Space E-war

[dinoman666]

"Do not be cowed into carelessness," replied Bias. "The Flood may not be very threatening now, but they can easily become much deadlier. That is why we must prevent it from spreading." Suddenly, another mutant sprang out of the darkness at the Koult's backside, but Bias' eye lit up a molten red, and a red beam of energy slammed into the mutant, drilling through its chest to the vulnerable Infection Form within, rendering the body inert.

Elch peeked through a couple bushes to his cruiser, and growled, "I hate it when I'm right..." Hordes of Combat Forms, Carriers, and Infection Forms surrounded the ship, as if protecting it. Stalker Forms, their flat, spindly bodies clinging to tree trunks nearby, were present as well.

[Doc 42]

OOC: It seems you missed my earlier post with the tracker >_< Dont worry, I will repost it here.

The tracker responded, uneasy about the aliens willingness to condemn the last survivors of his species to death "I could call in the fighters to strafe it... they could have the ship grounded within seconds..."

The tracker in the tree tops continued to observe the creatures surrounding the ship, streaming the video feed to the others...

The warrior swivled around, suprised.. he growled "Whoa.... Guess you aren't so bad after all Bias..." He looked back at the drone and said "Names Karlash.

The Majal examined Serephir once more, identifying his mood, or more estimateing it. He continued "What ever you wish... Let me get the score straight... I simply want off this rock... Vardia sounds like a good place to be... But anywhere far away from here will do... Think of me... as a hitch hiker"

Thara let out a small chuckle at this... Quickly warming up to the machine. Hitchhiking was a thing of honour in the wastelands, offering your services to a crew in return for transport. Sure, the likelyhood of a hitch hiker attempting to rob the ship was ever present, but in such a heavily armed society as the wastelands, it was more dangerous to be a hitch hiker than it was to accept one

[The Kingpin]

"I don't intend on taking you to Vardia. especially not with your...potential" said Serephir. the risk that would accompany taking the Mind to Vardia was big enough to condemn Serephir and his entire crew as enemies of Vardia. it was not something he intended to do to his own planet...what little he had heard of Minds wasn't good by any standard...their extremely advanced intelligence and construction was easy enough to tell there was an alterior motive behind this. one of the most powerful weapons and entities in the galaxy wouldn't just hitch hike a ride to a planet without planning to do something when it got there...and Serephir didn't intend on letting it get there at all...

[dinoman666]

OOC: Heh, sorry.

"Please, come with me," Bias said humming pleasantly to himself and he floated noiselessly past Karlash and heading out of the tunnel. "We must stop the Flood."

Elch shook his head. "That cruiser has powerful shields, and its turrets are probably online and being controlled by the Flood. Any ship that gets to close would be vaporized. Either a ground assault, which shouldn't be too difficult with the element of surprise on our side, or an orbital bombardment are the best strategies."

[Doc 42]

The Tracker replied "If it hasn't fired at the fighters already, they can take it out. They have a good range, 40 Km for their missiles, and I cant authorise an oribtal bombardment. Its illegal. In the invent its called upon, the caller is instantly court matialed unless they can prove that it was the only possible route.... Your dealing with firing extremely disruptive weapons onto an unprepared environment"

Karlash angled his jets, following after the machine, weapons at the ready...

He growled "So, who are the flood?"

Marbh answered with a slight chuckle of laughter "Poitential? please.... I have been living a scrap yard for what seems like years... Many of my more... elusive features are currently off line. Hence why you were expecting me and I didn't suddenly appear infront of you. The fact that I am coming to you in person should say enough about desperateness... I don't care if you don't bring me to vardia... I merely wish to get off this planet, and as far away from the Empire as possible"

[The Kingpin]

"Off the planet, i can grant you...not immediately, of course, since we may be staying here for a few days, restock our ship and perhaps pick up some upgrades for our weapons systems, if possible, to enhance our defensive capabilities in space" said Serephir...

[dinoman666]

"A parasitic, extragalactic organism," replied Bias. "They attack any sentient species and make them part of their own. Quite distasteful, but effective. My creators were once forced to activate the seven Halo Installations to destroy all sentient species in this galaxy, thereby starving the Flood and forcing them into hibernation."

Elch's mandibles twitched thoughtfully. "Exactly how powerful are the missiles of your craft?"

[Doc 42]

The Tracker thought for a moment and then said "well... I don't know how tough your armour is, but on average, the shockwave from their explosions is able to rip through basic steel in a radius of about 24 meters. So if it penetrates anywhere near the engines your gona be dealing with some serious damage...."

A high pitched echo suddenly thundered across the sky overhead... a faint blue trail above them.. one of the fighters having past in an instant....

Karlash let out a low whistle and answered "Whoa... nasty... I'm grateful for your help, at first it seemed like a cake walk but then my team got seperated in an attempt to cover more ground. Just recently one of your soilders went missing, his suit reporting a mechanical aggressor but going offline before it could elaborate..."

Marbh chuckled again and replied "A few days won't hurt... If I can repair my damaged effectors, I might be able to aid your ship in combat, if you think you will run into much dangers...."

[dinoman666]

"What about shields?" asked Elch. The cruiser's shields were still active despite the battle damage, so the Flood had probably already erected that defense.

Bias' gold glow dimmed. "I apologize. Like I have said, Reclaimer, my Sentinels are overzealous when dealing with such a threat as the Flood."

[Doc 42]

The tracker replied simply " This close to the ground? And with all this air around? Shield won't last 6 seconds...."

After a short silence the warrior replied "damnit... I'll think about it later, not enough time now..."

[dinoman666]

"Very well-- wait a second..." Elch peered through the bushes again. The Flood were retreating up into the bowels of the ship's Grav Lift. "Perfect! order the attack on the ship now, while they're all onboard!"

"Of course, Reclaimer." Bias floated toward the the cave exit, blending into the light up ahead. Several Sentinels followed suit, coming out of adjacent tunnels they went by. "These Sentinels will assist in the neutralization of the Flood infestation."

[The Kingpin]

"Very Well then" said Serephir simply. "I take it that's all you wanted?"...

[Doc 42]

The Tracker nodded and knelt down, putting a finger up to the side of his helmet, turning on his tag beam. "Sky6, we need airstrike on tagged mark. I repeat, Alien ship is loaded with hostiles, engines will be marked for airstrike."
A short silence...
his radio crackled into life once more "Roger that Track6, You sure?" The tracker responded "From head honcho, time is running out"

The flight leader replied "Alright, T-30 seconds. Get it marked"

The tracker turned to Elch and said in the universal language "Point out the best spot to strike..."

Marbh made a slight bow before glancing at grevious, supressing a snicker. He was suprised at the generals lack of participation in the conversation, seeing as a foreign weapon of war had just landed next to him and agreed to leave via his new allys ship... He turned, leaping into the air, spinning around before his wings slide out, blue flames blasting out the back of his thrusters, shooting him off into the sky like a rocket.

Karlash growled grufly "Well what do we need to do?"

[dinoman666]

Grievous watched Marbh leave, then shrugged. "As long as he doesn't stay here. I don't trust that thing at all."

"Patience, Reclaimer," replied Bias somewhat tersely. "We are looking for the Hive Mind of the Flood, known as the Gravemind."

Elch pointed at the bow of the ship. "There is a good place, but Sangheili ships have no particular weak spot, as the bridge in buried within the bowels of the structure."

The doors behind the Sangheili pilot opened, and a pair of long tentacles came in, writhing sinuously as they approached. No voice was heard. There was simply the tell-tale slithering, and an Infection Form leaped off one of the tentacles at the pilot, who had, up until that point, been frozen in place with fear. Then, he kicked into motion, but it was too late. Even as the Sangheili stood up, about to activate his shields to protect himself, the podlike organism latched onto his neck and he howled in pain as it drove its penetrator into his spine...

[Doc 42]

After a short while of utter silence... a glowing object zipped out of the air. Suddenly a blinding flash erupted off the ships shield. Several more objects rocketed down, all slamming into the same spot, explosions ripping through the shield and spreading around the surface of the ship, the intense heat of the air frying the shield, multiplying the damage done a hundread fold. Several sonic booms echoed over head as the fighters passed... Smoke was bellowing into the air... Chances are at least one of the missiles penetrated, that would be enough to seriously weaken its poitential to escape....

[dinoman666]

The ship lurched suddenly, but then its engines flared, completely unharmed. Flood had been busy repairing them, and the other damaged structures on the ship, before the attack. The cruiser's Grav Lift abruptly shut off, and the ship finally took off, its hull groaning with distress. Mendicant Bias suddenly appeared from the foliage above one of the tracker's shoulders, followed by the Sentinels, which swarmed up into the air after the slowly departing cruiser like angry bees. They lined up close together, shields interlocking and weapon power growing exponentially, but the ship fired a Plasma Torpedo at the swarm, doing them no harm, but scattering them and forcing them to regroup, giving the Flood-infested cruiser a chance to escape into the upper atmosphere. Bias cried out, "You must not let the Flood escape, Reclaimers!"

[Doc 42]

Another missile whistled out of the clouds, this one getting past the shields and hammering into one of the ships engines, the engine being enveloped in a blinding explosions, shrapnel flying in all directions...

Two fighters banked towards it, auto cannons blazing, the sound a high pitched clicking to those on the ground. The bullets all being directed towards the ships engines....

[dinoman666]

The ship slowed slightly, but its engine cones still pulsed a bright blueish-purple, propelling the cruiser deeper into space. Rear Plasma Turrets launched firey red beams of deadly heated plasma across space, one slamming into each of the ships with pinpoint accuracy.

[Doc 42]

The beam got one of the sleek fighters wings, instantly sliceing it off, an explosion rocking the small ship and sending it spiralling off into the mountains... The other fighter span away, ducking down and zipping away, not wanting to get any closer to the turrets...

Karlash watched in horror as the ship rose into the sky, confused to no end... a voiced crackled into his radio "1, area clear of life signs, heading to entrance." It was followed by another "6, This place is clear too. heading to entrance" Soon all the different warriors had called in clear... any flood in the tunnels having been killed, any thing living, infact, had been killed.

[dinoman666]

The ship immediately went into Slipspace, but not before a booming laugh echoed in every living thing's head on Ka'Roll. Bias let out a sigh and said, "Unfortunate. Reclaimers, do you have a leader? I must speak with him!"