Thread: The Stars Do Not Dream of You (Alvis & AlluringEnigma)

Bait. The ship had been bait. And Kale had bitten on it without a second thought. He held up a hand, having his main group halt. There was a whooping coming from behind them as a unit of less skilled, more rough edged pirates flooded the ship. Kale let them rush past, entering the corridor to engineering. Gunfire erupted. Half the mob were cut down in that opening volley. Kale checked the video feed from his armour, getting a look at the enemy. They were in good placements, and going down that path was not going to end well for Kale and his team. While the now slain pirates were only clad in basic gear, and Kale and his team were covered in powered suits, making them a much more dangerous proposition, but even they had limits. Kale tapped his com unit, contacting the ship. Hey, is Baldie awake? He asked. Yeah, why? Came the reply. Tell him to activate FIDO. Set the IFFs, and deploy them. You got it. So what, we just wait here? Cain demanded. Fuck no. Dale. Let 'em know we're here. Kale ordered. Dale, the biggest among them shouldered his way forward. He raised an arm, a twin-barreled weapon with long tubes running from it to his back. The weapon made a chuffing sound, like compressed gas being discharged. A pair of balls the size of a fist flew out, hitting off the wall, and bouncing. Then again. And again. Each time they were aimed slightly differently, changing their overall destination. A few seconds later, the rubberized grenades went off. Explosions ripped into the corridor, and Kale grinned. The unit charged forward. The grenades were a combination of flash bangs and heavy fragmentation charges. There were metal spikes two inches long embedded in the walls, and in several of the marines. Screaming was filling hte air. Kale levelled an arm at one man. The coming whine announced the charging of a laser, and the focusing lenses twisted, maximizing hte discharge. The marine fell, half his head burnt clean off. The more simple weapons they all carried were going off, the loud blasting of chemical porpellants sending slugs into the enemy. A pair of heavy impacts rang off of Kale's chest, but the armour held up. Cain had mounted one of the cover positions, and was raking the area with his wrist mounted shard gun, sending streams of glass needles into the marines there. The men fell,clutching their faces and necks, needles stained red with blood. Cain was well known to include a healthy dose of a coagulant on his shards. So much so the victim usually wound up dying because his blood had thickened so much that the heart couldn't pump it along any more. A few more well placed shots brought down a few more marines, who took the opportunity to fall back through the door to engineering, rather than die where they stood. A sensible move. The marines took up positions in engineering, the place still set up to let them hold their ground. While they'd certainly wanted to stop them at the first line, if was well understood that a pirate as successful as Kale wasn't likely to be stupid. The squad leader checked in. Ma'am, first line is breahed, we're set up on the second. Enemy has a power suit team, we're going to need support...wait a moment... The door to engineering deformed under a massive impact. Then another. There was the sound of something like a snarl, and then the door caved in completely, borne to the floor by the creature that had breached it. And creature was the right term. It had probably been a dog at some point. Probably a mastiff of some kind. But now, after continued gene therapy, steroidal treatments, and bionic augmentation, it resembled a dog the same way a tank might resemble a car. You knew that they had some common traits, but one was much more dangerous than the other. Five feet high, and more than four hundred pounds, the front of the hound had been grafted with metal plates, mechanical replacements for it's eyes gave it burning red gaze. Whatever was powering those eyes was clearly not well contained, because they leaked a red mist that dissipated a few inches above the eyes. The hound howled, an unnatural sounding thing that made every marine flinch back from it. Then it charged. As rounds plinked off the frontal armour, the marines began to panic as five more piled into the room after the first. Blood was in the air, the marines discovering that the hounds had been augmented with reciprocating blades for teeth, letting them saw and shear through body armour. Kale simply strode in, his armour taking in the sight. He patched his visual feed into the ship, putting the scene of marines fighting desperately against the tide of meta and flesh that had been unleashed on nearly every screen in the ship, especially on the bridge. He kicked a severed limb away from himself, letting it slide into the room. Hope your getting all this captain. We're comin for you. Kale growled, loud enough to let the sound carry into the feed.