Red Sands (Closed, IC)

[bowiespoon]

The Constable stared up at his captor, his expression bleak. He knew what was about to happen.

He was strapped down in a chair, with a table full of tools set out nearby. None of them were torture implements, specifically, but with a little creativity they might as well be. Despite what media would have the masses believe, nobody can really resist torture. It was inevitable that they'd pry their answers from him one way or another, so it was pointless to resist.

Besides, if his body was damaged from their interrogation, how would he be able to get revenge?

 

"Alright," he said with a grimace, "No need for this to get messy. I'll tell you where we found it."

[bowiespoon]

((I'm still confused about who Bojaun is and whatever happened to Svytoj))

[EscortAlpha]

2 hours ago, bowiespoon said:

The Constable stared up at his captor, his expression bleak. He knew what was about to happen.

He was strapped down in a chair, with a table full of tools set out nearby. None of them were torture implements, specifically, but with a little creativity they might as well be. Despite what media would have the masses believe, nobody can really resist torture. It was inevitable that they'd pry their answers from him one way or another, so it was pointless to resist.

Besides, if his body was damaged from their interrogation, how would he be able to get revenge?

 

"Alright," he said with a grimace, "No need for this to get messy. I'll tell you where we found it."

((I'm still confused about who Bojaun is and whatever happened to Svytoj))

Bojaun stared at the console, mind still racing from the events of the day.

{...Your replacement Frost Prime is complete, Operative...}Ambassa said.
"Thanks." Bojaun said, making his way over to the foundry. He quickly discarded the Chroma back into the arsenal, taking out the newly minted warframe.

{...Quite a mess you got into with your other self and that Constable. Interesting way you managed to talk him down...}

"Didn't think I had many options, given the state I was in." He said, slipping into the white and green Frost.
{...My only question is, if you were so forthcoming with him, why did you deny who you were?...}
"well, Ambassa." Bojaun said, walking back to the console. "I personlly think you don't claim to be someone. you either are..." He leaned against the console.

"Or you aren't." Svytoj said, hands still pressed against the console. "wonder if the Constable will ever come to that concussion."
{...What makes you think he's still alive?...}
"I'm not the only capable of subterfuge, Dear Cephalon. Not. Even. Close." Svytoj, Bojaun, replied.

((It's all a matter of perspective.))

Edited October 26, 2017 by EscortAlpha

[souldrive11]

On 10/21/2017 at 8:25 PM, rabbitsandroses said:

"Yep, seems like the best thing for me to do. See ya around, hopefully." He said, giving a quick nod and taking off again in his Elytron, an impressive blast of engine fire trailing behind him.
"{Hey,}" he said, contacting Arya and Mia over comms, "{Save some of the fun for me, yeah?}"

On 10/23/2017 at 5:55 AM, EscortAlpha said:

"{M͢iá. ̴A̧ri͘a. I d̵o͝n't͡ kno͘w̛ ̷ho̢w͡ much͡ ͝l̢i͜ke ̧Pl͞ut͏o ͞t͠h͝is wil̛l͘ p̡l̵ay͜ ̶óu̵t̨,͏ ͞Bu̴t͝ thi͜s̀ may͟ ̢b̶e ̢ou͘r͞ ̴la̕st͠ ͢sḩơt tǫ f͘i̧n͏d ҉ǫut͜ ͏wh̡o o̢ur̕ m͘ys͘t̸er͘y ͘f̡a͡ct̢ion i͘s͏.̶}" He said, Moving over to the foundry as he plugged in some new instructions.
"{I'͟m ͢nơt͝ ̸a͟ski͠n͝g͏ f̵ór ͞aņy ͏p̢ro͞m͏i҉s̶és, ̀but ̀i͟f̸ ͜y̵o̶u ca̕n̵, ̕I͘ ́ẃa̵n͝t ͟t͜he̛ir leader̨ ALIV͏E: Ȩv̢eryone ͢els̸e ̶is ̢ ͘fair̵ ga̕me.́ ͘T̨h̶is͜ sh͏a̷d̀ow ͠wa̛r ͡of t҉ḩe͘i̧r̶s ͜has̀ ̵go̸n͞e ̕on͢ ͜LON͘G eno͠ugh.}" The foundry spun up, quickly beginning work on milling a new Frost.
"{Sh̷ort̸ o̷f th̢at, ͞Let'̶ş ͠g͠e̶t͠ ̨r̶eady ͏f͠o̕r ͞r̷o͢und̕ ̀T͢wo̸...͢}"

"As long as you don't end up between me and the guy on the other end, you can have all the fun you like~" Aria replies at Leveret with cheer that would unnerve even the most oblivious grunt, her void whip detaching off her Scimitar as she clears the red planet's thermosphere and she continues blaring off towards the tower.

[...whether the people in charge will want to be taken alive though is another thing entirely...] the radio taps out quietly over the comms, the Nyx staying in the Valkyr's shadow as they continue their approach.

Edited October 26, 2017 by souldrive11

[rabbitsandroses]

13 hours ago, souldrive11 said:

"As long as you don't end up between me and the guy on the other end, you can have all the fun you like~" Aria replies at Leveret with cheer that would unnerve even the most oblivious grunt, her void whip detaching off her Scimitar as she clears the red planet's thermosphere and she continues blaring off towards the tower.

[...whether the people in charge will want to be taken alive though is another thing entirely...] the radio taps out quietly over the comms, the Nyx staying in the Valkyr's shadow as they continue their approach.

Leveret chuckled, his archwing leaving a trail of orange-gray smoke as he followed Aria's trajectory, still finding her excitement rather contagious. After the seemingly endless (and fruitless) treks through the town, he was looking forward to some combat. "You ever take a ride in a grineer boarding pod? Seems like something you'd enjoy, Aria."

[bowiespoon]

High above the surface of mars, the ancient orokin vessel awaited them. As the tenno neared, the ship gave no indication that it had spotted them.

Edited October 29, 2017 by bowiespoon

[EscortAlpha]

53 minutes ago, bowiespoon said:

High above the surface of mars, the ancient orokin vessel awaited them. As the tenno neared, the ship gave no indication that it had spotted them.

The Patchwork ship nimbly glided towards the tower. It hung there in space, flurries data cutting through the air space as it worked to hail the old orokin ship.

<E2[l+APj173GT&<Dt#.9isb*;GpUk+B;?3<?P=7:IH=-927r!;*duG+B)0,<$5"(8OO\&92&&&;H#tM+BV$18g$Gs5sZVd<^ok-<)#bW+@T%+7Nbi/<^n3(6;U#l92\Mg+B1]q7Nbi,>$2t<>!Y\%91)`Q+@KC%=Wg::6W"t#6;gc*;c$1V

1 minute ago, bowiespoon said:

((Oh dear. Someone's gonna have to tell me what that means, because I knowledge of encoding messages doesn't really extend past enigma machines and binary :| ))

((ASCII85))

Edited October 29, 2017 by EscortAlpha

[bowiespoon]

((Oh dear. Someone's gonna have to tell me what that means, because my knowledge of encoding messages doesn't really extend past enigma machines and binary :| ))

Edited October 29, 2017 by bowiespoon

[bowiespoon]

18 minutes ago, EscortAlpha said:

The Patchwork ship nimbly glided towards the tower. It hung there in space, flurries data cutting through the air space as it worked to hail the old orokin ship.

<E2[l+APj173GT&<Dt#.9isb*;GpUk+B;?3<?P=7:IH=-927r!;*duG+B)0,<$5"(8OO\&92&&&;H#tM+BV$18g$Gs5sZVd<^ok-<)#bW+@T%+7Nbi/<^n3(6;U#l92\Mg+B1]q7Nbi,>$2t<>!Y\%91)`Q+@KC%=Wg::6W"t#6;gc*;c$1V

The ship gave no indication it received the message, but a light briefly lit up on the outside of the ship before shutting off again.

Edited October 29, 2017 by bowiespoon

[bowiespoon]

Meanwhile, undetected by tenno sensors, A grineer ship burst back into orbit, landing a few miles away from tombstone. Two figures on the ground were already waiting when it arrived.

It landed slowly, kicking up sand as it descended. By the time the dust had settled, its crew had already disembarked.

"You needed our help with something?" Abigail asked calmly, though there was an undercurrent of anxiety in her words.

"Indeed," J'Taav replied, "Our reluctant friend here-" he beckoned to the Constable, who had his hands bound behind his back. "-Is going to show us the long sought-after location of the Heir. We're going to need some extra hands extracting and protecting it as we transfer it somewhere secure."

At the mention of the Heir, Abigail suddenly grew tense, her hands clenching into fists. But before anyone could comment on this, Marcus spoke up.

"Alright, I've been following Abigail here on blind faith for long enough. What is going on here, and who is this Heir you're talking about?" he said, trying to wrap his head around what was going on.

J'Taav glanced at him, sighing heavily, but there was amusement in his voice when he next spoke.

"Another one huh? You tenno are really drawn to us like flies to honey."

"Maybe if everything you did wasn't shady as all hell, you wouldn't have that problem," Marcus said testily, "But you're avoiding my question."

J'Taav let out a bark of laughter, motioning for the Constable to start walking.

"While I don't have nearly enough time to explain the power struggle that is taking place here, I can tell you about the Heir. But we should get moving - I don't wanna get to the site only to find that someone beat us to it."

As the Constable - at the prodding of Sarah, who held one of her vipers to his back - led them forward, J'Taav began to explain exactly what the Heir was to Marcus.

[EscortAlpha]

On 10/29/2017 at 2:03 AM, bowiespoon said:

The ship gave no indication it received the message, but a light briefly lit up on the outside of the ship before shutting off again.

The Patchwork ship moved towards the tower, it trajectory directly towards the lights point of origin.
"Maybe... just maybe this will work..." The man behind the console grumbled coldly, the clean red cloak hovering on his shoulders as he watched the looming ship.

[bowiespoon]

11 hours ago, EscortAlpha said:

The Patchwork ship moved towards the tower, it trajectory directly towards the lights point of origin.
"Maybe... just maybe this will work..." The man behind the console grumbled coldly, the clean red cloak hovering on his shoulders as he watched the looming ship.

The light blinked again, and this time something pulsed across the orokin vessel. All docking platforms closed up as the ship neared, and all batteries suddenly came online, aimed at the ship.

Clearly, the Hierarchy weren't interested in phantom armies.

"Unauthorized vessel, you have sixty seconds to vacate this restricted space before we are forced to open fire." The message crackled over the patchwork ship's comms.

Edited October 30, 2017 by bowiespoon

[EscortAlpha]

39 minutes ago, bowiespoon said:

The light blinked again, and this time something pulsed across the orokin vessel. All docking platforms closed up as the ship neared, and all batteries suddenly came online, aimed at the ship.

Clearly, the Hierarchy weren't interested in phantom armies.

"Unauthorized vessel, you have sixty seconds to vacate this restricted space before we are forced to open fire." The message crackled over the patchwork ship's comms.

"{The Tenno are at your doorstep. And in 30 seconds, you'll have to decide if you really want to go toe to toe with them without the aid of someone versed in their ways.}"  the mans voice crackled over the COMMs, His ship hovering just at the precipice of the restricted Zone. "{Or perhaps you'd rather that Frost does to your leader what He did to the Inquisition's?}"

Edited October 30, 2017 by EscortAlpha

[bowiespoon]

1 hour ago, EscortAlpha said:

"{The Tenno are at your doorstep. And in 30 seconds, you'll have to decide if you really want to go toe to toe with them without the aid of someone versed in their ways.}"  the mans voice crackled over the COMMs, His ship hovering just at the precipice of the restricted Zone. "{Or perhaps you'd rather that Frost does to your leader what He did to the Inquisition's?}"

The comms channel was abruptly closed, leaving the intruder with nothing but silence and an awful lot of guns pointed at his ship. Though he had no way of knowing, the edge of the 'restricted space' was actually the optimal firing distance of the orokin ship.

Edited October 30, 2017 by bowiespoon

[souldrive11]

On 10/26/2017 at 2:29 PM, rabbitsandroses said:

Leveret chuckled, his archwing leaving a trail of orange-gray smoke as he followed Aria's trajectory, still finding her excitement rather contagious. After the seemingly endless (and fruitless) treks through the town, he was looking forward to some combat. "You ever take a ride in a grineer boarding pod? Seems like something you'd enjoy, Aria."

On 10/29/2017 at 1:56 AM, bowiespoon said:

High above the surface of mars, the ancient orokin vessel awaited them. As the tenno neared, the ship gave no indication that it had spotted them.

"*In* one? tried it once, too tame for me~" Aria replies, the implication being that riding inside one is not the only way that she's traveled in those drop pods.

[...we should consider checking for gaps in their sensors befor-]

[Nope, tired of that; we're going in HOT~!] Aria's tinged voice shouts over the comms.

Her Elytron's signature lights up like a Christmas tree, before unleashing a veritable barrage of projectiles at the tower before accelerating to battle speed. At least a dozen missiles and four of the HE warheads now tear through the vacuum straight towards the nearest excuse for a hanger door.

[...e we start...] Mentally sighing, the Nyx's thrusters rev up to keep pace behind the agitated and hungry Valkyr.

[EscortAlpha]

On 10/26/2017 at 1:29 PM, rabbitsandroses said:

Leveret chuckled, his archwing leaving a trail of orange-gray smoke as he followed Aria's trajectory, still finding her excitement rather contagious. After the seemingly endless (and fruitless) treks through the town, he was looking forward to some combat. "You ever take a ride in a grineer boarding pod? Seems like something you'd enjoy, Aria."

43 minutes ago, souldrive11 said:

"*In* one? tried it once, too tame for me~" Aria replies, the implication being that riding inside one is not the only way that she's traveled in those drop pods.

[...we should consider checking for gaps in their sensors befor-]

[Nope, tired of that; we're going in HOT~!] Aria's tinged voice shouts over the comms.

Her Elytron's signature lights up like a Christmas tree, before unleashing a veritable barrage of projectiles at the tower before accelerating to battle speed. At least a dozen missiles and four of the HE warheads now tear through the vacuum straight towards the nearest excuse for a hanger door.

[...e we start...] Mentally sighing, the Nyx's thrusters rev up to keep pace behind the agitated and hungry Valkyr.

"{Well I guess we're doin' this now!}" Svytoj said over the line. he quickly strapped into his Itzal, waiting in the launch bay of his Mantis for an opportunity to make the jump.
"{So, how many walkin' keychain's do ya think'll be on this Ship?}"
________________________________________________________________

6 hours ago, bowiespoon said:

The comms channel was abruptly closed, leaving the intruder with nothing but silence and an awful lot of guns pointed at his ship. Though he had no way of knowing, the edge of the 'restricted space' was actually the optimal firing distance of the orokin ship.

The Patchwork ship was still hovering at the outer edge, The man inside now fixated on Tenno making their break for the Orokin Tower.
"{My my, Here come Fuzz....}" The man hissed over the COMMs. "{I certainly hope you have some of those cannons pointed at the motley crew intent on turning your troops into a vermilion paste.}"
"Are you not concerned about them obliterating our Ship?" Diastol questioned, it's Helios hovering pensively.
"Just enjoy the show, Diastol. just enjoy..." Systol replied, It's Carabus floating lazily next to the man.

[bowiespoon]

1 hour ago, souldrive11 said:

"*In* one? tried it once, too tame for me~" Aria replies, the implication being that riding inside one is not the only way that she's traveled in those drop pods.

[...we should consider checking for gaps in their sensors befor-]

[Nope, tired of that; we're going in HOT~!] Aria's tinged voice shouts over the comms.

Her Elytron's signature lights up like a Christmas tree, before unleashing a veritable barrage of projectiles at the tower before accelerating to battle speed. At least a dozen missiles and four of the HE warheads now tear through the vacuum straight towards the nearest excuse for a hanger door.

[...e we start...] Mentally sighing, the Nyx's thrusters rev up to keep pace behind the agitated and hungry Valkyr.

The hangar doors are blown open, creating a gap large enough for a tenno in an archwing to slip through. The guns on the ship quickly swiveled around to begin firing on Mia and Aria.

11 minutes ago, EscortAlpha said:

"{Well I guess we're doin' this now!}" Svytoj said over the line. he quickly strapped into his Itzal, waiting in the launch bay of his Mantis for an opportunity to make the jump.
"{So, how many walkin' keychain's do ya think'll be on this Ship?}"
________________________________________________________________

The Patchwork ship was still hovering at the outer edge, The man inside now fixated on Tenno making their break for the Orokin Tower.
"{My my, Here come Fuzz....}" The man hissed over the COMMs. "{I certainly hope you have some of those cannons pointed at the motley crew intent on turning your troops into a vermilion paste.}"
"Are you not concerned about them obliterating our Ship?" Diastol questioned, it's Helios hovering pensively.
"Just enjoy the show, Diastol. just enjoy..." Systol replied, It's Carabus floating lazily next to the man.

"Civilian vessel, if you do not immediately proceed to evacuate the area, you will be presumed to be a hostile, and we will be forced to open fire." the voice said over the comms, not sounding the slightest bit rattled by the imminent tenno assault.

[bowiespoon]

On 10/29/2017 at 4:43 AM, bowiespoon said:

Meanwhile, undetected by tenno sensors, A grineer ship burst back into orbit, landing a few miles away from tombstone. Two figures on the ground were already waiting when it arrived.

It landed slowly, kicking up sand as it descended. By the time the dust had settled, its crew had already disembarked.

"You needed our help with something?" Abigail asked calmly, though there was an undercurrent of anxiety in her words.

"Indeed," J'Taav replied, "Our reluctant friend here-" he beckoned to the Constable, who had his hands bound behind his back. "-Is going to show us the long sought-after location of the Heir. We're going to need some extra hands extracting and protecting it as we transfer it somewhere secure."

At the mention of the Heir, Abigail suddenly grew tense, her hands clenching into fists. But before anyone could comment on this, Marcus spoke up.

"Alright, I've been following Abigail here on blind faith for long enough. What is going on here, and who is this Heir you're talking about?" he said, trying to wrap his head around what was going on.

J'Taav glanced at him, sighing heavily, but there was amusement in his voice when he next spoke.

"Another one huh? You tenno are really drawn to us like flies to honey."

"Maybe if everything you did wasn't shady as all hell, you wouldn't have that problem," Marcus said testily, "But you're avoiding my question."

J'Taav let out a bark of laughter, motioning for the Constable to start walking.

"While I don't have nearly enough time to explain the power struggle that is taking place here, I can tell you about the Heir. But we should get moving - I don't wanna get to the site only to find that someone beat us to it."

As the Constable - at the prodding of Sarah, who held one of her vipers to his back - led them forward, J'Taav began to explain exactly what the Heir was to Marcus.

"This can't be happening. They can't be serious." Marcus thought numbly, following behind the others. "I.... I can't just let them walk off with this... Heir...."

He continued to walk in silence, his mind spinning with the implications of what he'd just been told.

"I've got to stop them. I can't just let that kind of power fall into the hands of someone I bareli know."

Taking out Sarah and the grineer would be the obvious choice. He didn't know why Sarah wasn't in a warframe, but it would left her incredibly vulnerable. Marcus would take advantage of this. Besides, the two of them still had some pretty nasty weapons on them. The longer they were able to fire them, the worse his chances got. Abigail would be trickier, but if he could blind her before she could draw those regulator pistols, he reckoned he could take her down without much trouble. And the Constable..... well, Marcus didn't see what he'd be able to do with his hands bound and his weapons confiscated. Unless he tried to kick Marcus to death or something equally ridiculous, he'd try to avoid hurting him.

With his conscience weighing heavily on him, Marcus followed the others to their destination.

.......................................................

"Kill Marcus, Sarah, and the Constable, but leave J'Taav alive. I have need of him." the thought came abruptly in Abigail's mind, but once there, she found herself unable to be rid of it. In fact, the more she thought about it the more it seemed like the logical thing to do.

Marcus would be her first target. Once Abigail got her shatter shield up, there was very little the others could do to harm her. The fact that he was in a warframe was troublesome, but a few rounds from her pistols would punch through it as if it were paper. Sarah had to go next - too many unknowns about her fighting capabilities. The Constable would be trivial, and from what Abigail knew of J'Taav, he didn't seem like the type to get his own hands dirty. She suspected that he would surrender quickly enough once the others were dead.

With her plan set, she eyed the others warily for any indication that they might have picked up on her intentions.

........................................................

The Constable worked furiously at his bonds, though to the others it would appear as if he cooperating with his captors. Fortunately, his bonds weren't terribly strong - some old rope from one of the nearby houses had been all they were able to secure on short notice. It wouldn't take long for him to break out of them. Once he was free, he'd try to take to disarm the kid. Once he had a weapon, he'd attempt to fight his way out. But in order to do that, he had to remain alive. And if they felt that he was leading them on a wild goosechase, the Constable had little doubt that they'd simply put a bullet through his head.

So for now he lead them to the Heir, plotting his escape.

.........................................................

J'Taav smiled under his mask. Everything was going to plan.

 

[bowiespoon]

In a liset located far from either group, Rose watched both the boarding party and the group on the surface intensely.

Edited October 31, 2017 by bowiespoon

[bowiespoon]

Back at Deadwood, the skies began to darken as hundreds of grineer dropships descended upon the settlements. The second the soldiers they were carrying touched the ground, they began to indiscriminately fire upon the inhabitants, cutting down man, woman, and child alike. No quarter was given, no surrenders accepted.

The grineer had returned to protect their property.

 

((Sorry to the guys in crashed and burned for the mispost. ))

Edited November 1, 2017 by bowiespoon

[Daakjenaar]

(Mind if I hop back in with Efahz for this event to show how he appeared in Crashed and Burned and do a bit of fleshing out?)

Edited November 1, 2017 by Daakjenaar

[bowiespoon]

((Sure))

[Daakjenaar]

44 minutes ago, bowiespoon said:

Back at Deadwood, the skies began to darken as hundreds of grineer dropships descended upon the settlements. The second the soldiers they were carrying touched the ground, they began to indiscriminately fire upon the inhabitants, cutting down man, woman, and child alike. No quarter was given, no surrenders accepted.

The grineer had returned to protect their property.

 

((Sorry to the guys in crashed and burned for the mispost. ))

Efahz woke at the sound of gunfire, and scrambled to his feet, grabbing his weapons. He holstered the Lecta as he ran, keeping his Lanka in his left hand (not in any position to fire), and his Lato in his right hand to pick off any oncoming Lancers. He moved between any cover hiding him from the invasion force, and ran desperately when he saw a chance to move. He didn't have a plan to escape Deadwood, and the sounds of shrieks and gunfire didn't do much to help his thought process.

[bowiespoon]

7 minutes ago, Daakjenaar said:

Efahz woke at the sound of gunfire, and scrambled to his feet, grabbing his weapons. He holstered the Lecta as he ran, keeping his Lanka in his left hand (not in any position to fire), and his Lato in his right hand to pick off any oncoming Lancers. He moved between any cover hiding him from the invasion force, and ran desperately when he saw a chance to move. He didn't have a plan to escape Deadwood, and the sounds of shrieks and gunfire didn't do much to help his thought process.

A napalm fired off an incendiary round at one of the nearby tents, and the whole thing went up in flames. Everywhere Efahz looked, there were grineer swarming and methodically cutting down civilians.

[Daakjenaar]

15 minutes ago, bowiespoon said:

A napalm fired off an incendiary round at one of the nearby tents, and the whole thing went up in flames. Everywhere Efahz looked, there were grineer swarming and methodically cutting down civilians.

He knew his pistol wouldn't do too much, and he was too close to use hos sniper. He stayed out of sight, desperately looking for a method of escape. An unattended dropship, discarded vehicle, anything that could get away from this slaughter. He hyperventilated for a few moments, before collecting himself and making a dash to better cover.