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| - The Expanse Bar: The Warren - Shadowheart, Tomin Kora The first thing noticeable about the Expanse is that it is /bright/. The walls, the ceiling, and the floor all provide illumination, a white with a slight tinge of blue. The lighting shifts slightly and regularly, and patches of subtly darker blue and brighter white are somewhat visible on the surfaces of the walls and ceiling. The lighting seems to suggest moving through the interior of a cloud, and it does so well. The room is laid out as a rectangle, perhaps twenty feet by sixty-five, the long sides parallel to the walls of the Bazaar. A dull metal bar emerges from the left of the back wall, stocked with nearly everything one might ask for. Booths are set into the walls along the front side of the room, the walls around them darkened slightly to allow a small measure of privacy. The remaining space is taken up by a number of tables, arranged in no particular pattern, each surrounded by four of five chairs. A door, of a light-colored wood, leads into the casino through one of the Expanse's short sides. Spitting out a big gob of.. nastiness as he enters the room, Lucius lifts his blue eyed gaze up and stands on the tips of his boots, to do a quick sweep. Crick enters the bar with a bit of a frustrated expression on his face. Business apparently hasn't been good. The Timmie isn't paying much attention to those entering the bar, entirely asorbed into her work on her small personal notebook. A cheerful note blares out as she hits the enter key, the girl flashing a brilliant smile in response. Obviously pleased. Trugkar mulls about the bar, glaring at anyone who looks at him and grumbling about stupid shorty . Now Lucius begins to whistle a tune to himself, letting his boots plant firmly onto the ground. Slowly, the Martian begins to make his way for the bar area, eyes shifting about in a constant motion. He spots Trugkar, and diverts himself to head over to the Zangali. "Trug!" He yells. "You seem pleased," says Crick to Sohaeyz with a friendly but subdued smile. He sits down at a nearby table and folds his hands serenely on top of it. Andreo arrives from The Expanse - Entryway . Andreo has arrived. The Timmiegirl swings her gaze to the nearby man, giving a broad smile, then turns her computer toward the man. "Heya, hunny." A simple animation program is running, and Sohaeyz has created a simple animation to run on it, though only a few nearby could really watch what she has created. Crick just happens to be one of them A broad, smiling face of Jesus to be exact, stuck on a stick figure's body. A golden halo slowly start to spread behind the man's head, a classic gesture in the human's religion, them.. WHAM! A truck just hit the poor, famous religious figure, sending the stick Jesus flying through the empty expanse of white. The cheerful beep signifies the end of the animation. "Man, isn't it great?" Sohaeyz launches into a giggling fit, as she moves to shut the computer down. Trugkar's snout swivels toward Lucius. "What shorty softskin want," he snorts. Lucius snorts at Trug, approaching the Zangali more fully. "A little bit more respect, apparently." There is a pause, probably to accent what he has just said, and then he laughs. Whether or not the Zangali gets it.. well, that remains to be seen. "Any news from the front?" If the animation was calculated to bother Crick, it doesn't seem to have been successful. He smiles the same serene smile. "You're quite talented," he replies. Andreo caslaully strides into the building, adjusting his tie as he enters. He looks around a little before making his way off towards the bar. Trugkar just stares at Lucius. Apparently he didn't get it. "No news, stupid shorty softskin." He idly picks at a nostril before shaking his scaly head. "No softskins for bashererer." "Thanks." Sohaeyz saids, cueing the end of the program, turning to face the man. "What brings you here, handsome?" "I guess that's a good thing. Gods know we don't need another fucking incident." Comments Lucius, scooting over to the bar briefly to nab a bottle of water and bring it back to his conversation with the big Zangali. "That last part is unfortunate. Killed enough people recently though; it's a nice breather." As if to prove Lucius wrong, an explosion sounds from outside. The sound of the blast is muffled as it reaches the interior, but a commotion starts in the Bazaar. Crick looks like he was about to launch into his spiel, but the explosion interrupts him. "My goodness, what was that?" he asks, half standing from his chair. Half-way on his way to the bar when the explosion rings, out, Andreo comes to a bit of a quick stop and turns around to look off in the blast's direction. Trugkar's eyes nicitate as he looks toward the exit leading to the Bazaar. He unslings his rifle and looks toward Lucius. "Go?" Sohaeyz stands up from her position, eyes wide, quivering slightly. "Maza's open thighs, why does everyone have to act stupid when I actully 'leave' the ship." Lucius's eyes narrow as, once again, his words seem to cause the world to spite him. "Vae! O tempora!" He laments to himself, in Latin. Looking at Trugkar he unslings his own assault rifle and nods, sliding the water bottle into one of his pockets and pointing towards the door. He begins to move as quickly as can be had in that direction, while asking on his comm, "I need a status report on the bazaar! Get fireteams two and three down there!" The door to the tavern swings open and an assortment of beings rush in, a few making a beeline for the casino. "They're outside!" A frazzled-looking Timonae shouts as he passes the bar, prompting many of the patrons to slowly stand from their seats. The clicking of safety catches and the whine of weapons charging comes from every corner of the tavern. Trugkar follows Lucius to the Bazaar, barrelling through the crowded establishment. The lean, pink and silver haired Timonaes female trembles even more, letting out a weary sigh, wiping at a suddenly wet eyes. "einu Aroosae L'lannei Aroosae L'lannei Sarie'a Airenei dharna einu ces'Edien aden'nar da'aeu einu dharna da'aeu ces'Edien Nyl' Airenei aden'nar da'aeu Nyl' einu janeiU elei janeiU nahlieen janeiU dharna ces'Edien nahlieen Nyl' Airenei" She focuses on Crick, grabbing a sleeve. "Help me, sir! You can shoot a gun, right?" With people streaming in from outside and people getting their guns ready, Andreo begins to make his way over to one of the walls. No weapon appears in his hands, though. Crick seems surprised to be asked this. "Well, uh, no, actually," he admits. "I'm afraid my training is limited to theology. You aren't in danger, are you?" "Then OPEN FIRE on them! With the MG, with grenades, rifles, I DON'T FUCKING CARE! Try not to give your position away!" Screams Lucius into his commlink, eyebrows knitted inward and his teeth gritting. He turns to Trugkar. "Hold up." Then into his comm, again, "Get FTs four and five to higher levels and have them fire down at any disturbances. Two and three, do whatever you have to secure the Bazaar." "Sewer Rats! Up here!" Another fleeing humanoid cries as he scrambles through the crowd. Althea stares at Crick for a moment, hand falling away from his sleeve, a moment of stunned silence. Then Lucius screaming draws her back to action, as well as the indentification of those responsible for the attacks, grabbing onto the man's arm again. "You're on Tomin Kora and you can't shoot a fuckin' gun? What the hell is wrong with you!" She pulls his sleeve, "You gotta hide! I gotta hide!" With that, the lean Timonae attempts to pull the man to the bar, hoping to hide behind it when she can, assuming her meager strength is even enough to move Crick an inch, much less the entire way. The mention of Sewer Rats provokes a murmur amongst the patrons. Another explosion sounds outside, some of the more heavily-armed patrons follow Lucius and Trug out of the tavern. With the closest wall being towards the bar, Andreo slips through the crowd as quickly as he can to get to it. For now, though, he stays on the patron side of it. Crick, in a completely unfamiliar situation, allows himself to be lead to the bar. "Well, you see, I have been trying to ease the pain of the people of this planet..." he explains as he follows. Althea nods her head absently, "Of course, because, you know.. most of these folks are totally worth it." She jumps on top of the bar, swings her legs around, and drops on the other side. "Come on, dude. It's gonna get uglier then a the broadside of a Demarian's ass in here, and the last place ya gonna want to be is standin' in the middle of it." Lucius, Trug, and the other guards make their way through the commotion in the Bazaar out into the street... Aurora Strand Shadowheart: Tomin Kora - Shadowheart The massive framework construct of the aerie, where ships used to land back in Cabrerra's day, has toppled over the thoroughfare known as Aurora Strand. Before the fall of Tomin Kora in the aftermath of Majordomo Grim's rampage, the spacious avenue had been home to numerous neon-lit businesses. Now, it's a boulevard of broken hovercars, skeletal remains of crashed spacecraft, and drifts of rubble. The remnants of the old Tomin Kora spaceport, cracked from impact by the aerie's collapse, loom nearby. The scene on the aurora strand is pure chaos. Beings of all races are engaged in a massive firefight on the street. The air is thick with smoke and ozone, as well as yelling and screaming in all languages. Bodies are strewn about on the ferrocrete, and a large crater in the street indicates where the explosion went off. "Find some cover, boys!" Yells Lucius into his commlink as soon as the scene is surveyed. Finding an old hover truck which had been flipped over onto its side, Lucius points towards that (to indicate to Trug to follow) and begins to move at a crouched run towards it. "Cover fire!" He once again yells into the comm, to fireteams 3 & 4. Crick arrives from Entryway . Crick has arrived. Trugkar lumbers after Lucius toward the truck. He crouches as well, though still remains a sizeable target. Crick darts in from The Warren, crouching low to the ground. He takes a moment to survey the damage and the wounded. "Yessir," the squad leader replies to Lucius over the comm, and a volley of steel-jacketed lead flies forward, impeding any who might attack Lucius and Trug. Though the fight seems to be between everyone in Shadowheart, it might be noted that a large portion of those involved in the battle are clad in ragged, torn clothing, and seem to be fighting with salvaged weapons. Thus in a position behind the truck and safe, Lucius adjusts the sight of his automatic assault rifle and lowers the weapon. His gaze shifts to Trugkar. "Let's see if we can pin 'em down and flank." Lucius takes a brief look out of cover, imploring Trug to do the same. "Get that MG to bear. Use starlight to identify the Rats." Trugkar pokes his snout out from behind the truck and grunts in affirmation to Lucius, adjusting the scope on his weapon as well. Crick ducks behind a bit of crashed spacecraft and continues to watch what's going on, as if momentarily unsure of what to do. Peter arrives from Entryway . Peter has arrived. Peter comes hauling balls out of the Warren. An assault rifle in his hands roars, spraying death towards the chaos in general as he trucks it towards a nearby toppled hovertruck. A cigarette is in his lips; as he moves into a sprint, he spits it out. Some fellow gets caught in the arm by Peter's fire, causing him to yelp in pain and relocate somewhere out of the way. A group of 'Rats armed with rifles and combat knives charge manically into the firezone, riddling an Odarite with bullets and slicing into a gruff-looking Lunite until he falls to the ground in a heap. Lucius grits his teeth. "Open fire on them with that MG and rifles! Lucius himself peaks out of his little spot to let off a controlled burst of three shots from his assault rifle, aiming for some of the more dangerous (IE: using firearms) members. Thereafter, he ducks back into cover. Trugkar grunts and opens fire at the assailants shortly after Lucius, sending a volley toward their ragged forms. Alarmed by the Lunite's wounds, Crick pops up from behind his hiding place and runs -- still in a crouch -- toward the Lunite's body, his attention fully focused on the injured (or dead?) man. Peter screams, "What the fuck is going on?" into his radio, diving behind the truck. Immediately, he scrambles towards the other side. Adopting a prone supported firing position using one of the truck's tires, he lays into the nearest armed 'Rats. Two of the 'Rat warriors are hit with the Lucius and Trug's fire. The one hit by Lucius tries to drag himself away, but is quickly incinerated by plasma rifle-toting humanoid... who in turn is gunned down by stray bullets. Trugkar's target, a very big, heavily-armed guy continues limping toward the truck The Lunite man Crick approaches seems to be still alive, but very hurt, his clothes torn and bloody from some nasty wounds to the abdomen. Peter's target is shot full of holes, dead before he hits the ground with a dull crunch. Lucius looks poised to scream another order into his comm, but at this point realizes it's probably best if he lets the fireteams do what they were told - keep firing on the approaching group. Keep up the barrage of lead. Lucius himself pops out again, firing in another spray at a little group of rifle armed men. Trugkar grunts at the man he failed to take out, squeezing the trigger on his rifle and opening another round on him. Crick continues his audition for the Victoria Cross. He tears off his frockcoat and holds it against the Lunite's wounds for a few moments, grimacing at the futility of what he is trying to do. Peter keeps it simple. He adjusts fire just slightly, lighting off another salvo. Then he rolls, back behind the cover of the truck, onto his back. "Lucky, you out here?" he queries his radio. "What the hell is going on?" Lucius's target is felled, and the others in that little group seem to be occupied avoiding incoming fire from the windows of an abandoned building. The man shot by Trug grunts and falls flat on the pavement. Peter's fire grazes his prey, who returns some of his own. Crick's Lunite gurgles, trying to grab the reverend's sleeve. "Leave me... I'm done for..." Behind Trug and Lucius, two hovercars careen down the strand, the occupants exchanging fire. One of the cars veers into a building and crashes while the other hurtles past the hovertruck the two Warrenites are using as cover, opening fire on those in the street and in the higher stories of the buildings. "Sewer Rats are attacking us. We attack back." Briefly crackles over the comm, the sound of rifle fire filling the ears of all present. Turning to Trug as the two hovercars move down the cracked and broken road, Lucius says, "Spray the fucking driver side!" Lucius moves out a bit, ducks into a crouch and lifts his rifle up to his shoulder, eye travelling down the optic sight. Breath stopped, he opens fire with a burst at the driver. Crick doesn't leave the Lunite, though. Realizing that the situation is hopeless, he grasps the man's hand and begins to murmur a prayer: "Our Father, who art in heaven..." Peter isn't too very worried about cars, himself. He rolls now to the other side of the truck he's using as cover, opening fire with another salvo. One of Lucius's bullets shatters the hovercar's window and hits the driver, causing the car to swerve out of control and smash into a streetlight. Seconds later, a large hunk of ferrocrete falls on the car, ensuring that anyone inside is quite dead by now. One might be able to see a group of Zangali on top of a deserted buiding pushing chunks of rubble off of the roof while another readies a mounted gun. An energy blast barely misses Pete from behind, instead hitting the truck next to him. The crashed hovercar behind Lucius and Trug decides at this moment to explode. "Switch to your infareds!" Yells Lucius into his comm, removing one of his 'blinkers'. If he can get this little grenade like object up into the perch, then fire will certainly pour down - especially from the MG nest, which although it is far, can still offer at least a few precision bursts of 7.62mm bullets. Behind the truck, he is startled a bit as a bullet whizzes past his torso, but continues to speak into the comm, "When I throw it, everyone who ain't in mortal danger's gotta fire on the target." He takes a deep breath. And then, ducking out of his cover, he throws. The blinker lands about ten feet away from its intended target. "Shit." Lucius deadpans, seeing where his blinker has landed. "Hold fire on the blinker, gotta get it to the target. Fireteam three, spray some cover fire on them and keep 'em off my back." Lucius turns to Trug. "Trug, follow me and cover my advance." With that, Lucius waits for the cue of automatic rifle fire before he goes out to toss his blinker up into the group of Rats. The Lunite dies around the point where Crick is getting to the part about forgiving trespasses. Crick sighs and finishes the prayer anyway, then closes the Lunite's eyes. He stands and looks down at the body with a reflective sort of expression -- presumably what he should be reflecting about is what he's doing standing in a combat zone rather than the meaning of life. Peter lets a long, loud and Irish string of swears as the energy round impacts the truck inches from his face. He jumps to his feet, throwing his back against the undercarriage of the truck, and brings his rifle to bear. Zeroing in on the closest thing that looks like a 'Rat, he opens fire. Volleys of bullets and energy bolts serve as wards for Lucius and Trug as they move out into the crossfire. Pete manages to wing a 'Rat just as a rocket screams upward into the rooftop of a building near the one occupied by the Zangali, blowing a hole in the already dilapidated complex. Ferrocrete falls from the sky, a rather sizeable piece bound for Revered Crick. The rocket seems to have come from behind a barricade of hovercars and scrap metal further down the Strand. Crick is too busy ruminating about the fleeting nature of life to notice the bit of ferrocrete about to end his. Just as candles that have been lit can as easily be snuffed, the nature of life is uncertainty. And yet we live it in the certain hope of our salvation. For as it is written, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away... It's at about the point where Crick is thinking about the Lord takething away that the Lord taketh. The Reverend Doctor Gregory Crick is crushed beneath a piece of ferrocrete. Scrambling up the street as most of the fire is drawn, Lucius nevertheless manages to get hit, by a lone energy bolt coming from an uncertain force. However, while it slaps into his right leg, the hyper-ceramic reinforced flak armour is able to deflect most harm; he sucessfully has time to toss the blinker into the crowd. Turning about, he points towards a new piece of cover - one of the tall, thick ferrocrete slabs that had fallen off the building before, which is also closer to this barricade. "Open fire on the infared!" He yells into his commlink, when at a safe distance. Peter snarls ferally as his bullet grazes the 'Rat. As dust and ferrocrete rain down around him, the kid opens fire on his target once again, pressing his back further into the relative shelter of the truck. Trugkar keeps the 'Rats at bay with energy blasts from his rifle until he and Lucius are behind the ferrocrete barrier. The crowd becomes a focal point as the defenders' fire concentrates on that area, mowing down the Sewer Rats left and right. Many of them begin to flee, including Peter's 'Rat, but are slaughtered in the process. Some of them make it back to the hovercar barricade, albeit wounded. "Alright, everyone," Lucius whispers into his comm, holding his rifle close, "I want ya'll to fire at that hovercar barricade. Me and Truggy are gonna flank round the side, so it's /important/ you make sure they're occupied." Oncemore, Lucius waits for the next barrage of bullets to begin before moving at a crouched run to his objective - the side of the barricade, where he will have a bit of cover and be able to pop in and surprise the enemy. "Roger," Pete tells his radio. "I'm going to let the teams handle that, and see if I can't flank around the other side. If we can get them in a crossfire, we can end this thing quick." That said, he sprints away from the cover of the hovertruck, proceeding in the opposite direction from Lucius and Trugkar in three-to-five second rushes: I'm up, he sees me, I'm down. Occassionally, when the terrain permits it, he'll creep stealthily along at a more measured pace. Trugkar lumbers along behind Lucius, headspines fully raised. "Trug want bash. No fake fight stuff. Trug bash." The Warren fireteams keep their weapons trained on the barricade, exchanging fire with the Sewer Rats. One of the 'Rats rolls out from behind the barricade and takes a couple shots at Trugkar and Lucius. Lucius reaches the side of the barrier, after a bullet bounces off the front of his armour - he doesn't even react to this, mind already embroiled in the battle. Instead, he says to Trug, "Bash away!" Then, pulling around the bend, he unloads into the first group of enemies he sees. Peter closes on the barrier on his side... and then sprints inside. Diving to the ground, he turns, and opens fire on who and whatever might be holed up there. "In position, Lucky," he growls into his radio. Belatedly, Lucky yells into his comm, "GO!" Trugkar is about to open fire when... he gets shot. The bolt burns through his vest and sears his abdomen, provoking a low rumbling growl from the Zangali. He drops the assault rifle and makes a grab for the nearest 'Rat. The 'Rats divide what little firepower they have between the Warren teams and the three thugs that just made it through their barricade. Two of the remaining sewer dwellers are wounded by Lucius and Pete, while Trug grabs a flailing human. A massive man in a long tattered coat unloads round after round of rifle fire at the opposition beyond the makeshift wall. At his side is a Qua man who has just drawn a bead on Lucius with his energy pistol. Lucius isn't taking any chances today. "Sorry, Chief." Quipes the Martian, dropping into a crouch and opening fire on the Qua, with a close range burst. "'ey tatters!" He directs at the big man. "I'd surrender if I was you." Hopefully, the others will have his back. Peter continues aiming for the local cronies. Tatters can play with the firing teams all day, if that's what he's into. Trugkar holds the man in front of him as a meat shield until he reaches one of the 'Rats firing at he Warren teams. He throws the man aside and turns his attention to the other sewer dweller, bringing a large scaly hand to the man's face. The Qua man crumples to the ground in a lifeless heap, dropping his pistol. The Timonae Peter fires at is grazed by a shot, and pulls out a dagger in response, throwing it at the Warren guard. Trugkar's opponent is knocked out by the Zangali's fist. Tatters ducks behind the hovercar wall as suppressive fire ricochets off of the vehicle's chassis, turning to frown at the Warrenites. "This is all Neidermeyer has to throw at me?" "You ain't attacking Neidermeyer, you infected twat! This is Warren territory! Fagin has his own cronies. Now, am I gonna have to ask you again to surrender?" Lucius stays in his crouched position, rifle raised at a portion of the car so that if Tatters comes out, he'll be in a position to at least shoot him once or twice. At the same time, he waves up Peter and Trugkar to flank. Peter sprays a barrage at the asshole with the audacity to throw a dagger at him in the middle of a firefight, then sprints forward and dives behind a pile of wreckage, once more assuming a prone position. Rifle ready, he addresses his radio. "Give me a 'go' when you want me to light this up. Trugkar steps toward Tatters, levelling his rifle at the humanoid. "Trug bash." Tatters shakes his head. "You think Neidermeyer's going to let your Warren go about its business? You think he's going to let someone else operate on Tomin Kora when he could have the whole thing?" He chuckles. "Good luck with that." "We pay Fagin his taxes, and he lets us run our op. Simple. You didn't wanna part of the system, you take it up with him. No lay down your fucking arms." This seems to be the last time. Lucius begins to slowly circle Tatters' hovercar cover, to the opposite side of Trugkar. He motions for Peter to (slowly, quietly) follow him. Peter rises from his position, holding his rifle up, ready to fire. He walks (slowly, quietly) to flank Tatters' position. Trugkar looks toward Lucius, probably awaiting the order to execute. Tatters keeps his rifle trained on Lucius. "You can kill me, but Neidermeyer will come for you." "Worked for 'im in the past. Long as you're faithful, that ain't the case. In fact, he made a damned hell of a first Praetor." Tatters gets a reply of Lucius's own rifle. Probably going to be joined by Peter's rifle in a second. "You surrender, and we'll get you off planet. Promise ya." Peter does, in fact, fire a warning shot from his own piece. Just to let the punk know what his situation is. Trugkar doesn't fire a warning shot, as Tatters probably already has the idea. Tatters eyes all three of the Warrenites, eyes narrowing in anger... then, he sighs, hanging his head ashamedly. "Raven... Eliza... Rrunth... I've failed you all." "Trug. Subdue. Bash." Issues Lucius, flicking his rifle from burst to semi-auto and holding the weapon in its steady aim on tatters. His finger is already pulling very lightly on the trigger. Peter keeps his gun trained on the hobo-looking dude, and stays put and quiet. Trugkar rolls his Brawling with a 0 modifier. Use a feat (+help feats) to try to overcome the impossible. The result of the roll is Fair (0). Trugkar slings the rifle over his shoulder and cracks his knuckles. He steps up to Tatters and hoists him up by his coat, sending a fist toward his face. Tatters, through a combination of strength and luck is able to evade Trugkar's fist and keep on his toes. Lucius attempts to put a bullet in the back of Tatters' kneecap, squeezing the trigger of his rifle and letting a 5.56mm bullet soar towards its target. The projectile soars into the man's leg, emitting a spray of bone, cartilege and blood. He screams loudly. "Secure him." Lucius lowers his rifle and grabs a small roll of subdu-cord. He passes it to Trug. Peter watches this display for a moment or two, then turns to Lucius. "I'm going to go ahead and take a walk around here, make sure we didn't miss anything. Help people get to the infirmary and all." Trugkar ties up Tatters as ordered. Tatters doesn't offer much resistance. "Stupid smelly softskins," Trugkar grumbles out loud. "You piece of shit. You attack our propierty, you kill OUR men, and you insult our intelligence, too?" Lucius spits on Tatters. "Nevertheless, I'm going to make good on my offer. After the Boss has his way with you."
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