Darwin's Soldiers: Disruptive Selection

[MrDrake]

Aimee in turn, remembered one other thing and reached into her pocket, pulling out the mechanical eye she still had and showed it to Shelton "Hey, ever seen anything like this before? It's not a normal eye....got it off an attacker....I believe he was with Dragonstorm as well, back in Las Vegas" she spoke, and in turn, just handed him the eye regardless.

Her eyes in turn, gazed outwards as the vehicle came to a halt as she too got out, but as she did he appeared before the group.  Aimee's eyes widened a little "You again" she sneered.

Death's eyes only gazed towards Aimee momentarily before his eyes shifted to that of Sharon "I'm afraid that time for you, has reached the end of the road, all 30 hours have passed to this exact moment in time" his eyes again, gazed towards Aimee, but then, they shifted over towards Neku.  His eyes remained trailed upon Neku for a few moments before they shifted to Sharon once again.

[Nick22]

lets get this over with " Dr Landon said, brandishing his weapon. " so while ROSS is dealing withSoundwave, we look for things to blow this place up.. Aisha said. 'So how long do you think we'll have to work? Are we talking 15 minutes? 1-0 minutes? 5?"
_
We get in, get out, and get the hades out of here before it blows uop. need I remind you we've got a lot of lawbreaking to account for Landon replied " I mean saving the country- and the world, from deranged physchos does mitigate a lot, but stoill..

[Serris]

"F--- the law!" Gustave growled. Twin bandoliers filled with his signature four gauge shotgun shells crossed his chest. His signature shotgun was in his hands.

Alfred took some time to don both his ballistic vest, helmet, shell pouch and a set of specialized gloves he bought. The gloves in question weighed almost three pounds each. They were made of chain mail, kevlar, steel plates and had steel shot over the knuckles and the back. They allowed him to deliver even more powerful blows without worry of breaking or cutting his hands. He grabbed his shotgun and got ready.

Spc. Crota scratched his chin. "I don't know. All I can say is that Soundwave will not be an easy foe. I would say an hour or so is a safe bet."

-----------------

Sharon had her rifle ready. She smiled - revealing her fangs. "Fight me for my life! I will not surrender that easily!"    

Dr. Zanasiu turned to Shelton. "Upload the virus."

"But-" Zachary began.

"If it's like Pelvanida, they probably already know we're here. If we upload that virus and wipe out the security systems, we make our job easier."

Dr. Bailey handed the flash drive to Shelton. "Okay, but remember to look for valuable info before you upload it. Once you plug in the flash drive; the virus will automatically execute; there's no turning back."

He then grabbed his canister of pepper spray and tucked it into his pocket.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Shelton peered at the eye. "I've never seen anything like this before. Where did you get it?"

He was about to follow Aimee out of the car when he saw their newest arrival. "...On second thought, I'll stay in here and keep examining this..." he quickly hunkered down in his seat and focused his attention on the eye. He also took the flash drive from Bailey, thanking him.

Meanwhile, Sharon cocked her rifle but kept it at a neutral position. Her talk with Neku had revitalized her spirit; if Death was going to take her, she would give him a fight to remember.
She spared a quick glance at Neku. <Shall we take him together?>

[MrDrake]

Aimee stepped forward beside Sharon and Neku "I'll help at least hold him off, he took Hailey's life and I want to at least have some payback" she spoke as she flexed her hands before curling them up into fists.

Death's eyes just remained fixed upon Sharon for most of the time, but yet, they diverted to Aimee for just a moment "A life for a life, it was not all that difficult to comprehend, you and your friends destroyed War....I simply took Hailey's life as payment instead....and now that Famine's life has been taken....her life shall be taken next" he spoke, eyes shifting towards Sharon once again before he charged.

"Not today...." Aimee spoke and waited until the right moment before she moved, shoving Sharon out of the way and pulling back her fist before she did just that, she lunged forward and managed to strike Death, right across the face.  And again she struck him before a third and final uppercut was landed upon Death before Aimee stepped back.

She glanced at Sharon "Sorry, had to at least do something" she told her before helping Sharon up, eyes glancing towards Death again.

"Impressive...." was all Death had to say about being punched "But no matter, you are only delaying the inevitable.

[StarfallRaptor]

Neku stepped forward, his electrical powers surging into a concentrated aura-like armor around him as he nodded to Aimee and Sharon.

<If that's what you want, who would I be to say no?>

He replied, then faced Death.

"Inevitable?  Heh.  Fate, inevitability...all that is is a load of crap.  People have been given a gift by whatever "god" or higher power there is.  You wanna know what that gift is?  It's the right to choose their own path.  There's no such thing as inevitability!"

He said, forming his swords, his eyes glinting as he looked up.  

"I think it's about time for you...to go back to wherever you came from."

He taunted, lunging forward with a swift string of slashes...

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Sharon hit the ground rolling. Propping on one knee, she aimed and fired a shotgun blast at Death's knees, under Neku. If she could trip him, it would be easier for Neku to finish him off.

She felt herself smiling. "Don't interfere!" she called to the others on the team. "Let the three of us handle Death! This is personal!"

Shelton meanwhile had the SUV's toolkit and was tinkering with the eye. He was carefully probing a transmitter under the cornea.

<Hey!> ROSS exclaimed. <I'm picking up two signals coming from your position! What have you got?>

<Can you follow the other signal?> Shelton asked. <Where does it go?>

A pause. <A large...database,> ROSS realized. <Receiving from across the planet... I'm on the Dragonstorm satellite!>

[Serris]

Dr. Zanasiu lowered his shotgun. "All right, let's move in and take this place apart!" he ordered. He led the group over to the front entrance, which looked like entrance to any industrial park with glass doors and a rather bland reception area with a couch and a table containing some snacks and a coffee urn.  

Neville looked at the door. The entrance was secured by a heavy chain. "Got a crowbar or a pair of bolt cutters?"

"Not needed," Alfred replied. He slung his shotgun across his back, went to a nearby parking space, ripped out the parking chock and hurled it through the door, instantly shattering the glass. He then used his gloved hands to break and sweep away any remaining glass shards and stepped through the space left. It was a tight fight for someone as bulky as he was but he made it through.

Gustave squeezed in after him. He grabbed a package of catfish jerky sitting on the table, ripped it open and devoured the contents.

"Eww. That's been there for God knows how long!" Spc. Crota said.

Gustave ignored him and threw the empty package on the ground.

"So where do we start?" Zachary asked. He looked two doors flanking the receptionist's desk.

Dr. Zanasiu scratched his chin. He found a computer on the desk. "Hey Bailey, can you see if you can get into the databanks from here?"

Dr. Bailey sat on the chair and booted up the computer. To his surprise, the computer booted up flawlessly. He quickly browsed through the files. A few minutes later, he shut the computer down and stood up with a frown on his face. "Nothing doing; someone wiped the hard drive on this computer. Besides, there's no intranet connection here."

Zachary's ears immediately pricked up and twitched. "Guys, someone's coming!"

"S---! S---!" the Mongoose Cobalt soldier said as he nervously got his rifle ready.

Sgt. Masters closed his eyes. He gasped as he realized that the doors were insulated, defeating his infrared sight. He drew his pistol and took cover under the couch.

(OOC - LB&T, MrDrake, Starfall, Nick, I'll let y'all decide what emerges from either of those two entrances.)

[MrDrake]

"We shall see" Death retaliated back as he held out his right arm to the side and in a blink of an eye, his own scythe appeared in it.  He swung it in order to cancel out Neku's attack, only to be shot in the knee.  His gaze shifted towards Sharon before being struck by another attack of Neku's.

A look of concern appeared upon Death's face for just a brief moment before Aimee rushed forward, pulling her fist backwards before slamming it into the tip of Death's scythe, showing that nothing happened, as if the scythe itself was made of a rather strong metal.

Death swung his scythe as he knocked Aimee backwards.  It was however, as if Death wasn't trying his hardest right now to fight them, as if he was just simply toying with them for the time being.  Yet, that concern appeared upon his face again before he flung his scythe towards Sharon, only for Aimee to grab it midair.

She pointed the scythe at Death, but yet as she did so, it vanished and reappeared in Death's grip again "Well....that failed...." she muttered to herself.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Shelton exited the van, giving the fighters a wide berth. "Sharon!" he called as he ran for the base, "don't forget about your flash--"

"--I remember, Shelton, thank you!" Sharon interrupted him. Nevertheless she unclipped the small black cylinder from her belt and with a single <Warn Aimee to shield her eyes!> to Neku, sent a flash grenade spinning into the battle.

Shelton reached the room where Bailey was. "Damn, you're right. They wiped everything." He thought back on what he remembered of his and Kerzach's brief visit. "But this eye has a direct link to the Dragonstorm satellite. If I can find some way to connect it to the network, I can get everything I need from there. But the neccessary equipment is somewhere else in the base."

<ROSS, I need your help. That eye you connected to, how could I link it to the New Peenemunde network?>

<I'm sorry, Shelton, but I can't talk to you for the rest of this mission,> ROSS replied. <I have spent the last few days preparing for my role in this assault, and our connection is a liability. You're on your own.>

The connection cut. Shelton grumbled. "We'll need to find what we're looking for on our own," he told Bailey. "It'll probably be somewhere near the security surveillance room and the presentation hall."

[Nick22]

Lwets get going them. Should we split up. that would allow us to cover more ground..Aisha sasked the others as a pair of red eyes gleamed at them from a the hallway. the place was NOT deserted they had lifelikew robotics set up here.. this pair was equipped with a pair of 32. caliber automatics.. ' exterminate enemy forces the robots said in a montome like something out of an 80s Schwarzenegger flick,k..

[StarfallRaptor]

As Death hovered there, Neku saw the flashbang and heard Sharon's warning.
"Aimee, cover your eyes!"
He yelled, his own eyes wrapping themselves in glowing electrical auras as he charged, using the detonating Flashbang to cover his next string of attacks...
________________________________________________________________________

Just before the robotic unit could open fire, a small flare of light illuminated the room, and Roux appeared, alongside Hawkeye and Kagetora.  Hawkeye immediately stepped forward, headbutting the machine and sending it backwards as Kagetora flipped over his head, swords flashing and slicing the gun barrels in half...

[Serris]

"Good idea!" Dr. Zanasiu said. "Each team should have at least one-"

"Let's deal with the thing in the hallway first," Gustave said. He rammed the door, almost snapping it in half and sending it flying down the hall. He then emptied both barrels of his shotgun into the robot. The four ounce bronze slugs easily sliced through the war machine's armor, adorning its chest with two holes the size of Gustave's fist. The machine then sparked and tumbled over, its electronics completely destroyed.

Gustave ejected the two spent shells from his gun and loaded two more.  "As you were saying, Doctor," he rumbled.

Dr. Zanasiu followed with his shotgun at the ready. He then spotted Hawkeye, Roux and Kagetora. Zachary and the rest of Cobalt Squad entered after him. He then cleared his throat. "Well, nice to meet you all."  

"We're currently deciding if we should split up or not. Everyone else is in the lounge out front. There, we can discuss what intel we gathered and how we should proceed," Sgt. Masters said.

----------------

Dr. Bailey, Alfred, Neville and Spc. Crota were with Shelton.

Alfred was munching on a bag of potato chips he found on the table. "Snacks, anyone?" he asked between bites.

Spc. Crota turned away in disgust. "You're disgusting!"

"Crota! That's no way to talk to a fellow team member!" Neville scolded.

[MrDrake]

At first, Aimee had no idea as to why she had to, but that quickly passed as soon as she saw what Sharon had thrown.  She in turn, bought up her arms to shield her eyes from the flash of light and waited for it to pass.  But as she waited, she caught sight of Neku in the corner of her eyes, charging at Death.

Death seemed to be blinded for a moment, unaware that Neku was approaching him until it was too late.  He had been struck by Neku's attacks, but yet, before he had time to retaliate, Aimee had approached as well, striking him in the stomach, then right across the face.

Aimee staggered back lightly from her quick assault on Death, just looking at him "We just seem to be fighting him to a standstill right now...."

"How very perspective of you...." Death replied back as his eyesight seemed to had returned to him "I'm afraid that I am still too powerful for you simple creatures to be able to kill right now...."

"At least we are able to harm you now....not like last time...." Aimee replied before something seemed to had dawned on her.  She stepped back a little more to Neku, just so she could whisper to him "How many of them were there anyway? Horsemen that is? It's four all up, right?"

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Sharon fired another shotgun blast, this time aiming for Death's chest. "A standstill? He hasn't landed a hit on us!"

She quickly started reloading her shotgun until she decided now was the time for her backup weapon. Withdrawing to a safe distance she took a propane tank and some other metal instruments and began constructing a homemade flamethrower.

---------

Shelton was leading Bailey deeper into New Peenemunde. <The security room was somewhere around here,> he messaged.

He tried a door. <Ah, here it-->

He cut off. They'd found the security room, but it was being guarded by one of these battle robots. However, it hadn't noticed them yet.

[MrDrake]

"You know what I mean, we're attacking him and it's having no effect on him at all....it's as if he's just still, shrugging it all off, despite seeming to be weaker since Neku and I ran into him in Las Vegas last" Aimee replied back, just looking at Death all the while "It's just as if he's taunting us....testing us and all that jazz...."

Death's eyes did again, gaze back towards Aimee before he seemed to just vanish, just as he was shot in the chest.  Well, that was until he reappeared again, right behind Aimee "Never underestimate what your opponent is capable of doing" he spoke to her as he grabbed her by the back of the neck and started to lift her up in the air before lugging her in Neku's direction.

His gaze then shifted back towards Sharon again "As for you, you have now just beome nothing more than an annoyance that is to be removed from this world" his free hand closed into a fist, as if to show off a "crushing-like" movement, seeming to ignore what pain was present in his own chest from the shotgun blasts he had recieved, as if to him, that was nothing more than an annoyance himself.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

"Come get me then!" Sharon whooped. "No, wait...I'll come to you!"

With a final rev, her flamethrower spewed out a long flame of ignited propane. Swinging it wildly and covering the square meter in front of her, Sharon made a reckless all-out charge toward Death, laughing maniacally.

[Serris]

"Allow me," Spc. Crota said. He carefully slithered through the door and into the room. Thanks to his low profile, the robot did not notice him. He then crept up to the robot, found the wire that led to its battery, drew his combat knife and severed the wire.

Unfortunately, there was a wire had a backup and the robot turned to Spc. Crota.

"S---!" he muttered. He then slithered out of the room with the robot chasing him. Luckily, whoever programmed it neglected to work on its targeting computer, as a result, most of its shots went wide.

Neville sighed and shot at the robot, only to find that its armor resisted pistol fire.

Alfred charged the robot and body-slammed it, tackling it into a concrete wall with such force the wall cracked. He then released the battered robot but before it could train its guns on him, the massive Bison emptied his slug shotgun at point-blank range into the war machine leaving dents the size of his fist in the robot's armor. The robot then seized up, the massive trauma from the slugs damaging the electronics beyond repair.

"Okay, let's get this done without interruptions," Neville said. Alfred said nothing but slid more shells into his shotgun.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

"Right." Shelton located a custom outlet and input Aimee's mechanical eye. Once it was activated he slid into a seat and brought up the main computer. "Everything's been wiped, but connections are still valid, so I should be able to connect to the Dragonstorm satellite."

After a few minutes, he sighed, annoyed. "A plug's disconnected." He pointed to a single network connection on the electronic schematic that refused to turn green despite his best efforts. "It's in the basement. We can't connect to the satellite until somebody plugs it in."

"Are you serious?" exclaimed Spc. Crota. "A physical plug? That's all that's stopping us?"

"We'll just have to get down there and plug it in." Neville loaded another bullet to replace the one he'd fired. "I'll stay here and guard Dr. Bailey."

Shelton glanced at Spc. Crota and Alfred. He threw the thumbdrive to Bailey. "Once we have the transceiver hooked up, search the Dragonstorm satellite and find out where their final base is. Then send them the virus and the file on that drive."

[Serris]

Gustave ripped a door off its hinges and threw it aside as his group continued down the hallway. Even though the lights were mostly off, ample sunlight came through the large windows made of bulletproof glass. "So where we headin'?" he asked.

"Hopefully, we can find a control room or some other central point. Then we can plan.

The massive Nile Crocodile pointed to a door labeled "Surface Control Room" with a blinking card reader. "Here's your control room," he replied. He smashed the card reader with his massive fist, causing it to spark.

"Nice going numbnuts," Dr. Zanasiu spat. "Now we can't get in!"

Gustave glared at him. The size difference between the two was immense. "Got any better ideas?" he growled. He then tried to open the door only to find out that it wouldn't budge. It was then he realized that smashing the card reader was not the best choice.

"F---!" he shouted. He then kicked the door with his motorcycle boot clad foot leaving a massive dent in it.

<Hey Shelton, Gustave found the "Surface Control Room" but being Gustave, he destroyed the card reader and-> Dr. Zanasiu's thought-message was interrupted by a series of various profanities and loud, metallic thumps as Gustave started kicking the door, trying to break the hinges or lock <- now he's trying to break down the door.>

------------------

Alfred frowned. "Something about that single plug being disconnected makes me suspicious. I think someone's trying to hide something, or keep us in the dark." He then turned to Dr. Bailey. "Hey Doc, can you see what the other network connections are?"

Dr. Bailey nodded and got into another seat and booted up the computer. The same schematic on Shelton's terminal came up. After several minutes of looking through the schematic, he turned to the big Bison. "All of them are internal; they all connect the various labs in this base. The only one that is external is the one that's disconnected."

Alfred stroked his beard. "Hmm. That confirms my suspicion. Can you get the last time data was sent through that cut connection?"

Dr. Bailey shook his head. "No. Everything was wiped clean."

"Looks like we may have hit a dead end." Alfred sat on a chair that immediately collapsed under his 500 pound bulk of muscle. "Ow."

Spc. Crota chuckled but was silenced by a glare from Neville and Alfred.

Neville looked out the door into the hallway, lit by LED lights set in the ceiling.