OPERATION: LONE STAR
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Zhulkarn has appeared with a token contingent of III officers following him for the time being. Seems like there is an actual one going on to work as some kind of smokescreen, hired people in uniforms but that is apparent only to the discerning eye as Zhulkarn turns towards a heavily guarded boat "Seems like it is a great day for a gondola race, I want to watch it from the comforts of my vessel, mind joining me, officers?".

Vaxis says nothing, just hovering close to Zhulkarn with a slow nod, ready to move.

Kitrana Corvidae nods.

Grek gives the Angel's monument a salute before falling in line.

Urid's antennae quiver and he gives a quiet chuckle before nodding his assent to Zhulkarn.

The corners of Kelnagar's mouth turn up as he grins mischievously.

Kelnagar nods.

Zhulkarn leads the group into the vessel and then the voyage towards the depths of Scrapston starts.

The vessel comes to a halt right before an inconspicuous building as Zhulkarn offers a soft grunt "Well, it is not the most comfortable of places but this is where we have the best view" then he proceeds through the doors. Anyone who enters through the doors of the forward base would be assaulted with flickers coming from the myriad of electronical devices bloating the place along the almost neverending cacophony of III officers running around, engaging in heated debates and trying to move ammunition crates. In the middle of the base there seems to be a holographic projection of the abandoned arms factory with three potential assault points blinking with a bright red light.

Kitrana studies the image of the arms factory intently mostly ignoring the officers going about their duty.

Urid tries to ignore the visual cacophony of the electronic gear and focuses on the holographic projection, studying it carefully.

Grek sends her carrybot over to the ammo crates, absconding with one of them to use as a seat.

Kelnagar leans against the wall, waiting to get briefed.

Zhulkarn lets out a soft cough as he presents a holo-recorder which whirrs around the holographic projection before it settles over the shoulder of Vaxis "First of all, it seems the highest ranking officer is First Contractor. But you may choose an operation leader at the absence of Dr. Aurazi" then he gestures towards the projection "We have three points of entry and an assault decision must be made. Though we are not without resources. All III personnel is at your disposal as well as a token force from RedeemerCorps remnants".

Kitrana says, "What are we facing at each of the entry points?"

Kelnagar says, "Well, Juno -is- the Immortal XO, so I vote for her."

Kitrana tilts it's head to the side in curiosity.

Zhulkarn says, "That is correct."

Kitrana says, "Hmmmm I'll support that notion."

Urid nods his agreement.

Vaxis says, "I'm not particularly worried about it unless Urid has strong feelings either way."

Urid says, "Whoever is best suited should perform the duty. I am not exactly a warrior."

Juno remains silent, clearing her throat eventually, "I will step forward if no others wish to perform as the leader," she says, "Though my command typically would extend to ship orders within our navy, but I can do this as well."

Kitrana says, "We don't seem to have anyone else more qualified."

Zhulkarn adds lightly "I will remain back here if something goes awry...orbital strike is our worst possible scenario...but I am confident things will not come to that" then nods "XO Juno is the operation leader in that case. We have three points of entry, you will have to be close enough to get a good scan of the dangers with your capabilities or with the help of our Interpreters. Remember though the counter-measure level is quite high currently at the area".

Kitrana looks at Grek.

Kitrana says, "You dont think your UAV could be sent to scout from here do you?"

Urid nods, his antennae folding themselves along his beak in an expression of grim acceptance.

Juno's head dips, scanning over the scene, "I will make a decision, but first I'd like to hear what you all think looks best."

Kelnagar says, "What are our options?"

Urid says, "Yes, how much do we know about each of the potential entry points?"

You say, "As our intelligence stated before which I relayed in 17th entry of our boards, we have three options. The front contains civilians, guards, a massive crate along a large AA-Gun to prevent any shuttle approach. So no evacuation will be possible until it is disabled. There is a backdoor which is lightly guarded but requires a more delicate approach with the drones surveying the area continually. And there is of course the old tunnels leading to the underground complex."

Grek says to Juno, "XO, might I suggest disguising one of my UAVs as one of the patrol drones and attempting to perform reconnaissance on the second entrance?"

Kelnagar says, "The backdoor sounds the more interesting option to me."

Urid says, "We could take one of us who is skilled in hacking and attempt to gain entry from the underground passage."

Kelnagar says, "I can handle any hacking."

Grek Lockwood nods at Kelnagar.

Kitrana says, "Eh i don't know about that a tunnel could be a tomb if they have sufficient guards on the otherside of that door. Nowhere to take cover."

Juno nods at Grek, "I think recon and some eyes close up is a good option. I personally was thinking the tunnel in hopes that it would be the weakest point of entry." She glances upwards, "I think it's wise to at least get some eyes out there, send out a drone."

Vaxis says, "I'm specialized more for artillery. Heavily kith focused. I can also drop into invisibility and drain heat to prevent any IR camera issues."

Juno clasps her hands to her back and turns to address the group, "Who of you have the most experience working with drones?"

Kelnagar says, "But surely those drones have some kind of IFF to detect intruders, no?"

Kelnagar says, "Including enemy drones."

Kitrana says, "Grek I suspect."

Juno says, "Let's see what we're dealing with on the second entrance, if it looks too hot, we'll look at the backdoor."

Urid pats his floating drone. "I work with drones on a regular basis."

Grek says, "Probably Urid or I, yes."

Vaxis says, "Setting up a proper IFF network would make this place far more obvious."

Vaxis says, "So who's sending the drone, Squad Leader?"

Grek Lockwood sets up her mobile workstation, and it comes to life with a loud whir.

You say, "So, I presume no frontal assault. Intending to take the backdoor or tunnel path?"

Kitrana Corvidae quickly assembles an engineer's workstation from items they seems to pull from all manner of pockets and containers.

Kitrana Corvidae sets up their mobile workstation, and it comes to life with a loud whir.

Kitrana leans casually on their workstation.

Vaxis says, "We could do some serious damage with a frontal assault, unacceptable risk to civilians though."

Juno says to you, "We are checking out the front before making a final call on frontal assault."

Urid nods at Vaxis. "It would draw a great deal of attention as well, I expect."

Grek interfaces with the computers, pulling up what information is available on the enemy drones. "I've already got mine manufactured, just need to arrange for the disguises." Her workstation sets to work.

Kitrana says, "I really don't like the idea of a frontal assault."

Kelnagar says, "Ultimately, I'm down with whatever option we choose."

Juno nods to Grek and Urid, "I leave the drones to you two to determine how to accomplish this. I have no experience with drones.".

Kelnagar says to Kitrana, "Just hide behind me."

Vaxis seems to find humor in the situation, if his chuckling is any indicator.

"Those of you on Artilliary," Juno then calls out, "Take up point and prepare in case this backfires on us."

Urid says to Grek, "You are preparing to disguise your UAV for use in recon?"

Vaxis nods at Juno.

Grek Lockwood nods at Urid Lockwood.

Grek says, "Precisely."

Juno searches the location thoroughly, and manages to find a huge chunk of broken syncrete.

Kelnagar happily says, "Guess I'm artillery too."

Urid Lockwood sets up his mobile workstation, and it comes to life with a loud whir.

You say to Kelnagar, "Well...if a door need to be bashed down...I am sure you will come in handy."

Kelnagar gives a wry smile.

Urid focuses on his workstation for a moment. "I can send my drone in to get us a proper look at the area." He glances up. "Just indicate which area you wish explored first."

Juno goes about pulling together bits of syncrete, creating a barricade, guarding the work station. The human takes point at it's entrance, wielding her piece and glancing back to ensure all others find positions. "Kith users," she next calls, "You all form a protective ring around those engineers."

Grek says to Urid, "I do side door, you do tunnels?"

Juno says, "They are your primary objective to protect."

Vaxis says, "Understood."

Urid's wings flicker and he nods at Grek.

Grek brings up her drone's camera feed in a little window on the main computer. It discreetly slips into the patrol route that the other patrol drones are using, deftly posing as just another robot sentry.

Urid's stubby fingers stomp rather than dance across the keys on his workstation, but his drone maneuvers toward the tunnel in response.

The surveillance data appears on the screens of the forward base as Zhulkarn lets out an errant "Hmm". There seems to be an AA-Gun preventing the landing of the hostile shuttles and there are several anti-personnel turrets concealed on the roof. Several mobile trenches exist camouflaged as arms crates and there is a contingent of guards that is ready to react from the open doors. The civilians are carrying arms to the landed shuttle on a nearby landing pad and the large crate in the middle of the area contains a mech ready to be activated.

Juno dives behind a huge chunk of broken syncrete for cover.

Kitrana punches some code into their toolkit sending their drone out to fly low over the arms factory scouting out the back door. They bring up the drone feed onto a small window onto the screen.

Vaxis says, "Oh boy. There's a mech."

Kelnagar says, "That looks fun."

Grek stares at the mech. "That's a lot of kit."

Kitrana says, "Can I say again how much I don't like the idea of a frontal assault?"

Urid's compound eyes stay focused on the displays on his workstation, but his antennae quiver in response to the observation of the mech. "That is unfortunate," he mutters, poking the occasional key.

Juno slips back from her position, scanning over the feeds as they come up.

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ] whirrs and then shows the backdoor entrance: There seems to be only anti-personnel turrets and a high-security door left at the back of the factory. Surveillance drones though seems to be on high-alert and can notify the rest of the factory if something goes awry. Behind the door the scans show there is a contingent of guards but they are not too much focused.

The data from the tunnel appears on the screens while Zhulkarn's attention seems to be fixated upon it: There are a horde of overgrown rodents blocking the path to the high-security door and a small number of loosely armed individuals indicate that this is a small-time gang territory though they do not appear to be hostile, just eating some eels over a burning pile of junk. The electronic door is quite high-quality despite its legacy appearance.

Vaxis says, "Seems we have a few options."

Juno's eyes linger on this screen, point towards its feeds. She motions the group over, "What do you all think of this entry point, looks like it may be the least guarded, despite those turrets."

Kitrana says, "Well I wasn't expecting many, this is someone's major operation."

Juno nods at Kitrana Corvidae.

Vaxis says, "Part of me kind of wants to just throw the interpretors at the mech on the front lawn and let it take out the AA."

Urid's drone banks as it turns, then descends into the tunnel, scanning as it goes. "Threat detected," the Nath-el mutters as he receives the same data as the others. The rats may not be a large problem, but the armed people definitely are.

Grek says, "Priority one is to get the AA turret down before we set off the alarm. Anyone think we could take out the gangers in that tunnel without anyone noticing?"

Juno frowns, stepping towards Urid, "You think the'll spot the drone?" she asks and then looks to the others, "If they do, our priority is pursuing before they alert the rest of the compound.".

Vaxis says, "The ganger's could probably just be bribed off."

Kelnagar says, "Maybe they'd be open to dialogue?"

Kelnagar nods at Vaxis.

Juno nods slowly.

Kitrana says, "Actually I think if we use the drones to draw some attention somewhere we could more easily sneak in through the tunnels."

Juno nods slowly.

Vaxis says, "Setting off a distraction puts the facility on alert."

Urid registers Juno's movement without turning his head, and taps a terse command into his workstation. "Drone is attempting to evade detection," he says, still watching the screen.

Vaxis says, "Right now, the ones guarding the tunnels are obviously not paying a lot of attention."

Kitrana says, "Yes it does, but it puts them on alert in the wrong area."

Vaxis says, "I highly doubt they're going to send all their forces to check a distraction."

Kitrana says, "Have you never seen the three card monty?"

Grek says, "I'd rather have one of our 'seers go in invisible and try sneaking in that way."

Urid says, "It would have to be a big distraction."

Kitrana says, "Either of you two engineers have a minitank?"

Grek Lockwood pets a small but heavy minitank ingratiatingly.

Urid says to Kitrana, "I do not."

Kelnagar says, "If we're to send an invisible seer, we should use the backdoor."

Juno says, "Big distraction, eh, how many here can call in airstrikes?"

Kelnagar says, "The guards inside are the least focused."

Vaxis says, "An airstrike is a really bad idea."

Kelnagar says, "Could be taken down more easily."

Juno says, "But I ask this, do we want to cause this level of destruction?"

Urid says, "We do not wish to endanger the civilians, yes?"

Grek Lockwood nods at Urid Lockwood.

Juno nods her head in agreement.

Kitrana Corvidae nods.

Grek says, "Let's leave the airstrike until after we've evac'd people?"

Juno says, "So we are in agreement, minimal destruction."

Kelnagar says, "Relative minimal destruction..."

Juno says, "I am not a fan in destroying real estate either."

Kelnagar smirks.

Grek Lockwood ponders the situation.

Grek says to Urid, "Say, do you have a wormholer?"

Kitrana says, "Hmm no I think we can't mount a sufficient distraction with just three drones and a UAV."

Urid bobs his head in agreement, much of his attention still on his workstation. To Grek, he replies, "I do.".

Juno says to Kitrana, "I like where your head is, but I don't want to risk endangering lives any more than we need to."

Urid says, "I have never, er, actually used it, however."

Grek says, "If we can get Urid or I inside, though I don't know how we'd manage that, we could evac them away from the AA."

Grek says to Urid, "What's the worst that could happen?"

Urid says, "We need two of us to create and maintain the wormhole."

Grek Lockwood nods at an arm-mounted wormhole generator.

Kitrana says, "The problem with that is all the civs seem to be in the frontal area. Where all that heavy armament is."

Kitrana says, "One person wouldn't last there for more then a couple seconds."

Vaxis says, "Incorrect."

Vaxis says, "Oblivion and the Void make surviving assaults...less harrowing."

You say, "There is also the factory insides, where the counter-measures are strongest."

Grek says, "We could do the cosmpiercer strat. Pax and wormholer."

Urid says to Grek, "A trip to the cloner? No. injuries to the civilians."

Vaxis says, "Pax is time limited with a wormhole, and that's a very loud strategy."

Vaxis says, "Actually...an idea."

Urid's antennae twitch. "What is Pax?".

Vaxis says, "If we can get a hard line to the door...we could let that army of rats in."

Grek says to Urid, "Void Kith spookery. Makes it so nobody can fight."

Vaxis says to Urid, "Pax is the nanoseer's ability to halt all violence."

Kitrana says, "Yes i have never heard of it either. What is it?"

Urid nods slowly in understanding. "Useful.".

Vaxis says, "But, if we want a distraction."

Vaxis says, "I think the rats are the best bet."

Urid says, "Will they want to go in?"

Grek says, "They won't think it's people if we use rats."

"I think the tunnels are still our best options," asserts Juno . "Their defences are weakest, I think we leave the drones to continue watching the other points of entry and proceed with caution."

Vaxis nods at Juno.

Kelnagar says, "The tunnels it is then."

Kitrana says, "I rather think we sould bring the drones with us and leave the UAV to watch the entry points. drones can be great at keeping enemies busy."

Urid pokes at his workstation. "Drone is still observing, unobserved," he intones.

Vaxis says, "What's the plan then, Juno? You think the tunnels are the best entry point, how are we getting past the rats, the gang, and the door?"

Kitrana says, "Kill the rats talk to the gangers and then hack the door."

Grek says, "Kelnagar's our best hacker, so obviously he does the door."

Kitrana says, "That's my suggestion anyway."

Kelnagar says, "Understood."

Grek says to Vaxis, "Can Void Kith do... fear rays or something?"

Juno glances towards Kitrana, "So long as we have vision on those entrances, I leave it to you all to determine how this should be done." With that she motions to collect and begins towards the tunnels. The woman takes point, moving quickly from cover to cover, proceeding as stealthily as possible.

Kelnagar follows Juno, railgun at the ready.

In a hushed voice, Juno says to Grek, "Let's figure out our best method of confrontation once we get in closer. I was thinking Kith would be a good choice to handle those thugs."

Vaxis shrugs helplessly.

Urid's drone hovers quietly behind a pile of unsightly trash, its camera capturing a somewhat narrow view of the door where the gang members cook and chat.

Vaxis says, "We're with you, Juno. Make the call."

Grek says, "You want me to send the killier bots in?"

Kitrana recalls their drone and follows closely behind Juno and sets up behind some piece of cover.

Juno says, "Not yet."

Urid says to Juno, "Do you wish continued surveillance of the target area?"

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ] relays "It seems I shall be watching from the forward base comfortably. Perks of being the Impera I suppose". The tunnel seems to be dank, smelly and filled with debris from a bygone era that is definitely not pleasant to navigate. There are overgrown rodents munching upon the corpse of a humanoid, unaware of your intrusion for the time being. There is an insignia on the arm of the corpse, though it means nothing since such gangs come and go frequently all the time.

Kelnagar says, "Cute."

Juno says, "I want to maintain as much surveillance as we can. When we get in closer, my hope is those of us flowing with Kith might be able to handle those unsuspecting guards quietly."

Vaxis has already dipped into invisibility and follows behind everyone else, floating off the ground, moving without footsteps.

Kitrana says, "Eh you see that sort of thing all the time in the Dregs."

Vaxis says, "I still think talking is far easier."

Urid transfers his drone's surveillance data link to his mindsim and trots after Juno and the others. "Mobile drone-sim link established."

Juno nods at this, "Alert me to any changes or signs of alert."

Grek pulls her HUD goggles over her eyes and readies her taser. The quarterstaff-sized instrument crackles with menace as the Nath-el gestures her bots into a flanking position outside the tunnel's mouth.

Urid says to Juno, "I shall."

Vaxis continues to just follow, remaining quiet.

Kitrana sets her drone up in a central attack position and readies its own taser staff and carrybot as they stand at the side of the mouth of the tunnel.

Urid directs his carrybot to stay by his side, in case it's needed for defense, and keeps most of his attention on the feed from his drone coming through his mindsim.

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ]: "Seems like we have a rodent problem, how do we proceed, officers?" the recorder moves around as if attempting to find the invisible nanoseer.

Once positions have been taken at the mouth,  Juno makes a silent motion with a hand, "Those of you who are stealthy and can dispatch those rats and clear us a path, try not to be detected by the gangs closer to the tunnel entrance." She then looks to Grek, Urid and Kitrana, "I want to keep them on the feed, have your drones move just behind them to provide vision and back them up if necessary."

Kitrana Corvidae nods at Juno.

Grek sighs and directs her spare UAV [rather than her drone, which is a completely different robot] into the tunnels. "In it goes."

Vaxis says, "I feel like we're overthinking the rats. We're a military squad, with robots and a beast. You think the rats are gonna try to start something instead of going scurrying?"

Kelnagar says, "They're big rats."

Kelnagar says, "The man-eating kind."

Kitrana says, "I've seen bigger."

Kitrana says, "And more man-eating."

Kitrana says to Kelnagar, "You don't get into the Dregs much do you?"

Kelnagar says, "Why would anyone?"

Rolls their eyes at Kelnagar, Kitrana "Well someone has to help those people".

Vaxis says, "...that's not mission relevant."

Kelnagar nods at Vaxis.

Kitrana Corvidae shrugs helplessly.

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ]: "Well, it appears there is nothing much new in the tunnels Ms. Grek. Though the gang members seem to be playing some dice right now...they have odd shapes...with many sides".

Urid gives Juno a curt nod, his wings folding in underneath his wing cases, the cases closing slowly but firmly as he directs his attention to his drone through his mindsim. The drone moves in behind the advance group, its view widening in an attempt to take in as much of the scene as possible. "Maintaining surveillance on team," the Nath-el murmurs.

Kitrana sets their drone up to harass the rats and support the team as they go in.

Vaxis says to Juno, "You want me to deal with the rats? I can deal with the rats."

Juno says to Vaxis, "Deal with the rats, and if the opportunity presents itself to deal with the gang without drawing attention, do so."

Vaxis moves in to suffocate the rodents. Things go well, for a while, but it seems that the rats care more about food than the possible horrific death by suffocation. As a number of the large rats expire, it causes a feeding frenzy, more rats pouring from the walls and shredding the corpses of their fallen kin. If Vaxis was hoping to not alert the rats, he has failed.

Kelnagar says, "Well, shit."

Kitrana says, "Yeah I see it. we better go in and help him."

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ]: "Well...flakk..." A horde of the rodents start to swarm Vaxis from all sides, one of them clamps their teeth over the gauntlet, the others seem to be going for the softer limbs and the commotion alerts the gang nearby from their dice game as the surveillance shows, they are coming for the entrance.

Vaxis says, "Augh, gah, Get off me you little shits."

Urid gives a rasping sound, somewhere between a sigh and a groan, as he observes Vaxis through his drone's feed. "Unfortunate.".

A flurry of sound can be heard all the way at the mouth of the cave- a scurrying of feet and the gruesome sound of flesh being torn apart. Juno "Move in," is her order, "take out the rats, Kelnagar if you can, rush past the rats and try to catch those guys off guard and hold them up if you can."

Kelnagar beams broadly.

Kitrana Corvidae gives a pained sigh.

Urid says, "He is going to enjoy that perhaps a bit too much, I feel."

Grek uses her magnotron to hoist Vaxis into the air and shake him in an attempt to remove the rats.

Vaxis growls into his mindsim as he's shaken about, "That...is...not...helpful!".

Grek eventually sets Vaxis into an extremely rapid clockwise spiral, sending rats launching off in every direction. The Nanoseer is now rodent-free!

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ]: Goes silent for the time being, as a laugh comes from the comm-line. The rats on the other hand, start to lose their grip over the nanoseer one by one except the one upon the gauntlet still biting viciously but seems quite shaken. Eventually it relents as well, the rodents turn their attention to the group charging forth while gun-fighting can be seen on the other side too, apparently gang is involved in clearing their share of rodents.

Grek says, "It sure seems to be working from down here!"

Urid's drone focuses in on the spinning Vaxis, capturing quality holographic images of the entire spinning, rat-flinging ordeal.

Kelnagar charges straight at the overgrown rats, wristblade at the ready. As he enters the fray, sounds of splashes of blood hitting the walls and flesh being sliced resonate throughout the tunnel, occasionnally interrupted by bouts of gleeful laughter. Shortly after, there is only silence.

Vaxis mostly just mutters as his wetwiring handles rat bites.

Kelnagar happily says, "All clear."

Kelnagar says, "Except the gang members."

Kelnagar shrugs helplessly.

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ]: "That is...some...art definitely" as the rats are decimated and their innards are splattered around mostly upon the charging B.E.A.S.T and some of their entrails cover the floating nanoseer. The gangers look at Kelnagar with a rather horrified face and one of them exclaims "Oh drakk! We were here just for rats! We mean no harm!" they drop their weapons to the feet of the man in haste.

Vaxis remains floating. He growls again before his nanites begin breaking down the viscera covering his body, "No respect. I get no respect."

Kelnagar pats Vaxis in a friendly manner.

Urid gives his buzzing chuckle momentarily as he observes Grek's method of freeing Vaxis from rats, but as his drone pulls back his amusement fades. "Hostiles inbound." He glances to the carrybot beside him. "Assume defensive position," he tells it, adding the appropriate commands via mindsim. The carrybot shuffles a few paces ahead, ready to intercept any rats which look as if they're hungry for Nath-el. As Kelnagar quickly and messily deals with the rat problem, impressing the gang members sufficiently to also solve that problem, Urid relaxes slightly. "Remain on alert," he tells the carrybot and the drone, with both voice and mindsim.

Looking at the door speculatively, Kitrana says, "Hey Juno you got enough explosives for this thing?"

Kelnagar says, "Let's save the explosives for later."

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ]: "Guess, it seems we have a decent lock to deal with...I doubt all the explosives you carry will be enough to go through it, officers" The gang members seem to be taking steps backs slowly still possessing horrified faces.

Juno's eyes scan to Vaxis before settling to the door, her order wordless- Take care of that door.

Vaxis shrugs helplessly.

Vaxis addresses the terrified gangster, "Hey, you know the code to get through the door?"

This doesn't seem to be what Juno had in mind and she pushes past, "Deal with them," she says to no one in particular, "ensure they do not jeopardize the mission." With that she accesses the key code, tuning in as she attempts a hack.

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ]: remains silent for the time being as one of the gangers respond "Bosses up there never give us anything, they just tell us to keep rodents culled and the entrance clean...they seemed serious about this door...and we are flakking out of here now!" They seem to be running away in haste, forgetting their weapons on the floor which bear the frayed insignias of RedeemerCorps.

Kitrana says, "I don't think they will be jeopardizing the mission. They seem pretty intent on being somewhere that is very much not here."

Kelnagar nods his head in agreement.

"Flakk me," curses Juno , the keypaneling shorting out, "Well.......that ain't going to work." She steps back and motions, "Anyone else got a way in?".

Grek elects to send her robots after the gangsters. The minitank blocks the entrance while the UAV follows them at a distance, watching them leave. At no point does she open fire on the fleeing criminals. "Area secured. How's the..." she winces at the acrid smoke coming out of the keypad. "...hack. Right. Plan B: Someone smash the door.".

Brandishing their toolkit, Kitrana says, "Well we could fix that panel and let someone else give it a try."

Vaxis says, "... I could also just turn the door into dust."

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ]: "Nice try, Ms. Juno...but it seems legacy things are quite durable...like me" The door seems to be protesting loudly against the attempt as a yellow light appears on the far right corner of the door but there is no alarm coming from it for now. Though it seems further tinkering can lead to unforeseen circumstances.

Kelnagar looks about himself, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Kelnagar waves at another Interpreter, "You. Fix that keypad, we're not giving up yet". The Interpreter quickly does his business and steps back to let Kelnagar try his luck with the door. Snorting arrogantly at the keypad, he mutters, "A stupid door will not stop us" and hacks the door with one hand.

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ]: "Guess, you are well with doors as much as rat-extermination Mr. Kelnagar" The yellow light disappears on the corner and the door opens with a loud "WHOOOSH!" You are looking at an underground complex for now right beneath the factory. The surveillance comes from the front door, the crates are still getting loaded and the frequency of the factory comms seems to be intercepted by your Interpreters. A hoarse voice speaks "Hurry up, down there. Else you will see that we are not joking around".

Juno proceeds through the door, eyes scanning over the facility looking for further points of entry. "Keep your eyes peeled," she informs the others, "we're on borrowed time, I feel, let's get in and deal with everyone we come across before too much of an alarm can be raised.".

Kelnagar says, "We should send a drone to identify all hostiles."

Kelnagar says, "So we know what we're up against."

Urid follows on with the group, remaining near the back with his carrybot while his drone keeps pace with Juno and the others.

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ]: "Looks like a large complex" the corridor ahead seems to be empty for the time being.

Grek nods to Juno, but shakes her head "Only brought two." Instead, she ducks into cover, advancing up to the corner and peeking around.

Grek beckons for one of the Improvisers to search the area. "We need to get the civillians out. Let's find them and evacuate with as little fuss as we can."

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ]: Legacy sounds fill the comm-line momentarily before the voice of the Jin comes forth "It is a shame the lack of RedeemerCorps scrutiny made us notice this whole complex too late. There seems to be..." the holo-recorder projects the vague plans of the underground complex. The crackling voice of the man continues "Looks like we have a thorough recon detail...a Control Room with two life signatures, several life signatures seem to be consolidating at the Power Core. There is also an R&D deparment with civilians with droid sentries watching over them".

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ]: "Though civilians in the R&D looks quite comfortable".

Faintly and far off comes the strangled sound of muffled violence.

Grek shoots a look over her shoulder at the rest of the team. "I don't like the look of that group headed to the Power Core."

Urid Lockwood collapses his workstation, and packs it up ready for relocation.

Vaxis says, "Yeah. Control of the power core is important. We can move from there."

Kelnagar says, "Control room might allow to deactivate those AA cannons."

Kelnagar says, "Allow us, even."

"Looks like the civilians are OK for now," Juno decides and points towards the large group in the Power Core-- "Alright, we're going in on them. I trust you all to know what to do if it gets heated." She navigates the complex, guiding you all towards the power grid, gun at the ready to respond to any hostilities.

Juno says, "I'm thinking the Power Station allows us to cut power and take care of what's going on in the control room."

Vaxis nods.

Kelnagar says, "Alright."

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ]: "Seems like you have already made a good headway over there and Mr. Kelnagar raises a good point definitely" The Power Core seems to be guarded by one massive sentry droid watching over a makeshift prison as the controls to the factory seems to behind the droid. There are several prisoners behind the bars a small number of them appears to be of gentler stature, apparently maintenance workers and while the others are of stronger builds apparently part of the security personnel.

Vaxis says, "Mm...ugly."

Vaxis says to Juno, "What's the move?"

Kelnagar says, "So, only one droid..."

Vaxis tilts his head curiously at Juno.

"Take out that sentry," Juno tells Kelnagar, "Rest of us, on the security personnel. On my move--" There's a pause, a silent count with a bob of her head -- one, two, three. Lowered into a crouch, she proceeds further, moving quickly, darting into cover, still attempting stealth to close in and confront the guards.

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ]: the dispatch comes from the factory channel again, the hoarse voice speaks "The worms down there stopped responding to the periodic calls. Flakkers. Someone check that out, I do not want any interruptions. Get moving, idiots".

Grek holds up a finger to hold briefly as she configures her turret from Laser mode to Strobe. She nods and then flits out of cover, landing lightly over by Juno. "That'll distract it from the prisoners when we're ready to go."

Vaxis says, "I could walk in, drop an interdiction to prevent anything getting ugly, and let you two get your hack on."

The hallway is abruptly filled with bright lights and an unpleasant humming noise, overwhelming the droid's sensors and causing it to stagger around as if drunk. The prisoners take notice, but Grek puts her finger up to her mandibles, urging them to stay quiet.

Vaxis adjusts his goggles, directing his swarm into the internal mechanisms of the sentry bot. He waves his arm at Kelnagar and says, "I have a feed, get its systems down, now!".

Kelnagar takes advantage of the strobbing light and nanites distracting the droid and walks up to its control panel. While he tinkers with it, he says "You know, I really wanted to bash your 'face' in the concrete floor, but we figured you'd be more useful at our side." Moments later, the droid turned friendly to the Inka squad.

Vaxis nods at Kelnagar.

Vaxis says, "Great job."

Smirking confidently, Kelnagar and Vaxis casually bump fists.

Kelnagar says, "Likewise."

Vaxis says, "Okay. Let's get control of the core now."

Grek Lockwood nods at Vaxis.

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ]: "So we have a new recruit now. Welcome to the fleet...sentry droid!" the voice of the man appear to be mildly jovial. Without the threat of the sentry droid, makeshift prison is not sturdy enough to hold the people restrained now. One of the well-built men approach to Juno and then asks "I used to be the security chief down here before the grunts up there took over our...legitimate operation. If you can arm us, we can fight alongside you or...escort the civilians out here if you have some means to get the hell us out of here".

Vaxis says, "There's some weapons near the back door."

Grek Lockwood nods at Vaxis.

Vaxis says, "Erm, tunnel access."

Vaxis says, "Not back door."

Grek says, "You don't want to go out the back door."

Kelnagar says, "But guards are heading there."

Grek Lockwood nods at Kelnagar.

Kelnagar says, "We heard it on the transmission."

Kitrana says, "Why not the back door?"

Kitrana says, "Ah right."

Kelnagar says, "Full of sentry drones."

Vaxis says, "Okay. Where are the techs that run the core?"

"You all there," Juno calls to the maintenance folks, "if we wished it, could you shut down power?" To you all she explains, "I'm thinking we shut off power, get to the controls and then turn it back on to gain entry and catch them while they're scattered. Hopefully a power outtage causes some chaos.".

Juno says, "Thoughts?"

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ]: factory comm-line is abuzz now "The tunnel door is breached! I repeat. The tunnel door is breached!" then the hoarse voice takes the control of the channels "Daka-heads down in R&D promised that is the safest setup marks can purchase. Whoever you are, you are messing with the wrong man. Ready the shuttle and load as much as crates possible!".

Kelnagar says, "Like I said."

Vaxis says, "We're officially on a time limit."

Grek says, "And there go the shuttles. We need that anti-air under our control."

Kitrana says, "Then I guess we take our new friend here and rush the AA-turret" (to the prisoners) "It is unlikely they will come here they'll all be to busy i think to worry about you"."

Vaxis says, "I think the control room is a better idea."

Juno says, "We detected what, two heat sources in the control room?"

Kelnagar nods his head affirmatively.

Grek looks at the guards, then at her kit. With a wince, she starts passing around her taser, her shrink-ray, her junkjet... everything but the wormholer. "I'm hoping you all don't need to use these, but if it comes to it, it's better that you be armed.".

Vaxis says, "Probably the head honcho and a bodyguard."

Juno says, "Alright, we go there now, no time to waist , that cargo can't get off the ground."

Kelnagar says to Vaxis, "The head honcho is in R&D."

Kelnagar says, "Along with droids like this one."

Vaxis says, "Ah, my mistake then."

Vaxis says, "We could probably split up our resources."

Vaxis says, "We still have the full Immortal squad, plus Redeemers."

Grek Lockwood nods at Vaxis.

"This droid will escort prisoners out," Juno informs the group, "Let's roll out, if we need more, it's as Vaxis says, we have backup."

Vaxis says, "Let's move then."

Kitrana says, "Right."

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ]: "So what is the situation down there?" the voice comes from the holo-recorder and one of the maintenance guys respond "We should leave as well?".

Glancing to to the maintenance staff, Grek says, "Yes, we hoped you could shut down the power, but it's not safe to try that with the goons upstairs looking for us. Best to evac now."

Kelnagar says to Juno, "I'm right beside you."

Grek wisely lets the carrybot-mounted turret take the lead on the way to the control room. Given that stealth is no longer an option, it blasts everything in the hallway in front of the squad with blinding flashes of light.

Kitrana Corvidae quickly assembles an engineer's workstation from items they seems to pull from all manner of pockets and containers.

Kitrana Corvidae sets up their mobile workstation, and it comes to life with a loud whir.

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ]: "Seems like we have awakened the beast" The guard detail seems to be going for the R&D section instead of the Control Room and you can hear the shootings and civilian researchers seem to be running on the corridors without looking around. They are apparently more concerned with taking care of the evidence for the time being. The Control Room appears before you, two guards seem to be ready to pull the trigger as soon as anyone barges inside.

Vaxis says, "Okay. I can handle this. I'm going to enforce pax when we open the door."

Kelnagar nods.

Kitrana says, "Hmmm looks dicey, maybe we should send the bots in first to soften them up before our heavy hitters go in...or thast."

Vaxis says, "This will give us control of the situation."

Kelnagar says, "Good idea."

Grek Lockwood nods at Vaxis.

Vaxis says, "It lasts 10 seconds. Be prepared for it to go down."

Vaxis nods, stepping up to the door and yanking it open as his eyes cloud with the black clouds of the void.  For the next ten seconds, violence is impossible, no matter what the thugs planned.

Kitrana saunters over to the controls plugging in their mindsim closing their eyes as the hack begins. After a few moments of stillness they open their eyes "Well that was easy, we have the controls."

"Good work," Juno praises Kitrana and then she is at the controls. Her eyes dart side to side, reading or indicating some sort of process of controls through her mindsim. Eventually she nods, "AA activated and prepared to assault anything foreign to this complex. Guardian Prime, any other aircrafts to avoid?" To the others she nods, "If this room is secure, get up there and secure the cargo."

Kitrana says, "This room isn't secure, pax is about to run out."

Gritting her teeth, Juno says, "Flakk, that's right. Keep it in our control."

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ]: "Seems like the shuttle will not be leaving after all, make sure to disable other security systems as well and you can take care of the rest".

Grek snaps to it, setting her strobe turret up on one end of the room and letting her serpentine burrowbot drape, boa-like, around the neck of an increasingly alarmed guard who, despite his best efforts, is unable to enact any violence against the gently coiling razor-mawed bot. Even the tank gets ready to attack the second the spell of peace is gone, its stubby spike launcher tracking a guard's movements with langid menace.

Kelnagar approaches the other guard with his wristblade in clear view, ready to strike as soon as Pax wears off.

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ]: factory channel comes into notice as the hoarse voice speaks "They will not be able to find our trail now, no more delays in the R&D section. Return back to landing pad ASAP!" another voice interrupts "Sir we lost the control room...I say....eerghh...." The hoarse voice comes back "By the tits of T'rath! Shoot the AA. NOW!" there are violent sounds coming from the surface along the cries of civilians.

Kelnagar says, "Might have to split the group."

Kitrana says, "Juno you did remember to target the other turrets on our side right? Or the mech? So they should be busy and unable to take out the AA?"

Juno nods to Kitrana, "Yes, I have activated security in its fullest," she informs the Amaian, "As I said, get up there and secure things once this area is secure."

Kitrana motions to the remaining techs "give me a hand here that mech outside could be a help" with the techs help they try to take control of the mech, a couple seconds later they are kicked out of the system "Flakk, well crap we buggered that up right good.".

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ]: factory channel is filled with several explosions, it seems the enemy managed to take down several anti-personnel turrets for the time being as the hoarse voice speaks "I want that flakking mech, at our side to cover our ass. Prove you deserve my marks, stupid gearheads. GO!".

Vaxis says, "I can do more help out there."

Grek Lockwood nods at Vaxis.

Kelnagar says, "No forgetting the guards here."

Grek says, "We got them!"

The corners of Kelnagar's mouth turn up as he grins mischievously.

Vaxis moves at maximum speed out towards the front area of the facility, conjuring up a roiling ball of absolute-zero temperatures and preparing to wield it as a weapon.

As soon as the Nanoseer departs, A small but heavy minitank fires at the guard, sending a spike through their foot and pinning them painfully to the floor. The grimace of pain is lost as the strobe goes off. When the light fades, the burrowbot is gone and the guard is on the floor, guts wriggling and whirring beneath their skin. There is only a small amount of blood.

Kelnagar grabs the guard by the throat, lifting him up his feet and stabs him, deeply.

Kitrana "well I better go back up Vaxis, I won't be any use here" They hurredly follow Vaxis out the door.

As the group falls back and towards the front Juno's attentions return to the terminal, "Alright, redemption round," she mutters to herself, "Let's get this mech turned over to Inka.".

Kelnagar says to Grek, "What do you say, we head to R&D after this?"

Kelnagar says, "To take care of that head honcho."

Grek Lockwood nods at Kelnagar.

Kelnagar says, "Never mind!"

Grek says, "Let's try taking them in for questioning, if we can."

"Flak yeah," Juno enthuses. Over the feeds the mech turns on the attacking forces above, its lights shifting to red as it launches an attack, spraying a fire of assault above.

Grek boards her hoverboard and makes for the landing pad as fast as she can, womholer in hand.

Kelnagar quickly follows Grek to the landing pad, minigun at the ready.

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ]: factory channel seems to be bloated with sounds of carnage as the mech joins the fray shooting against the forces trying to take down the AA-turret, the hoarse voice speaks agitatedly "We are still pinned down, troops prepare the heavies to take down that flakking mech".

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ]: "Looks like the mech made quite a number up there" The mech seems to be battered but still fighting under the heavy firepower from the opposing forces, though there seems to be mild civilian casualties here and there in the cross-fire.

Seeing the people opening crates to get the heavy weapons out Kitrana smirks "Oh no you don't!" They punch some commands into their toolkit and the drone goes racing off towards the crates buzzing about and doing loop de loops completely ignored "No no you stupid drone i told you to sear them not harass ARG!".

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ]: "Seems like there are some technical difficulties...should I press the orbital strike button? Or not..." The drone is shot down promptly to pieces and then the guards clad in heavy armor bring out the guns they have copied from Redeemer designs. Their assault proves to be too much for the mech which finally falls to side with a series of audible explosions on its chassis.

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ]: "Copy that Hyndoh. Bringing in the Redeemer support" A battalion of heavily armored Redeemers seem to be concentrating their efforts on the heavies back there, exchange seems to wear off the Redeemers but they manage to destroy the heavy weaponry of the enemy.

Kelnagar snickers softly to himself.

Vaxis bursts from the front of the building, an orb of blue fury dancing around him with lethal precision. Where it passes through soldiers, flesh freezes and limbs fail. As he settles near the AA guns, Immortal fire support begins mopping up anything he missed.

Juno's instructions are clear, reverberating into your ear: "Apprehend the leadership to be taken in for justice." For her part she books it to the top story, gun at the ready to assault any in her way and upon reaching the roof, her voice booms out, projected now over the intercom: "This factory is under Inka control, drop your weapons, cease fire . A peaceful surrender will go much further in your favor than otherwise.".

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ] "Ah well...it was a well-meaning try, Ms. Juno" as a roaring laugh comes from the crowd defending the landing pad as the second-in-command speaks "Sure, would you like some fries with your zhubeast steak too, cute girl?" then another round of laughter comes forth despite the numbers of Immortals trying to surround the place but the suppressive fire of the enemy forces them to retreat. Hoarse voice booms "Quit flakking around, formation up! This parody went too long!".

Grek sends her burrowbot - still slick with gore - slithering toward the boss in an attempted ambush while Juno has the lot distracted with her adorable demands for surrender. It leaps for the neck!

Insults seem to have shaken Juno's calm and she is jumping in a fury, gun waving as she calls out a rally: "Flakk em, kill em all, except them two in charge, death's too good for em!".

A knife-mawed burrowbot misses its intended target, shooting straight over the boss and hitting the second in command. The laughter is abruptly replaced by screaming and a wet gurgling noise as the #2 is dragged off by a blood-slick, knife-covered metallic snake.

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ] Redeemer remnants lock themselves into a skirmish with their ex-colleagues in a bloody battle which clears path to the man in modified suit.

Kelnagar charges at the boss with his shield up. While running, he calls for support from the Redeemers Remnants to handle the rest of the guards still attacking. The Redeemers left none standing. Now in melee range of the boss, Kelnagar smashes him, sending him flying against the wall and knocking him unconscious.

Kelnagar inclines his head politely.

Vaxis nods at you.

[ Zhulkarn's holo-recorder ] The hoarse voiced man seems like settling at the side of the wall for the time being but then stands up. The suit of the hoarse voiced man seems to be rather battered the moment he was crashed against the wall. Turrets, mech and now the impact of the smash apparently made quite a number on the state of art suit. The subsystems wake the man up and he throws his helmet to side with a swear, he is a firm-faced Jin and he looks at Juno "Guess we should have taken the offer, when it was still on the table, I surrender".

Vaxis says, "Probably shoulda, yeah."

Vaxis flashes you a joyous smile.

Kitrana says, "You're knicked chum."

Grek picks up her capture and cuffs him with a handy pair of restraints. "You lot made a lot of mistakes here. Probably the first was setting up this scheme in Ascendancy territory. It was never going to end well.".

These words words are all Juno needs, and apparently so do those left standing. "Alright, take em in, all of em," she calls out to the redeemer corps, standing down as they set about the process of capturing all personnel.