Coalition Operations III: Deception of the Iron Bear

[Romulan_Furry]

Viktor's head swam in darkness. He could feel hands grabbing at him, stripping his armor, then... nothing. Last thing he remembered was being escorted to another part of the Pods, then... blank. Something must have knocked him unconscious - next thing he knew, he was waking up in an unfamiliar environment. This wasn't a Xenomorph hive, that was for sure. He wasn't immobile - but his armor and gear was gone. And he was in some sort of uniform.

"Been a while since we had... new blood, around here," said a voice. Viktor looked over and saw a scarred canine. A convict, by the looks of him. "Nice eyes. You just come out of cold sleep? What're you in for?"

Viktor frowned. "Huh?" he asked, still half-groggy.

"What crime were you convicted of..." the convict growled, clearly amused.

"I'm not a convict; I'm a Starship Captain," Viktor responded. The convict scoffed.

"Sure you are - and I'm innocent," he retorted.

It was then that a voice came over the intercom: "Attention Lab Personnel: Please escort convict number sixteen to Implantation Lab Four."

The convict smiled. "That's you; boy, you must have pissed somebody off - out of the freezer and into the frying pan. Eh... too bad we didn't have enough time to get... better acquainted."

"Yeah, I'm heartbroken, too," Viktor said with clear sarcasm.

The convict looked up to the overlooking window, and saw the lone guard head for the elevator - alone. "Guard's alone - idiots," the convict scoffed. "They've been getting sloppy lately. Hnh... their loss." Viktor saw the convict pick up a shiv from beneath his mattress. It gave Viktor an idea - on a quick inspection of his body, he realized he still had access to his other powers - his Force ability was not inhibited in any way. Whoever was behind Viktor's imprisonment clearly either had no idea he was Force-Sensitive, or had no way to cut that off.

The guard entered the room, and the instant he did, the convict rushed him. He was quickly shot dead by the guard. Viktor leapt into action and gripped the guard with the Force, and quickly snapped his neck. Yep, definitely could still use the Force. No alarm klaxons sounded. Viktor quickly secured the guard's weapon and ammo, and headed for the elevator he had used to ascend. In the guard area, he mind-tricked a few guards and slipped up a ladder and vanished into the vents. He had to find his team. But first, he needed intel... something was wrong here. Something was very wrong...

[XIII]

Upon exiting from the room where she read the message, Ori decided to contact the team and tell everything she found out. There was no sense of keeping secrets. But a Praetorian behind the door was a nasty surprise. The being was way more bulky and taller. Also, its head looked differently. That being said, Ori was faster at raising her rifle. Afterward, she released a burst of plasma charges in the creature's direction. Alas, the trick didn't help too much as a new Xenomorph' version appeared to be more armored than a regular thing of the kind. Along with that, the Praetorian is far more agile. So it hadn't has issues by hopping on the woman and pinning her to the ground. It coerced her to drop the weapon.

The creature started to smashing the she-warframer, leaving deep scratches on her armor. And before the beast could able to do any significant damage, the female UNSC operative managed to turn the Xenomorph into a lump of ice for a couple of seconds. The rate of temperature her warframe generates is faster than it would be from any device. Surprisingly, the corridors of the Pods are continually cooled, that's why Ori didn't have any issues with water condensing. Being done with the abomination, Ori has got on her feet. Then she grabbed the rifle dropped a moment ago and fired another burst of plasma shells into the ice sculpture made of the Praetorian. That has effectively split the being in two, ending its life. Ori wanted to hope that was the only one such a strong Xenomorph because one more close contact with any of them might not finish quite well.

"Hey, team. That's Ori. How are you doing there? Bad news: aliens are running inside the Pods, and I have no idea how many exactly. A stronger version of Xenos has just attacked me. It looked like it's on steroids or something. Also, I think that Viktor might be in danger. I've read an e-mail from a terminal here, and someone wanted to split Viktor from us. I don't know why. I'll try to find it out. Stay vigilant down there. If any of the Pods security team might ask you to go one-by-one - refuse it by any means. If they don't understand it - well, kill them. Weyland's game here is over.". Ori said over her comlinks before she went to another room with a terminal along the corridor, hoping to find more intel about Viktor's mission. And at this time, she didn't know that she would bump into Lithian soon enough. Her battle with the alien is probably seen in the surveillance system. So either she will meet with the Gargoyle or Pods' guards may try to get her. But she doesn't care now anymore.
*** Prince ***

They thought they could escape from the Prince. They were wrong, dead wrong! Upon a recover from a failed attack on the rescue UNSC team, the Prince patiently waited when everyone will go. Then the Predator examined remained buildings in the POC and found another APC. The Yautja has spent some time trying to turn it on, but the efforts he put are rewarded. The vehicle he obtained is fully operational. It wasn't the first time the Prince using a non-Yautja car, so he had almost no issues at handling it. He knew where the UNSC team has traveled, hence getting there wasn't a problem as well. The Predator went with the same route as Viktor's team. Once done, the old Yautja has left the vehicle in five hundred meters from the Pods, the rest of the distance he covered on his feet.

The tactic he took this time was the same. But it wasn't true about the weapon. Being cloaked, the Prince climbed on a huge climb. From the top, he saw the same APC on which he arrived. The Yautja wasn't sure if there someone inside. So the Predator had used his thermal vision, that revealed the future prey. By considering the range between his victims, the choice is obvious. The Prince continued with fishing out his Remote Bomb and throwing it on the ground, right in front of the vehicle. He plans to detonate the bomb once someone exits from the car.

[Alessia Starfurr]

The Apc jolted to the side a bit ,causing the Red vixen to fall off the edge of her seat and onto the floor, grumbling with her face in the floor she began to speak "WHAT WAS THAT?" She growled ,getting to her feet..."Can somebody give me a report?" She said almost through her teeth, something had her very grumpy...

[Sohdakin]

Sohdakin had to disagree with Valentine, despite the fact they did not seem to get good enough intel he knew they were not exactly expendable.  "No, Viktor paid too much to have us join this operation.  Had he wanted more...expendable fighters the would have paid less....a lot less." he hummed as he did agree with her other remark "Mmmmmm, yes.  I do not trust these 'refugees', they are hiding something....what it is, I do not know" he said and when he used the term refugee, he made air quotes when mentioning them. 

When Val's power began to spike, Sohdakin looked to her with curiosity as he wondered if she was doing that on purpose or if there was something else going on "Are you ok? I am noticing a field developing near you Val" he said, taking a step back just in case.  Sohdakin stepped back and glanced at a monitor, pausing when he noticed something peculiar.  Another APC was approaching from the POC, its IFF beacon showing on the sensor grid.  Just as he was about to check on the APC's IFF signal, Ori's message suddenly arrived.

"Where in the breath have you been?" he said as he was still slightly irritated but most of his anger had dissipated so he kept his voice as calm as he could. "I doubt they would be foolish to start something with us. They will regret crossing us Ori." he chuckled and looked back at the monitor and noticed that the other APC had stopped half a click from their position.  He felt the scales on his neck raise "Something is up, Val check the perimeter.  I don't want to....." he stopped when a glint of light on one of the camera's caught his attention. 

"DRIVE! NOW! GO!" he roared to the driver.  Their APC began to move but it was already too late as the remote bomb detonated. The blast lifted the rear of the APC in a violent explosion. Anyone not strapped to a seat was suddenly tossed into the air.  While the blast was enough to lift the APC from its wheels momentarily, it was not enough to flip the armored carrier.  "Val! Light them up!" he growled and looked to Krystel as he picked himself up and back onto his feet.  "That was a bomb Spartan! Guess they changed their mind about being hospitable."

The side exit to the APC suddenly opened up as an armored leviathan stepped out and began to fire on the guards that he thought had initiated the attack. However, after a short burst of his heavy pulse rifle did he notice that the guards were already dead.  "What the....."

[Weaver]

Lithian completely missed that he opened his comms to the entire team, rather than just Minthe. This was perhaps for the best, as he overheard was Ori had to say, which quickly explained the gunfire. What it didn't explain was the massive explosion. Of course, the security team was scrambling to defend the base and investigate what happened.

"Hold up, HOLD UP!" Lithian yelled into his headset, "those are some pretty bold claims! But..." Lithian hesitated, then dropped his voice, "I... you already heard what I tried saying just to Minthe. Look... I know we don't like each other, but this is getting sketchy. Obviously I have the most freedom to move around the base. I can get into areas you can't. Keep that in mind, will you? I'm heading to where I heard gunfire."

He wasn't comfortable with what he had said, but... new discoveries were changing Lithian's perspective on things. He still didn't like the team, but he was growing to hate Weyland more. Thoughts ran through his head. All of this was simultaneously making no sense and adding up. Why call a mercenary team a week after the incident rather than call in more staff? Why leave the exterior areas to fend for themselves? Why were aliens still inside the pods when they should have been purged? It was almost as if this place was designed to fail, and maybe that was intentional.

"Do you think they deliberately left us out here to die just to lure you guys here?"

Then, Lithian came across Ori. He wasn't sure whether he should wave, or just stare.

[Rayleonarde]

Driver bolts clunked into position as Valentine thumbed priming switches, the twin barrels of the fifty-caliber rotary cannon spinning up. As the gun reached its low-speed RPM, Valentine mashed the kill switch. Round after round of red-hot death streaked across no man’s land, slamming into the facility’s external frame, shearing free paint and starting small fires. The Mongdrigan swept the gun across the facade, splitting sandbags to ribbons, smashing equipment and pulping the already dead guards. The gun traversed across its entire axis, stopping at a 90 degree angle from the APC’s front. Valentine then swept across the opposite direction, perforating more defense and equipment. The stream of lead only stopped once the turret rings clunked against its limiter.
Unfortunately, Valentine had neglected to don ear protectors. Her ears were filled with a high ringing, and she stumbled from the turret controls, looking around for her comrades.

[Romulan_Furry]

*** Pods Lab Area ***

Viktor crawled through the vents and ductwork, looking for an empty place to drop out. "Hnnh... now I know what a TV Dinner feels like..." he grunted quietly. He came to a hatch, opened it, and saw a massive shaft, the kind the Pods used to house their elevators and walkways.An elevator stopped just above him, but the undercarriage stopped right in front of him. Perfect.

"Pair off and search by twos - I want this b*****d found!" barked someone on the elevator. Viktor was quick to get on the undercarriage. It was then that alarm klaxons sounded.

*** Pods Dorm Areas ***

"Excuse me, madame?" came that red-haired mercenary Lieutenant, Ivan. "Are you Ori? Second-in-Command of that crew that recently arrived here?" The human approached her, seeming not to notice the dead Praetorian.

[XIII]

*** Pods Dorm Areas ***

"Not anymore, bud. I'm here already.". Ori answered on Lithian's speech, though for the Gargoyle, it should be self-evident that she was inside the Pods already. Despite all the things that happened in the POC, the Orokin was glad that he's alive. More witnesses against Weyland, and hopefully, this facility will be the last straw to declare or take from the corporation up to every single credit. Or simply make it illegal across all the space under the UNSC's control. The fewer people involved in dirty, cruel jobs of the corporation, the more will it save lives. It's the bright future for this part of the Galactic Society, isn't it great? Without an error named Weyland.

Then it was a moment when the UNSC operative almost ran into Ivan. The way he spoke and his absolute indifference by seeing the dead Xenomorph (not a typical specimen), made Ori suspicious toward the Lieutenant. He's either is fearless (a mandatory trait for every security guard here) and used to see aliens. Or the man has known something that Ori doesn't. Luckily for him, the female operative was in a rush and couldn't forecast such a plot. That's why she decided to answer politely, even though she never liked humans, let alone a staff of Weyland facilities. Just because humans are the dominant race in the Galactic Society (from her perspective).

"Yes, I am. Something wrong? Aside from Xenomorphs running in the Pods.". The lady asked in return. Like an answer to her question, an explosion, and sounds of a firefight Ori heard outside of the Pods. Then she felt like a spiritual connection with Viktor dropped significantly. That means he is far away or about to die. All those factors, combined, made the woman extremely tensed for the first time. She was about to opt for the way of destruction, not overthinking about this place. It needs to be destroyed regardless. And may the Force save Ivan's soul if he brought bad news. The Orokin patience is close to it's ending.
*** Prince ***

The Yautja was satisfied with his actions. They have warmed him up pretty well. Even though the victims were still alive, Prince could felt the taste of the hunt. And what he will do with them upon their slaught. As such, the Predator has produced a roar to fright the prey even more. Oh yeah, they must fear him. Even the bullets released by the APC didn't stop Prince's desire to continue his dark affair. On the contrary, he waited behind a rock until APC gets flipped. Afterward, he rushed more closely to the Pods, chasing the rescue team. And once the distance between him and the UNSC' group was optimal for the Plasmacaster, Yautja has fired two plasma bolts into Sohdakin and quickly retired. Sure thing, being cloaked.

[Alessia Starfurr]

"WHAT  THE HELL IS GOING ON OUT THERE!?" Krystel almost roared. "Where the Hell is Ori or Vicktor I'm tried of wating, DRIVER, GET US out of the open!" Krystal demanded really tired of staying in the APC ,but she knew that if something hit them it wouldn't just be shooting at them and she had a really bad feeling.

[Sohdakin]

There was no sound better to the Rohkah's ears than the sound of a high caliber weapon roaring out fire.  What was left of the guards turned into pulp as the ground around them was chewed up by the explosive rounds of the APC. It was a testament to the sheer power that such a weapon could bring. 

While Valentine was firing the turret mounted weapon, Sohdakin scanned the area as something was off.  No guard would be stupid enough to blow themselves up, no....something else was amiss.  "Frak!.....Spartan we got trou..." he was cut off when a warning flashed on Sohdakin's hud moments before the first plasma bolt hit the large dragon and his shields flared up.  He was able to deflect the second shot as he raised a wing and used his shield to angle the shot so he didn't take the full brunt of the second shot.  Red warning messages flashed in his hud, alerting him that his shields were almost depleted and he may not withstand another shot, even if he tried to deflect it.

With a grunt, Sohdakin moved around the APC to get out of the Prince's line of fire or at least the last known position as K2 was able to triangulate where the shot came from.  "We have contact, grid alpha one one three, looks like its our mystery guest!" he roared into the com channel and waited for his shields begin its recharging cycle before he peeked from behind the APC and opened up with his heavy pulse rifle.  With the APC damaged and the nearest cover a few hundred meters away, they were sitting ducks if they couldn't locate their mystery guest.  Slowly the Rohkah worked his way around the back of the APC till he got to the rear hatch and opened it "APC is shot, we need to get to better cover, maybe even inside" he said as he closed the doors to the APC to reload and re-attach his kit. Knowing that their new guest had a plasma gun of some sort Sohdakin grabbed a hand-held shield to provide some extra cover and hopefully it would be enough for them to reach the safety of the pods.

[Weaver]

Lithian made his way towards Ori. What he saw looked like quite the fight, considering the... scene. He could feel his nerves being strung up again, seeing the corpse, and the nonchalant Ivan who seemed to be ignoring the mess. There was also still the pressing issue of what sounded like a vehicle being blown asunder, along with the comm chatter that painted the situation is a dire light.

"Hey, I know I'm barging in and all, but I can't help but notice that we have an emergency. Someone is attacking the gate, and there are obviously aliens running about, and for some odd reason, everything is being targeted at our only rescuers, and nobody is helping them. How the heck did you guys survive for a week and yet not have everything on lockdown!? Even in the outer areas we at least kept the turrets up until they ran dry," Lithian didn't draw breath. He was still fuming, "you had all of these supplies, and couldn't be bothered to help anyone but yourself? Then for some reason as soon as backup arrives everything begins to breach and fall apart. Do you know how sketchy all this is? What is Weyland going to think when someone has to file a report for this disaster?"

There was more he wanted to say, but some of those things would reveal that Lithian had information that he shouldn't be privy to.

[Rayleonarde]

The turret, despite all of Valentine’s struggling, would not traverse to Sohda’s indicated position. She roared in frustration, which didn’t help her head. The electromagnetic radiation increased, exponentially so. Valentine raised a paw to lift the turret lid, but an arc of lightning burst through the steel like wet tissue. Slag steel sprayed out over the APC, and the purple raccoon pulled herself from the turret. Energy crackled around her, a veritable tempest of forced empathy. As distant as they were, both Sohda and Krystel would feel something like a migraine begin to form, a fraction of a fraction of what Valentine felt. But the focus of her pain was, for the moment, the Hunter. He had caused enough problems for one day, Valentine felt. She scanned the rock formations, reaching out for the Yaut’ja. She would find him, if given time. Not by seeing him, but by seeing where he would be in the future. An arc of lightning, pain made physical, lanced out, nearly striking the Hunter. Valentine yelled incoherently, as she left off the Hunter for the research station. Another bolt lanced forth, scoring the walls and reducing the doors to molten slag. All the while, Valentine’s nose and lips were stained crimson, an indication of her efforts.
Her pain was immense, and so to would be all those around her. She had reached critical mass, a self destructive level of energy. If not stopped, or rendered unconscious, she would rend her very soul from her body, taking most life around with her. 

[Romulan_Furry]

*** Pods Dorm Area ***

"I'm sorry, sir," Ivan apologized, "But we're fighting a lot of fires here - we got the bugs breathing down our necks, ghost readings at the perimeter, several archeological teams in the field cut off from support, and now a convict running loose somewhere in the pods..." Ivan looked to Ori. "... which is why I was ordered to find you. Madame, I am terribly sorry to tell you, but your husband was killed by the aforementioned convict. I'm not sure what he was doing in the Implantation Labs, but there was an incident - a convict laborer got rowdy, and managed to wrench a plasma flamer away from a guard, and turned it on Viktor - and inadvertently set off his ammo pouch. I don't think he felt it, given how one bullet went through his head. We have another of our Lieutenants, Dunya, tracking this convict. She will update you when she has him."

It was then that another made himself known. "Is... my god, is that a Praetorian?!" Eisenberg gasped. "The pods are going to hell in a hand basket, fast!" Eisenberg took a moment to compose himself. "I'm sorry... look, we just made contact with one of our critical Archeology teams, and while they're safe, they have no way to get out of the Xenomorph Hive they're trapped in. I was hoping to enlist your team's aid. Where is your commander?"

"He's dead, Doctor," Ivan reported. "Which I think makes Ori, here, the new Commander."

"Oh," Eisenberg sighed, seeming genuinely sympathetic. "I'm sorry. Well, take some time to process that, and when you're ready, I need you and your team to muster in the briefing room. With your help, we might be able to get the archeology team to safety."

*** Elsewhere in the Pods ***

Viktor managed to escape the elevator shaft, and wound up in another lab area - one that, thankfully, wasn't studying Xenomorphs. He needed to find his gear, then link back up with his team. They needed to be warned. Along the way, however, Viktor needed to get some evidence of what transpired here. He managed to hack a few computer terminals, and got a lot of chatter, but little else. One of those terminals, however, had a clue to Rykov. Viktor read an email chat between two people about how Rykov had been on Korari, years ago - fighting an "Ice Wolf". The incident described brought back a memory of how they fought, and how he cast Rykov into a dark canyon. Viktor never saw him again. Never thought that incident would come back and bite him. So that's what this is all about, Viktor thought. It's a vendetta. I've got to warn Ori. But I need my gear, first... Viktor got out of the room the computer terminal was in, and trekked to the Crew Quarters...

[XIII]

*** Pods Dorm Areas ***

Ori wasn't too much surprised when Lithian has shown himself. And his arguing was entirely fair and reasonable. The only difference is that this facility won't be reported - it will be wiped out. Once the issue with Xenomorphs will be handled, and survivors are extracted, the nuke will happen. But as always, the female Orokin was calm. And thanks to her helmet, it was impossible to say if she had any facial expressions at all. Ivan's news did not affect her mind, as well. Viktor is tough as a nail, and there no chance that the Ice Wolf can lose a fight against some convict. Unless it's someone like Aldukaal, all other threats are like annoying insects. After all, Ori could sense her beloved wolf's heartbeat across the distance. So that means he didn't kick the bucket, and Ivan was trying to cheat on her. But why? Perhaps there is a connection between the email she read and what he has just heard. To get more details on that, the galaxy-skinned one decided to behave as she believes to the soldier's words. As Ori would say, he may continue to speak heresy as long as he wants. But she will get the truth. The girl needs a little more time.

"It's terrible news, indeed. And in case of Viktor's absence, I'm taking the leadership of the team. We will do what you want if that helps to find Viktor. I'll go to meet the team at Pod's entrance and then lead them to the room. Wait for us there.". Ori said and went to where she told Eisenberg and Lithian in her speech. It needs to be done. Chances are Viktor is alive and kicking. But searching for him in the Pods alone was a dangerous and doubtful affair. So this time, Orokin needs to rely on the team once again. That's why she resolved to contact them over the comlink channel. "Team, this is Ori. Rendezvous to the Pod's entrance. Viktor is dead, and Eisenberg wants us to meet in the briefing room. Frankly, it sounds like a trap for me, but we have no other options. Ori's out.".
*** Prince ***

Before the Prince shot again with his Plasmacaster, he was struck by Valentine's lightning. It has saved the team from a calamity. The plasma shot flight above the APC and hit the rocks above. However, the shot has damaged the integrity of a rock mass. And one of them was about to fell on the team. Considering the distance between two objects, no one would survive its crash. The Hunter himself, being electrocuted, has lost the balance moving amidst the rocks. Afterward, he fell, hitting his head over a boulder. Even his thick skull didn't help him as the Prince got knocked out for an unspecified amount of time. That gives the rescue team a time window to move into Pods. With a rock near-to-fall above their heads, it was more than a good reason to get inside the facility.

[Alessia Starfurr]

Krystel could sense Valentine about to explode and did her best to attempt a sort of Vulcan neck pinch to painlessly and quickly bring her unconscious, then closed her eyes to think... "Ori I need Lithian to meet me at the computer hub later, i will not be at the meeting, if they ask tell them I was KIA or something to keep them off me. I'm gonna be doing some covert  operations... Be Safe, something stinks here."