Resistance is Futile [Chapter XIV]

[Kragen]

His earlier question would be answered in the form of the vampire cutting down the surrounding abominations near their position with a task force straight behind her. Through the snap of his fingers and hand signals he was suggesting that the others keep moving while they spoke and provided cover fire for each other. Staying in one place for too long was bound to get them killed under here. And now it looked like what they shot would mutate. Kragen took out his 50 caliber sniper rifle and aimed for the head of the zombies he took down but it wouldn't be much good for anything more than 3 shots each before reloading had to happen. 201 asked a good question and Kragen waited to hear his answer as he reloaded and held the sniper rifle back at the surroding hoard.

[sebastian]

He'd called himself a Turian? Definitely not a familiar species to his. Fascinating... He gave a slight nod in response to the man's voice; he may as well refer to the guy as a man, he was obviously an intelligent being. "Understandable..." He said softly. There would be time for talking later. This army of undead seemed to be endless. No matter how many were brought down, there was always another two who came forward to take the place. This Turian had a point. Even he knew next to nothing of these undead... And fighting the swarm while they were engulfed in flames; maybe even rejuvenated by the heat; sounded like a pretty bad idea. But of course... The voice which had suddenly come from nowhere; Queen, according to another, who spoke of apparent doom. And then the undead really did become undead... Foul things, they were; he was starting to gag slightly on their stench.

The firearm he had been using suddenly clicked; apparently out of bullets. So he hurled the now useless weapon into the oncoming horde, knocking a few to the ground which instantly started to clumsily get back to their feet. Wait a moment... Their feet... If these enemies weren't going to die, the next best course of action would be to incapacitate them, or slow them down at least. If their bodies were separated from their legs, they would be unable to do anything but crawl forward; and using their firearms would become more difficult. If those guns were destroyed though, the movement forward would be slowed still more; and they'd be next to harmless, while giving the living more time to figure out a way to escape. Before he could act on the notion; the girl, 201 apparently, asked him if he could get them out. Sebastian shook his head at her. "I'm afraid not, M'lady." He said with genuine regret in his voice. "If I were to bring you all into the demon realm, your very being would be swallowed up by the void. It is a feasting ground, after all."

Sebastian reached out and snapped a long rod off the nearest laboratory machine, and held it before himself like a staff. "However, I can provide a temporary exit." A moment later; he leaped into the air and landed in a kneeling position within the center of a rather large mass or writhing, rancid bodies. They just happened to be in the way of where he was heading. There was a lightning quick motion, a gleam of metal as it was brought around in a full 360; and the sounds of splintering legs came from the victims. The zombies didn't exactly yell out in pain, but it was quite amusing to watch them fall in on themselves as their legs were amputated simultaneously by the rod. Quite a few of them dropped their weapons as they fell down, trying to catch themselves. The demon had already shifted into his next course of action, jumping up onto a table which had a rather expensive-looking machine on it. There was fuel of some sort in there, he could smell it; as well as many electrical wires.

It was this small machine that he lifted and hurled at a corner which was located as far from the living as possible in the confined space; he didn't want to catch them in the blast. Then the metal rod was thrown like a spear; piercing into the very core of the machine. There was a sizzling sound of a short circuit, and then it exploded with the force of a large bomb as fuel met sparks. The undead who were unlucky enough to be close were blasted apart, and a nasty crack sounded from the metal wall; quickly followed by sounds of straining metal as it collapsed from the force of the explosion. It was a ragged opening, but the hole had exposed the earth which surrounded this underground facility. The soil was packed together well, mostly clay it seemed. "I apologize for the property damage, but I assume you all value your lives above this ill-fated hideout. Now, if you have a machine which can dig; here is the entrance to your escape." He said pleasantly, stepping down from the table and he brushed debris from his shoulders.

To be honest, his ears were still ringing from the blast, and the living no doubt were feeling those affects of aftershock as well. But he'd granted them a possible escape; and that was what mattered, right? "If you have no such machine; just give me a shovel, or something similar, and I'll have a tunnel to the surface prepared in a few moments." Yes, he could break down walls, even crack sections of the ground itself through punches; he had done those before. But doing that could risk the makeshift tunnel collapsing on them as they fled. There was one other thing to say though. "If I am to dig this tunnel myself, I must request for none of you to enter until I am done; for your own safety. Covering the exit from these monsters would be helpful though." A voice suddenly came seemingly out of nowhere asking for the situation. He ignored it, as it hadn't been a question directed at him.

[Garrus Vakarian]

Garrus Vakarian
Now's our chance!

Garrus followed Sebastian and positioned himself in order to help the others cover the exit while the demon would work on digging them out of here. His weapon aimed and firing off three shots burst to any undead soldier that got too close for comfort to the exit. They were going to get out of here. He had to believe that.

[Elena]

Red Queen made no attempt to hack into Kira's Gundam and instead reacted immediately to the pilot's attempt at attacking Vulture's computers. A big fat red 'Access Denied!' would read on his monitor as he was shut out of their systems altogether before he could do any permanent damage.

Meanwhile those two minutes Sebastian needed to dig them out would become the longest two minutes of their lives as the mutated abominations came bursting out of the labs, their skin having hardened enough to withstand bullets and pointy sharp objects such as The Genius' daggers making them even more difficult to kill than the zombies in armor. To make matters worse the zombies who legs were amputated also mutated, growing several dozen tentacles to make up for the lack of mobility, allowing the zombies to keep firing and using the tentacles as extra arms, legs and weapons. Plus Imai looked like a Japanese school girl. This wasn't going to end well.

[Ayen]

"Imai. Whats the situation over there?"

“We're neck deep in shit, what about you?”

"I'm afraid not, M'lady. If I were to bring you all into the demon realm, your very being would be swallowed up by the void. It is a feasting ground, after all."

“You just couldn't have a teleporter device on you, could ya?”

“We'll have to find another way.”

"However, I can provide a temporary exit."

The three watched as the man went quick to work, meanwhile staying on their guard against the hoards and minding the dirt that was falling down on them from above thanks to the stealth bombers.

"I apologize for the property damage, but I assume you all value your lives above this ill-fated hideout. Now, if you have a machine which can dig; here is the entrance to your escape."

“Dammit! All of our things are inside the labs. We can't go back there and get them.”

"If you have no such machine; just give me a shovel, or something similar, and I'll have a tunnel to the surface prepared in a few moments."

“We don't even have a shovel...”

“I have no problem using my daggers to dig us out of here.”

"If I am to dig this tunnel myself, I must request for none of you to enter until I am done; for your own safety. Covering the exit from these monsters would be helpful though."

“Consider it done.”

Just as she finished those words the abominations came pouring out of the labs and the zombies on the ground began mutating from the damage caused by the demon. 201 and the soldiers by Genius side started firing as Olivia burst forward, appearing as nothing more than a narrow beam of red light, evading the tentacles and friendly fire as more explosion of slashes erupted through the air ripping the undead tentacle wielding soldiers apart to prevent them from mutating further.

Seeing that their bullets had no effect on the abominations that came out of the labs they turned their weapons on the others. Imai summoned up a gravitational pull through her biotics to hurl many of the undead soldiers into the air allowing her men to open fire on them freely before putting the abominations resistant to gunfire into stasis. They didn't have to kill them all. They merely needed to buy themselves some more time.

[Kragen]

"Freaks." Kragen switched to the HKG3, he was going to need to exchange caliber for overall fire power as one or two big shots wouldn't be enough for the numbers running against them. He joined in on the fire in eliminating the zombies that was suspended in the air while those resistant to their bullets were unable to move. Meanwhile also taking out any soldier that got too close to allow for the digging to be completed. Like the others the Ex-Soldier also had no intention on dying here. There was too much shit he still had to clean.

[sebastian]

His smile remained in place as he shrugged. "Then I'll simply do it by hand." He turned toward the hole in the wall, and stepped through into the small crater left in the earth by the explosion. Without looking back, he spoke again. "I shall return in exactly two minutes. Try not to die before then, and keep those things away from this exit please." He seemed to melt into the shadows as he re-entered the soul realm; the "Hunting Grounds", as he'd fondly nicknamed the place. It took little effort and under a second for him to shift to the place he needed to go. He allowed those shadows to swallow him again, and came into being in the middle of the place where some huge explosion had occurred. Acrid smoke still covered the ravaged area; rubble of destroyed buildings littered every inch. Of the ground. There were still some flames burning as well. But the place was also void of soldiers or civilian; he was alone here within the apocalyptic destruction. He took the watch out of his pocket and flipped it open; glancing at it. "1 minute, 59 seconds..." He murmured, returning the watch to his pocket.

His figure became blurred once again; flashing around the ravaged land as he gathered up any long strips of thick metal he could find in the rubble. Each ragged beam he found was approximately 7 feet long, and between 1 and 2 feet thick. He gathered a total of 60, which would be more than enough. All of those were strung together with any sort of chain or strong rope he'd been able to find. The demon then ran from the area, dragging the long line of scrap metal behind him until he left the last major area of the outskirts. Out here, grass stretched in every direction, and the houses were smaller and widely spaced. The demon checked his watch again. He now had a minute and twenty seconds to reach his goal. He could do it without much trouble. Picturing the triangle in his head, he performed some quick math. The HQ was 313 yards from where he stood; that target underground opening was straight below the center of the HQ, 102 yards. If he dug at a steady 25 degree angle, he'd meet the exit at 65 degrees; which meant the tunnel would be a little under 477 yards long.

With that in mind, the digging began. Dirt and clay flew out of the hole at blinding speed as he shifted into his demon form; pink eyes narrowed in concentration as his fingers extended into talons. Using one set of talons, he ripped effortlessly through the earth; creating long gouge marks in the ground as he carved his way through. The other hand had the talons hooked onto the chain which dragged the long line of beams behind him; into the depths. The darkness was unbroken, yet he could still see through it as those eyes gave off their own light. When the first crack appeared above his head, he instantly broke the chain which tied the first beam to the second; and jammed one end into the ceiling while the other end rested on the earth beneath his feet. As so it continued; all 477 yards. Whenever the roof began to break apart; he halted in his work to set up another support, occasionally using two just in case. All the while, he continued to drag the line of metal behind him. Finally, he sensed those poor trapped creatures just ahead; and the muffled sounds of battle continued. Things had gotten far worse in his absence apparently...

Satisfied, he returned to his normal form; pulling his gloved back on as the talons receded and the eyes became crimson once more. He grasped the rope he'd been holding; there were 9 unused beams which laid in a line behind him. He pulled back a fist, and plunged it into the thin layer of earth. It exploded inward; scattering hardened clay and dirt in all directions within what was left of the area. He didn't look as if he'd just dug a 477 yard tunnel; if the earth which clung to his butler clothing was ignored. He wasn't even short of breath, and appeared to be in a state of utter calm. "Exactly two minutes, and your escape route is ready." He jerked those last 9 beams out of the tunnel as he put away the watch; and swung the entire length of metal around like some giant whip. Undead within the length were caught and sent flying into the nearest walls, and he let go of the rope once it had all come out of the tunnel. The mass landed with an enormous clatter within the crowd of mutated monsters; and he turned back to those he was rescuing.

"This tunnel is 477 yards long, rising up at a 25 degree angle. You will find the exit places you a good distance away from the main part of Isafaro; though I wouldn't recommend lingering in the area once you're out. As of now, there are no civilians or soldiers lurking at the other end; unless they arrived within the past minute." He pointed a thumb over his shoulder at the scattered metal beams. "You will also find 51 of these supporting the ceiling where it is the weakest. I suggest you all bring the support down as you go through. If you collapse the tunnel behind you, your enemy will not be able pursue. However, you must all move with as much speed as possible. If a bombing occurs above the tunnel, there is no guarantee the beams will continue to support. I made sure to pass underneath an already bombed area; so hopefully the your enemy will not bomb there again." He reached into an inside pocket of his filthy tailcoat; drawing out three small LED flashlights. They looked rather beat up, but they were functional; and that was what mattered. "You will need these. I pulled them out of the same desecration from which the support beams came." He held the three small tools out, not really caring who took one.

[Kira Yamato]

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Kira never once stopped going through his Gundam's inner workings. As much as he didn't want to he'd have to cut a few systems for now. It wouldn't help anyone if he got there only to late to see it all in ruin. In a few more seconds he had it down and more power to the thrusters, but it was only a boost that would last until he got there. His eyes went to his laptop. So he hadn't been able to bring down their system, but at the very least he still had control of their com system and that was a start. He preset a few more programs to keep the AI at bay long enough to send out a reply. With shuttting everything down except the shields, the Voiture Lumière engines, and the Variable Phase Shift Armor, and the communication system all other non esstial systems were shut down providing a much needed boost. Cutting the total time to a minute and a half.

”I got caught up. Be there in a minute and a half.” he said although about two seconds had passed since he had said that, but it was the best he could do and for the moment the radio waves weren't jammed which helped things along greatly and he kept piling up the security on it. Eventually he knew it would fall, but before that he at least wanted some information instead of flying into this blind. ”Whats the situation on air cover?” he asked her even if the question did seem to come from nowhere. He still hadn't exactly told them he had been a pilot. There was Wedge if he was at the base if not he was it, it seemed. One minute twenty seconds. As soon as he had that answer and a reply he'd be ready to let the communications drop. Anyone who didn't already know at this point weren't likely to arrive in time to help anyway. He quickly put his laptop away and by that time it was down to thirty seconds. About the same time Sebastian was working on the tunnel. He just hoped there was something left to defend. By the time he arrived it took litteraly six seconds to get all systems running at normal capacities again as he tried to take out a few of the bomber splitting his rifles back into two to get more use out of them.

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Key: Person to post next
Song: Fields of Hope by Rie Tanaka
Key: Thoughts; Dialouge

[Garrus Vakarian]

The rebel turian started focusing on head shots against the enemies who could still fend for themselves. Providing cover against those that tried overwhelming the others as they were firing on the undead soldiers in the air. When Sebastian was finished digging Garrus kept his weapon raised and waited for Imai and the others to start going through before he would follow suit.

[Ayen]

"I got caught up. Be there in a minute and a half. Whats the situation on air cover?"

“You're on your own.”

Once the tunnel was prepared Imai, 201 and Genius were the first to go through it, followed by the soldiers that made it. Taking the tools that Sebastian handed to them and waiting for the others to follow suit before bringing the support down in order to trap the undead soldiers inside where they would soon be buried alive thanks to the bombing of the Vulture aircrafts.

[Kragen]

Kragen followed the others through the tunnel to the surface, his gun at the ready in case any of the enemies managed to slip through while they let down the support to collapse the enemy underground. Making it out to the other end, the Ex-Soldier looked up to the night's sky actually happy for once to see the darkness of the city up above as opposed to the darkness growing down below. He looked to the others, their next step uncleared as they now had no headquarters to work from. "What now?"

[sebastian]

Sebastian waited by the entrance to the tunnel; watching the undead with apparent disinterest. He wrinkled his nose against the overpowering stench, and was quite relieved when everyone else had ducked into the escape. He followed suit, squeezing past the others until he was at the lead. He could hear the crumbling of the tunnel as whoever was at the back brought down the support. He streaked ahead, leaving them behind; reaching the other end within a matter of seconds. When stepped out of the tunnel, he looked around suspiciously. This area still seemed deserted, the houses around him had all lights out. But even nature was unusually silent. He remained standing by the exit, his hands behind his back as he waited like a silent sentry; prepared to fight if something came up. He was facing the main part of Isafaro; and he could still hear those distant explosions as the underground facility continued to be bombed.

As he waited, he couldn't help but start to wonder at why he'd even bothered to save those people. Not a single one of them was under a contract with him; he would get no reward out of this, not a single soul to devour to satiate that hunger. Perhaps he had gone a bit soft... Other demons seemed to think so. Yes, he found it amusing to watch lesser beings fight amongst themselves for no good reason; humans in particular, because they were so dangerous. Yet here he was; having just saved a group from imminent harm. He did shelter a certain level of respect for courage and guts shown by humans, especially after all he'd witnessed them do throughout his long life. The fact that they had refused to give up down there had been impressive, so perhaps that was why he'd felt inclined to lend a hand.

He wasn't sure what these people would do next, but it would be interesting to observe. Maybe he'd follow them for a while, entertain himself. He was, after all, a bit bored. Without an active contract, he had so many options open to him; but it was all boring... Who knows? Maybe he'd run across a possible new master by following them. He'd already decide none of them had a soul which he'd be willing to work for until the feasting day. If he did pursue them though; it would be from a distance. He had no reason or desire to be directly involved in what they did; whatever it was. The demon shot a look at the tunnel exit, hearing the sounds of collapsing support come closer. It wasn't long before they finally appeared. He said nothing, just lurked slightly to the side of the group; not sure if they would need more help or not. He kept scanning the sky for approaching aircraft, but it all seemed clear... For the time being at least...

[Garrus Vakarian]

Garrus Vakarian
We keep moving.

Said the rebel turian as he caught up with the other surviving members of the Resistance from the underground HQ. They lost a lot of good people down there but thankfully they had enough to keep going on and the rest of their group was elsewhere where they could meet up later.

Garrus Vakarian
Find a place to hang our heads then regroup with the others in the morning.

[Elena]

Red Queen watched as the Resistance base was crushed, their numbers decreased rapidly and they had nowhere to call home as they would be hunted. Hunted like the wild animals that they are. Hearing that the mission objective was complete the VTOLs turned around and returned to HQ. A smile appeared on the avatar of the Red Queen as she oversaw the damage report from the previous battle.

It was going to be a good night.

[Kira Yamato]

Kira didn't exactly like that response, but as he arrived it seemed that the bombers were pulling out. He already had a shot on most of them. It would be so easy to pull the tigger and shot them down, but instead he slowly lowered his weapons letting the lock go. He couldn't shot them. They were already pulling out he wouldn't couldn't bring himself to shoot them like that. Enough lives had already been lost today and he had no desire to add to that list. He had taken two intentionally if not more from the shrapnel and debrsis from the ones he had shot down. Instead he closed his eyes. He still had work to do. He could rest later.

He picked up something on the screen and magnified it. Survivors? He quickly looked towards the entrance of the base. Anything there was long gone, but then he did see people from it he knew and one other. He gave one last look at the fleeing VTOLs before turning around and heading in the direction of the survivors. ”Imai. This is Kira. I'm coming up on your position outside the city. I'm in....” he paused sure she wouldn't know what the word Mobile Suit meant, so he tried another. ”I'm in an unusal looking aircraft. Don't open fire.” he said, but even if they did it would matter little. He didn't think any of them had the means to do any real damage. The term aircraft was crude however.

He made his way there in under a minute. ”Anywhere I can help?” he asked her instead. The initial damage would be bad. He knew that. He had to make it back out to the place he had left earlier today as well and see how much damage he had caused.

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Key: Person to post next
Song: Fields of Hope by Rie Tanaka
Key: Thoughts; Dialouge