Assault on City 17: Team Destroy

[acts_of_gord]

The group of Milliways patrons earmarked for the pincer movement is ushered into City 17 without much ceremony. The streets here are cobbled, the buildings grey with age; the handful of cars in the street are old, old things, worn down with time and lack of care. They have the look of machines that were abandoned where their owners fell. This was a residential part of town, once. That was before the Combine- before the black thing on the horizon existed. In the distance it rises, visible down the eastward-facing streets: a tower of such immense size that its top pierces the low-lying clouds.

"Hey," calls a human voice- a Hispanic-looking woman, young of face but old of eye and attitude. She's dressed in dark blue and black, partially bulked up by the body armor of a fallen Civil Protection metrocop, and she carries a submachine gun. "Didn't see you guys show up. Are you part of the diversionary force?"

Comments

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle looks around for a moment before the young woman gets her attention. "Yes, we're part of the diversionary force. Is there anywhere in particular that we should be headed?"

As she speaks Annabelle is keeping an eye out for Combine. Its going to be a really bad day for any Combine carrying useful equipment.

[cutting_edgex23]

X stays silent, green eyes flicking from the Milliways team to the new woman to objects in the immediate vicinity and back again.

She scents the air, as well, getting an idea of the lay of the land.

And the location of anything alive and moving in their vicinity.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan does much the same, with the added bonus of flicking the safety off his current weapon of choice (the semi-auto rifle) and putting some distance between himself and the fourth member of their group.

It is going to be a long day.

"How heavy is the fighting so far?"

[smelltheashes]

"Oh, it's pretty nasty, but nothing we haven't held up under for the past five or six days," says the woman. "We're looking to draw out three or four Striders from the perimeter around the Citadel, though, so it's gonna get ugly really quickly."

[md_donighal]

"I can do ugly," says the man Ryan stepped away from. "I can definitely do ugly."

[cutting_edgex23]

X's attention snaps to the woman.

"They will respond to the destruction of ground troops?"

Beat.

"Or there are pre-selected targets?"

[smelltheashes]

"The more soldiers you can take down, the better," the woman says. "Striders usually don't get sent out unless they've got a really good reason, like one of the Scanners picking up a whole lot of dead Overwatch, or a pitched battle with Elites."

[aeons_crackshot]

"I can take out soldiers readily enough, so long as they're human enough to die from a shot between the eyes.

[cutting_edgex23]

"I am good at killing."

Beat.

"We should go. It is better to be moving."

Stationary targets are easy to dispose of. And they are wasting time.

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle nods and checks to make sure the shotgun is ready to fire.

"Yes, let's go."

[smelltheashes]

"I like the way you think," the woman says to Annabelle with a smile. "All right, everybody. My name's Dora Marquez, and we've got us some Combine two streets up ahead. Vamanos!"

(The Combine smell like something not quite human- like men with salt water where blood ought to be, overlaid with the whiff of electronics and gunfire. And they are, indeed, very near.)

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle grins, "Lead on Ms. Marquez."

It's a bad day to be Combine. As soon as Annabelle can get a clear shot, she's aiming to hit as many Combine between the eyes as possible.
There's a reason her nickname was Crackshot.


Hopefully she'll be able to grab some body armor from the Combine as she's the least bullet resistant member of the team.

[cutting_edgex23]

It does not take X long to break ranks. She works best alone.

There is no need to compensate for teammates, then.

X goes for what 'high' ground she can find. Or make. Adamantium claws are useful for carving out foot- and hand-holds.

And after a little observation she will most likely launch herself straight down into a group of Combine soldiers. Unless there are too many. Then she will use her gun.

[smelltheashes]

High ground, not so much. City 17 is fairly flat. High buildings, on the other hand... well.

The soldiers are traveling in knots of three or four at a time. There are at least two squads headed into the tenement buildings that line the local streets, and another out in the open, escorted by a floating, beeping thing that Gordon's data sheets identified as Scanners.

Given the nature of this crowd, that's likely to change very, very soon.

[aeons_crackshot]

I was made for war.

Annabelle has missed this, the last few weeks. Weapons are her art and her calling, an art that can only really be properly performed on a battlefield.

She opens fire on the Combine with a kind of savage joy. One shot, one kill is what she's aiming for in this dance of death. She'll have to start dodging when they figure out who's firing on them, of course.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan can sympathize. He's tucked down behind cover himself, firing in three round bursts.

He's going for the Scanner first. After that, the soldiers are fair game.

[cutting_edgex23]

X, on the other hand, is going directly for the soldiers accompanied by said Scanner.

The faster the main force becomes aware of them, the faster they will send support.

And since that is the goal--

snikt

She takes the first soldier in the stomach, flipping out a kick to take out a second one's knee. If that kick also slices up a gun (or two)--

That was part of her plan. Insofar as she has one beyond 'cause mayhem' that is.

[blueshifted.livejournal.com]

Barney stepped out with a satchel, and pulled some dubious-looking electronic equipment out. "Oh, before I forget: each team gets a radio to coordinate with other teams and personnel to make sure we're smooth. The channels are secure, and should be able to reach any team member within the City 17 area. Remember: this is your lifeline--I only have one to give you. Look at the channels on the side; they're labeled so you can tell who's who. Good luck, everyone!"

The channels are labeled as follows:
Channel 1: Destroy
Channel 2: Dunkirk
Channel 3: Ninja
Channel 4: Tennyson
Channel 5: Direct to Valerie/Medics
Channel 6: Global

[aeons_crackshot]

"The radio should probably go to someone who has more experience using one than I do. Has anyone used a radio like this one before?"

[cutting_edgex23]

"I do not want it."

X's voice is perfectly matter of fact.

"It will be a distraction."

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

"I'm familiar with radio communications," Ryan says after a moment. "I'll take it."

Better he than Donighal. He trusts himself.

[md_donighal]

Michael looks at the radio for a moment, and then his voice emerges from it, with a crackle like fire underlying. "Testing, one-two-three..." When he speaks again, it's from the mouth. "Yeah, I'm good. I think I can get on the other channels as well; let's hope I'm right."

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle notices the avoidance going on between Michael and Ryan, but decides it's unimportant for the moment.

Michael's trick with the radio gets a raised eyebrow. Seeing his new abilities in action is a bit of a surprise even if she did have some idea of what to expect.

[cutting_edgex23]

X stays silent, as well.

Her focus is on the mission, not on her compatriots.

They are not fighting yet.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

And Ryan doesn't plan to start.

Though he's looking a little sullen after that trick with the radio. On the other hand, it's good to have a something of a backup in case this one shorts out. It wouldn't be the first time.