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Post by Jakob on Nov 22, 2016 0:00:46 GMT -4
The scavengers moved towards the collapsed skyscraper. As four of the scavengers kept their weapons trained in the four cardinal directions, the other eight hopped off from their own vehicles to begin picking out slices of crumpled, rusted steel. They produced torches that sliced the steel into chunks. Chunks that they effortlessly tossed into the trailer as they worked.
The four guards were meant to keep watch over the two sources of movement, but they did not seem to be going on the aggressive to search for anyone.
Jakob, being a scavenger himself, merely continued his work, while keeping an eye on his motion tracker.
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Kakei
Writer
Engage at your own risk
Posts: 40
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Post by Kakei on Nov 22, 2016 0:03:23 GMT -4
I silently rise from the water and drag one of the scavengers down, unnoticed by anyone else. I quickly dispatch him, and move onto the next. I take down three more before any of them notice anything.
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Post by Jakob on Nov 22, 2016 0:52:48 GMT -4
As the scavengers are all close together, taking down the first one caused the entire group to enter alert status almost immediately. One shouted in alarm, and the gunship whirred to life.
Plasma shots began firing everywhere. The workers who were not on guard duty had brought out their emergency weapons and lent support to the primary guard. The gunship, on the other hand, warmed up it's weapons. Multiple light plasma casters on turrets, and an arc streamer along the front for disabling ships in close quarters. The arc streamer was also perfect for incapacitating infantry with a destructive electrical current. The gunship prepared reinforcements in the hangar as it rose, cutting off all access to the ship entirely from a ground soldier.
Jakob spun around. "Ugh!" He growled as he began to run out of the library. What the hell happened? Why did it turn into a hot zone? Who struck first? Jakob made a note to chew out whoever escalated the situation, if they would even survive it.
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Kakei
Writer
Engage at your own risk
Posts: 40
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Post by Kakei on Nov 22, 2016 10:08:30 GMT -4
I rise from the water, both pistols draw, pointing at the ship, each aimed at a turret. Two shots, two turrets disabled. "Deactivate your weapons and I'll let you live." One of the workers fires their weapon at me, and I fire back, swiftly dodging the shot before returning fire. Weapon disabled. My other pistol's sights never leave the gunship.
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Post by Jakob on Nov 22, 2016 13:03:20 GMT -4
"She just killed Ralph!" One shouted, "By the Witness! What are we gonna tell his family!?" The shouting lizard began to break down in grief and pain as he too got hit, while the rest trained trained their weapons on the attacker and opened fire. "Why are you doing this?! We're just scavengers!"
The Arc streamer fired up and launched a blast of electricity towards the figure. The usage of the weapon was danger close, but after two turrets got destroyed, they weren't planning to let this thing take any more of them without a fight.
Jakob, lagged down by the water, waded as fast as he could, but he was still far from the encounter. "Stand down!" he called, though he was not sure if he would be heard over the collapsed skyscraper. "Stand down!!"
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Kakei
Writer
Engage at your own risk
Posts: 40
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Post by Kakei on Nov 22, 2016 14:00:55 GMT -4
I strafe left, dodging the shots. "Deactivate your weapons!" I flash my Emblem towards them before diving back into the water.
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Post by Jakob on Nov 22, 2016 14:07:57 GMT -4
They merely saw a glint, a flash, of something small and polished. "It's too late to be showing a badge if you're a cop!" An apparent leader shouted, "You killed Ralph, you monster!"
"Screw this!" Another shouted, the disabled weapon he had been carrying had leaked plasma from where the woman had shot. Evidently while the guns were military-class, it was of a variant that was rendered obsolete within a quarter-cycle, "Let get the hell outta here!"
"Agreed. Jackpot ain't worth dyin' for. Get Ralph," the apparent leader called to the injured lizard, "We'll give cover fire."
As the injured one stepped through the water, the rest provided cover fire, supported by the gunship.
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Kakei
Writer
Engage at your own risk
Posts: 40
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Post by Kakei on Nov 22, 2016 14:32:17 GMT -4
"Find somewhere else to scavenge! Earth is off-limits!" My voice comes from above them, though I am beneath their ship, placing a tag.
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Post by Jakob on Nov 22, 2016 14:49:57 GMT -4
From the perspective of the ground lizards, they would easily see the figure at work on the underside of the ship as soon as they turned towards the source of the voice. "She's on your belly!" he called into a communicator, "Fire up the static!"
The ship's arc streamer conducted a charge all along the surface, which held an exo-layer designed to withstand ion blasts without loss of power to systems. This setup was ideal for getting trackers and the like off their tail.
"I got Ralph!" The injured one called as he re-emerged from the water. "He's dead, Jim!"
"Everyone to the ship!" The leader barked. They formed a close-knit unit and began to move toward a more open area, farther away from Jakob- who was trying his best to navigate through the jagged ruins that impeded his progress.
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Kakei
Writer
Engage at your own risk
Posts: 40
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Post by Kakei on Nov 22, 2016 15:08:07 GMT -4
I fall back into the water, avoiding the charge and appear seconds later standing a bit farther away. "Leave! Now!"
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Post by Jakob on Nov 22, 2016 15:32:42 GMT -4
Jakob finally slipped through the rubble in time to see a group of lizards trying to make it back to their ship.
"What the hell did you do!?" Jakob barked at the woman, "What kind of stunt are you trying to pull?"
The Lizards made it to the landing zone. "You're going to pay for what you did!" The leader called, "Ralph had a family and you murdered him in cold blood!" They then loaded into their vessel and began ascending up to space.
Jakob waded through the water to watch the ship leave. "Report what happened." He spoke, professionally, but hard, like a well-trained soldier.
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Kakei
Writer
Engage at your own risk
Posts: 40
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Post by Kakei on Nov 22, 2016 15:55:57 GMT -4
"It's not cold if you're looting!" I straighten my cloak and return my Emblem to the belt wrapped around my waist. "Looting a damaged planet. Ignoring the order of a Ranger. Assault of a Ranger."
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Post by Jakob on Nov 22, 2016 16:21:28 GMT -4
"And you yourself said that not everything is worth reclaiming?" Jakob tilted his head slightly, "In a situation such as this, life takes priority over looting."
Jakob shook his head, "I do not understand your jurisdiction here. I have been across the cosmos, and I have heard nothing about these "Rangers", or that organization represented by that badge." He pointed out the emblem on her belt. "I could hear the commotion. I heard them shout first. You gave them no warning, so your talk about "ignoring orders" does not fly."
Jakob examined the blood that had accumulated in the water, where Ralph had been slain. "As a resident and military authority on Earth, I must ask you to respect Earth protocol, or leave peacefully."
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Kakei
Writer
Engage at your own risk
Posts: 40
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Post by Kakei on Nov 22, 2016 16:27:09 GMT -4
I loook at him sideways. "You don't need to understand it." I start walking around him, slowly. "And, the Earthen Milirary consists of many different groups that don't like each other. And, you apparently."
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Post by Champ on Nov 22, 2016 16:30:26 GMT -4
So, Ayame thought, this was her father's old stomping ground. Not here, specifically, of course, this was a ruined grocery store, but still, this was basically the neighborhood he'd spent his teen years in. It was so strange to think about, especially considering how desolate it all was now. Almost everything that had been Tremorton, everything that her parents had known growing up, was gone now, destroyed during the ongoing catastrophes that had shaken their world. She often wondered what it had been like before, in the old world. Her mother had told her it had been better, perhaps not much more peaceful, but more safe. There was a sense of progress back then, a sense that, slowly but surely, the world was becoming a better place. All of that was gone now. Left in its place was the world that she had grown up in, the one she had known almost her entire life. The one the adults called a wasteland. She wondered what this city had been like in its heyday, when her parents had been younger. Based on its scale it must have been quite a place to be, filled with life and light and activity. She wondered, too, what her parents must have been like back then. She'd heard stories, of course, but those seemed distant and insubstantial, and sometimes she wished she could just look into the past and see the truth, especially about her father. There were all kinds of stories about him, about how great he was, and many of them seemed too good to be true. She wouldn't know, he had seemed like a good man when she was younger, but one that, based on her memory, was very tired. It was because of the change to the world, her mother used to tell her, that he had changed. He had been different as a young man, full of life and hope. All of those hopes had gone away, apparently, after the catastrophe. And then, for reasons she still didn't fully understand, he had gone away too, leaving her and the rest of the family alone. Someday, she thought, she'd find him, and someday she'd find out if he was really as great at she'd been led to believe.
But not today, today was about trying to find any salvageable supplies. So far she'd had some success, there was some canned food at least that seemed to be on the far end of edible, but for the most part there had been nothing noteworthy. The ocean had taken away most of Tremorton's most worthwhile supplies, and what it had left behind had been picked clean over the years. Still, it was worth at least looking. Sometimes it was still possible to get lucky and find something truly exceptional.
She was leaning to examine a lower shelf when she heard it, the sound of plasma fire. She turned immediately to the sound, and from somewhere else in the store she heard her sister turn to it as well.
"What the hell was that!?" Skyler called to her.
"I don't know," Ayame said, "But we should check it out."
They ran out of the front door, and as Ayame shut her eyes, listening for the sound. She didn't need to, it was close, and loud enough that there was no mistaking where it was coming from. She turned to her sister, and without speaking motioned for her to follow. She climbed a nearby ladder, leading to what had once been a rooftop, and quickly navigated the ruins of several buildings to stay above the water level. Within a few minutes of scrambling over the ruins they found what they were looking for, and they watched as a gunship took off into the air, blasting as quickly as possible out of the atmosphere.
"That explains the plasma fire," Skyler said, "But who would bother a bunch of lizards, they're basically harmless."
"I don't know," Ayame said, shrugging, "Let's find out."
Skyler raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't argue. She just followed her sister as she worked her way through the rubble and waded over towards the ruin where the battle had taken place.
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