Border Wars: an introduction to the Mycab Sector
Liz's footsteps echoed slightly in the small cargo bay, which caused Fenis to panic slightly, his grasp on the assault rifle tightening as he pivoted towards the sound. Fenis breathed a sigh of relief, his posture relaxing slightly as he nodded towards the still-bleeding Town
Foreman. "Looks like we got our guy."
Koveris caught sight of the mecha's Warpath Rifle adjusting as if tracking a target, and grinned. With a dramatic flip, the Mycabri pushed off the large mecha, taking advantage of the pilot's momentary distraction to escape the rapidly spinning barrels of the chain gun.
Upon landing, Koveris took off at a loping run around the back of a nearby building, towards the shuttle.
The female Human - mother to the three children and wife of the Town Foreman - was making good time, running at full tilt towards the safety of the tiny insertion shuttle. It happened during mid-step.
Kaden felt the ground tremble and glanced over his shoulder. A large mecha - the one with -04 stenciled on it - was gaining rapidly on him and the two children he carried. Seeing few options available, the Vic'Tarian ducked into the nearest building for safety. He breathed a
sigh of relief when the mecha continued on, but his relief was short-lived. Despite having the human children protected under his arms, Kaden gasped loudly when it happened.
With a sickening squish, Fayne’s mecha stepped down heavily onto the crawling teenage girl, her legs mangled from the Aerial Interceptor’s indiscriminate autofire. Fayne smiled gleefully as she lifted the mecha’s foot off the crushed human, the audio sensors picking up faints murmurs of pain and the whistling sound of a broken rib through a lung. Fayne knew before she had even lifted the foot that the young colonist was dying, but the sounds coming through the audio enhanced the feeling of power. Suddenly, Fayne’s audio sensors cut out, automatically muffling the normally ear-splitting roar of a Warpath rifle being discharged nearby.
The mother’s torso exploded outward in a fountain of red as the Warpath’s round tore through the fragile human’s chest cavity, painting the nearby shuttle’s hull with gore. She had been one step from it, her hand outreached, fingertips just touching the sanctuary of the natives’ ship when Ken pulled the trigger on his Warpath rifle. Strangely, her death shocked him, though he had killed before. Something about this death though struck him as odd, almost unnatural. Ken quickly checked his sensors, noticing for the first time that the four-armed Mycabri had vacated the mecha. The sensors quickly located Fayne’s nanobeacon however, and - looking for comfort - Ken moved in her direction. He was unprepared for what he was to see next.
Kaden quickly shielded the children’s line of sight with his wings, as he twisted deeper into the building. He couldn’t believe anything could mercilessly kill a young’un like that. There was little doubt that it was an accident. She purposefully held her foot above the struggling child’s body for a full second, before slamming it down with such finality, Kaden thought to himself, his stomach lurching in disgust, and they call us savages. He shook his head, attempting to clear the image from his mind. He still had work to do.
Liz heard the shot that killed the Town Foreman’s wife, but didn’t see the result. She knew the result though, and knew the same would befall her team if she didn’t get things back under control. She gently laid down the Town Foreman, realizing suddenly that he was deceased. “Felgato”, she swore loudly, “Kado shan.” Liz took a moment to activate the team’s comms and when she spoke, it was a tone of disappointment and urgency. “Rapid return to shuttle. Lift-off in 12 seconds.”
Fayne saw movement inside the shuttle and for a brief moment, she was confused. She had just seen that traitorous Town Foreman’s wife die, and was still enjoying the power high, so it took her a few seconds for her brain to realize that there was still work to do. Moving forward quickly, Fayne positioned her mecha at the foot of the shuttle’s entry ramp, and crouched down. There, just inside the ship, she could see the natives attempting to get ready to leave. While Fayne’s mecha was too large to fit inside through the opening, she knew her Chaingun could do a lot of damage in the confined space.
Ken watched in horror as Fayne’s mecha hovered her foot over the rapidly dying young human. It seemed as if Fayne was actually trying to prolong the child’s suffering. However, before Ken could decide what Fayne was really doing, she suddenly quick-stepped in front of the inseration shuttle’s boarding ramp, her Chaingun lowered, its barrels spinning rapidly.
Fenis looked up when a large shadow fell over him, a little confused. In the shuttle, there shouldn’t be any moving shadows really, he thought to himself and then gulped. The mecha that he had been in battle with only moments before now blocked the only exit, and was aiming its massive Chaingun into the confined space. “Kaden,” Fenis spoke into his comm, “We’re going to need some help, fast.”
Kaden risked a glance through one of the building’s windows, and groaned at what he saw. That sick mecha operator parked the massive mecha right on the boarding ramp, completely blocking any chance of escaping safely onto the ship. A rapid look about his gear, Kaden had quickly formulated a plan. Without time to explain or offer any sort of consolation, he set the children down behind a bed, and moved outside. A smile formed about his mouth as he raised Koveris on the comm.
Koveris skidded to stop, just out of sight of both mechas, listening intently to the Vic’Tarian’s plan. It was a bold one, and better yet, it allowed Koveris a chance to get some hand to hand action. He replied with an affirmative growl, and raced around the corner, his path taking him directly towards the mecha blocking the boarding ramp.
Fayne’s sensors detected movement from the left, as well as movement above. Dismissing the movement above as allied, she glanced quickly to the threat from the left. She saw the four-armed native a second too slow, never getting the chance to brace her crouched mecha into a more stable position.
With an audible grunt, the muscular Mycabri slammed his weight into the mecha, rocking it to the side briefly, as the operator struggled to keep her balance. Adjusting his attack quickly, Koveris raked two sets of claws across the view plate, scratching them. All he needed to do was keep her off-balance.
A few feet away, Kaden landed softly, his large white wings folding in behind him for safety. Kaden uncoiled the strong cable line he always carried, and attached the magnetic grappling head to one end of the line. He was always teased because he carried it - most of the jokes revolving around his lack of confidence in his wings, but he knew that a good solider was always prepared. He couldn’t wait until he got back to the base so he could brag about how useful his cable was. Focus, Kaden scolded himself, Koveris can’t keep the mecha distracted forever. Moving with purpose, Kaden set the grappling head against the cold steel of the mecha, and activated the powerful magnet. Then, without a thought, Kaden shot off into the air, grasping the steel cable in both hands.
Fayne had just got her bearings, having already cursed about the scratched view plate, when she was suddenly lurched off her feet. The entire mecha fell backward unexpectedly, and despite Fayne’s genetically enhanced reflexes, she hit her head against the already damaged view plate.
Koveris had seen Kaden attach the grapple, and leaped off the mecha, his legs already pumping as he hit the ground. With a few steps and a bound, he hurdled over the deceased Town Foreman and slid to a stop near Liz, who was just drawing a bead with her ornate Grayhawk, hoping to damage the opposing mecha.
Laughing, Kaden drifted to the ground beside the prone mecha, wondering if the operator was really knocked out or just faking. Suddenly, as if realizing that there was still a mecha unaccounted for, Kaden glanced around. He never heard the electric whine of the spinning barrels on the Chaingun.
Foreman. "Looks like we got our guy."
Koveris caught sight of the mecha's Warpath Rifle adjusting as if tracking a target, and grinned. With a dramatic flip, the Mycabri pushed off the large mecha, taking advantage of the pilot's momentary distraction to escape the rapidly spinning barrels of the chain gun.
Upon landing, Koveris took off at a loping run around the back of a nearby building, towards the shuttle.
The female Human - mother to the three children and wife of the Town Foreman - was making good time, running at full tilt towards the safety of the tiny insertion shuttle. It happened during mid-step.
Kaden felt the ground tremble and glanced over his shoulder. A large mecha - the one with -04 stenciled on it - was gaining rapidly on him and the two children he carried. Seeing few options available, the Vic'Tarian ducked into the nearest building for safety. He breathed a
sigh of relief when the mecha continued on, but his relief was short-lived. Despite having the human children protected under his arms, Kaden gasped loudly when it happened.
With a sickening squish, Fayne’s mecha stepped down heavily onto the crawling teenage girl, her legs mangled from the Aerial Interceptor’s indiscriminate autofire. Fayne smiled gleefully as she lifted the mecha’s foot off the crushed human, the audio sensors picking up faints murmurs of pain and the whistling sound of a broken rib through a lung. Fayne knew before she had even lifted the foot that the young colonist was dying, but the sounds coming through the audio enhanced the feeling of power. Suddenly, Fayne’s audio sensors cut out, automatically muffling the normally ear-splitting roar of a Warpath rifle being discharged nearby.
The mother’s torso exploded outward in a fountain of red as the Warpath’s round tore through the fragile human’s chest cavity, painting the nearby shuttle’s hull with gore. She had been one step from it, her hand outreached, fingertips just touching the sanctuary of the natives’ ship when Ken pulled the trigger on his Warpath rifle. Strangely, her death shocked him, though he had killed before. Something about this death though struck him as odd, almost unnatural. Ken quickly checked his sensors, noticing for the first time that the four-armed Mycabri had vacated the mecha. The sensors quickly located Fayne’s nanobeacon however, and - looking for comfort - Ken moved in her direction. He was unprepared for what he was to see next.
Kaden quickly shielded the children’s line of sight with his wings, as he twisted deeper into the building. He couldn’t believe anything could mercilessly kill a young’un like that. There was little doubt that it was an accident. She purposefully held her foot above the struggling child’s body for a full second, before slamming it down with such finality, Kaden thought to himself, his stomach lurching in disgust, and they call us savages. He shook his head, attempting to clear the image from his mind. He still had work to do.
Liz heard the shot that killed the Town Foreman’s wife, but didn’t see the result. She knew the result though, and knew the same would befall her team if she didn’t get things back under control. She gently laid down the Town Foreman, realizing suddenly that he was deceased. “Felgato”, she swore loudly, “Kado shan.” Liz took a moment to activate the team’s comms and when she spoke, it was a tone of disappointment and urgency. “Rapid return to shuttle. Lift-off in 12 seconds.”
Fayne saw movement inside the shuttle and for a brief moment, she was confused. She had just seen that traitorous Town Foreman’s wife die, and was still enjoying the power high, so it took her a few seconds for her brain to realize that there was still work to do. Moving forward quickly, Fayne positioned her mecha at the foot of the shuttle’s entry ramp, and crouched down. There, just inside the ship, she could see the natives attempting to get ready to leave. While Fayne’s mecha was too large to fit inside through the opening, she knew her Chaingun could do a lot of damage in the confined space.
Ken watched in horror as Fayne’s mecha hovered her foot over the rapidly dying young human. It seemed as if Fayne was actually trying to prolong the child’s suffering. However, before Ken could decide what Fayne was really doing, she suddenly quick-stepped in front of the inseration shuttle’s boarding ramp, her Chaingun lowered, its barrels spinning rapidly.
Fenis looked up when a large shadow fell over him, a little confused. In the shuttle, there shouldn’t be any moving shadows really, he thought to himself and then gulped. The mecha that he had been in battle with only moments before now blocked the only exit, and was aiming its massive Chaingun into the confined space. “Kaden,” Fenis spoke into his comm, “We’re going to need some help, fast.”
Kaden risked a glance through one of the building’s windows, and groaned at what he saw. That sick mecha operator parked the massive mecha right on the boarding ramp, completely blocking any chance of escaping safely onto the ship. A rapid look about his gear, Kaden had quickly formulated a plan. Without time to explain or offer any sort of consolation, he set the children down behind a bed, and moved outside. A smile formed about his mouth as he raised Koveris on the comm.
Koveris skidded to stop, just out of sight of both mechas, listening intently to the Vic’Tarian’s plan. It was a bold one, and better yet, it allowed Koveris a chance to get some hand to hand action. He replied with an affirmative growl, and raced around the corner, his path taking him directly towards the mecha blocking the boarding ramp.
Fayne’s sensors detected movement from the left, as well as movement above. Dismissing the movement above as allied, she glanced quickly to the threat from the left. She saw the four-armed native a second too slow, never getting the chance to brace her crouched mecha into a more stable position.
With an audible grunt, the muscular Mycabri slammed his weight into the mecha, rocking it to the side briefly, as the operator struggled to keep her balance. Adjusting his attack quickly, Koveris raked two sets of claws across the view plate, scratching them. All he needed to do was keep her off-balance.
A few feet away, Kaden landed softly, his large white wings folding in behind him for safety. Kaden uncoiled the strong cable line he always carried, and attached the magnetic grappling head to one end of the line. He was always teased because he carried it - most of the jokes revolving around his lack of confidence in his wings, but he knew that a good solider was always prepared. He couldn’t wait until he got back to the base so he could brag about how useful his cable was. Focus, Kaden scolded himself, Koveris can’t keep the mecha distracted forever. Moving with purpose, Kaden set the grappling head against the cold steel of the mecha, and activated the powerful magnet. Then, without a thought, Kaden shot off into the air, grasping the steel cable in both hands.
Fayne had just got her bearings, having already cursed about the scratched view plate, when she was suddenly lurched off her feet. The entire mecha fell backward unexpectedly, and despite Fayne’s genetically enhanced reflexes, she hit her head against the already damaged view plate.
Koveris had seen Kaden attach the grapple, and leaped off the mecha, his legs already pumping as he hit the ground. With a few steps and a bound, he hurdled over the deceased Town Foreman and slid to a stop near Liz, who was just drawing a bead with her ornate Grayhawk, hoping to damage the opposing mecha.
Laughing, Kaden drifted to the ground beside the prone mecha, wondering if the operator was really knocked out or just faking. Suddenly, as if realizing that there was still a mecha unaccounted for, Kaden glanced around. He never heard the electric whine of the spinning barrels on the Chaingun.
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Uh yeah, sorry about that genshou, I should've warned ya all.
I play with some older mentality gamers (not old in age, mind you - most are younger than me, and I'm only 27-ish), and they are quite used to some of my more....extreme points that I make.
I needed to instill a sense of rage, of justicified anger, in my gamers, for it to have a profound effect later. Trust me, the jabs from the CSI goons aren't over yet.
In a much lighter news, I was able to work out a deal with a real cool publisher (http://www.ukg-publishing.co.uk/).
Here is a ship that the group will get to know fairly well in Session Two: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=140172
I'll toss some artwork once we get to that point. Don't go to far, Session One is about to come to a dramatic close....
Peterson
I play with some older mentality gamers (not old in age, mind you - most are younger than me, and I'm only 27-ish), and they are quite used to some of my more....extreme points that I make.
I needed to instill a sense of rage, of justicified anger, in my gamers, for it to have a profound effect later. Trust me, the jabs from the CSI goons aren't over yet.
In a much lighter news, I was able to work out a deal with a real cool publisher (http://www.ukg-publishing.co.uk/).
Here is a ship that the group will get to know fairly well in Session Two: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=140172
I'll toss some artwork once we get to that point. Don't go to far, Session One is about to come to a dramatic close....
Peterson
