The Gunboat visibly twisted when it hit the airstrip. Through pure luck or extraordinary piloting skill, perhaps both, The SoCred was down. For the most part - It was in one piece. Whether it could be airborne again would be another matter.
Ling couldn't reach the main RV point to the south-west of New Hangzhou. Instead, he had to divert with the wind East to a smaller, abandoned civilian airport.
[color=#FFFF00]"Zupkauskas, what's left in the hold?"
[color=#33CCFF]"A single automated sentry gun, it's a bit bashed but I can get that to work." "Very well, I'll start by seeing what is working and what's not."
He tried flipping a few switches on the communications console but was greeted by sparks and the console fritzing. The entire weapon's grid was down as well he noted. Moving aft into main engineering, he found the dead bodies of the two deck staff. Ling sighed, no wonder he couldn't reach anyone down here. He moved outside to where the Lt was setting up the sentry gun.
[color=#FFFF00]"It's just us two left, once you get that working, we'll concentrate on getting the anti-grav generators on. We won't have enough to get us back into space, and our fuel status is pretty low. What we might be able to achieve is a series of "hops" which would get us back to the main airstrip."
It was still a bit dark and the lack of sleep wasn't good at all. She has made her way out of the city'¦
Now she had to make the decision whether to continue on the road, or hit the woods again.
Her lack of sleep made her to choose the more risky way, the road.
Her rations dropped to half and she knew that if she doesnt get some she wont survive for long
The sun was rising...
That gave her hope and the power to continue. It had to be hours she was walking that way.
The sun was falling again...
A blockade or something like that was on the road'¦
Two soldiers with guns were watching it, propably Volkhans men.
She hid directly in the trees near the road.
' What shall I do now?....' she was thinking, ' The woods will be watched aswell or even worse, the woods could be mined all over this kind of border'.
But Olga realised it were men guarding it. Men, who didn't see a woman for a long time already. It was time to use her weapons, women weapons.
She took off her armor, opened her top a bit, shaked her hair and hit the road.
The men surprisingly looked at Olga, it was really obvious that they haven't seen a woman for weeks.
'Hold right there!' He told her.
' For Volkhan, Ikon of Ikons'¦' She answered.
Both of the men smiled, blindly believing Olga's words only because she was a woman.
' And what are you doing here, in this awful place?...' One of the man asked.
' I have been sent here, to'¦.assist you'¦' She smiled and gave a sexy look at the Volkhans men.
' Da, da'¦come, come with us into the house and we can'¦.talk'¦' He told her and pointed at a wooden shack.
Olga followed the both men, who apparently didn't even think for a second about Olga.
That was also their doom. They were fools, who blindly followed their animal instincts.
As soon the both men wanted to undress, they have given away their guns, moved to Olga who was also pretending taking off her clothes, but instead of taking off the clothes, she took the gun she had in the belt.
She fired 5 times'¦
Both of them fell on the ground. Blood was flowing all over the place'¦
Olga began to cry. She knew it was the only choice she could made in order to pass them.
She was crying for a while, after that, she looked around the shack.
' Food, Fooooooood,'¦'¦YES!....' She found some food under the table, rations what could last till she comes to her destination.
But there was no water, just some bottles of Vodka.
' You never know when you could use it'¦' Olga sighed and put one bottle in her bag.
It was time to move on, there might be coming other people through this point. She came out of the shack and saw a jeep of the two men.
It was rusty, dirty, but it looked it might be working.
Luckly she found what she was looking for the whole time, two one liter bottles of water. She put her bag on the seat and started the engine.
Just some noises came from the car'¦.
' Dammit, baby come on'¦.dont leave me'¦' She begged the car to start.
She gave it another try'¦..nothing.
She got totally furious and kicked the car three times, suddenly the car started.
The road will be dangerous, but she decided to give it a try'¦.
Pasha rested his elbows on the steering wheel staring over what had once been one of the Volkhan's supression team-camps. The Volkhanists, it seemed, were all but extinct on the planet, abandoned by their master in the fall of Omega-52, there were scattered patrols, but nothing to worry about. Most of them had been wiped out.
The Coalition banner stirred in the breeze, the brilliant sunshine streaming down on him as he sat there, watching for any indication of trouble. There were raider bodies about, indicating that the camp had been attacked sometime in the last month. The air was ripe with the smell of rotting flesh.
He clambered down from his damaged jeep, pulling a shovel free from the rack. Considering the fact that he was woefully unarmed, it was the best he could improvise. That was the reason he was bothering with the the camp in the first place. He needed a weapon if he was going to survive to make it to HangZhou... the fight with the Chef's Raiders had left Pasha with an overwhelming desire to defend himself.
Approaching quietly, he stepped around fallen raiders, noting the twisted faces, at one time the proud Chinese people of the colony, abandoned to their fate to die, eventually, of radiation poisoning. There was little the Coalition could do for them, the cost of trying to save them was beyond the capabilities of the single system nation. There was nothing to do but sit and wait for them to die... Or in the Volkhan's case, try to eradicate every survivor.
The Volkhan's purge killed hundreds of thousands of victims of radiation poisoning in order to prevent their future mutant offspring from contaminating the human genome. For him it had been 'Humanitarian' in Pasha's eyes it was nothing more than genocide.
The beige tents flapped in the wind, as he stepped over a sandbag barricade, pausing at the first Volkhanist soldier he found and taking the man's side arm. He slid the magazine out and glanced at the 10mm ammunition inside. A full clip... the soldier had died before being able to draw his weapon.
Pasha set the shovel down, keeping his eyes peeled as the undid the soldiers weapon belt, strapping it on and tying the thigh holster to his leg. He was armed, that was a step in the right direction...
He searched about, looking for more ammunition, finding a second soldier he was able to harvest another set of magazines, grabbing a soft canvass bag and loading the ammo into it. He would need something bigger than the pistol, he knew that... but he didn't like feeling as exposed as he was.
Glancing about, to ensure he was still alone, he ducked into one of the tents, shaking his head in frustration. The Raiders that had attacked the camp had gone straight for the assualt rifles, naturally. There wasn't going to be much left over.
He stopped at a footlocker, kicking it open, and smiling at the old styled AK-74U sitting inside. It didn't look like much, but was a favourite of the Coalition troopers for it's sturdy reliability. He had a clip, which was more than he had before. He scooped it up and sprinted back towards the jeep, hurling his treasure inside, he clambered aboard and gunned the engine. Knowing the Chef and his raiders couldn't be that far off.
[font=Georgia]Lachina kept walking for the next one and half hour but she got tired pretty soon and it was too dark to continue anyway. While thinking of the best way how to overnight in the wood and she came to conclusion that she will choose some tree for it. She looked around for a few minutes until she finally found one with the right branches. After that she looked for some deadwood on the ground and made a small seat on the tree so she could lie. It wasn't very comfortable but it was better than nothing. When she was done, one hour later, the cold air was biting her face. Lachina took her jacket from the backpack, put it on and climbed on her seat. She took her dose of anti-rads and ate the content of the can she have found and finished her dinner with a few gulps from her water stocks. After that she put the gun and her backpack on another of the branches, keeping only her knife and the pistol. Lachina set the alarm on the watch for five hours. There is no time to waste. SoCred will not wait for her. If there is any Social Credit. Last thing she saw was a missile hitting it and a line of smoke. If they crashed, JiangXi will be her tomb forever. She sighed slowly closing her eyes. She must not think like that. There is a certain person she would like to see again and she was sure that person wouldn't like the idea of her dying either. She smiled a little thinking about the events two days ago. Suddenly she heard some noise from the branches around. Lachina grabbed the pistol and opened her eyes. The thing that she saw scared her maybe more than if it was raider sitting next to her. A large white Raven was watching her with it's red eyes. She aimed her gun on it and whispered quietly: "Mother Gaia, protect me". The raven kept watching her for a few seconds but then it jumped from the tree and flew away. She sighed relieved and put the gun back on her waist belt. She did not even know if she should take it as a good or bad sign.
The annoying noise of beeping alarm woke her up. That was a first good thing since it means she is alive. The fact that the beg and her AK-74 was there too, made her even happier. She took both and jumped off the tree. It was still dark but she checked her direction with the compass and continued her march. Two hours later she could finally see the end of the wood. The fact that two seconds later an acidic salvo splashed on a tree next to her face made it a bit worse. Lachina jumped away and another one flew through the place she was standing before. She grabbed her AK and swiftly switched to the burst-fire mod. Killer bunnies. So they really exist. She have thought that Pasha is just finding a funny excuse to give them a little more ammo. She now saw what a mistake thinking that was. She noticed where the bunnies are and sprayed them both with bullets, hitting one but the second disappeared. She stood there for a few seconds but then Lachina noticed the jumping bunny with a corner of her eye but it was far too late to shoot. She turned and fortunately managed to hit it with the rifle-stock. The dazed bunny fell on the ground. She aimed her gun on it. [color=#FF6600]"To the the hell with you". Her rifle sent two bullets through the head of that thing but then choked emptily. She sighed and threw the empty magazine, putting a new one to her rifle. These thing cost her multiple times more ammo than the whole Volkhan patrol. She left the wood and headed towards a town under it. She needs some vehicle.
Lukas rubbed his bleary eyes. He hadn't gotten much sleep, and the rain was still hammering down outside. He'd spent a good portion of the night pondering his immediate future, and what sleep he had managed to get had been light and fitful at best. Damned noise. He peered outside, squinting at the weak sun trying to piece the sheets of falling water. Only after sunrise, he reckoned. Time enough to get moving.
He stood up, wrapping some of his newly gained bear meat inside the packaging for his old rations. He examined his canteen carefully. He'd mixed in some antirads and boiled the meat inside it to purify it, and the water was still there, albeit more red-tinged than before. He stowed it away anyway; if he found somewhere to refill it, he would. Otherwise, bloody water was better than no water.
Speaking of antirads, he popped one now. No point waiting until you had a third arm already. He shouldered his pack, draped his waterproof over himself and it and headed out into the horrific weather of New Hangzhou's surroundings.
Lukas stumbled forwards, flopping down against a rock. It had been two days since he'd found the cabin, and he was beginning to worry again. His water was almost out, even with how carefully he'd rationed it. He was getting dehydrated, and he needed to find more very soon. He had plenty of food, though he was getting a bit sick of slightly charred bear meat. Antirads were another worry, but less so than the urgent water crisis.
The main thing occupying his attention, however, was the huge wall of trees in front of him. He'd thought this planet was a dusty, barren wall of rock, and the jungle they'd described to him to be rather less vivid than this. Thick, bottle-green leaves formed a majestic array of nature in front of him, like an immense natural barrier between him and the city beyond.
Lukas pivoted, surveying the landscape behind him. Mountains lancing up from the flatness of the earth, their peaks wreathed in clouds as leafless pine trees struggled for life on their slopes. It wasn't an ugly planet, even after all it had gone through, he thought to himself.
Sighing, he turned to face the leafy menace again, and started hacking away with his knife to clear a path into the jungle.
The Sentry gun reached out and tore into another mutated creature. A firestorm of lead hailed across the distance from the Social Credit and the tree line. Ling and Zupkauskas were desperately trying to fix the electronic starter motor, which began the Anti-Grav sequence. Without it, they were stuck in the Jungle, surrounded by beasts looking for lunch.
Ling swore as he fired the motor again, only to be greeted by spluttering.
[color=#FFFF00]"Did you reconnect the main power line Zupkauskas!?"
[color=#33CCFF]"Of course I did! It's not that, is the motor itself jammed?" "No, the electronics... LOOK OUT!!"
Somehow, a massive black beast had managed to penetrate the sentry gun's line of fire. It jumped onto the top of the gunboat where Ling and Zupkauskas were repairing the ship and swiped at Zupkauskas's back, burying it's hand in his spine.
[color=#FFFF00]"Noo!"
Ling drew his sidearm, but it was too late. The bear jumped off the gunboat and bounded back to the tree line with it's prey. Ling fired after it, but he wasn't sure if any of his shots hit. He hit the side of the deck in frustration, and was greeted by a buzzing noise. It must have been a loose connection underneath the hull panels, Ling thought. He headed back to the starter motor and sure enough, it roared into life.
The timing at this stage was impeccable as the Sentry Gun starting clicking and puffing before deactivating itself. Exhausted of ammo. He left the gun where it stood, fired up the SoCred's Anti-Grav generators and pushed the little gunboat into the air.
On the downward arc, he spotted the main airstrip. Coalition flags were flying and a number of transports and gunboats sat on the runway. Ling eased the SoCred down and was relieved that he had at least got the old bird home. He ran to one of the ground crew.
[color=#FFFF00]"I need the SoCred fixed as if it were yesterday and bring me whatever ship you can spare. The recruits will be coming in soon and I need to fly over-watch."
Pasha's Jeep reached the edge of New HangZhou, a monument to the past, a dead city that stank like a tomb. It was climbing towards nightfall, but he couldn't spare the time to rest and wait. He needed to press on, reach the airport and maybe be able to get off the god forsaken rock before something shot and ate him.
He accelerated when he spied a lone figure walking alone the road, turning at the sound of his approach, lifting her weapon...
Pasha swerved the Jeep to a stop, standing in the seat, his hands up.
"Sub-Lieutenant Lachina?" he called, with a rough looking smile. "Get in, I need someone to ride shotgun."
He nodded to her as he slid back down into his seat, turning the engine back on. She looked a little feral, considering the ordeal that JiangXi was on all recruits. He nodded, "you are the Officer, Ma'am, I am just a soldier. What are your orders, ma'am?"
[font=Georgia]Her jaw almost fell down when she saw Pasha in his jeep. A mixture of happiness and relief. All she could do was just a salute and quickly nod when he mentioned the gun. Lachina climbed up behind it.
"You are the Officer, Ma'am, I am just a soldier. What are your orders, ma'am?"
If Pasha surprised her with his show up this was a bit much.
[color=#FF6600]"Comrade Byk, you have more experience than I could have ever dreamed off and you want me to give you orders? I think we should probably head to the take off point but ...
She stopped for a while to shoot something that looked like a mutated bull.
So far, weird creatures, raiders, and now Volkhanists!
Jacob threw the jeep wide, ducking down as he ramed through the big doors of a shopping mall. Flooring it, he roared in, crashing through stores as he evaded the pursuing jeeps.
"For the love of god..." Jacob glanced back. "JiangXi, gime a frakkin break already!"
Jacob aimed for an exit, ramming the pedal down, smashing through the door and hanging a left into a narrow alley.
"Hope you like your present."
Jacob cut the wire shorter, lit it, and tossed it behind him.
"Crap!" He jerked the wheel, but too late. The jeep hit a bump, went on it's side, and flipped over when it exited the alley.
The IED detonated, throwing the contents of the jeep forward. The gunner was thrown from the gun, smashing into a wall. The jeep continued it's flip and landed. The two Volhanists struggled to get out.
Jacob wiggled out, grabbed his rifle, and shot them both. Looking at his ruined jeep, Jacob spit on their bodies.
"Bastards. I happen to have just found that jeep." Searching them, he found two clips. Looking at the scattered goods, he found some rations and a sole canteen of water.
"Well...might as well find a place to bunker down."
Jacob slipped into a ruined hotel. He climbed tge stairs quickly, until he reached the roof. Poping his scope, Jacob scanned his,surroundings.
"Hm...im about...two miles into town. If the airfield is in the southwest, then it should take me half a day to a day...or more, or less, depending on my luck."
Returning inside, Jacob left the hotel and began to hug the buildings, moving in the direction of the airfield, and kept an eye out for raiders, recruits, trainers, Volkhanists, or killer bunnies.
Natsumi Hideyoshi (The Order) | Alexis Hunter (Liberty Navy) |
Lukas swore foully. The jungle seemed to go on forever, and he wasn't having any easier a time of it. He'd had to tap vines for water while inside the leafy prison, and he was beginning to suffer from dehydration. It was mild for now, but still debilitating. Not only that, but he was sick of bear meat. He'd never heard of it being eaten, and now he knew why. It was crap when charred clumsily over a hastily built campfire. It was probably crap no matter how well it was cooked.
He'd thought himself lucky to find a village during his trip through the jungle, but that hadn't really gone well. The previous inhabitants weren't quite as gone as he'd thought, and when they caught him filling his bags from the box they kept their supplies in, they hadn't been too pleased. Lukas winced at the recent memory, rubbing his leg. He'd been lucky to take only one bullet in that little escapade, and he'd emptied both his clips of ammunition during the ensuing firefight-slash-retreat manoeuver. Still, at least the extra tablets he'd acquired would prevent his cells from going all wonky and giving him a bad bout of radiation poisoning.
He muttered darkly, still unhappy at his situation. This planet was the most inhospitable habitable planet he'd ever been on. The universe as a whole would be better if one day the atmosphere suddenly evaporated and it became just another unremarkable barren rock; but as long as it had a (reasonably) breathable atmosphere and (reasonably) stable temperatures, it looked like it was here to stay.
"I hate New JiangXi," he said to nobody in particular to accentuate his point.
The trees had been getting less and less thick, and suddenly his knife cut through one final layer of vines and brambles to reveal a shaft of bright light. He stepped out, shaking off the clinging remnants of plant life which still stuck to him and gazing upon the terrible beauty of New Hangzhou. Like a shattered gemstone, the city was a metaphor for "what could have been". The rust-scarred buildings still held echoes of their former majesty, and the sight was almost poignant. Almost, but he really wasn't in the mood for architectural or cultural appreciation, and was more interested in exactly which way south-west was. Having located the right direction from the sun's position, he headed off out of the jungle without a backwards glance. If by some miracle he actually got off this nightmare planet, he'd treat himself to some of that old Rheinland Schwarzbier. He'd saved a tiny bit of his supply as a kind of motivational pre-reward, and he was really starting to look forward to it.