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 nods at Ryan's answer. "Thank you, I'll ask him when we get back." As AEon's aiming system Annabelle generally ended up with the more offensively oriented of Dixon's inventions, but she's not going to turn down something that reduces bullet holes. She hates convalescing.

To Dora she says somewhat sheepishly, "Sorry, pulse rifles. And I will stay away from the orbs."

Weird devices that disintegrate people, vastly outnumbered and fighting the good fight, it's just like home!

There is a certain amount of glee in Annabelle's scent at the mention of pulse rifles. Some people collect snow globes, Annabelle collects weapons.

As the dropships move in Annabelle moves to a defensible position and prepares to open fire.

[smelltheashes]

"Six to eight," Dora answers, skittering sideways to the partial shelter offered by a chunk of fallen masonry. "That's what they said at Lighthouse Point, anyway."

The first of the dropships- there are two- passes overhead and begins to lower itself for a landing. If one were to cross some sort of crab with a massive flying robot, engines glowing blue in the ends of the larger legs, it might look like that. Its smaller legs are clutching a dull black metallic container, which it sets down before landing entirely. The other hovers, awaiting its turn.

As the door opens on the container a pair of scanners drop from the hovering crab-thing's underside, sweeping down the street and beeping furiously.

[cutting_edgex23]

X notes the scanners' path with a corner of her brain; the majority of her attention is fixed on what's coming out of the container.

And, of course, on what the second dropship is up to.

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle notes the number mentioned and takes aim with the machine-gun. Any Combine behind the opening doors is just asking for a bullet between the eyes. The scanners should have plenty of interesting photo ops in the next few minutes.

[smelltheashes]

'Eyes' may be something of a misnomer. The white-armored figures that appear as the doors slide open only have the one ocular each. It doesn't seem to slow them down, though; the first one's got his rifle at the ready as soon as the door starts to move down...

[aeons_crackshot]

In the eye it is, then. Time to see just how fast they are compared to a normal human.

Unless elite number one is very good at dodging he's going to get a bullet in the ocular as soon as Annabelle can get a clear shot...

[smelltheashes]

He's good, but not good enough. The rebels don't usually have anything like that degree of accuracy, a fact which made him careless.

The instant the bullet strikes the other Elites are on alert. The heavy thudding of pulse rifle energy fire rips through the air even as the doors finish opening; the Elites believe that the best defense is a good offense. Scanners swoop down to note the number and location of the rebels as Dora and her forces begin shooting back.

[cutting_edgex23]

X, meanwhile, has slipped away from the main group and attempted to approach the drop-boxes from a different angle.

She's dropped from a helicopter before--surely dropping from a ledge on the side of a building shouldn't be much different.

And maybe the Elites aren't expecting an attack from above.

Maybe.

[aeons_crackshot]

OOC: I'll be away from the computer between noon and about 4:30 central time FYI.

The best defense being a good offense is Annabelle's strategy as well. This was occasionally a point of friction with her teammates.

Annabelle keeps aiming for the red oculars while dodging pulse rifle fire. She's not certain that the body armor would stop that kind of fire, after all.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan believes more in whatever works. If headshots take them out faster than anything to the torso, so be it. And even if it just blinds them, that's still a plus.

He's being a bit more careful about being hit, though, mostly because he's fairly certain that pulse fire is not made of atoms and therefore is not stopped by his shield.

But at least it's not a laser.

[md_donighal]

Michael decides he's been their ace in the hole long enough. He raises his right hand, and a ball of fire appears above the palm. A moment later, that ball homes in on an Elite's optic like a ring tossed by a carnival champion. By the time the first fireball launches, he's already forming another over his left hand, which will seek another target.

Any energy bolt that hits him will be absorbed into the glowing aura that surrounds him, and that'll be another bit of energy he doesn't himself have to provide for the returning of, as it were, fire.

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle starts a bit when Michael starts throwing fire. Theoretical knowledge and personal experience are two different things. Still, she's at least seen fire thrown before, if not by Michael.

If the Combine Elites are startled by the sudden influx of fire Annabelle will take full advantage of it.

[smelltheashes]

EVERYBODY is startled by the influx of fire, Combines and Resistance alike. It's just that the Elites snap back into action faster, which is why although some of them are, in fact, being taken down by Ryan's and Annabelle's bullets, the others are diving as swiftly as they can and taking out the most vulnerable targets.

Translation: Dora's goin' down.

[cutting_edgex23]

X--who, considering she was an X-man, is not really surprised by sudden explosions of elemental power--is also not really with this whole idea of Resistance fighters getting killed. At least not if she's in a position to prevent it.

And the best defense is a good offense, which means she flings herself at the Elites, aiming first to take out their weaponry, and next to finish them off permanently.

[aeons_crackshot]

"Dora!" Annabelle shouts as Dora is hit. If there is any chance at all that Dora is still alive, Annabelle will be making her way over towards Dora with the vial of bug juice.

As for any Elites unfortunate enough to get in the way...Annabelle is as fast and as accurate as is humanly possible and genuinely vicious.

[md_donighal]

The Donighal provides covering fire for Annabelle (to the extent she needs it, anyway; he knows she can take care of herself, but he also knows she can't be everywhere at once). He, in his turn, is just a leetle bit faster and more accurate than is humanly possible. And his fireballs are hitting harder, too; if any of his Elite targets stay attached to their torsos, it'll be a testament to Combine engineering.

[smelltheashes]

Ka-click! The scanners capture the scene and immediately lift off, heading up and over the buildings as quickly as they can. In the distance, the second dropship lands and disgorges its cargo of Elites before both vast, ponderous vessels lift off again, making for the Citadel.

It is a very bad day to be on either side of this conflict. If you're not a rebel being shot or shot at, you're an Elite bursting into flames, or clutching at your mask, or simply reeling in circles and falling over backwards. That or you're the scenery and you're flying to pieces at the least little provocation.

[cutting_edgex23]

X does not spare the retreating cargo ships a glance.

They are, at the moment, glaringly irrelevant. And she does not have time for distractions.

There's nothing pretty about what she does. Brutal efficiency is probably closer to the mark.

And another group of Elites bites the dust.

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle appreciates the cover fire, and it's oddly satisfying to see the Elites getting fire in the face or shredded apart by X.

At the moment, however, she has more pressing concerns. With a final vault over the broken bits of building that Dora was using as cover, Annabelle finally reaches her. At the moment she is attempting to ascertain how badly hurt Dora is.

[captainryan.livejournal.com]

Ryan's offering cover fire where he can. He isn't very concerned with Dora getting hit, soldiers die every day in war, but he'll do his best to keep his team mates safe.

Even Donighal.

[md_donighal]

Michael would appreciate the gesture if he noticed it. At the moment, he's wishing he felt he could bring more firepower to bear on the departing dropship without risking the sort of overwhelming response Gordon told him is not a desirable outcome. He hits it amidships in a way he hopes will slow it down, but he's using most of his firepower to protect the team. Also, he's deciding that throwing fireballs takes too much time; some of the Elites are now executing good ol' opcode HCF just from him looking sternly at them.

[acts_of_gord]

It's a pity the Elites aren't human enough any more to feel real terror. The remaining ones would be running if that were the case. As it stands, they're just going to deploy the secondary fire mode, the dark energy orbs, in the Milliways contingent's direction.

Dora, for her part, had to drop her gun. She's using both hands to apply direct pressure as best she can- there's a really amazing amount of blood spreading through the visible part of her clothing. "All right, this stinks," she says weakly and tries to suppress a wince. "Anybody got a rescue pack on them?"

[aeons_crackshot]

"I've got a vial of the bug juice. Will that work?"

There will be much cursing at the energy orbs when Annabelle has to dodge them. Getting hit by those is not an option.

[cutting_edgex23]

Vaporization, such as it is, is definitely not an option for X. Not one she'll survive, anyway.

Which is why she seems to be staying fairly close to those Elites, three quarters of her attention on dodging the energy orbs.

The other quarter is devoted to taking out those weapons. And the Elite holding them.

X is very bad at defensive fighting. That's why she doesn't bother.

[acts_of_gord]

"It'll help," says Dora. "Ay. Is Boots still alive?- he's the medic," she notes, catching the look of incomprehension at the name. "I don't hear him..."

Now, it's a good thing to capture an enemy's weapons and use them yourself. X is making this no longer an option. On the other hand, a weapon destroyed is still a weapon denied the enemy.

It is a very, very bad day to be Elite.

Well. It was. Now it appears to be a good day to be a great many corpses....

(And away in the distance, the sound of fleeing dropship engines is overlaid with the sound of approaching dropship engines. There are three more of them. They are coming. And they are heavy-laden.)