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[Corman2030]

Orbital Lance fire came raining down upon the platform, the corridor around Cullen seemed to fall apart beneath his feet. He was on the move in an instant as the floor buckled and fell away. Cullen threw himself through the rent in the side of the security station and landed at the feet of a charred endoskeleton.

[Warmonger]

The android stopped at once, and scanned the human at his feet
//:lifeform.humanoid.sapien: Ident CULLEN
//:mission parameter dE50 activated
//:terminate

[Corman2030]

Pushing past E220, Cullen reached Miranda's side. "Come on, we're getting out of here. Toolbox, come give me a hand!"

[Keiya]

Miranda heaves in effort as her body struggles to stay together. With the rush of adrenals in her system, she finds strength - be it weary as ever - and digs in deeper to grasp it. Deactivating the alerts on her HUD, she growls. 'I know the status of my situation, damnit.' As they all deactivate, one comes alive once more. Before she deactivates it, she notices Cullen making his way towards her...and from the fire and debris of the engineering station an intimidating horror of metal and alloy. She realizes the alert is a targeting algorithm anomaly. "CULLEN. The android! It's targeting you!" She swings her rifle up, it's casing cracked, and racks off a trio of rounds towards the Android. 'I've got to get it's attention.'

Gabrial fires off a pair of hardly-aimed shots from his rifle. With the younger Reaper slung over his shoulder, his eyes search for a route out. The enemy horde had started move again, threatening to wash over and devour everything in their wake - like a slowly rolling wave of blue-green fire. Spotting a stairway to the upper level, he looks over his shoulder and spots the Android, Miranda, and Cullen. " This way! " His voice filled with a fire not previously shown. He was worried, for the first time ever.

Then the Orbital fire hit home. Cries of glass and wails of inhuman voices cried out as the orbital station rounds slammed into the ground. Celestia had released them and let their white-hot blobs do their worst. The blobs slammed into the ground, pulsed, released a shock wave, and then exploded in fire and molten steal. Waves of creature debris filled the air before being incinerated in the heat of the multiple explosions - There was no reformation of the creatures caught in the blasts.

The platform rocked back and forth before finally beginning it's collapse into the shaft below. The group had little time to evacuate.

===================

" They have awakened. "

" The cause? "

" The 'Relic.' "

" Mm.. as I feared. We should have never allowed them to house it."

" Our response? "

" Assemble the Harvesters. This time they shall not be imprisoned. "

[Corman2030]

Cullen, kicked out backwards at the approching android and ignited his plasma cutter into a blade of phosphorus white.

[Warmonger]

//:threat.assessment - Threat minimal/considerate.revise strategy
//:primary objective - perform essential repairs
//:all other objectives secondary

E220 assesses the situation and turns and promptly leaves, heading towards the engineering section where he can find tools to better repair himself and continue the hunt later

[Corman2030]

Cullen deactivated the cutter. "What the hell was that?" He looked back to Miranda and asked. "We have no time for droid with a screw loose, come on, I'm going to carry you up to evac. This is going to hurt!" Cullen hauled Miranda up over his shoulder, if not for his suits artificial strength, he never would have got her to budge. "Reapers, I've just got Miranda, headed for the stairwell."

[Keiya]

Miranda would have landed a fist in his face were it not for the lack of strength in her body. The adrenaline keeping her awake and aware was only enough to stand. She rocked her feet out from underneath her and brought her arms up over her head. " I can walk, damnit. " She stubbornly planted her feet and forced herself to hop-walk using him only as support.

Clearing the distance as quickly as he could with a fully armored Reaper over his shoulder, Gabriel darted towards the stairwell, opening fire as he moved to keep those creatures not caught in the blast at bay. The heat from the impacting orbital strikes had super-heated through the armor and seared the flesh from the surface of his arms. The suit had taken note and injected him with plenty of painkillers - he could tell by the wooziness of his head. He didn't speak as he came up behind Miranda and Cullen, only took note of their Commanders' Com.

" Reapers, we've encountered problems returning to Titan. Nebuchadnezzar, requesting support for ground-lift. Do you have a transport that can make a hot-pickup? " Seig was hanging out of the drop-door on the transport shuttle watching the moon as it was pelted with orbital fire. The screams of inhuman life forms filled the air. It was like watching his home burn....

Celestia appeared on his HUD. "Commander - Life-forms are not being neutralized. They are not reforming, but sensors are picking up increased 212 atmospheric readings. Currently calculating risks. "

Seig nodded to himself and took note of the blue-green haze that seemed to be filling the air. What the hell was this?

================

Back on the ground, a pair of slender, tall creatures tilted their heads as the group of four ran down the walkway. Quickly taking acceptance of the command rushing through their thoughts, they darted forward to intercept the group. 'Arms' morphing into elongated 'blades', they ran with them bouncing from the ground - the area they touched decaying and falling away as if thousands of years had passed within those specific sections in only an instant. As they neared the group, they darted in and out of sight, screeching with loud and frightening cries.

[Corman2030]

"Only trying to repay the favor Reaper," Cullen said as he let Miranda back to the floor. They had made there way to the stairwell and started the climb upwards when Cullen heard the shrieks of the creatures following them.

"Comander, we are being persued by the creature topside. That I don't care if the Neb has to land down here itself. If there is not a ride waiting, we wont last long in the open." Cullen transmitted. Stopping at the next landing, he fastened another explosive charge to the wall and set the detonator to proximity. "Double time Reapers, those things are fast and God knows I can't carry both of you!"

[Warmonger]

E220 reaches some form of armoury, and breaks in. Inside there are all manner of welding tools and equipment, and selecting some, he begins to cut and repair some of his damaged circuitry. Very carefully he removes his humanity protocol chips, tracking transponder and destroys them.

[Warmonger]

Spoiler

hello?

[Keiya]

A whirring screech of steel sounds through the air as the platform begins to collapse. Waves of energy pulse through the alloy plating beneath the inhabitants' feet as they try to move away from the enclosing waves of enemies upon them. The sky shifts in unison with the destruction as if it too were in writhing turmoil. Lightning begins to paint the sky, cascading across the thick atmosphere in lances before streaking towards the surface of the Moon. In the distance, the glassy cries of the monsters fill the air, screeching over the ripping and churning of the tearing platform.

Gabriel turns to watch the ground beneath a horde of the enemies close on their heels give way and cause them to go tumbling into the vast shaft below them. As the alloy begins to rapidly decay, he grits his teeth. " Damnit. We need...." Before he could finish the words, Miranda broke over the Static.

"Transport! 12:30!"

A marine transport ship hurdles towards the platform at breakneck speeds, the human pilot within focused on the edge of the platform, aiming to make a dock before the platform gives way. The side-door of the loader drops as he spins the transport around, slamming it abruptly against the framing of the platform. Gabriel and Miranda waste no time, turning, dragging their unconscious ally behind them and onto the ship. As Miranda steps on, she looks back and narrows her eyes at Cullen. " Get on the damn transport! " It was more concern than demanding.

=============================

On the station, Celestia continued to pelt Titan with streams of energy. The atmosphere of the planet began to shift and she could only calculate that the direct relation of the destroyed formations would effect the matter of Titan itself. As she released another volley of energy, her scanners picked up something exo-atmospheric. Her redundant processors sparked to life as they set off to obtain information : Space disruption fields.

Dotting the atmosphere above the moon, several tears began to form in streaks of lightening-purple. One after another, dozen upon dozen, massive golden shipps - sleek and elegant in design, came to be. There was no delay in their action as they began to populate around the planet. Tendrils of azure energy streaked from one ship to the next. Celestia soon realized that these ships were encompassing the entire moon.

" Attention : Level Black-Nine Alert : : -
Secondary contact has been established.
Titan has been targeted - Scale : Global.
Evacuate Titan at all costs."

She wasn't about the stop. As her scanners sat to work on reading the ships, she continued to pelt the 212 monstrosities with fire from space.

What was happening?

[Corman2030]

Cullen made his way on board the transport without a word. Beginning to cope with his emotions seemed like to great a feat at the moment, so he decided to start going over the compiled data that Celestia had gathered. As Cullen activated his datapad, he glanced up to see the Lieutenant Commander entering to troop compartment. "Thanks for the timely pickup Sir! What the hell is going on out there?"

[Warmonger]

The captain looks at the view screen in disbelief "what in god's name..."
"sir!" shouts one of the crew as the golden ships appear
"all hands, man battle stations. Executive order 32 is in effect. Purge the nav base and prepare the plasma coils. It's time these filthy aliens felt our wrath" and slowly the nebuchadnezzar powers towards them.

[Keiya]

Seig stepped aside, assisting Miranda onboard as the group made it into the transport. He felt the shuttle rock as rounds fired off from it's large auto-cannons. Beyond the group, his eyes locked on the view in disbelief of what was transpiring to Titan. He simply couldn't believe that this had been going on right beneath his nose. Were these monsters always here? Just as the door closed and the shuttle went to lift, he heard the chatter from the atmosphere.

" Shit. " He didn't know why, or how, but had an urge that they were about to be trapped. He turned and signaled to the pilot who simply nodded, fired off a rocket round into an enclosing wave of enemies, and lifted into the air. The entire shuttle rocked sickeningly left and right.

"Sir, what's going on? " Miranda rattled off. Her voice was weakening : She needed medical attention.

" Quiet. Robin, tend to her wounds. " Seig ordered as he turned to face Gabriel who had sat Ryan down. " Status? "

Gabriel stood up, the eye on the front of his helmet pulsing as it shifted to face his commander. " Heavy resistance. Unknown life forms. Kayle lost. Miranda heavily injured - Ryans' status currently unknown but alive. "

Seig shook his head - the thought that his team had been impacted like this... then again this was first contact. Should he be proud that they survived at all? Now wasn't that time for that. He watched as Robin kneeled down and removed a damaged plate of armor from Mirandas' suit. The skin-tight ballistics layer below was melded with her flesh and skin came with it as Robin removed that as well to tend to the first wound. It would be painful, but he knew Miranda had muted her Com by now and was forcing herself to not make a single movement - Such a strong warrior she had always been.

Robin worked at the wound and applied the available compounds to it before replacing the plate and allowing the suit to reseal it. "She's wounded like this in various places per her readouts. The armor is barely holding together, much-less assisting her. She's critical, sir."

Seig bit his tongue. Miranda wouldn't give up, he knew. He simply nodded and noticed that the pulsing light of Mirandas' 'eye' was fixed on his, flickering lightly. As he was about to have Robin check on Ryan, which she was already moving to do, Anders tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to see Anders simply pointing towards the atmosphere they were ascending to. Having broken through the clouds, they could see clearly what awaited.

Hundreds of golden dots specked the sky - lines of azure energy lanced from one to the next in a sort of webwork. He had no idea what these things were, but he had a feeling he could make it out. As soon as his mind set on the web they were caught in, a flash of light caught his eye and the alert from the transport rang out.

The ship was struck with a glancing blow, tossing it off into a wide pitch - A warning shot. They weren't going to be allowed off planet. He cursed under his breath as Celestia came into view on his HUD. " Seig, Unidentified ships have encompassed Titan. I am unable to get a reading on their purpose, but it looks as if they are quarantining the moon. All attempts to evacuate the engineers from the other platforms have resulted in the shuttles being shot down. Suggest finding a location to set down. "

He couldn't believe it. "Have we attempted to contact them? "
"Yes. No return contact. Not even sure we're making through."
"Readouts on their make?"
"None."
"Anything useful?"
"Yes - The Nebuchadnezzar...has enacted 'Order 32'. We'll see how these new ships hold up to direct fire."

Something welled up as he smirked : 'Well, at least we can piss someone else off. This will be a good start to Alien contact from the human race.'

[Warmonger]

The nebuchadnezzar silently screams through the void, her teeth bared, and her plasma coils humming in anticipation. She draws to a slow crawl, and then azure tongues of blue fire erupt from her cannons, spearing straight for - and into - any and all of the nearest golden ships.

[Keiya]

As the lances of energy spilled out from The Nebuchadnezzar, the very matter around the blasts distorted and left trails of burnt matter in their wakes like shimmering trails of rain - crystalline reminders of dust in space having been glassed. As the lances impacted the large golden ships, they vanished beneath the wash. As the blasts illuminated the scene, the blinding light faded to show the shimmering ships still intact - Shields shimmered around them, flickered, and then erupted like shattering glass. From this shattering, beams of energy recoiled and fired back at The Nebuchadnezzar. These return fire rounds streaked through space, arching and changing direction randomly - something unheard of for energy based weapons.

[Corman2030]

So, what's are move here Commander?

[Warmonger]

"EVASIVE MANOUVRES NOW!" the captain screams, and the nebuchadnezzar fires all retros, aiming to avoid the blasts

[Keiya]

Seig turns slowly towards Cullen and sets the eye of his visor upon him. "That's a damn good question. From the video feed, we're dealing with something we've never seen before. It's a damn bloody first encounter. " He feels the shuttle shift to lower and level out.

" I'm heading for the Omegarius Mountain range. Command indicates that it does not show any activity. " The pilot announced.

Seig waved in acknowledgment over his shoulder and shook his head. " It's a damn irritating situation. We're ill-prepared for this. I'm at a loss. We need to get back to command, but with those ships in orbit we're stranded."

Celestia appeared in the Hud of the team as a whole - a look of concerned scribed across her face. "We're looking for a way to extract you. The spread of the creatures are a global thread. They have already encompassed 38.2% of Titan. The ships in orbit seem to only be attacking that which comes off of the planet or attacks, but doesn't seem to retaliate into a full-on attack. All ships which have opened fire have been disabled at most... I can't get a bead on what's happening, to be honest. They have returned no contact."

Seig blinked, lower his head in thought. "Hm...Anyone have any ideas?"

============================

The reflected shot from the strange human ship rocked the shimmering shields of the Kora-Loae' Cruiser. As the shields fell, the proton accelerators reversed the absorbed energy and fired it back towards the attacking human ship. The Cheif Operator in charge of the defenses winced at the display 'Those are strong' he thought to himself as he amplified the shielding. Certification for the increase came through and he applied them accordingly. He watched the ship evade the shot and exhaled slowly. 'Good.' he thought as he set to work on the particle field encompassing the grave.

Behind him, their captain sat - Her leg crossed over her opposite bent knee, thumb nail between teeth as she chewed on it in boredom. she was the restless type and these quarantine operations drove her to the brink of insanity. At the name of their enemy, a fire had ignited in her youthful heart that drove her to the chase of Glory. She was one of the first, if not the first, ship-master among the council to volunteer for the operation. Her crew would never question her motives, but they knew the enemy they were facing was an ancient and dangerous one. Her logistics cruiser was being put right in the line of fire now.

"Do we have an update on translating the Human language?"
"60% Pooling data from historical information being gathered from stray communication links."
"Good. If I get shot again, I'm annihilating that ugly ship."

She listened to her voice reverberate from the sleek, seamless contours of the command cabin before closing her slip-pupil eyes behind luminescent purple colored lids. The traditional war-paint of her family smeared across her face in blotches which lingered into sharp streaks over her lips.