This logfile is imported from aitelogs2 and may contain errors or wrong timestamps.
#NewLonghai – March 28, 2015
The trip back towards New Longhai has been long and bumpy. The truck got stuck in the mud thrice along the way, but now they are finally coming up on the lone prefab shelter that was near the town. The children have been sitting in silence during the trip, so has Father Marchal, although he has continued to smile. Halisi has been doing her best to keep the injured stable, and Athorus has not said much to Jasper, focusing on the
woodline. The weather has only gotten worse, with rain wipped by heavier winds against the right side of the vehicles.
Damien continues to snooze, the rapid movement behind closed eyelids suggesting a dream. Probably not a good one either.
Tarlon is still in the vehicle with the children, having made a few awkward attempts to cheer them up.
Steve has kept his SMG aimed at Father Marchal the entire trip. "Can't wait till I get the chance to wipe that stupid smile off your face you fuckin' psychopath." he mutters.
Jasper has spent most of the time focusing on not crashing. "Look like we're just 'bout back to town." he says as the prefab comes into view.
The door to the prefab shelter is open, causing a stream of light from within to illuminate a thin stretch of the road.
Leah has just stared off towards the ceiling. Her only movement the rising and falling of her chest as she breathes deeply.
Ilyna is leaned a bit back with her eyes closed, appearing to be sleeping -- or at least, trying to.
Jattic doesn't pay much mind to the racist twat leaving her door open. He just continues on down the road.
Steve pulls his SMG off the cultist and begins gesturing with it, "You'd compare me to this piece of shit?" he asks, glancing towards Father Marchal, "He brainwashes kids. Releases whatever-the-fuck on innocent people. You think because you've spent a few days in a ship with me that you know who I am?"
Steve stares across at Tarlon. "I ain't racist. I just don't like judgemental little shits that are just beggin' to be tossed from the back of a moving vehicle."
Mendez puts a hand out in front of Steve. "Shut up." he says plainly with no emotion in his voice, "Just shut up. No more speaking from you. I mean it."
There is a faint clunk on the left side of the truck, barely audible over the arguing and the thunder.
Steve gives Mendez a look as if to say 'Did you really just give me an order?', but he bites his tongue for now.
Athorus glances at the prefab shelter as they pass it. "We are getting close, aren't we? Let's hope it's not too late for the injured..."
Naw, don't talk that way. Halisi is gon' do her best to get those folks back home in one piece. She's a helluva doctor.
Athorus nods slightly. "I hope you're right. I don't know you people, but dying on a planet like this, out on the edge of the galaxy? It's no good."
Leah reaches over and grabs Damien's arm. "It's fine Monroe... We'll be back soon..." she says, although she's unable to lift her upper body to really look at him.
Garr bumps around a little due to the uneven ride, but it doesn't put a break to his persistent snores.
Halisi puts a hand on Damien's shoulder. "Everything is fine, calm down. We're on our way to the ship. You're safe."
Damien 's cheat heaves and the calming words don't seem to have any effect on his panic stricken face. "What happe- gah!". He clutches his ribs, tearing his arm from Leah's grip.
Damien turns his gaze to his stump. And for the second time this adventure, his eyes widen at the grisly sight, the pain in his chest forgotten.
Jasper nods a couple times to Athorus. "We ain't done here, either. Once we drop off the wounded, sounds like we still got the Chief to track down."
Suddenly, a sickly gray hand claws through the tarp covering the truck, digging metallic claws into Steve's gun-arm with a loud shriek.
Steve is caught entirely off-guard as the husk makes its grand entrance, causing him to drop his SMG to the floor. Steve immediately jumps to his feet once he realizes he's being grabbed by something, but the constant movement of the truck causes him to fall to the truck floor.
Tarlon immediately leaps to his feet and fires an incineration projectile at where the body that is attached to the arm should logically be.
The husk beyond the tarp falls off as it is struck by the inciniration blast, but the tarp catches fire - so does Steve, most likely.
Steve is now on the ground, in the middle of the truck bed, on fire. He doesn't seem to realize he's on fire at first as he scrambles to get his SMG that's skittering back and forth as the truck teeters and totters, unaware that the threat has been dealt with.
Mendez manages to get an arm up to shield himself from the impact, but is tossed to the ground as well. He scrambles to his knees and his eyes go wide as he spots Steve. "You're on fire." he says, probably with a whole lot less energy than one would expect.
Tarlon sniffs and immediately performs a scan with his omni-tool to check for more hostiles outside the vehicle.
The scan is impeded somewhat by the severe weather, but there doesn't seem to be anything in the immediate area. The attacking husk can now be seen on the road behind them, being consumed by flames as it flails around in the mud.
Steve looks over at Mendez, somewhat confused. But it only takes a moment for him to realize the man is talking to him. He quickly begins patting at his armor in an attempt at putting out the fire.
Mendez grabs Briggs and pulls him back over towards the hole in the tarp, hoping the rain may help put him out. "Stop panicking before you set the whole truck on fire."
New Longhai is now within sight of the APC. Lightning arcs down into the massive lightning rod at the central building every few seconds. The noise is enough to drown out most other things.
Jasper cusses under his breath before activating his comms, "Shit... Sit tight, folks. We're just about there. He gon' be alright?"
Mendez and Steve manage to get the fire out with the help of the rain cascading in through the large hole. "All taken care of." Mendez reports back.
Jattic continues into town with plans of not stopping until he reaches the ship. "Just a little further. We need to make sure no more of those things are holding on to the vehicles. We can't have them getting into the ship." he says over comms.
As the vehicles starts to enter the town, there is movement among the prefab shelters, visible only when a lightning strike illuminates. A burst of gunfire is barely heard among the constant thunder, but it comes to an abrupt end.
Steve remains near the hole in the tarp, a bit of a panic having come over him. Once everything has calmed down, he looks over at Father Marchal. "You find that funny, you sick fuck?"
Steve returns the man's grin. "So is yours." he says, raising his SMG and leveling it on the man's head.
We need to get the injured to the ship right away, but we'll have to look into this to make sure they won't shoot the ship out of the sky.
A loud clunk is heard on top of the APC, followed my something skittering across the roof. Twisted shapes move among the buildings, their movement blending with the rain as it splashes against the thin layer of water covering the street of hte town. There are shrieks in the distance.
Father Marchal looks calmly down the barrel of Steve's gun. "My journey will never end. I will join the Revelator in infinity."
Damien snaps out of his stupor and looks at the others, eyes widening in shock at the condition of the other injured.
Jattic glances up at the roof. "Sounds like we've got more company." he growls, continuing towards the ship, "Perhaps we should ready the mounted gun?"
Two proto-adjutants are charging rapidly at the truck from behind. The one on the roof of the APC slides down and covers the windshield, starting to punch and claw at it while obscuring view.
Jattic glances back to respond to Garr, "And I assume the vehicle will just drive itself?" he says. As he returns his view to the window, the adjutant strikes the windshield, causing Jattic to jerk the vehicle widely to the side, resulting in a massive slide through the mud.
Mendez reaches out and grabs Steve by the wrist, wrenching his aim upwards, "You heard the others, Briggs. Chief is missing. He may know something. Stand down." he says, having absolutely no idea that enemies are charging from behind.
Damien groggily pulls himself up into a sitting position, pulling out his Carnifex with a shaky hand. He is then promptly sent sprawling onto Jason, crying out in pain as he lands on his ribs.
From the truck it can be seen that more adjutants are massing around the APC, which is now blocking the truck's path. The two behind the truck have closed in, and they both jump in, one of them coming right at Mendez while the other lands on the floor of the truck, snarling at Tarlon.
Tarlon glares disapprovingly at the creature. "Attacking unarmed children. Most uncivilized." He lets loose another incinerating projectile, this one much stronger than the previous one.
Jasper hammers on the brakes with nowhere to go. The truck slips and slides through the mud, eventually coming to a stop parallel to the APC. He activates his comms, "You got 'em all over ya! Tons of the buggers!"
Mendez is thrown to the ground as the adjutant leaps on his back. He's jostled around even more as the truck begins to slide around.
Steve is thrown off-balance when Mendez falls forward, resulting in Steve falling right in Father Marchal's lap.
Damien pulls himself from the ground, laying against the side of the APC. He looks at the Krogan and points upwards. "Garr. Smash," he says.
The husk is struck by the incinerate dead on, causing it to burn down to metal and bone in seconds - the nearest child falls to the floor cradling an arm covered in burns. Most of the others fall as well as Jasper pumps the brakes. The adjutant attacking Mendez starts wrapping its metallic tentacles around his helmet, trying to tear apart his neck undersuit and stab at the skin underneath.
Halisi does a quick scan to make sure Damien or Jason weren't damaged further by the incident before getting on her feet.
Garr rolls his eyes. "If I had a ryncol for every time someone said that..." Then he kicks open the APC's back door and leaps out to find something to rip to shreds.
Mendez grabs at one of the tentacles with a gauntleted hand, attempting to pull it away from him. With his other hand, he does the same.
Father Marchal doesn't waste any time, wrapping his arm around Steve in a chokehold and pressing hard.
Damien forces a chuckle at Garr and turns his gaze to the open door, levelling his pistol at it. In case any husks get too curious.
Several husks immediately swarm Garr when he kicks the hatch open, jumping and clawing at him. One squeezes past and tries to get to the injured.
Ilyna takes off her harness and gets to her feet. A biotic shimmer forms around her as she prepares to put up a barrier should a creature get into the APC, and she does so upon the sight of one, making a biotic wall between it and the people inside.
Halisi curses and freezes the husk that squeezed past with a cryo-blast. "Damn it krogan! Close the hatch! Close the hatch! Someone get on the gun!"
Jattic climbs to his feet as the vehicle comes to a stop. He makes his way over towards the injured. "You want me on the gun, Ilyna?" he asks.
Steve thrashes back at his attacker, attempting to slam the back of his head into the cultist's face.
The husk on top of Mendez has two of its tubings ripped off, but it keeps coming, and starts clawing at his armor now. Several adjutants are punched away from the APC by Garr, but some get up again, and more keep coming. Several biotic throws strike the krogan from the side. One of the creatures jump the front of the truck, punching the glass and sending shards at Athorus and Jasper.
Jasper looks at Athorus with panic in his eyes. "This ain't good..." he says, reaching for his Avenger tucked away behind the seat.
Jattic gives another nod and rushes over to the ceiling hatch. He pops it open and climbs up to man the gun.
Steve rotates around to face the man. He reaches back and slams a gauntleted fist into Father Marchal's jaw.
Garr roars and just keeps punching and kicking and headbutting. The lack of armour and general blood loss is a bit problematic, though.
Damien eventually drops his arm, the strain is too much for him. "Fuck me...", he mutters, eyes drooping as darkness creeps at the edge of his vision.
Tarlon climbs back to his feet and frowns disapprovingly at Father Marchal before tapping a button on his Omni-Tool to give the man a neural shock.
Athorus raises his Phaeston and fires off a quick burst to end the creature. He looks out at the mass of others that are approaching from the prefab shelters. "We have to get out of here!"
Father Marchal starts spasming and is then immediately struck by Steve's punch, causing his jaw to break with a crunch.
Halisi freezes another husk as it tries to make its way into the APC - the frozen creature falls onto Damien. "Krogan! Get in now, I'm closing the hatch!"
Garr grumbles, but gets in, pulling the last few husks off wherever they are attached to him and lobbing them at the adjutants.
Damien has an ugly ice statue fall atop him. His close proximity to its face causes him to cry out, fear taking over. He twists his hand to bring the pistol up at its head, firing.
Ilyna lets go of the barrier and walks over to the ladder up to the gun hatch. "Kur'don!" She aims her weapon up at the opening.
Jasper readies his Avenger and looks out at the fresh approaching creatures. "Where!?" he calls out, "We can't just leave the others!"
Leah struggles to lift her upper body and see what's going on, to little effect. "Wha-... What's going on!?"
Damien is covered in shards of frozen husk and half-cybernetic brainmatter as he fires his pistol. The creature on top of Mendez stops fighting after several hits, but blue goop flows from the cracked skull, covering Mendez' visor and seeping down his helmet. The husk that pulled out Jattic tosses him off the APC and down into the water-filled street with a splash, and then crawls in through the hatch, letting out a screetch at the sight of
Athorus fires of several bursts at the husks near the hatch of the APC. "The ship! We have to get to the ship!"
Ilyna fires at the creature repeatedly once she's identified it as not Jattic, not stopping while there's more shots to be had with the clip.
Jattic skitters across the street. He quickly pulls his weapon from his back and surveys his surroundings.
Jasper mutters under his breath as he activates his comms, "Ilyna! We don't stand a chance out here! We need to get back to the ship! Ya'll gon' be alright gettin' there!?"
Mendez pushes the corpse off him in anger and climbs back to his feet. He removes his shotgun from his back as he wipes at his visor with his other hand.
Steve reaches back to punch at the cultist again, but pauses. "Lets see ya smile now, ya dumb motherfucker." he says as he collects his SMG from the ground and looks behind them for any sign of more creatures.
The husk is struck by shot after shot from Ilyna's handgun - for the last three it is quite clearly not moving, but simply hanging from the hatch limply, blue goo dripping down onto Leah's boot. Jattic would find himself a few meters from the truck. At least a dozen of the adjutants appear to have noticed him, and are starting to come his way - one of them fires off a throw at him. Several of the creatures are closing in on the truck now -
there is ripping and clawing at the tarp from most sides. Those in the APC would hear constant banging on the armor plating as well as the impact of a warp field or two.
The children appears to have gone catatonic at the mass presence of the creatures, staring dead ahead and clutching each other they seem to pay no attention to their surroundings.
Jattic backs away from the APC and hurls himself out of the way of the throw, landing in a large puddle. He activates comms as he climbs back to his feet, "Get to the ship!" he says, shouting to be heard over all the commotion and rain, "I'll attempt to take cover at the inn. I won't be the reason for your deaths!"
Jasper stares at the crowd of enemies between the truck and Jattic and seems, for a moment, to consider trying to push through it. "Fuck! You get yerself killed and I ain't never gon' fergive ya!" he shouts over comms as he floors it towards the ship.
Athorus plants a boot on his seat and another on the dashboard to get a better vantage point as he begins firing at the husks near Jattic, hoping to give him a better chance.
Mendez leans out from the hole in the tarp and unleashes a few rounds from his shotgun on the crowd gathering around. He's nearly shaken free from the truck as it jolts forward, barely managing to get a hand on the tarp to keep from slipping out.
The APC controls are fairly straightforward, although it handles quite differently from an unarmored vehicle. Two of the adjutants near Jattic go down to Athorus' fire another three or so are run over as the truck speeds around the APC, causing the vehicle to shudder. The husks that had gathered around the truck are now running after, many of them coming at the APC or the batarian. Two are still hanging on to the truck, one of them grabbing
Ilyna gets the APC moving after a few seconds, although jolting a little at first as she gets a feel for the responsivity of it. It will be a very bumpy ride with all the creatures no doubt in its way.
Jattic fires a couple of rounds at the creatures taking an interest in him before realizing how ineffective it would be to keep firing. He removes a frag grenade and actives it as he begins booking it in the general direction of the inn. He drops the grenade during his run and continues on.
Damien calms down and decides to crawl back to his previous position when he was unconscious, wedging himself between Jason and Leah. "We're dead...", he mumbles, still clinging to his pistol. Shards of frozen husk are embedded in his cheek, but it doesn't seem to register with him.
Steve's shields are dropped quite suddenly. The second husk that is clinging to the truck appears to sense an opportunity as it lifts its biotically empowered arm, firing off a warp field at his back. Jattic drops one of the creatures but many more come at him. As the grenade explodes it sends several flying and many more are shredded by the shrapnel, reducing them to an immobile state. Many more are still hunting him however, and some
block his path ahead. The inn appears to have a small group of the things in front of it that are trying to get in. The vehicles are closing in on the MSV Susanna now, which still waits on the landing platform, although with the cargo hatch closed. A few creatures are scattered around in the area, now taking notice of the APC and the truck.
Mendez takes two heavy steps towards the creature and plants a large boot into its jaw, hoping to dislodge it from its salarian toy.
Steve raises his SMG and fires a three-round burst at the creature clinging to the truck as the warp field begins rending his armor from his back. He gives a loud shriek as a biotic shimmer envelopes him and he sends a throw in the creature's direction.
Tarlon's attacker is kicked off the truck by Mendez, causing its claws to scratch along the salarian's neck as it loses its grip. The one that went after Steve is hurled off as well.
Tarlon yelps as green blood starts to run down the side of his neck, and scrambles to get away from the truck's open back. After a moment, he collects himself and starts to meticulously apply medi-gel.
Jattic is tossed to the ground by the grenade blast as well, causing water to splash all around. He scrambles to his feet and begins hipfiring towards the inn, his Mattock in his left hand, as he charges at the creatures. He reaches back with his right as his enforcement gauntlet encircles his fist, and he drives it into the first creature he approaches.
Victoria tries to push the husk corpse blocking the gun on top of the APC out of the way, she believed since the APC was moving those things would not be on it and it would be safe to fire the gun without getting eaten.
The dead husk drops down onto Leah's legs after being pushed by Victoria. Meanwhile, Jattic drops an adjutant with a lucky shot while hipfiring his Mattock. Another is crushed by the blow from the enforcement gauntlet. The other seven or so by the inn door turn to face him though. More are chasing behind him.
Damien holsters his gun and grabs the dead creature, dragging it off of Leah. He shoves it away and collapses back onto the ground. "It's dead!"
Steve grabs Father Marchal by the neck and jerks him from his seat, tossing him onto the floor and placing a boot on his back. As the warp field fades away, large chunks of his armor are visibly missing, revealing the undersuit beneath his chestplate. He aims his SMG out the back of the truck and unleashes a burst towards the enemies behind them.
Victoria picks the husk off of Leah and throws it corpse where no body is and stomps it's head, if it has one. After that she would move to the turret on top of the truck.
Jattic unleashes a loud roar as he lowers his shoulder and attempts to tackle one of the nearby adjutants through the inn's window.
Tarlon tosses one of his decoy disks out of the back of the truck, where it flounders about among the husks.
The husks are more or less the perfect target for a decoy, and a large crowd gathers around the holographic salarian, swiping and snarling. Jattic crashes through the window along with the adjutant, and is greeted on the other side by a surprised group of inn patrons that are courched behind the bar. Three of the five have handguns aimed at the door, and the innkeeper is holding a Katana shotgun. He fires off a blast at the tackled husk
while it is still on the floor. As Victoria pops out of the roof hatch she would find that the APC is now right in front of the ship they arrived in, with husks coming towards them from all directions - although there are only a few on the landing pad itself, most are approaching up the slope from the town proper.
Jattic snorts and grunts as he stands from the inn floor, his eyes locked on the now-dead husk. He looks towards the others. "You kill whatever comes through that door!" he orders, "Someone help me barricade this window!"
The blast from the decoy is enough to kill the closest husks, and topples several more. The others stand around in confusion for a moment before refocusing their efforts, spreading out in various directions. The inn patrons take a little while to register what is going on, but they nod and keep their guns raised. One of those without a weapon runs up to Jattic. "W-What do we do?!"
Ilyna makes an abrupt stop once the ship is in view. She enables her comms. "This is Redrock Agency, MSV Susanna, do you copy?"
Jattic moves to the nearest table not bolted down and grabs it by the end. "Quickly! We need to block the window. My team will come back for me, we only need to hold out a short while."
Victoria starts looking for the bulk of the horde, she believes most of it are behind them and starts firing the turret at all of the husks located behind. Swinging the gun side to side while she fires it, so she is not focusing on just one.
Captain Kleiner 's voice can be heard over the comms. "This is Captain Kleiner. What kind of hell did you unleash on this town?"
(Comms) Those are the cult's doing. Could you open the ship to get our vehicles in? We will take care of anything following us.
The patron nods and moves to help the batarian move the table, however a husk is already climbing through the broken window. The armed patrons bring it down with their pistols, but one of them is struck by a warp field, causing the skin of his face to tear as he screams out in terror and pain. At the ship, Victoria has started to mow down the horde of husks that are approaching the now stationary vehicles, but more keep coming, and the
straggles are approaching from other directions, with one jumping on top of the APC and coming at Victoria from behind, and two others reaching the truck, one firing a throw at Mendez and the other climbing in through the windshield and swiping at Jasper.
Captain Kleiner takes some time before responding. "...no. I can't risk any of those things getting onboard."
Mendez is hurled back against the truck's cab, causing it to dent inward. He slumps to the ground in pain.
Jasper leans back in his seat as the creature's claw cleaves a nice chunk out of his face, resulting in a large wound across the bridge of his nose. He scurries back across his seat towards Athorus.
Victoria hears a husk approaching behind her, she draws her predator and tries her best to hit it while still firing the turret. ''DIE!!!'' She yelled at the monsters.
Athorus presses the barrel of his light machinegun right up against the face of the husk attacking Jasper and fires off a short burst. He pauses to ask "Are you alright?" before firing at one of the creatures that are closing in.
Jattic lifts the table and moves it over towards the window with the help of the other patron. Once it's braced against the open window, Jattic presses both hands flat against it and sprawls out, leaning all his weight into the table. "Go! Find something to brace it with! I won't be able to hold it long!"
Damien draws his pistol and peers at it. "A few shots left", he says, turning it over in his hand. "If they break through..." He leaves the rest of his sentence hanging, though his intention should be clear enough.
Leah sighs loudly, a tear rolling down the side of her cheek. "I don't want to become one of them..."
Steve steps over Father Marchal... Literally walking across the man's back before joining at Tarlon's side and firing along with him.
Damien keeps the pistol firmly in his grip. He looks at Jason and Philip. Enough ammo for three shots.
The human alongside Jattic nods and runs off. He soon pushes the bar's antique jukebox up against the table to reinforce it. Tarlon miraculously manages to drop the husk attacking Mendez with his haphazard firing. Victoria is not so lucky, and the adjutant behind her pounces her, clawing at her arm and head. Some of the creatures are starting to reach the APC, and their clawing and banging can be heard against the armor plating. More still
Jasper reaches up and rubs his hand across his face, bringing away a handful of blood. "I-... I don't know. Hurts like the dickens!" he groans, "We need to get on that ship!"
Victoria screams in pain as the claws leaves claw marks on the left side of her head and stops her from using her predator. She lets go of turret and goes for her knife, when she grabs it she would try to slam it into the monster's head. ''START FUCKING MOVING THE TRUCK!!!!'' She yells in a pained voice.
Steve hops off the back of the truck and raises his SMG, picking his targets, he unloads round after round into the creatures.
Ilyna starts driving the APC, making a sharp turn and tries to look for a cyclic route she can follow to keep the husks off Victoria.
More husks keep approaching. There are many dozens visible at the least. Steve and Athorus both drop some on opposite ends of the truck, but it barely puts a dent in their numbers. Victoria's attacker is hastily stopped by a knife to the head. The APC barely manages to start moving as it is surrounded by husks on all sides, but as it comes to a start Ilyna would find that there is very little room to manuver between the
Steve continues firing into the crowd with one hand, with his other, he reaches out and lifts an adjutant with his biotics, attempting to bowl it into a crowd of them.
Mendez seems to have finally managed to get his bearings and joins Steve outside of the truck. He removes a concussion grenade and lobs it into the crowd. He activates his comms as he begins cutting down enemies with his shotgun, "There's way too many. We need to make a big move happen now, or we're all dead!"
Jasper brings his Avenger up and braces a boot against the inside of the door as he begins firing out into the husks.
Victoria pulls her knife out of the monster and puts it back on to her leg, she also puts her predator back. Then she starts firing at the turret again, trying not to focus on the pain.
Several husks fall to gunfire, regular fire and biotic bowling, but many more come climbing over the corpses. Throw and warp bolts are starting to fly at the exposed team in the truck.
Damien places the Carnifex down next to Leah. "Three shots," he states firmly, before painfully dragging himself up. He wobbly stands on his feet and powers up his tech armour, the orange holograms cladding his battered body.
Halisi frowns at Damien. "You're all going to be fine. We'll get you out of here. Damien, please lie down."
Jattic takes a couple steps back from the window once the table is braced in place. He takes a position with the others at the firing line and raises his weapon as he activates comms, "Made it to the inn. Awaiting extraction." he announces, "I've got a small group with me. We should be able to hold out."
Jason groans loudly. "Wh-... What's going on...?" he asks, wincing as he tries to move his damaged arm.
Damien ignores Halisi and moves to the hatch, eyes narrowing in determination. His omni-blade flicks out as he takes a deep breath. "Garr, open the hatch please," he requests.
Mendez is hurled back by a throw, sending him crashing into the tailgate of the truck, but he wastes no time returning to his position beside Steve and unloading more rounds into the crowd.
Halisi quickly moves to block the hatch-opening button. "Are you crazy?! You're in no state to fight! None of you!"
(Comms) Bravo, is your truck still working? Seems our best bet is to keep moving and have someone manning the turret.
Steve lifts a husk into the air to block an incoming warp, then whips the body into the crowd. He continues firing bursts into the encroaching horde.
Damien gives the doc an even look, before peering at Garr, cracking a bloody smile. "Earning my quad," he chuckles. "You can shove her too."
Jasper halts his firing to load another thermal clip into his Avenger. "Truck is still runnin'..." he reports to Ilyna, "But it ain't no APC, Ilyna! We ain't gon' be able 'ta push through a crowd like this! One good warp and we're dead in the water!"
The bulk of the horde is closing in, despite many being moved down by Victoria and Charlie squad. Biotic projectiles keep coming, and the closest two lunge at Steve and Tarlon. A singularity appears rather suddenly above Victoria.
Nah, just by doing something stupid. I'm going to die soon anyway- coughs a wad of blood for emphasis - so might as well go swinging.
Leah lets out a loud pained grunt as she manages to push herself up with her arms. "Damien, no..." she urges.
Victoria kept firing the gun, but when the singularity appeared above her, she could feel herself starting to float. She grabbed onto the gun with her grip and yelled ''Someone hold my legs. There is a some biotic shit pulling me!!!
Tarlon tries to dodge out of the way, but there are children behind him, so there isn't really anywhere to retreat to. Instead, he just gives the blasted creature a nasty neural shock.
Steve is knocked back as a husk lunges at him. He slams his forehead into the creature's head and tries to wrestle him off, attempting to throw him to the ground.
Mendez takes a couple steps back towards the truck. "You heard her, Briggs! Mount up!" he calls as he slams the butt of his shotgun into a husk and then fires a round into its chest.
Not yer call, kid. You're not the only guy in this truck, but it looks like you're the only one with a death with.
Tarlon's attacker starts spasming on the ground, splashing water all over. The one on top of Brigg's resists his attempt to throw it off, and it begins wrapping its metal tubes around him. The break in the gunfire allows the main horde to close in - several biotic attacks strike both vehicles - there is a loud clank as one of the truck's wheels falls off.
Ilyna stands from her seat and reloads her weapon. "This is hopeless," she says. "Is it possible to get everyone into the APC?" The question was through the comms.
Halisi scrambles up the ladder once she's reasonably sure Damien won't do something stupid. She grabs a hold of Victoria and pulls her down. The singularity soon ceases.
Damien shoulders past Halisi, keeping the blade away from her. He deactivates the blade and he slaps the hatch release, quickly reactivating the blade. "C-close it behind me!" He quickly casts a glance at Leah. "See ya' around, darlin'".
Mendez glances at the truck's wheel and cusses loudly. "Scratch that plan, Ilyna! Vehicle is no longer operational! We lost a wheel!" he announces over comms and returns right back to firing into the crowd.
Victoria was losing her grip until Halisi grabbed her, she then resume her firing at the main horde. ''FUCK THESE MONSTERS!!!!'' Doing the same thing as she did before swining the gun side to side hoping to mow down more then focusing on one area would.
Jasper mutters under his breath as he hears Mendez. He drops a thermal clip due to nerves as he attempts to reload and begins searching for it in a panic. "Shit, shit, shit...."
The hatch starts opening with a groan, but soon comes to a stop, blocked by the husks that are amassed outside the APC. Their arms reach in through the gap, clawing and scratching, trying to reach Damien - Their groaning and growling becomes so much louder with the opening of the hatch, drowning out everything but the thunder. The ones further back are once again starting to get mowed down by Victoria.
Ilyna hurries towards the door, looking down to avoid stepping on the injured. She will hit the button to close the hatch once she's there.
Steve drives his hand between himself and the creature, placing his SMG against its jaw and squeezing the trigger down.
Several husks lose their arms to Damien's slashing - fitting. The hatch does not close however - the creatures are holding it open, fighting against the hatch hydralics. Victoria's gunfire comes to a sudden stop as the machinegun overheats. Jattic and the inn patrons can hear husks clawing at the door and the reinforced window. One has made its way to the still-intact window, clawing at the glass. More approach Charlie
Damien just keeps on slashing at the arms, tears pricking at his eyes as he starts listing off names of various, unknown people to the group. Though Vaden's name makes an appearance.
Steve whips around in a full circle once the husk is dead, gripping the tire biotically as he spots it, and uses the momentum of his spin to hurl the large truck tire into the crowd. He begins panting from the exertion as he loads another thermal clip into his SMG, unaware if his last one was even empty yet.
Jattic takes a firing stance and looks back and forth over their makeshift firing line. "Don't let them close in on you!" he instructs.
More husks lose their arms, but the hatch seems to be losing the fight. It is slowly becoming more open. One of the creatures starts squeezing its way through. A few others are now climbing atop the APC to attack Victoria. Meanwhile, a line of poor husks are crushed by a biotically accelerated truck wheel.
Damien turns to look at Jason and see if he has any grenades left on him. A wild, reckless look flares behind his eyes.
Victoria reloads her predator and fires at the ones climbing the APC ''Keep them off the APC you idiots!!!'' She yells at two outside. She quickly checks to see if the turret is cool enough to shoot again.
Victoria manages to drop one of the husks, but more are climbing at her. One of them knocks her gun away and claws at her chest. The one that tried to squeeze its way inside the APC has its skull crushed by the krogan.
Steve swings his SMG from side-to-side as he unloads his clip. "Got more important shit to worry about than your fuckin' APC, Vicky!" he shouts as he hurls another husk into the crowd.
Damien lumbers over to Jason and deactivates his blade. He pulls off all but one of the grenades, attaching them to his belt. He holds one in his hand and moves back to the hatch. He primes it and flicks it just outside of the hatch.
Mendez unloads the last round in his shotgun and flips his shotgun around, using it to club any approaching husks as he fishes a fresh thermal clip from his hardsuit.
Victoria slams her fist against the head of husk clawing her. Her chest-plate takes most of the damage. She grabs the turret and starts firing again or tries to.
As Garr steps outside and starts tearing husks apart with his bare hands, Damien's grenades slides past him between his legs and into the husks right in front of him. A brief moment passes before the explosion consumes the nearest husks, the shockwave downing many more and sending shrapnel flying in all directions. Over at Charlie squad the truck is becoming increasingly surrounded as well, with some husks reaching melee
range. One is clubbed down by Mendez but more approach, two trying to enter the front of the truck. The husk attacking Victoria is not deterred much by her punch, and keeps clawing at her while she fires blindly ahead.
Victoria grabs her knife and tries to slam it into the husk's head, seeing her punches failed. She continues to fire the gun blindly into the horde.
Garr was luckily not directly hit by the grenade, but is instead slammed backwards into the APC's doors while his front is showered with splattered husk. Grunting, he tries to clear the icky stuff off his eyes so he can see.
The hatch now closes, free from the husks that were preventing it. The closing causes the krogan to be shoved further into the APC, at Damien and Ilyna.
Tarlon seems to be running out of Omni-Gel for his Omni-Tool's mini-fabricator, which means no more incineration. He has a few pre-made decoy discs left, and his weapon, and that's it.
Jasper finally manages to get ahold of his thermal clip and loads it into his rifle with shaking hands. He begins unloading wildly at the two trying to enter the truck.
Mendez gets a fresh clip and slams it into his shotgun. He presses it against an approaching husk and squeezes the trigger before moving on to aquire a new target.
A metallic groan is heard as the cargo hatch of the MSV Susanna begins to open, crushing the husks beneath it as it makes contact with the landing pad. Alessa stands in the cargo hold, grasping a handgun and looking absolutely terrified. She starts opening fire at the horde of adjutants that is still approaching. "Come in! Hurry!"
Steve glances back at the ship and breathes a sigh of relief. "About fucking time!" he shouts as he grabs an approaching husk by the shoulders and delivers a biotically powered kick to its midsection.
A few husks fall to Mendez' fire. Jasper downs one of the two that are climbing the truck, while Athorus deals with the other.
Ilyna gets out of the way of the krogan and makes her way to the drivers seat. Once there, she tries to turn the APC towards the hatch. "Watch out for the APC," she speaks into the comms.
Jasper activates comms and starts the truck back up. "Get back in the truck!" he announces over comms, "Wheel or no wheel, we ain't stickin' around!"
Damien falls backwards, tears streaming down his cheeks as his body shakes, his tech armour deactivating. "Oh fuck. Fuck. Fuck," he repeats, cradling his ruined arm. Today has well and truly broken him.
Victoria's attacker is felled swiftly by the knife to the head. A moment later the APC starts to move, turning and soon heading up the cargo ramp with husks in tow. With the turn Victoria is now firing at the side of the ship.
Steve builds up one last burst of biotic energy as he backpedals towards the truck as he unloads the last of his SMG's clip into the crowd. He unleashes the biotic energy as he whips the SMG like a frisbee out into the crowd at head level.
Mendez continues firing as he backs towards the truck. Once he backs into the tailgate, he begins helping Steve up before climbing in himself. "We're in, Jasper! Get us out of here!" he announces over comms.
Jasper gives one triumphant shout over comms. "HOLD ONTO 'YER BUTTS!" as he floors it, the tireless wheel chewing into the ground.
The truck speeds off towards the ramp, the missing wheel not impeding them as much as one would think. It goes up the ramp and crashes right into a cargo container. With both vehicles onboard, the cargo ramp starts closing, but several husks are already on it, and are now coming at the vehicles. Alessa is fumbling to change her thermal clip.
Mendez shakes the cobwebs loose from the impact and wastes no time in getting a running start and leaping from the back of the truck and onto one of the husks.
Athorus is nearly thrown out of the truck as it hits the crate, ending up halfawy out of the vehicle.
Victoria stops firing for a second and looks to Alessa and sees husks heading towards her. She decides to start firing at those husks, hopefully protecting the woman who saved their lifes.
Ilyna stops the truck once she's far inside the hold, hitting a crate before it stops. "Let's clear the cargo bay." She stands up and picks up her weapon.
Damien simply lays there, blood trickling from his mouth. His breathing slowing to a few pitiful, ragged breaths.
The children fall from the impact, but seem mostly unharmed. The husks are fast approaching - about a dozen or so. Victoria's shots take down two, but several of her shots ping against the ship's wall.
Victoria notices the shots hitting the ship's wall and stops firing. She climbs out of the turret, to get on the top of the APC and jumps down drawing her Avenger and firing burst at any husks charging towards Alessa.
Victoria downs a husk with her Avenger, and another is tackled to the floor by Mendez. There are still several coming.
Steve was hurled against the wall from the impact. He seems far too exhausted to join in on the melee, but he still makes an effort to kick Father Marchal in the ribs.
Most of the remaining husks are thankfully distracted by the holographic shinies, swiping at them with their claws.
Victoria reloads her avenger and yells ''Garr, get out here. More things to crush.'' After she reloads to continues to give covering fire for Alessa.
Alessa finally manages to reload her pistol, and starts unloading her clip into the nearest husk, taking the entirety of it to bring the creature down.
Tarlon leaves the holographic shinies where they are for now, not wanting to cause explosions in the hangar bay when there are plenty of safer methods to take them out while they're hugging the holograms.
Garr does hear Vicky, so he gives the APC door a good kick to get it open and finds himself some husks to tear up.
Mendez stands from his tackled husk and pulls his shotgun off his back. He places the barrel against its head and squeezes the trigger.
The remaining adjutants do not last long between Garr and Victoria as they are still largely distracted by the decoys.
The husks are still clawing at the entrances to the inn. One of them breaks the remaining window and climbs inside. It fires off a throw which hits a chair, sending it flying across the inn.
Victoria drops to the fall, finally letting the pain for the claw mark on her face take effect. She has a decent amount of blood coming from it.
Ilyna takes off her helmet and sits down on the APC ramp. "Goddess," she mutters. "I... failed them."
The husk falls to Jattic's fire, but two more are climbing inside. The patrons start to fire their handguns - they keep firing several shots after the two creatures are dead.
Jattic puts a hand up, "Keep your shots tight! We don't know how long we'll need to hold out before my team is able to double back for us! No wasted shots!"
''We would have to find a new landing area, Mendez.'' She said in a exhausting voice ''Then we can only save so many people. This shit happens.''
The patrons mumble nervously and nod, aiming with various degrees of shakiness. Another creature starts to climb inside, tripping and falling to the floor.
The creature goes down easy, but another is already on the way. The innkeeper takes it out with a shotgun blast. "We have to get that window sealed too."
Jattic nods to the suggestion. "You!" he says, looking towards the man who helped him before, "Begin looking for something to brace with, just as before! Someone help me with this table." He makes his way over to another table.
The inkeeper moves to help Jattic move the table, while another patron starts pushing another table behind them as he does not find anything better to brace with.
Jattic lifts the table up against the open window with the innkeeper's help, and holds it in place as the table is pushed up behind it.
The window is barricaded just in time as a husk approaches and starts clawing against the table. The patrons move another table into place to help with the weight.
Jattic assists them in pushing the table before retaking his spot in the firing line. "Excellent work! Keep it up and we just might make it!"
One of the patrons nods faintly as they take aim yet again. The husks can still be heard banging and clawing outside.
Jattic raises his rifle and sets his sights on the door. "Keep an eye on those windows, too. Make sure the barricades hold."
Jattic calms a bit and lowers his weapon. "Barricades seem to be doing the trick. Stay on your guard."
(Comms) Redrock, do you read? We've locked down the inn. Seems secure for now, but there's no telling how long it will hold for.
The table-barricade shifts and then splinters as it is struck by a warp field. A husk climbs through but is taken out by the patrons. Another comes soon after.
Jattic cusses loudly and raises his rifle, firing a handful of rounds at the husk. "Hold your ground! Here they come!"
The roar of a ship can be heard approaching, just barely audible behind the moans and the thunder. The inn is rapidly filling up with adjutants however. One reaches the nearest patron and starts tearing her to pieces. The others start falling back, horrified. The innkeeper remains next to Jattic, firing his shotgun at the one that downed a patron.
Jattic glances at the others falling back for a moment, "No! Hold your ground! Do you hear that!? That is our salvation! All we need to do is reach it!" he shouts, punctuating his order by lashing out with his enforcement gauntlet at the nearest adjutant.
One of the patrons stops, gulping and taking aim once more, firing at the nearest adjutant. The other two keep running, but one of them stops as he looks out the glass door to the balcony. "Holy shit! There's a ship!"
Jattic glances back as the patron announces the ship's arrival. "Is there a way out over there?" he asks the nearby innkeeper, nodding towards the patron who made the announcement. He sents a few more rounds at the adjutants.
The innkeeper fires off another blast with his shotgun and then shakes his head. "No, that door goes to the balcony!"
Jattic activates his comms, "Redrock, do you read me? Ilyna? What are your orders?" he asks. He gives a shout back towards the patron who made the announcement after mowing down another adjutant. "What do you see!?"
The patron taps the panel to open the door. "The ship! It's right outside!" He runs across the balcony while looking over at the ramp. The other runner follows. The third patron keeps firing but soon needs to change clips. The innkeeper is jumped by a husk, and struggles to keep it off by using his shotgun to push it away.
Jattic lets out another loud roar and smashes his enforcement gauntlet down on the husk attacking the innkeeper. "What are they doing!?" he growls.
The innkeeper nods in thanks to Jattic and fires off another blast at a charging adjutant. The patron with the pistol has finished changing his clip and starts firing once more as well.
Jattic nods to himself as he hears the comms message, "Get to the balcony!" he orders, "They're loading people up from there! Should be low enough to jump to." He begins backpedaling as he fires off rounds.
The last patron fires off another shot before heading out onto the balcony. The innkeeper starts backing along with Jattic.
Jattic takes a knee momentarily and begins to load a new thermal clip into his weapon. "Go! Go! Get to the balcony!" he shouts loudly in case anyone had missed his orders.
The innkeeper is still standing next to Jattic, firing into the approaching husks, that are filling up the room by now.
Jattic stands back up once his clip is replaced and continues to fall back, firing shots at the approaching horde. He's mostly aiming for leg shots now, hoping to topple the front line to buy time.