Forsaken

[Misha_Gottlich]

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[WEAPON SYSTEMS]: Standby
[TARGETING]: Scanning...
... ... ...
[TARGETING]: Scan=[color=#880000][NEGATIVE]...
[ERROR]: Environmental interference is preventing target acquisition
[WEAPON SYSTEMS]: [ACTIVE]
--->---> :Power Level:[FULL]
--->---> :Threat Level:[HIGH]
... ... ...
... ...
...

""It's go time, let's storm this *****!"

The bridge doors slid open and hellfire rained down on the tiny siege party. A hail of small arms fire nearly consumed the space between the doorway at the instant the doors cleared the path. For that tiny moment, it was as if every weapon the bridge crew and security force had was all fired at the exact same time. The doors slid open and a nearly solid beam of laser-fire exploded out through it. The elite boarding party shook it off like it was a splash from a nasty puddle!

Taden was safely sheltered behind the ballistics cloak he held wrapped in front of his face like a shield. The other members of the boarding party were all wearing quite advanced body armor as well, and out of the corner of his vision he could observe individual lasers being glanced and reflected of the tight fitting suits. None of them even really seemed too shaken by the barrage. They were obviously all hardened by combat and ready for this battle.

After that first onslaught from the highly coordinated bridge and security team, the hostile assault became more chaotic and sporadic. There was still a huge amount of small arms fire coming at them, but it was less synchronized and not as well focused. This was the time for the siege party to move in. Time to smash some skulls, Taden thought.

"GRAAAHH!"

The Dark Harrs let out a battle-cry as he charged forward into the fray, his arm raised in front of him holding the cloak like a shield he resembled a massive, black, mechanical vampire stalking his prey. His right hand held below the elbow of the arm holding his cloak, fist continuously flexing, sending out deadly purple rings of plasma. Each blast from the Super-Excited-Particle-Emitter struck a target with devastating effects. Whole chunks of torsos were vaporized, and a well placed shot could amputate an arm or a smaller persons leg! A direct head-shot often resulted in the complete disintegration of the subjects head. Taden was beyond pleased with the performance of his 'Sidearm'!

As he pushed forward into the bridge, Taden noticed the Centurion Whesto rushing the bridge beside him to his right. Taden hoped they would get some cover fire from the attractive operative, that appeared to be of Rheinland heritage, at the rear of the formation as they pressed the security forces to back themselves into slightly more fortified positions. Taden took to the left side of the entryway as Whesto broke off to the right. The man was really efficient for not having any targeting augmentations or combat CPU assistance. He was taking them down with ease and seemed intent on going for the hard targets. Taden let himself be slightly impressed and was glad he had such a warrior fighting at his side.

Taden turned his full attention on the hostiles in front of him. He was confident that the Centurion at his right could hold his own without his needing to worry about it. A good portion of the security force was already a seething, bloody mass on the floor, but somehow a large portion of the bridge crew still remained. The helmsman stood diligently at his post and fought with the controls to keep the ship stable and on course. It was no easy task for the man, as the battle raged both inside and out of the badly damaged capital ship. The helmsman was shielded on all sides by several other members of the bridge crew, Taden's CPU registered the comms officer, security officer, and logistics officer as well as a couple security personnel that actually seemed somehow less threatening than the bridge officers. Perhaps it was because the officers, like the helmsman, had a slight blue tint to the whites of their eyes, and they appeared more steadfast and unshaken by the chaotic battle around them. They all just focused on their tasks with alien like determination!

Rage began to boil up inside Taden. These were unmistakably Infected alien Nomad scum! Hatred colored his vision red and Taden turned all his attention on the alien monstrosities he now faced. His goal was the Helmsman. If they could seize control of the ship it would not be long before they had control of the battle. He began to advance on the helm's defenders taking precise aim with his SEPE-Cuff and fired a shot at the comms officers head. With inhuman speed, the spry Infected woman simultaneously ducked the blast and returned fire with a blast from her own weapon. The discharge from this weapon was much different from the light laser fire from the rest of the security teams weapons, and significantly more powerful! Super-heated slag particles were propelled in a small spread pattern at fractionally-relativistic speeds with devastating results. Tiny bits of molten metal burrowed through the single folds of Taden's ballistic cloak, and wherever it wasn't bunched up or wrinkled into layers, burned into the surface of his Bio-suit armor. Taden's combat CPU immediately reworked his tactics and he crouched into a charge stance, his left hand held slightly away from his side...

As Taden prepared his attack, one of the other helmsman's defenders peeled of their post and began moving towards their target, firing a barrage of shots from that high powered weapon they were all carrying. It took just a nanosecond before Taden realized in horror that the target the Infected alien was firing on was Centurion Whesto! The alien had him down and was approaching Whesto while firing into him mercilessly. Taden had no choice, nor did he give any pause. He turned just slightly to face the back of the Infected that had Whesto pinned down and charged the motivators in his legs for burst output.

With tremendous force, Taden launched himself at the Nomad/Human abomination that was assaulting his comrade. His hardened alloy feet left compression indentations on the deck of the bridge as his massive frame was propelled like a mortar shell at his opponent. Harrs decided against employing the Plaz-Blade at this time, and instead just smashed directly into the Infected crew member with all of his considerable weight. The force of the impact carried the alien officer off its feet and plowed them both into the bulkhead on the far side of where Centurion Whesto was now laying, bleeding out. With his nearly completely cybernetic body Taden weighed nearly 400 kilos, but somehow, the smallish looking human being pressed beneath his bulk was undaunted. With superhuman strength, the tall but thin bridge crew member began to struggle his way out from under Taden's huge metal body, lifting and shoving Harrs off of his small frame. Taden was not going to give this alien worm the chance to wriggle free! He reached out with lightning speed and grasped the bridge officer by the head with both hands. Taden squeezed. The servos in his left hand strained only a little. There was a POP like the sound of someone smashing a watermelon, and the Nomad/Human's head exploded to bits in Taden's grasp.

With a glance, Taden could tell that Whesto's injuries were not life threatening. He had gotten lucky that the Core armor had held up and that the alien hadn't gotten off another shot at his now unprotected face. Harrs motioned to the Centurion with one blood soaked hand to just stay down. He had to neutralize the remaining threats before attempting to haul Whesto out of the danger of the battlefield. Harrs then turned his attention back to the Helmsman and his security detail. One more of the Infected that had been guarding him, as well as the two security troops, were either dead, or otherwise occupied somewhere else. This left the helmsman with one infected defender remaining, the bridge's security officer. He was a hulking man who's chest was nearly as wide as Taden's massive cyborg torso, and his attention was trained directly on the heavily augmented siege soldier.

Taden crouched once again and faced the two Infected alien crew members. He held his arm away from his body and once again pre-loaded his augmented body for a charging leap. He placed one foot against the corner where the wall met the floor and used the brace as a launch point for his leap. The force drove a divot into the metal bulkhead the size of a dinner plate as Taden launched himself at his foes. He flew towards them, twisting so his left side was prominent and his left arm was held in front of his face, outstretched to his right side. When Harrs was just an arms-length away from the surprised security officer, his arm snapped through from right to left with such speed that un-augmented human vision wouldn't even be able to see it. There was a familiar CRACK as the Plaz-Blade snapped into position and hummed to life. The alien security officer was fast, but not fast enough. He ducked, but the Plaz-Blade sizzled as it cut clean through the top if his head about 2 inches above his eyes. The severed chunk of skull hit the deck with a dull squishy THUNK as the human alien host mindlessly groped the air in front of itself for a couple seconds before collapsing to the floor with its head slumped between its knees. As that alien fell, Taden's right hand gripped the throat of the Infected helmsman and he passed the Plaz-Blade through the center of their chest with his recovery swing. The lower torso and legs of the Nomad fell writhing to the floor while the upper portion gripped Taden's arm, struggling for a second to escape his grasp whilst gurgling a bloody death scream before going completely limp.

Taden tossed the lifeless half of the bloody corpse onto its still twitching other half and assessed the battle situation. It had quieted down significantly and it seemed that Guildmaster Daniels had found and dealt with the Captain of the Overlord. Harrs scanned the bridge and was pleased to find no more hostile forces, while it would appear that all of the boarding party had survived as well. Centurion Whesto had taken some grievous injuries and would need serious medical attention, but he was alive and would make it out of this even though he would need to be carried out. It looked like Taden was going to have to drag someone besides his own sorry cyborg ass outta this mess after all. No matter, he would be glad to carry home a comrade instead of a corpse.

"The situation looks clear, Sir. Whesto is down, I don't think he can walk. My ship is scrap. What are your orders, Guildmaster?"

Taden gave his battlefield assessment as he approached Whesto's fallen body. Was he still even conscious? Taden could read his vitals, but they were weak. He gently nudged the Centurion, attempting to gauge how much assistance Whesto was going to give him, if any, whenever he would have to be moved.

'Yo, you awake comrade? Good fighting! You went down hard! ... Can you hear me, Sir?"

The situation was neutralized. It was time to figure out where to go from here. There was still plenty of loose ends to tie up and Taden was sure there would be other casualties and injuries in such a grand rescue attempt. The battle was over. The Guildmaster was safe. But the road home still seemed long and arduous indeed. And how was Taden gonna replace his Blacktip bomber! It had been practically brand new! Oh well, Taden chalked it up as another casualty. He would list it as a fallen comrade in the battle report he would file later. It was a small price to pay to have the Guildmaster back at the helm of the Core! Now it was just a matter of getting themselves all safely home again. Taden wouldn't be able to truly let his guard down until they were back in Omicron-Rho, soaking up drinks and stories at the pub! He hoped it would be soon...

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...Aftermath Of The Overlord...

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