Foreign Interest

[Shmibli7]

Twice in his life had he witnessed the rise and fall of planetary powers, twice had he been forced into the horrors of war. He was more than acquainted with the bloodshed and destruction that conflict inevitably brought with it. He himself was even, at times, an agent of that bloodshed, selling his services as a hired gun to any planetary state with the right price and manifesto. But, as mercenary Alexi Talis peered from the window of the landing craft he shared with his unit of Private Military Contractors and other assorted assassins fetched from all corners of the Lylat System, he could hardly believed what he saw.

Far beneath the behemoth aircraft lie the sacked and destroyed ruins of Corneria City. Mammoth skyscrapers which once towered above the metropolis now lie crumbled across scorched concrete. Bridges struggled to maintain the weight they held, what with large portions of them being blown to smithereens.

He shook his head to himself as he stared at the carnage in disbelief. How could Venom have launched such a formidable attack? How could Corneria not be prepared to defend themselves against it? 

Talis sighs to himself as he remembers the phone call he received from his Cornerian handler two days prior, a call telling him that the capital had been attacked by Venomian forces and that the majority of city had been destroyed in the process. The Cornerian central govenment had all but shattered and now only the surviving members of the CDF had any sort of plan. 

The aforementioned military organization was formulating a plan to take the city back but lacked the manpower to do so by themselves, so a call had been sent to many mercenary units across the system to work in conjunction with them in order to oust the Venomian occupation.

So, here he was, sitting with his band of low-rent headhunters in a crowded ship headed for a secure location where they would be debriefed by Cornerian General Pepper on what their part in this debacle would be.

To his right sat his best friend and joint leader of his mercenary detachment, Rolling Thunder, a grey fox by the name of Richard Udolov. He said nothing as he combed through an obscure Macbethian pulp novel.

Along the back wall sat the other two members of his squad, a Fisher named Tyler Udesku, who was currently wringing his hands nervously as he surveyed the motley crew of the drop ship and Martin Rush, a teenage cheetah who was sitting with his eyes closed, a pair of earbuds blasting a classic rock song.

Alexi moved his gaze from his team to the merc situated across from him. Bored from the drab flight and eager to know about the men and women he would soon be serving beside, he decides to initiate a conversation.

"Looks like the Cornerians have gotten themselves into deep trouble this time." He says.

[Snys93]

Ansam Sonderust sat strapped to his seat, tapping his fingers upon his thigh high holster that carried his 50 caliber desert eagle. He then reached behind him and retrieved a bag of chips, SUN CHIPS cheddar cheese.

"Y'all a chatty bunch. That's for damn sure."

[Tiger Carson]

"Careful how you use that language." Zera Carson, a female siberian tiger, who was part of the Star Tiger team, said to Alexi. "Some of us come from this world." She along with her team, Tiger Carson, the leader who was a male siberian tiger and Zera's brother, Hawk, the rude fly boy male red tailed hawk, Jeena, the ace pilot female oriental dragon, Copper, the wise veteran male great horned owl, and Kola, the stealth expert female American red squirrel, with Zera herself as the mechanic expert, were along for this mission.  Due to the circumstances of the current situation, they weren't able to bring their Arwings.  Of course, those high performance machines would attract a lot of attention.  Which, once they got back to the Sanctuary Tiger, they would most certainly be deployed for the purposes of distraction.

It wasn't like the team needed their ships at the moment though, they could handle things well enough.  Each one was armed with a standard side blaster on their thighs, as for the primary weapons, each one suited what they specialized most in.  Tiger had his assault blaster strapped to his back, while Hawk had a pair of rapid fire blasters holstered on his back.  Copper meanwhile had a DMR (Designated Marksmen Rifle) strapped to his back, though his was more of an older model to fit his sense of old fashion, which included a six shot revolver where a blaster would have been.  Jeena meanwhile, like Tiger, had an assault blaster on her back.  Meanwhile, Kola had the longest weapon, a sniper rifle that looked like it could shoot .50 cal rounds, though it was designed for something bigger that would be better suited for a tank emplacement.  Finally, there was Zera, who had the high ordinance weapon of the SPNKR variety rocket launcher.  One thing was for sure, she loved to make some noise.  In fact, she had said to the officer her team reported to "Sergent Zera A. Blow-the-Hell-out-of-your-Venomian-ass Carson, reporting for duty!" To say the least, it got a good chuckle out of the officer.

Tiger then heard Ansam speak, and gave him a stern look. "We're in a pretty grim situation." He said, "Forgive us, if we don't feel up for chatting much.  Some of us had friends and family down there..."

[Snys93]

"Well, excuse me," he said taking a mouthful of chips, "it's tough, its brutal and downright sickening. But chu' what, those people ain't comin' back. Death is why we're here and to deal death in the same manner. It ain't pretty, but it's a universal truth. Evil begets evil."

The tall, brash and dare anyone say handsome GermanShepherd brushed his crumbs back in the bag off of his long jacket and back into the bag without hitting the deck. He may have been an asshole, but he wasn't a barbarian. Ansam then removed a thick rolled cigar. "Anyone mind if I light up?" he asked looking around, holding his box of matches he swiped from a casino floor.

[Shmibli7]

Alexi bit his lip upon hearing Zera's rebuke. Only a few minutes into this insertion and he had already managed to anger one of the people he'd be fighting beside.

"I'm sorry." He said in an attempt to still make a good impression. "Nevertheless, I haven't seen destruction like that since the Venomians occupied my homeworld. Whatever statement they wanted to make, they've made." 

He then turned his head toward the Shepherd sitting close to him. "Sure." He said. "I'm pretty sure nobody here'd object."

"So, miss..." Began Udesku from his seat. "You're a Cornerian national, huh? I thought that all of the Cornerian based death squads had goneinto hiding."

[Tiger Carson]

Tiger decided to brush off Ansam's retort.  The German Shepherd simply wasn't worth the time, or effort, to argue with.  But he did have one thing to add. "Just be sure to avoid lighting up near an emergency extinguisher." The tiger, who when standing, was a rather intimidating six foot two inches in height, said. "You'll get a rather, cool, reception."

"I was born on the planet, joined the CDF during the original Lylat Wars, and then formed a merc team with my brother after the wars.  So I wasn't actually part of those squads." Zera replied to Alexi. "And it's Zera Carson, of Star Tiger."

[Snys93]

"Oh the cabin will be exploding with criticism. I'm gonna get along with you two just fine," Ansam says as he lights up. "Just remember to aim and fire darlin'. Don't want a pretty face like that melting off too early."

Ansam leaned back and looked out the window. He let out a sigh and made a note in his notebook, scribbled something and placed it back in inner coat pocket.

[Kurt]

Sven rode in silence. His helmets visor emmited a soft blue glow, a stark contrast to the pearl white and black armor plating.

"You think by now the planetary defense's could repel an attack like this." The butt of his rifle thumped the floor twice, a habit from his days as an ACI ODT. He turned his head and looked at the other members on this mission.

[Shmibli7]

Alexi turned his head to Sven. 

"Exactly." He said. "The poor fools got themselves sacked. This was a surprise attack, ain't no way around it."

Meanwhile Udesku was still conversing with Zera.

"Well, then, Zera Carson of Star Tiger. You're gonna have to excuse my friends... They're rather... How do you put it...? Boyish..."

He chuckles a bit before quickly realizing that he hadn't introduced himself.

"I'm Tyler, by the way. Tyler Udesku."

[Tiger Carson]

"Nice to meet you Tyler." Zera said, smiling a little more warmly. "Eh, I should be used to the younger people being brash like that.  I was their age once." She then gave Tiger a nudge, which he knew was her silent way of telling him to introduce himself and the rest of the team.

"Oh, ahem, yeah, Zera's my sister, I'm Tiger Carson, leader of Star Tiger." He then indicated to the rest of his team for Tyler. "This is Hawk Acer, Copernicus "Copper" Owl, Jeena Dracko, Kola-Nut Squirrel, and of course, you already met Zera." He then looked to Tyler after each member of his team either waved or acknowledged in their own way, like Hawk just giving a little grunt with a closing of his eyes. "So, you said your name was Tyler Udesku, huh?"

[Shmibli7]

"Yup." Tyler replied simply. "Good to meet you, Mr. Carson. I'm sure you're unit is more than capable..."

He then turns towards Alexi, who sat silent, he scowls, then turns back to Tiger.

"Seems my partners are comfortable being antisocial, guess I'll have to do the introductions."

He points over to Alexi, who was now preoccupied with looking on with Richard in his book.

"The Dhole with the cavalier's attitude is Alexi Talis, he's the leader of our outfit."

Tyler then moves his finger from Alexi to the fox beside him. "That's Richard Udolov; co-leader. He doesn't talk much... So, don't get offended if he doesn't make small talk."

He then looks over at the cheetah beside him before giving him a slight nudge with his elbow, prompting the young feline to jolt and rip the earbuds from his ears.

"What the-"

Tyler chuckles before introducing his youthful friend.

"This guy is Martin Rush... We picked him up a couple a' years back. Kid was a street urchin durin' the war... Sorta' took him under our wing."

Rush, obviously confused, speaks in bewilderment.

"Tyler, what are you-"

He then realizes that the other mercenary team was looking at him.

"Oh... Uhm... Hi. Name's Rush."

The cat's eyes suddenly widen at the sight of Kola's weapon.

"Sweet Talzen! Is that the new Cornerian model? I've only seen those things in a catalog."

He quickly pulls his own sniper rifle from his shoulder, an old Venomian surplus bolt-action, beaten and damaged in places, but somehow still together.

"I mean, all I have is this old piece... Shoots well, but I'd do anything for a rifle like that."

[Snys93]

"Jeez you could swear he was looking at a Playboy magazine or something."

Ansam took a long drag on his cigar and held it in before expelling it away for from the other. He may have been a jerk but he fancied himself partly a gentleman.

"My name is Ansam Sonderust. Gunrunner, smuggler, thief, you name it."

[Kurt]

The four commandos had been posted in a burned out fourth floor of a skyscraper, their mission was to attack any potentially hostile forces coming in by air. 

*PING* One of the reptiles let out a low hiss as he saw the ship appear on radar "Shuttle inbound, Fire when in range!" 

A younger primate happily shouldered one of the few RPGs, waited a moment, and fired. The back blast shattered the surrounding glass as the rocket streaked towards the target crafts wing.

 

"Whole thing doesn't feel right though" Sven leaned back a bit and looked over his shoulder through the window. His eyes widened in horror "OH FUCK RPG!" He barely got the words out of his mouth before time seemed to slow to a crawl as he saw the projectile blast the wing in two, launching him from his seat as the craft shook from the massive impact

[Shmibli7]

Alexi began to rebuke Rush for his rather childish adoration of Kola's weapon and instant before the explosive ripped the craft's wing apart. Suddenly, he found himself acquainted with the wall opposite him as the drop ship spiraled towards the ground beneath them. 

Udolov, who had the good sense to strap himself in, now wished that he hadn't. He tugged at his restraint in a vain attempt to free himself before reaching for the knife at his hip. He positions it as best he can and begins slicing into the safety strap.

Meanwhile, Udesku and Rush were also experiencing temporary weightlessness. Both of the mercenaries were scared out of their minds as they scrambled for a method of getting their bearings.

[Tiger Carson]

"ACK!" Tiger grunted out when the ship was hit, as he and his team were shaken up.  It was when the ship began to fall that Tiger got into action. "Hang on and brace yourselves!" He shouted, "We're going down!"  Each one held firmly, knowing that their proper securing would keep them safe for the most part.  If they survived this, Tiger was going to see if he could get MARK, their robot on the Sanctuary Tiger, to send down something to retaliate with, and continue on.  But right now, it was a matter of surviving.

[Shmibli7]

The craft took a few more loops before it finally plummeted into the ground. A defeating crash resounded throughout the ruined city as the once operational ship caved in on itself. The mercenaries of Rolling Thunder were now scattered about the street, none of them in especially good condition.

Rush lie on his back, slowly being crushed by a steel beam situated across his chest. He grunts as he tries to lift the heavy piece of metal, yelling out in pain every now and then as he grew more tired and the barrier continued to weigh down on his chest.

Alexi lie face-first in a crater, out cold. His breathing was shallow as he stayed in a state of unconsciousness. 

Udolov sat a few metres away, trying to catch a breath. He had hit the ground hard and the impact had winded him. He cringes as he feels a sudden pain in his left arm and his legs. He rolls up his sleeve to find that he had severe road rash. Evidently, he had rolled quite a way after he had been blasted from the ship.

The only one of the group in any condition to walk. He patrolled the the crash site, his compact twelve millimeter pistol gripped tightly in his hand. He had a carbine on his back on the ship but had lost it in the crash. The handgun had survived because of its position in the holster on his hip. He groans as he makes his way around the site, a stinging in his kneecap.

"Hey!" He yells. "Anyone still alive?"

[Snys93]

"Yea," said Ansam, shrugging off the crash and removed his desert eagle from its holster. He checked his bullet count and took a position.

"Anyone got eyes on bogies?"

[Kurt]

Sven had been thrown through a glass store front window, his suit taking most of the impact although he was sore as hell. He slowly sat up, a display lay smashed on top of him. Standing and stumbling he made it out onto the street, the sleek Bloodhound .44 was gripped tightly in his hand has he walked towards the crash. He found his rifle, miraculously not destroyed, had skidded down the road a bit. "Im still here." He began to move a little faster when he saw his rifle.

[Tiger Carson]

As the team had stayed in their restraints, they were kept together, despite the ship being so badly damaged.  Though their conditions varied, despite taking up the appropriate positions to minimize harm.  It also didn't help that they were all upside down. "Ugh..." Tiger groaned, feeling wracked with pain all over, which was a good thing.  It meant his nervous system wasn't compromised.  He looked around, and heard Tyler's calls. "Tiger here, I'm alive, checking on the rest of my team." He then started nudging Zera who moaned as she came to, having blacked out. "You okay, sis?" Tiger asked.

"I'm alive at least." She said, "Leg's feeling like it's hurt something bad though..."

"That'll make getting down harder." Tiger said as he looked to the others, and saw them breathing, and otherwise trying to get out.  Jeena being the first to get her restraints off, and landing on her feet.  She seemed to be in good enough condition, as she looked up at her team mates. "Find the others." Tiger ordered, "We'll join you as soon as we can."

"Gotcha." Jeena said as she nodded acknowledgement, and went off to try and find the others while getting her weapon ready.  Hawk meanwhile was out cold, along with Kola.  Copper was able to get himself free, and fell to the ground with a thud as he face planted, but picked himself up.  He then started using some debries to get himself a platform to help get Hawk and Kola down.  Tiger meanwhile managed to free himself, and landed on his feet.  He then helped Copper to get the platform set up, and soon had Zera free, gingerly setting her down where she checked her leg.

"Ouch..." she said, "Yeah, sprained..." She said, as she watched Tiger and Copper work.

"Just stay calm." Tiger said, "We'll get the others down soon, and we'll see about getting you a splint." Jeena meanwhile found Sven who was alive.  She then made her way to him.

[Shmibli7]

"I don't see any hostiles yet." Tyler said to Ansam as he surveyed the area around the now ruined ship. "They'll be comin', though. I can assure you of that."

He dropped his weapon to his side as he began looking for the rest of his team.

"Anyone seen Alexi? Rush? Udolov?"

Meanwhile, Alexi had regained consciousness. He slowly pulled himself up out of the crater. 

Venomian scum. He said to himself as he climbed out of the hole, his hand reaching for his own sidearm.

He looked around the crash, not able to find any of his compatriots.

"Udesku! Rush! Udolov! Where in Falaken's name are you?"

[Kurt]

Holstering his side arm he painfully took a knee and picked up his weapon and began to look it over. The finish was beat to hell, the laser and light still worked, and the 4x Optics lens had cracked but was still functional. The magazine however, was toast. Using his thumb he pushed down through the action, forcing the destroyed magazine out before taking a fresh undamaged one out of the pouch and slapping it in.

'Movement left' the HUD flickered as he turned his head to see a fellow team member approaching him. "Hey!" He called out as he got up "You guys alright????"

[Tiger Carson]

"Some of us are." Jeena said, "Hawk and Kola are UIA, Zera's saying her ankle is sprained, Tiger and Copper are trying to free the unconscious guys from their restraints and wake them up.  I don't know what happened to the other team and the other solo merc.  If only they had allowed us to escort the ship with our Arwings...  Damn it..." Jeena stomped her right foot. "Anyways, Tiger ordered me to look for the others, and I think you should do that too.  If any of them are under rubble, that suit of yours could be helpful in getting them out."

-------------------------------

Back at the crash site, Tiger and Copper were lowering Hawk, having freed him from his restraints first.  They placed him next to Zera, who was working on trying to contact the Sanctuary Tiger, as well as the rest of the gathered mercs. "Any luck?" Tiger asked his sister.

"I'm afraid not." Zera said, "I just keep getting static when I try to get a signal through.  Looks like those damned Venomians have deployed jamming devices.  I'll try and figure out where they are with what equipment of mine I have.  But I suggest we hurry and get Kola out, and then get the Hell out of here.  I'm smelling fuel, and with fire around..."

"Say no more!" Tiger said as he and Copper bounded to Kola, and began to hurriedly cut her lose.  Especially since they had a time limit that they had no idea of the duration of.  Hopefully, the flight crew were able to get out, or they were killed on impact, as getting them out would potentially put the team at greater risk.  But they'd do it anyways as there was a policy of leave no man behind.  And Star Tiger always followed this policy, like the time Hawk was shot down near Titania by a Cosmic Dodora controlled by Kirk Armadillo, or when Copper was shot down near Fortuna, or when even Tiger himself had been downed at a desolate planet when dog-fighting Wyvern Onmar of Star Wyvern.  No one gets left behind if they're still alive, that was a fact.

[Snys93]

Ansam took cover, he removed something from his inner coat pocket.

"Give me something to do, I'm bored."

He then removed a silencer and a scope accompanied with collapsible stock. While doing smuggling runs, one must be prepared for all encounters. For Ansam it's simple and without his armory onboard Snake Eyes, all he needed was Loretta and a good clean shot.

[Kurt]

"Yo, yo Simo you see that?" The spotter looked over a scene a little over a mile away from atop a four story hotel.

"Yeah I see it, looks like a Merc transport..." He dialed up the zoom on his rifle, a Fichinan made 338 Lapua called 'Manu Dei' "I see two survivors, in the intersection."

"Two more behind some rubble. Should we com check?" 

Simo zoomed in more on the armored individual, a small silver four pointed star to be more precise "No maintain silence, but provide overwatch." 'What did you get yourself into this time Sven?' "Any Venomiams are free game, those are cornerian mercs." As he said it he saw a black helmet appear from a window across the street from the crash. He gently adjusted his aim, putting the cross hairs where the head was, and gently squeezed the trigger. He could see the round arc through the air before slamming into the target, he went down and didn't get back up.

 

"Let's do it, I'll stick with you." He heard a thud emit from one of the buildings, and a second later a shot. "Let's move fast..." He turned and began to briskly jog towards the crash "Don't want to find out what that was."

[Shmibli7]

Tyler's ears perked up at the rifle crack and he gripped his weapon tighter as the vibration reverberated off of the buildings surrounding the site. Unable to tell if the shot was fired from a friendly or hostile marksman, he took the most logical course of action and ducked behind some rubble.

"I think we've got ourselves a sniper." He said. "Can anyone see 'im?"

Alexi had also heard the shot, but was too preoccupied with meeting up with his team that he didn't take any precautionary measures. He scanned the remains of their drop ship, looking over and under every bit of rubble to find his friends.

After a few minutes of this, he hears a familiar voice; Rush. Only, he was calling out in pain. Quickly, the leader of Rolling Thunder made a mad dash towards the sound of the agonized grunts, eventually coming across the location of the Cheetah.

"Alexi, get this Kartilin' thing offa' me." Rush said, his voice weak and trembling. 

"Don't worry, buddy." His captain replied. "I'll get you out of here faster than you can say "that was quick.""

In no time at all, the dhole lifted the metal beam and allowed his feline friend to crawl out from under it.

"You good, Rush?" Alexi asked as Martin stood up.

"Yeah, man." He replied. "A little woozy, but nothin' too bad."

"You got your rifle with you?" Alexi continued.

"No. Thing's broken. Impact blew it apart. Only thing on me's my revolver."

"Well, seems we're in the same boat." The dhole replied. 

"You found Udesku and Udolov yet?" Rush asked.

"No, though they couldn't have gone far." Alexi said.

"Well, I mean, we kinda need to get on that." Rush responded.

Alexi agreed and the two made their way to the other end of the crash site, where they saw the congregation of surviving mercs, mixed in with them was Udesku, his back against some overturned rubble.

Overcome with relief, the hired gun called out to him.

"Hey Udesku! You seen Richard!?"

This prompted Tyler to put his finger to his lips and give Alexi a look similar to one a mother gives a disobedient child.

"We have an unconfirmed rifleman. Keep quiet and low."

Meanwhile, Udolov was making his way back to the site. Unlike his compatriots, he had lost every last one of his weapons on impact and was currently at the mercy of any perspective attacker.

After traveling about a half of a mile, he is confronted by a band of venomian apes, all weilding automatic weapons.

"Well, well, well." One says. "What do we have here?"