Cyberpunk III: 2856A.D. MARS

Alpha

"Any luck with the comm? Are we still gummed up?"

Angel holstered the plasma pistol and unfastened the pocket that held the TeamComm, slipping it out.

She tried audio first and was rewarded with the same crackling static that had filled their earpieces.

Shaking her head slightly she switched to visual mode and was rewarded with a soft greenish blue glow from the screen as Jack came up beside her. An icon flashed as the unit searched for a signal but came up with nothing.

Angel shook her head and stowed the unit carefully away again.

"I'll keep checking." she blew out a breath, "what do you think happened to Nero?"

As she asked the question the corridor began to shake. They pressed up against the wall as a few pieces of rock crashed down from the ceiling and sent up sprays of water. She was seriously beginning to worry about a cave-in when the shaking stopped.

"I'd rather be at the beach," Angel told Jack seriously.

 

“well f*** me,” I manage between coughs. The elevator is still going and for several moments I’m in a state of panic trying to figure out if I still have all my body parts. I reload while I’m in the elevator and when it dings I’m on my feet even though I hurt all over.

“Welcome to hell,” I mutter as I poke the muzzle of my gun out of the elevator door. This level looks worse then the last. I’m almost reminded of one of those video games where as you progress through the levels the obstacles get tougher and the bosses are big asses. I hope Flint survived the grenade, whoever threw that inside was out of there minds. If the structure was to weak we would have been dealing with a cave in.

 

The ground beneath them shook, stirring up the water and throwing them slightly off balance. Jack stumbled into the wall, and Angel stumbled into him. He gripped her by the shoulders, steadying her as they waited for the quake to pass.

He smiled, releasing her.

"Makes two of us." He looked her over again. Yes, cohabitating on a beach with Angel was a delightful idea indeed...

With an effort, he shook the thought free, looking around. The cave still seemed relatively stable.

"As to where the Sergeant got to, I'm coming up empty. One thing's for sure, though: this place is definitely bogus. There's no real reason for this hallway to be here, unless its to have the sentry guns kill unsuspecting passers-by." He resumed walking.

"At least, no reason I can see." The hallway widened, and the water became steadily shallower as the incline rose. Eventually, the corridor terminated completely, opening up into a large antechamber with a hole in the roof. And on the ground, directly below the hole was Sergeant Castillene.

The fall had knocked him unconscious. Jack turned him slowly onto his back and began to examine him, checking for breaks or fractures. Thankfully, he had tucked in and gone limp, and the only real damage sustained beside some bad bruising was a rap on the skull.

Jack gave him a bit of stim juice to help with the recovery. He then stood and looked around the room. There were several passages branching off this room.

"Probably best to wait until the commanding officer's in cognitive condition to continue their spelunking expedition."

 

Alpha

Angel almost darted forward when she saw Nero lying there before caution took over. She stepped to the side instead sweeping the room with her light, plasma pistol in hand. At the other side of the entrance they had just passed through she knew Karasu was doing likewise. The beams of their lights crossed now and again as they turned their heads to scan the area.

"Probably best to wait until the commanding officer's in cognitive condition to continue their spelunking expedition."

"So he's not so cognitive right now." Angel said, checking each passageway unhappily, "I don't like this. Anything could come at us from any of these passages."

Leaving Karasu to security detail, Angel slipped the Comm unit from her pocket and tried it again. Static. Bluegreen screen. Sweep. She waited impatiently, her eyes darting to the passageways.

The Comm flashed a weak ready signal and informed her of a message. She retrieved it quickly, knowing that the signal could vanish at any minute.

"We have something."

"Attn: Communications Specialist of Team Alpha and Beta, this is Communications Specialist Private Oscar Dumont of the Charley Team seeking to validate your situation and progress, please respond at first possible chance"

Angel read it quickly and swiftly tried to reply but the signal was gone. She sighed.

"Well Hot Dog is ok, anyway," she commented with a small grimace and switched the Comm over to Mapping.

After a few false tries she got it to map the immediate area and worked at finding where the tunnels went.

 

Karasu scanned the area and looked at the other two. He kept an ear out and he was still on guard. He had noticed before that creep feeling as if something was following them or that they were being watched.
"I noticed before that feeling of being followed or watched," Karasu said.
Karasu watched as Jack with the commanding officer. The feeling was gone for now, but it was still nerving to know.
"We are in their territory and we have a big disadvantage," Karasu whispered to himself remember something a captain a long time ago.
"How long will it take for him to gain conscious?" Karasu asked.

 

Adam walked across a bridge placed at the centre of a large man made crater that must have been 12 miles deep and twelve miles high. He held a data card looking up at the rows upon rows from the base to the top filled with Millions of tubes all housing soldiers. Though they were yet to be completed they were nearly ready. And Mr Sekki had personally seen to it that the Cult of Tech had made these soldiers ready. Adam crossed the bridge and looked through the moist glass at the first soldier. His legs were still missing and his chest was yet to be sealed but Adam was pleased to see the soldiers new organs were working. His arms still bare of flesh were whole on the bionics. The soldiers face may have been shadowed out but Adam could still see the glowing yellow eyes.

“Adam are they near perfection.” Asked a deep sinister yet monotone voice which appeared to be echoing all around the large crate built into the ground.

“Yes Master Sekki.” Adam replied while passing one of the half flesh and half bionic adepts.

++++++​

Mr Sekki was nothing more than a skeleton covered by large cables and small wires running through his ribs and cracked half flesh skull. What flesh covered him was all rotten and decaying. Mr Sekki was held in a strange half cut sarcophagus standing upright and held from touching the ground. Grotesque looking adepts worked around him keeping an eye on monitors and other strange devices. A tall hooded figure stood at Mr Sekki’s side the man had no face that could be seen and from the opening in his black cloak his bionic arm had attached itself to his chest through small red and blue wires.

“I count 11 soldiers readings in the Eastern part of the underground below New England city dome. It also appears one of the shuttles have passed by our defences. I sense its our plant returning to us. I have already despatched a unit to retrieve her.” The Lord Ominsaar said in a mechanical voice.

“We can evolve her as soon as she is returned then.” Replied Mr. Sekki in a similar tone and still without emotion to his voice.

A hooded figure attired in a black cloak and hood entered the dark chamber his eyes ever glowing all the more brighter whilst stood in the shadows.

“It is time for your upgrade.” Said the Lord Omnisaar.

The warrior bowed his head letting the cobras head shaped sword hilt appear from the cloak at the waist.

 

From everyone’s location apart from Midori and Flint 12 soldiers attired in black white and red camouflage uniforms armed with laser guns attack. the soldiers are well trained and have body armour.

 

Bull walked a security route while they held their position. He wasn't sure why they had stopped, but he wasn't calling the shots. He spat some more and stopped. He heard some shuffling down the alley, and then shots rang out in his direction. He fled back to the squad and took up position in the alley across from them.

"Twelve bogies incoming!" he shouted to the lieutenant. He turned and shot a grenade from the mounted launcher at the squad coming at them, reloaded, and then returned fire.

 

The grenade takes out the first few attackers, and Ash begins shooting them with her rifle, as they come into the narrow alley. "Damn, I was hoping to be able to stay hidden until Hot Dog could bring up a map of the city. Everyone, keep firing and slowly fall back." Ash looks around and sees a hover that the machines probably use to transport materials. "Hot Dog, hack that hover platform and get us out of here, and take us someplace that isn't crawling with enemies."

 

Suddenly Alpha squad found themselves surround from all sides by large well armoured soldiers all carrying weapons that aimed a laser dot sight were ever the barrel pointed. With them a larger well armoured warrior strode through Picking Angel from her feet and throwing her across the chamber. His armour was black with a red chest plate. He wore long hair and snarled as he watched Angel land on her back. In his left hand held firmly he began to swing his large chainsword the rotors running with a whirring howl. he looked on Nero and swiped him catching the Sergeants leg in a cut spraying blood across the ground.

The warrior Skraal Howled raising both hands up and charged head butting Nero in the chest. Nero stumbled winded and badly bruised.
Again he swiped the Sergeant with the butt of his sword.

"DIE!" he bellowed loudly.

Karasu and Jack tried to engage the armoured warrior but he swiped them with his chainsword cutting into Karasu’s shoulder blood spraying across his face. Skraal stopped and licked the blood.

“Death tastes beautiful.” He sniggered shooting Jack through the leg. He turned to the soldiers surrounding Alpha squad.

“Kill them all.” He said walking away as though they’d bored him.

He was gone a minute later.

The soldiers closed in on Alpha squad ready to kill then they fired.

 

The squad of tech soldiers rush the alley way holding the rest of the squad, splitting Bull from them. "S***," he say. "Come on mutherf***ers, over here!"

He wanted to shoot, but was worried about a stray catching on of his squad mates. Bull took cover behind a large dumpster. He slung his rifle, took his shotgun form the holster, and prepared for close contact as a few began making their way towards him.

 

Ash slowly walks backwards, firing with the precision one would expect from a sniper. "Hey Bull, try to hold your position! We'll come over and get you, as soon as we get the hover to start working. Good luck, and don't die." Bang, and another adept goes down.

 

Charlie Squad

"Good luck, and don't die."

"Pfft, real f***ing encouraging," Bull muttered, firing off his shotgun. He fired three more times, and abandoned his cover for the fire escape ladder to the roof. Shots peppered around him, grazing his heavy armor. He finally made it to the roof. He unslung his rifle and began taking topshots at the enemy squad below.

 

Alpha

“Goose bumps, Karasu?” Angel asked him quietly, “Yeah, I think-”

She cut off instantly, raising a hand for silence while she turned off her small visor light. Jake and Karasu were already doing the same.

Somewhere in the darkness she had heard a scurrying sound associated not with rats but with a booted foot moving stealthily. The three team members stood crouched back-to-back around Nero, weapons up and scanning the blackness that surrounded them.

The sound came again and Angel crouched lower, making a smaller lower target of herself, easier to miss.

At least that was the theory.

She almost wanted the attack to come. Being stalked drew her nerves tight.

The darkness exploded in activity and light. Suddenly there were soldiers everywhere. Angel found herself face-to-face with a huge black-armored long-haired brute who lifted her effortlessly by a handful of uniform gathered at the throat before throwing her contemptuously across the chamber.

She landed on solid rock on her back with a grunt of pain. They were everywhere in blurs of black, white, and red, vicious soldiers. Stunned, Angel struggled to turn her head at a loud sound and saw the chainsword slice into Nero’s leg, saw it bite into Karasu's shoulder.

"No!" Angel was frightened but she was also trained, armed, and pissed off.

Angel struggled to get to her plasma pistol. Remaining on the ground she began to fire upwards at the soldiers. They made looming targets, difficult to miss and she fired into one red and black body after another, exploding a few heads, screaming her defiance and rolling to make an impossible target when the others began to turn toward her.

 

ZOMFG! We are getting shot at! Life for real! Crap! Crap! Crap!

I slap the DeathBringer to my wrist and plug the data card into the lift, watch the lights zing by and see the platform come to life at my command.

I am the H4X0r! The whole system is an interwoven network, there is a code to crack here and if.. Bah! When! I crak this lametastic crap I'll rulz this place!

I open one of the flow vents and dump about another five hundred gallons of old man crap on the troopers coming at us.

"1 M 9OD!"*

I feel the urge to tell my team of my peerless powers of ownage.

The connection to the main ship is starting to get tizzy the deeper we go. I am gonna need Moar P0w3R

*(Translated) I have succeeded because I am very skilled.

 

It takes all Ash has not to go ahead and push him off. A couple shots hit the platform, but it seems to be made of pretty sturdy stuff. "Alright, just fly us over to Bull over there, so we can pick him up. After that, find a route to the gate. The sooner we get this overwith, the sooner we can leave this hell hole."

.......and the sooner we can get away from this "ubertastic" nerd.....

 

Bull almost threw up as the raw sewage poured into the alleyways. He shouldered his rifle for fear that the explosive rounds his rifle fired off would set off a methane explosion. Things just keep getting worse, he thought. Then he saw the hover lift light up and shook his head vehemently. After crash landing away from the drop zone, there's no way I'm hopping back into a flying vehicle.

 

As the platform touches the side of the biulding, Ash can see that Bull is reluctant to get on. "Bull, I'm not going to leave you for dead in some s*** infested back alley. Get on this platform, and that's an order. Or the three of us will drag on onto the it." Ash looks down to see that the adepts seem to be pretty upset and are starting to climb the building.

 

Alpha

It happened in a flash or a quick second as Karasu liked to think. There were soldiers all over the cavern and Angel had been thrown across the cavern. She was quickly firing at the bastards. Karasu did the same, he began to shoot the monsters and making himself an impossible target, even though his shoulder burned it didn't matter to him.
What mattered was their survival.

 

The hover lift was taking on heavy fire, and would soon be inoperable. When it became clear that his squad wasn't going to help speed up his plan to escape the roof and lay down any cover fire, Bull shook his head and took matters into his own hands. Rolling out from cover he launched another grenade at the enemies already on the roof, killing some and stunning the rest. He continued to fire until he had to leap and pull himself up on the ramp.

Bull eyed his lieutenant. "Next time I'd like some cover fire with that order," he said and spat a brown wad of spit next to her foot.

 

Alpha Squad

Jack felt the bullet tear through his leg and emerge on the other side. He fell, but the pain wasn't enough to take down his senses completely. As he went down he whipped his pistol up and sent several rounds through the air.

The bullet had penetrated his thigh and had gone straight through. It hurt like fire, but the adrenaline coursing through him wouldn't allow him to be still. He tucked in and rolled, then came up in limping half-run. He dove behind an outcropping of rocks and began to fire. One soldier came charging towards him, and Jack worked the trigger, putting a round each in his stomach, chest and head. He shifted aim to where Angel was surrounded, firing desperately at the figures who loomed over her. His pistol rang in his ears as it launched round after plasma-tipped round.

Movement. On his right. React now. His arm came up and batted aside a gun. He rose to his feet and stumbled slightly, pain shooting up and down his leg. The red-garbed soldier drew a knife and moved in. Jack was wounded, and to all appearances, not an up-close fighter. He'd have one chance to get a surprise in. The soldier stabbed downwards at him, and Jack caught his wrist and bent it down. With his right, he came up in an open-handed punch that took the soldier in the chin. His head snapped back and Jack felt him relax as he fell back onto the rough ground. His neck was shattered.

The pain returned, and Jack fell back into a kneeling position, picked up his pistol and began firing again.

 

Alpha

Angel’s plasma blasts brought down a few soldiers and several more fell around her as Jack and Karasu shot them. Not all of the red and black soldiers who fell were dead and they began scrambling to get up or to attack her.

She dropped the plasma pistol and grabbed one of the red soldier’s guns from his dying hands. Another soldier grabbed her and began to choke her. She clubbed him in the head twice with the butt of the gun until he fell away.

Retching, she switched it on full auto, killing the soldiers that surrounded her as she scooted behind one bulky soldier’s recumbent body for cover. He had no face.

Swallowing hard she poked her head and shoulders up just enough and began firing at the remaining soldiers in controlled bursts.

 

Alpha

Karasu was still shooting the enemies, switching his guns in opposite directions. He was walking back slowly to gain some ground and to gain some cover. He gain some cover behind a small rock and continued his shower of rounds.
One of his guns made a click sound, and the trigger got stuck. The other gun was running out of rounds.
"Tsk," he said.
He slammed the gun that was stuck on the rock and it unstuck. The other gun was running of rounds kick, but for some reasons even when you thought these guys were dead, they weren't.
"Like on steroids," he said.

 

Alpha

He couldn't feel anything.

For the two minutes that he attempted to regain his consciousness and got to his feet, he had already been bashed almost back into sleep, staring at the blurry red that covered what should've been his leg. It sounded to him as if he was underwater, all the sounds of bullets, screaming and squad commands from both sides, all were almost completely drowned out.

He had not the slightest idea of what was happening, first he was trying to listen closely to creaks and then he was falling. Now he was here, slumped up against a wall, helpless and numb.

The last thing he had heard was the vicious roar of what seemed like a demon. Commanding him to die.

His vision began to shake violently, mirages and blurs all combining into red and black armored soldiers. His hearing caught the sounds of his teammates, howling in defiance of their enemy. Nero Castillene's eyes narrowed, and he stood.

The soldier clad in heavy red camo armor fired at the stubborn humans. Turning to his fellow teammate to cover him, he was only able to witness as his comrade's neck was slit wide, gushing lifeblood. The killer turned his head, and for a moment he held his gaze. He lifted his gun to fire, and the figure dashed towards him, zig-zagging at an unbelievable speed.

The bullets chewed up the ground around Nero, he had closed the distance. The soldier pulled out a knife when Castillene was within arms reach. The soldier lashed out with a horizontal swipe, but his hand was stopped half way. Nero gripped the enemies wrist and then spun, snapping the arm out of place. The soldier squealed as the human rammed his knee into his spine, ending his life.

Three other enemies turned their attention to him, Nero was in a frenzy. Enraged with the fact that when his squad needed him the most, he was soundly asleep as they fought for their lives. The three soldiers that had opened fire on him were about to witness the shortest ten seconds of their life.

Nero blocked the first enemies punch, sending it in another direction with his palm. With ungodly reflexes, he was behind the stunned trooper. Wrapping both hands around the target, one hand firmly on its visor, and another on the back of his head. He pulled his hands away, a sickening snap resounded and even as the body fell Nero had pulled a knife from it's sheath. Hurling it, it speeded end over end and missed the enemy. It stuck hard against the wall behind the soldiers. They laughed as they cocked their weapons and aimed at him.

Castillene turned his head to one side, a dark smile creeping onto his face. The gravi-stick activated, and the knife shook even though wedged in the rocky wall. Then it ripped free and the point of the knife spun around, jamming itself in the heart of the laughing soldier. Before the last one had time to inhale, Nero had a rifle barrel in his face.

The soldier looked at his hands, it was his own gun. Pulling the trigger, Nero unleashed a torrent of bullets into the troopers face. The shrapnel riddled its body, keeping it dancing in the air for a few seconds before it fell into a disfigured heap.

The gun clicked numerous times, indicating that it had run out of ammo for a while now. Nero threw the gun aside. He had not used a single shot from his own silenced weapons, still attached to his body glove, yet decimated the enemy assault. The few enemy survivors didn't retreat, as if they were only programmed to kill or die. Karasu, Cyrus and Angel made sure that the latter option was chosen.

 

Alpha Squad

Jack was on his fifth clip. And he had precious little to show for it. These things were insane. Unless care was taken to either completely cripple or shred them in some way, they'd keep fighting. Karasu called it right; it was like they had something in them to make them go on fighting despite pain.

Bigger. He needed something bigger. With an incredible effort, he kept crouched as he moved from his cover to the body of a dead soldier, firing quickly at the ones that yet lived. With his left, he reached down and grabbed the dead thing's rifle. He stumbled as he tried to make it back to cover, and one of the super-soldiers ran toward him. Jack dropped the pistol, brought the rifle around and let loose. The spray of shots shattered the soldier's chest and it fell forward.

Back under cover, he tried to get used to the larger gun. He had always grokked* pistols. He was a quick learner, though, and was soon firing short, controlled bursts.

It still wasn't enough. They needed heavier artillery. An emplaced heavy gun, or grenades.......

Grenades!

"Karasu! You grok* grenades?"

[*grok: To understand. Connotes intimate and exhaustive knowledge. When you claim to ‘grok’ some knowledge or technique, you are asserting that you have not merely learned it in a detached instrumental way but that it has become part of you, part of your identity.]