. They stared at each other, Kate with speed and unpredictability, Alister with strength and experience. They were still totally even, and this thought infuriated Alister.
