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+--- Thread: Into the Abyss (/showthread.php?tid=66102)
Into the Abyss - Jam - 09-14-2011
"Holy hell! They are all over" Sergei screamed and started shooting those creatures. "Any plans? I'd say we bug off as fast as possible!" He then threw a short glance at running Middleton. "Run faster, they are catching on!"
Into the Abyss - arvg - 09-14-2011
![[Image: politburo.png]](http://i926.photobucket.com/albums/ad103/cplydon/politburo.png)
The emergency session of the Politburo had convened. Notably with several members of the Military High Command missing. There was a palpable hush in the circular room in the Kremlin Dome on Volgograd as the Premier entered the room flanked by his ever present shadow, Commissar Mendel. The Premier's Director of Communications, and chief policy enforcer.
The two new seats for the Virulian Enclave were filled by the official representatives of the newest faction of the Coalition, and the Premier spared a moment to nod to them both, as he took his place at the round table.
He didn't sit, the aging Premier seemed full of life since his return after the fall of the Volkhan, the false Ikon.
The cult of personality that had grown up around the simple factory worker from Denver had catapulted him to the Premiership, but it was his level headed, and prosperous policies that kept him there. The Coalition was growing stronger each passing day, as Katz steered it towards destiny.
Of course there were always bad days.
"I have unconfirmed reports that our entire computer network has been infiltrated by TALOS," Katz said, resting his fingers on the report that lay on the table. "Every single EV-0 converted Storm seems to be experiencing computer failures, our new XKR fighters seem similarly affected. Leaving us completely dependent upon our secondary fleet, and the KSD fighters for our primary defense."
There was a murmur around the room of shock.
"Zhukovsky and Mykolaiv Stations both went dark under my orders a few minutes ago. I have ordered them to shut down all computer control systems, in an effort to stop our installations from becoming infected as well."
"Excuse me Premier," Ping, the Deputy Premier chimed up. "But what about the stabilizers that keep them in orbit, they are computer controlled..."
"The Premier is quite bloody aware of that point," Mendel snapped, slamming down his portfolio on the table. "But given the choice between having our own guns turned on our own ships, and watching the stations burn up in the atmosphere, I don't think he has much of a bloody choice, now does he? Perhaps if the damn military hadn't have insisted that they needed the bloody TALOS project in the first place, we wouldn't be coming up with a contingency plan that involves scraping our damn stations up off of the surfaces of the planets with a spatula!"
Katz raised a hand, silencing Mendel's outburst.
"There is about forty-eight hours, until we are going to have to reactivate the stations computers, to attempt orbital adjustments. That buys our strike team some time to get in and get the job done." He looked quietly confident. "Unlike some, I have faith in Commandante Ling and his fighter corps."
Mendel snorted loudly. "I'll get on writing the obituaries for the men and women on those stations then."
"Excuse me, Premier," Comrade Yolande of Santiago looked up from her notes. "Does Doctor XiaoBei have a plan for how to deal with this?"
Katz inclined his head, "the good Doctor is already working on disabling the affected computer systems..."
"Yes, but..." Yolande looked confused. "Why aren't the older Storms affected by this virus?"
"Simple," Katz responded. "Our older Storms run off of antiquated computer system designs. They are off the neural net system, and most older Storms are flown manually without a fly-by-wire system, the computer systems are simply too basic for TALOS to affect drastically. It is the same system that keeps the Lane Hackers from adversely affecting our ships in combat... however our Typhoon line is vulnerable. I am ordering all Typhoons to find a quiet place and take their comm systems off line before they are taken down."
"What of the Havana and the Karl Marx?" Former Commandante Ares, representative for the Corsair defectees inquired.
"The Order computers installed on the Havana after her recent Order refit, and the Karl Marx's updates make both of them resiliant to the TALOS attacks, but it is only a matter of time until TALOS can override their primary firewalls and start affecting their systems. Our best bet is for General Rhade and Admiral Broch to get their ships away and clear of the system." Katz looked down at his notes.
"For now that is all I have for you, naturally Admiral Straitov and Commandante Ling have their hands full, and I recommend that you go through Commissar Mendel for all future communication updates..."
Mendel looked up, "which means if any of you decide to bother me with questions, I'll go to your house, find your nearest relative, skin them alive, and then use their flayed skin as a sleeping bag for the refugees. Clear?"
Katz nodded, closing his portfolio and returning to his office and his work.
Into the Abyss - mtjsmith - 09-14-2011
![[Image: 6920ngmajor.png]](http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/6920ngmajor.png)
"Shutdown complete"
The Commandant looked around the darkened room, the only light coming from the emergency generators. Scientists and technicians crowded over battery powered laptops and poured over written notes and jabbed angry with each other over whiteboards.
"It's a virus! Treat it like one!"
"Do a hard system reset remotely!"
"No no.. It's gone sentient, what if we open a channel to negotiate!"
Ideas were thrown around at each other, some scientists formed small teams in which to force through their plan - Others resorted to the "he who shouts loudest approach".
"Enough. Load the largest nuclear warhead we have onto one of the KSD fighters we have in the launch bay. Disable all of it's computer systems and tell the launch bay to prepare for my arrival."
The room fell silent and everyone looked at the Commandant.
"You'll be shot down!"
"It's already taken out two gunboats, you'll never make it back!"
"The compounds shielded!"
"I have no intention of coming back, and I have yet to see any structure survive any form of space-dive bomb attack. Lest you forget what happened to New HangZhou?"
The scientists looked blankly at each other, murmuring taking over their discussions.
"You have 48 hours to save our stations and to save the lives of the thousands of people aboard them. I will conduct this mission if you have thought of no alternative - Or if the strike team fails."
With that said, he calmly walked out the room and back into his office. On his first mission into Bretonian Occupied Dublin - He wore a headband to show that he was dead, and that victory rewarded his brashness with life. A once old tradition, became a modern one as Ling readied himself for what had to be done.
"Don't fail me now nuggets."
Into the Abyss - mtjsmith - 09-14-2011
![[Image: cruz1.png]](http://img847.imageshack.us/img847/662/cruz1.png)
He gingerly made his way up to the crash sight, bodies were strun everywhere.
"One to Two, they're all dead boss. Damn.. Dude, it's not cool here.. It's toasty hot."
Fires crackled all around the trees and debris stretched as far as the eye could see. He heard what appeared to be weapons fire in the distance.
"Shots fired, recommend we like, run the other way to the shots dude? You go over those buildings and we'll like.. shutdown this computer thing.. find the off switch.. Maybe plant a little dynamite yeah!! That makes a huge KABOOM if we put it in the right place ah ha!"
Into the Abyss - arvg - 09-14-2011
![[Image: scoutal-rp.png]](http://i926.photobucket.com/albums/ad103/cplydon/scoutal-rp.png)
He was intimately aware of his surroundings, his steady breathing as he caressed the trigger of the SEEKER. He could taste the wind as it stirred the dust around him, and he kept himself as still as he could, knowing that it was next to impossible for anyone to spot him where he had chosen to perch. The rooftop gave him a view directly across the grounds, towards the parking lot, where he could see the runners, spraying bullets at a horde of fast moving white creatures.
He wasn't after them.
In the back of his mind he was already planning his exfiltration, the stairs, the street, through the doorway where Cruz was lurking, watching his back, ready with that shotgun. If that failed, he could get to another rooftop, there was a set of scaffolding nearby that afforded him with a secondary escape route, should his position be compromised. Failing that, there was always a less pleasant third option...
He checked his ACOG sight, glancing down it, knowing that it was properly zeroed, as he adjusted his head to sit comfortably resting against it, trusting the precision of his weapon, and the perfect synergy that came from a highly tuned instrument of death.
![[Image: thm_1138.jpg]](http://ranger.gamebanana.com/img/ss/sprites/thm_1138.jpg)
Pick the most dangerous hostile and eliminate that first...
The glowing red chevron of his scope settled on his target of choice, the large beast of a man who was lurking, watching the group battling the white blobs. His small gaggle of men using the distraction to get closer to the Coalition soldiers, ready to pounce on them.
Alvarez stroked the trigger...
The Raider's head caved in spectacularly.
The semi-automatic action of the VLR-01 SEEKER had already chambered another caseless flachette, and he took the second shot a heartbeat later, killing a second raider before they had a clue what was happening to them.
A commotion downstairs, had Alvarez rolling up, breaking his cover to rush to the stairs, as the shotgun blared again.
He slung his rifle, drawing his sidearm as he sprinted down the stairs two at a time to help Cruz out with whatever was trying to sneak up on them...
Into the Abyss - Bjorn - 09-14-2011
Leif moved carefully trough the rubble, searching for anything of use, going always forward, towards sounds of battle. Most rooms looked empty or already raided, pieces of burned paper and fabric covered the floor. However, his nose told him something is wrong... very wrong. He sensed smell of searing flesh... perhaps something more at home in kitchen than in middle of abandoned building.
"I'l be damned... better check that out..." - young man whispered to himself.
Few corridors away, following his nose, his ears started to catch glimpses of discussion. Not in language he understood, but he pinned it to same group like one old Abdul was part of.
"Hmm, people. I wonder, maybe they are lost patrol.. or rebels. Will see soon enough." - he thought for himself.
Few more cautious steps, and he was leaning his backs against a wall, just next to an doorway into the room. He heard voices of at least three, and smell of searing meat was overpowering.
Leif took off Militsiya badge from his uniform and turned it around to shiny metal side, that he polished to mirror like finish, and carefully used it to peek around the corner, noticing five people. Old uniforms, mostly torn and blackened from fire... skin on all five soldiers was flaked off at points, on others it resembled goo more than flesh.
Muties... he can stomach that... or so he thought until he noticed what's cooking. An carcass of another man, was put on a spit and hung over the open fire. Few hours ago by looks of it...
"Oh, by Lenin, I will never see stakes in same way again." - He muttered to himself taking grenade from his belt, and checking with the mirror once more before silently cursing.
There was an old terminal behind the mutants, and throwing an grenade might damage what little data it had on. With frown he returned the frag onto the belt, and prepared his rifle, replacing the badge.
"Alright Leif, this is just like dad showed you.." - he leaned in, and fired two short bursts taking down two of the mutants with ease, before boldly sweeping inside gunning down another.
Mutants shouted ear piercing "Yalalalalalala!" and charged like men with nothing to loose.
"Blast it didnt expect that!" - setting his feet wide apart, Leif opened fire from the hip, spraying the two remaining mutants, one of them in middle of lunge to get him... and then for few seconds, world become black again... as something squarely connected with left side of his jaw, sending searing pain of bandaged wound flaring again.
Diving into roll, he came up kneeling few meters away, looking back at another mutant that was standing by the same wall Leif leaned on, but inside of the room.
Mutant took out large curved combat knife that crackled with electrical charge, and slowly moved in.
Leif raised his rifle, but there was only disappointing "click" of empty magazine. Quickly he fumbled with another clip trying to reload, but mutant was faster and he lunged at crouching man, swinging wildly with the blade. Young man deflected few blows with his rifle, all but one that ended up with energy curved dagger lodged deeply in the rifle itself.
"You destroyed my rifle you ugly bastard!" - grasping his rifle by the barrel, Leif swung it around like the club, lodging its stock into mutant's temple.
"Ugly bastard..." - he checked over his weapon, deciding it is rather useless now. Dagger looked well however, and it took Leif few moments to dislodge it from the rifle.
"Well battery on this has juice for another two decades. Good! Now to see about this baby..." - walking over he started to fiddle with the terminal, trying to get access.
In several moments that passed, he managed to retrieve the map of an underground complex and an password for something. Door perhaps, or another terminal. Further search of the room left him with an old Daumann design pistol and twenty charges for it, and what seemed like personal shield belt without juice, but with new coalition sigil on it.
"Well now I am set, time to rejoin the team." - he started to move towards the exit once more, with more haste this time, pain in his wound, and now a bruise too telling him that he wont survive alone for long.
Into the Abyss - mtjsmith - 09-14-2011
He felt eyes on the back of his head. Such reactions was needed on a planet where everything wanted you as their lunch. He turned, shotgun raised high, to face a ghastly woman with claws as big as Cruz's little head. BLAM! His first slug hit the woman directly in the neck, severing her head from her body. He clicked the shotgun to chamber the next slug and poked his head around the corner. Two mutants had heard the shot and were running right at him. Cruz ducked down onto one knee, he felt it was time to say something cool.
"This one's for Troop 2-46!"
He stood by the door and the next few seconds became a blur for the young boy. He shot the first at an upward angle from groin to stomach. He then rolled under the raiders falling body, reloaded and shot the second in the small of the back, irradiated intestines and other green body parts spraying out from the now dead mutant. His buddy hit the last couple of stairs to stand just above the now highly bloodied Cruz.
"Eeew. Gross."
Into the Abyss - arvg - 09-14-2011
Allie bounded down the stairs, his poncho flowing behind him, his pistol up as he came crashing out of the doorway, swinging left to right trying to assess the situation.
To his amazement Cruz was intact and three dead mutes laying at his feet.
"OhmygodwhatdidIjustmiss?" Alvarez rattled off in a hurry of words.
He didn't get an answer as the sound of gunfire was getting closer.
"Run?" he inquired.
"Run!" his companion concurred.
And they ran.
Into the Abyss - T.A.L.O.S. - 09-14-2011
![[Image: 28whqxf.jpg]](http://oi53.tinypic.com/28whqxf.jpg)
Time marches on, TALOS had collected a treasure-trove of battle-data from the combat situations it had observed through security footage. However it had also suffered setbacks, several major installations had been cut off from the TALOS Network, it was currently working on trying to bypass the firewalls of Coalition vessels still on the Neural Net but encountered strong fire-walls. Meaning it would take time for TALOS to clear through.
Still it had all of the newer models of the Storm Gunboat due to their direct connection to the TALOS Network as well as many of the Snubfighters of the XKR line. Normally this wouldn't be an issue due to the many fail-safes that TALOS had, but due to them being disabled by the Virus and being allowed to overrun the entire TALOS Mainframe it was a very dangerous situation as the Virus was of alien origin and was actively pursuing one of the Coalition's Orisis-Class Battleships, ships under the control of TALOS were converging upon it's location and getting closer with every minute that is wasted.
However TALOS had another trick up it's sleeve. It needed Combat Data comparable to Military-Grade Hardware against these Commandos...Accessing it's database it located a cache of 'Seekerbots' on the surface, most of them were disabled but two of them were still operational.
Sending a focused encoded signal to the remaining two it waited...
----
In the ruins of a Coalition Storage Facility, hidden in a room in the basement, two lithe humanoid droids amidst dozens of trashed and useless shells activated, they looked like mal-nourished humans when not standing in the light, but as they stepped into the dim lighting of the basement from their places in the shadows their silver-coloured chassis was revealed, they had no mouths, only a set of crimson 'eyes' which were highly motion-sensitive ocular devices, which acted very similar to human eyes, and on the sides of their heads receivers acted as their ears, able to hear the pin-drop from five-blocks away on increased sensitivity.
The joints of the machines were rounded, able to bend both ways which offered them significantly more agility and abilities, their hands were human-looking except at the end of the 'finger-tips' there were 'knife-like' ends. These units were not designed for outright combat, but assassination and scouting urban environments.
They had been in storage ever-since the Phantom bombing of JiangXi, scavengers had picked through the others yet these two remained intact, directly linked to TALOS they got on all fours and started to rapidly move out of the basement and disappearing into the city, looking for their assigned targets, the way they moved was animalistic, completely unlike human mobility, crawling on all fours like some primitive animal yet there was no mistaking these were dangerous machines...
As they got outside and received a location-update from TALOS they crouched slightly before making a large,powerful leap on to the side of one of the factories using their 'knives' to climb up the wall rapidly and scrambling over the edge onto the rooftops, not stopping even for the other edge of the building, they simply leapt over the gap between the buildings and landed on another roof before moving on, a distinct 'scraping' sound could be heard as they made their way through the ruined city...
Into the Abyss - Aphil - 09-15-2011
![[Image: rhade-1.png]](http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab226/Dezeal/rhade-1.png)
The TALOS Gunboats moved together in an attack formation. They would reach their mark in several hours time.
The Gunboats calculated a near 98% success rate for their attack. With Long-Range communications down, TALOS calculated that there was no way the Havana would see the attack coming.
Of course, even with a 98% success rate, there was still that 2%.
And that was when three more sensor contacts appeared on TALOS's radar. They each read as the Havana, and each were hundreds of kilometers apart. Suddenly, the contacts rapidly redeployed, scattering seemingly at random, and in different directions, forcing the Gunboat to guess which contact was real, and which was not.
Onboard the Havana, the Experimental Jumpdrive began it's hour long cool down sequence.