Turn 3: Angel Down

[Cartwright]

"I - I am fine... listen, get me out of here. I can't stand be around what is left of my former associates." The scientist said, "I am Doctor Nordstrom, by the way. Union Aerospace Corporation executive member."

The man looked worried, but something was off about him. He had definitely been something he was not supposed to. This was not surprising to Shadow, rumors were that the UAC always worked "outside the law" when outside the legal boundaries of the human government. They may have taken their experiments too far, however.

[Shadow]

"Alright.. You make any funny moves I kill you and say the strogg did it, you tell anyone I said it and I'll kill you under suspicion that you may be insane and could possibly hurt someone around you." With that he turned back to whence he came and took the lit hallway with the scientist close behind. "By the way you need me yell 'Shadow'."

[Cartwright]

"R-right. Got it. Oh... I knew we should not have captured those specimens... they only brought trouble." Nordstrom said, more to himself than anyone else.

[Cartwright]

Before the sergeant could comment on this, a Strogg Brute appeared. The Brute was an advanced version of the Soldier. It was a few inches taller do to its full body armor. The only exposed part of its body was the upperportion of its head. Its right arm was a nail gun, but had a secondary grenade launcher firing mode. This made the creature much more dangerous. It could be taken down with twenty five rounds from an assault rifle or a single shot to the upperportion of its head. This, however, took a lot more skill than perceived.

Next to it, appeared a Strogg Berserker. It grinned evilly at the two. This one was different from the others they had encountered. Its left arm looked similar to a wrecking ball with spikes protruding outward. A new model of Berserkers, obviously. It aimed its drill at the scientist and lightning protruded outward, shocking him and imobilizing him temporarily. The Berserker attacked while the Brute fired its primary weapon.

Sergeant Hayek dispatched the Berserker first, firing frantically into its body. It fell over and its body disappeared. Now, he could focus on the Brute.

<Actions>

[Shadow]

Shadow side-stepped just before the nail-gun would have torn him apart and took careful aim before the brute could fire again and landed another one of his skillful and lucky shots. "YOU CAPTURED THE STROGG!?!?" He yelled at the immobilized scientist before throwing him over his shoulder and moving on.

[Cartwright]

Nordstrom came through from his immobilization and struggled a little.

"Let me down, Gyrene!" The scientist said, then was released from the man's grasp.

He straightened out his labcoat and sighed. He would have to tell the man.

"Yes... we found some specimens... Strogg soldiers. We captured them and began experimenting on them, attempting to find a means to reverse Stroggification or perhaps, turn the Strogg against eachother. Our experiments were going fine and it seemed that our dreams had come true. We released some of the specimens out into the environment to attack a captured group of regular, unexperimented on Strogg. This proved foolish. The Strogg regrouped with eachother and somehow communicated with one of their ships. Before we could do much more... they invaded."

"The Marines held them off as long as possible, but our security forces of Marines were small. They were obliterated. That's when we sent out a distress call. Sadly... the reinforcements weren't enough. Hopefully the new reinforcements can take out the Strogg, since more intel is available, yes?" The scientist inquired, staring at the rugged face of the Marine.

((OOC: Gyrene: A nickname for Marines. Can be considered derogatory when used by anyone aside from a fellow Marine.))

[Shadow]

Shadow growled at the man, "Yeah, we can kill some strogg, for scientists though you're pretty stupid... Cound't even test it in a closed environment..." He sighed and tossed him his blasters, "Aim, pull trigger, fire and don't point it at me."

[Cartwright]

"Right... got it." The scientist said, but then, a lingering question came to mind.

"I wonder - how did the Strogg contact one of their ships? It has been proven they cannot do it without some sort of communication array and they cannot use human technology, though they are very innovative." The scientist said, tucking away the blaster.

[Shadow]

"Must've had something already on the planet..." The Sergeant mumured hoping they'd find the original team that dropped down here soon.

[Matt]

After losing the Seargent, Meyen and Dunny start to talk about a plan to get out of the tunnels and on to the surface. But while talking, the platoon hears a loud roar. Its a squad of Strogg soldiers at the end of the tunnel, charging at the platoon. The platoon opens fire cutting them into peices.

"Everyone good, no one got hit? Dunny, we need to figure out how to get the fuck out of this hellhole. They definatley now know were here and its a matter of time before they send a whole damed army of Strogg down here." Meyen said.

He knew if they didnt get out of there pretty soon, the whole platoon was dead meat. He waits for Dunn to figure out somin.

[Talietzin]

The world swayed and rocked around him as he stood to his feet. Leon checked his weapons. Everything was functioning well. He reloaded his assault rifle, and observed the chaotic battle, participating with well-aimed shots.

He followed as the marines moved forward, until suddenly the sergeant was separated from the squad by a locked door. He shook his head and kept his eyes on the corners, taking aim with his rifle at possible spots from which the Strogg could emerge. He waited for orders as usual, breathing deep to keep himself calm and his aim steady.

Just another day in the life of a Marine.

[Cartwright]

"Nightengail, check the platoon. Make sure no one is severely injuried. When finished, report back to me. Then we're moving out," Corporal Dunn said, "And Meyen, check your squad's gear. We'll need all we can get."

The corporal wanted this to go without a hitch until they linked back up with the sergeant. Time would tell what would happen. But, he only hoped they had the ability to get out of this tunnel through an alternate path. He really did.

[Cartwright]

Hayek and the newfound scientist, Nordstrom, carried on up the ascending tunnel. Finally, light could be seen from the outside. Though not bright, as it was only the planet's moon, it was still a sign of freedom from the enclosed Strogg infested prison they had stumbled into. A similar fate occured with the rest of the platoon. They had traveled around for quite sometime and discovered a tunnel ascending upwards. In hope that this was a way to the surface, they traveled up the tunnel, fighting off heavy Strogg resistance on occasion. Finally, they reached the sandy surface of the Draconis Jafaree Desert.

Nordstrom and Hayek appeared not twenty meters from the platoon's location. What luck. They regrouped and attempted making radio contact with other platoon's, many still engaged in heavy combat. The group then noticed a cloud of dust being kicked up from the west of their position. They soon saw a large convoy of GEVs and Hover Tanks. Hayek made radio contact with the Tank Commander and he ordered the convoy to halt. The Hell Hounds regrouped with the convoy and boarded the GEVs (flat bed hover trucks). The truck at the helm of the center of the enclosed formation had a fifty caliber machine gun. Corporal Dunn manned the gun and cocked it, loading a round into the chamber.

The Tank Commander ordered the convoy forward. Three tanks in front in a wing formation lead the convoy while three in back in a similar formation enclosed the GEVs in the center and protected the convoy's rear. Soon, Strogg infantry attacked. Hover Rocketeers fired guiding rockets at the tanks, whom disposed of them quickly. The situation was deteriorating, but thanks to having the extra guns and support, they could take on the Strogg. The Marines on the GEVs opened up on the Strogg infantry, the tanks taking care of the Heavy Rocketeers.

<Actions>

[Mr. Death]

Lance Corporal Elias "Nightengale" Godchild was in one of the GEVs' beds. He looked over the platoon, checking their wounds. Nothing too serious. They had lost the lieutenant, he hadn't been saveable. He cursed to himself. He should've been ready. His shotgun was fresh out, hitched to his back with the medical supplies.

After looking over his squad he peered out to the other GEVs, trying to inspect the other Hell Hounds from a range. He noticed Sergeant Hayek and an oddity he didn't expect. A scientist? The man looked displaced, obviously shook by the current take of events. Nightengale hopped out of the GEV while the convoy was occupied with the battle and made his way to Hayek's.

He grabbed ahold of the bed and lifted himself up into it. He looked at Hayek first, then at the scientist.
"One hell of a fight Sergeant" He said, nodding his head at the soldier. Though they were almost never on the best of terms, the chain of events in the past days gave him a slight respect for the man. He still thought him a bumbling ignorant Suicide Suit, but all the same, he began to respect him.
"Who's this?" He said, cocking his head at the scientist
"He's a scientist, Nordstrom" Hayek replied. Nightengale nodded and made his way over to him. He checked him out, nothing serious, just a routine field check up. He seemed fine, if onl scared shitless.
"You've been through some strong shit man" he laughed at the scientist
"You'll be okay though" He looked at Hayek and then back at Nordstrom
"I've got a feeling it's gonna get worse though" He smiled a wicked smile and winked with his one eye. Then he sat back against the bed and reloaded his blaster.

This was only the beginning of the shit storm.

[Cartwright]

((OOC: Your blaster doesn't run out of ammo. It uses a small nuclear powered core. That's why it's called a "blaster". Because it doesn't fire convential ammunition, but powered energy cells. Like lasers, to be more exact. Also, you power gamed a bit. When you asked Hayek who the scientist was, you should have continued what you were doing WITHOUT answering for Hayek. It's Nick's character and you can't control it, only the Game Master can. If the Game Master isn't around frequently, that's different. But this isn't a situation I am GMing. So, in the future, don't answer FOR other people. Thanks Just wanted to get that info out.))