Breaking an Empire IC

[Shade Leshyr]

The burning disk of Yuuvin IV's first sun was halfway over the horizon to the eastern hemisphere, illuminating the reflective materials that covered the entire world in a never ending city. small "puddle-jumpers," small shuttles that zipped through the air above the streets, made for only a little of the traffic this early in the morning, but come afternoon, there would be hundreds zipping around. For now, streamlined cars crawled along the winding, twisting, and intersecting streets, sometimes going straight, sometimes rising quickly, and still others that wound around like a corkscrew. It was pedestrians that were the most rampant form of traffic in this city however. Most of those that lived on Yuuvin IV chose to live in walking distance of everywhere they would need to be and more than one drunk could be seen stumbling their way home from the closest bar.

Delta District had a bad reputation for raids and was heavily patrolled by armed Hodori guards, their white armor reflecting the sun, their commander's in black armor that did the same thing. In fact, to the locals, it was easy to see that the streets had more guards today than most had seen in their entire time living in this district and they all seemed on edge. Indeed, despite its reputation, today was the first day that Delta District had been exposed to the mighty Titans: soldiers that dwarfed their Hodori handlers and were believed to be more animal than anything with the way their blocky helmets couldn't hide the loud sounds of their sniffing, tasting the air for anything that shouldn't be there.

A deep hum filled the air from the movement of three Hodori cruisers in low orbit, a rare sight indeed. There were only three events that lead to even one cruiser being in orbit: mass disobedience (as they called the rebellions), arrival/departure of units... or preparation for abduction. Every citizen was frightened when a Hodori soldier called out to them, thinking they were going to be taken, only to be told to stay off the grass or something to that effect.

Amid the chaos of fearful locals and edgy soldiers, a stooped figure wandered through the street, stopping now and then to whisper in hushed tones to a local, then cry out loudly about needing money. The vulpine shrouded himself in a ratty old shroud, appearing at home in the dank, musky-smelling district, but each person he stopped near seemed stunned for a moment, then would either edge into an alley with looks of absolute terror or suddenly get a light in their eyes and take off for their homes with a spring in their step.

Shade finally stepped off into an old alley opposite a grocery store, pushing his hood back and examining his surroundings with his orange eyes. Rising up and standing tall, the gray fox brought one hand to the collar of his shroud, gently scratching a small mike in a very specific way: a code...

Gray leader, in position. Proceed to positions with caution gray team, Hodori activity is high. May be onto us.

Shade raised his eyes to one of the cruisers, the target of the rebels counter-raid. The Hodori had been broadcasting on open channels late in the night, probably assuming that everyone was asleep. It had been cake for the rebels to learn that something big was going on and it was going to be the perfect time to try and capture intact Hodori technology and smuggle it off planet in a stealth cruiser stationed somewhere in the city. Eight teams were assigned to this mission, but Gray Team had the hard part of breaching the perimeter under the cruiser's loading bay. Even from here, the vulpine could see the slips of light that moved up and down from the heart of the vessel, signalling teams of Hodori loading and unloading.

Shade started checking his weapons as he waited for the responses from the rest of Gray Team...

[Anonymous G]

Gray 3 reporting Robert signaled back. Be careful with the new weapons, they've never been field-tested. If there is anything wrong, stop using them and switch to something else immediately. He shuddered at the thought of anyone not heeding his warning, reverse engineered Hodori weapons were fickle like that, in the sense that they were liable to explode.

[Poopenheimer]

"Hear ya loud and clear. Ground seems fairly inactive, we may have more time than we expected." Artix looked through his binoculars again from the roof of a tall building he was using as a vantage point. "Just give me the word, and I'll be in action."

[Black Garuga]

Black was keeping low with the rest of his squad in a narrow alley near to the hodori ship in the area. He told his squad to stop where they are and to not move while he contacted HQ for orders and a request to push forward.

Sorry Black, you cannot proceed, others need to be in place first and the moment must arise when we can catch them by surprise

"Come on guys! where is you're sence of ACTION! LETS GET DOWN THERE NOW AND SMASH SOME SKULLS TOGETHER! Plus, my shotgun is talking to me..." Black ended his transmission with HQ and turned to his team.

"Well suicide squad, we Just 'aint going in Just yet, HQ says 'we need to wait for others to get into position or to wait for an opportunity to arise', bullshit, they're just scared cats to get their hands dirty."

Black leaned against the wall with his shotgun in his hands, irritated that he couldn't get some action yet. He needed his daily fix of aggression, adrenaline, action, without it his life would seem so dull.

"Well, in the suicide squad we are all psychopaths, but we are professional, so we can wait for a few hours..."
The other members of the squad looked down at their feet and began to shuffle slightly and awkwardly.
"Fine then, I'll keep pushing HQ to let us proceed, until then just occupy yourselves, not by firing bullets or stabbing each other, leave that for later..."

Black watched his squad wander off a little down the alley, about 5 meters away. He said to himself: "Like I always say, a man's as good as his team, and that's good as I'm mad as hell..." Jack looked around the corner for anything interesting to kill the time he now had spare...

[Buzzwolf]

The streets were usually busy this time of day, getting moving and changing the shifts, the graveyard shifts finally trudging home or even hauling to the next job just to make ends meet. the skylanes would be busy as well, the cars zipping by to and fro at their reckless speeds only capible with Autopilot assisstance. these few short hours taht the sun filtered down through to the lower levels from the skylanes made it all to obvious how 'infested' the levels had become with the criminal vermin that wouldn't survive on the surface...and those unfortuenate enough to not be able to afford a place on the surface.

Leah though, this was where her buisness thrived. someone always needed something moved somewhere, and she'd learned a long time ago, only one question was necessary. 'Does it need life support' anything more would be enough to get her in trouble without a seconds hesitation.

Today She wore her favorite black breaker jacket, the one that she could fit her kit in and no one ever noticed. it did tend to get a little cooler down here when the sun wasn't out, most of the usuals had just learned to carry a jacket or some form of warmer with them all day regardless, it kept buisness moving. she shoved her handpaws in her jeans deep pockets, pushing the black jacket back ouf of habit, and showing the white oldies rocker T with it's low cut neck beneath. one of her mood lifters for a slow day.

Today happened to be one of those days, the streets were nearly empty because of the Hodori ship docked in the skylane. she idly kicked an empty can as she shot the stark white ship a glance. it was odd to see it here, of all places. high in teh sky, she could see three full crusiers, but all had been stationed over Delta district, not sector 12, the hell was a little ship like that doing here? she made a mental note of it as a lizard stuck his head from a doorway, glancing bothways hastily, then at the hodori ship as though truly afraid it was here specifically HIM. he chanced a glance the direction he appearantly intended to go, then to the hodori ship once more. he seemed to be working up the courage to make a run for it, because a moment later, he was bolting by her as though the hodori were on his tail, she stopped momentarily, watching him before he ducked down an alley way and out fo sight. she shook her head and pushed the door open with a squeak to the Vixens Den, one of the favorite bars around town. sercrecy and privacy was thier business, and the last thing they ever like'd coming into their bar, were imperials. not that it didn't help to personally know the owner.

The bar, like the streets outside, was fairly quiet today, a very much unusal trait for the normally lively bar. The arctic fox standing behind the bar looked visually agitated as she cleaned some of the glasses. she looked up from the glasses at the sound of the doors faint chime, her crystal blue eyes spelling relief at the sight of the newcomer "Leah! oh thank god you're here..." she looked like she'd been about to have a panic attack from the door shutting. she set the glass down she was working on, taking a couple seconds to slow her racing heart

Leah slid sliently into one of the bar stools "you alright Sasha? I've never seen you this worried about a Hodori ship before, business can't be that bad cause of them" she leaned on the counter

"no no, it's not...that..." the vixen still looked somewhat aggitated, as though in a rush to get something done "It's...you want your usual, Leah?" a question that always marked a private business offer, something she wanted kept under the table if at all possible
"Sure" Her Usual? fresh made hot coco made from Beans aquired from the reaches of the Altis Galaxy, they made some of the best coco beans in existance, mixed with a pinch of Caff powder and a touch of cream, it was like heaven on earth for a tired soul. it took only moments to have ready, the vixen had been expecting her. "so what've ya got for me this time Sash?" she took a sip of the coco, savoring the rich flavor as her counterpart began

"Special package we need delieverd," she kept her voice low, even with how few customers there were n the bar "we just need a pilot for this one Leah, it's too risky to move at this point" she smiled "you'll be taking my ship"

Leah almost spit her drink at that "YOUR ship!?" Sasha nodded with a slight smile

"I know how much you've wanted to fly that old bird..."

"Yah, just a littlebit" she held up her fingers a little apart sarcastically "that 'ol bird of yours still has the runners record!"

"Well, you're gonna have to fly it for this delievery, as much as I hate to put it out in the open again" the ship was a known 'cargo' runner from the old days, and was one of the most recognised runners in the galaxy, even though it hadn't seen much use in the last thirty or so years, Leahs'd seen it scream by on the skylanes more than once gapping the local patrols without even trying. it's warp capability was only rumor, reumors hard pressed to believe, but with it's record, it became more believeable "it's too risky to move the package with our friends hanging out outside like that" the Hodori, fabulous, running shipments past their nose

"That's what you were worried about, the H----" Sasha put a hand over Leah's mouth silencing her muffled words

"Shhh!" she removed her hand "Yes, -that- is what's got me on edge, we think they got wind of the shipment...it can't fall into their handsLeah Nodded, She'd never seen the white vixen like this before, this was a new side of her normally light cheery personality "Good, I can't go into detail where you'll be headed right now, you'll get that once you're off world" she turned to head into the back room "I'll let Corbs know so he prep the ship" it only made sense that they couldn't keep it warm while they waited for her, the Hodori would've been all over them to find out why there was a hidden ship signature in the back of the structure

Leah looked down as the swirling in her coco. She'd be flying the Black Comet with a package that the Hodori apperantly had their eye on. she smiled, looked like the day was going to be looking up.

The door chimed with it's usual ring as Leah took a long draught from her drink. the chime, to which most of the folks in the bar glanced, marked the entrance of a newcomer, a heavy leather boot hit the floor with a thud. Leahs ears dropped and her eyes widened as the owner of the boot came into view.

"Aw...fuck...."

[Shade Leshyr]

Shade was checking the experimental assault rifle he had, unsure of how he'd tell if something was 'wrong' with a prototype weapon that hadn't been field tested yet, but he signaled, Understood Gray Three. Gray two, get low, CO should be giving us the go any second now. Shade readjusted his cloak and strapped his rifle within easy reach but hidden from sight and patted the two backup sub-machine guns at his hips before peaking around the corner of the alley. He panicked and pulled his head back; there was a small Hodori squad not four paces from his hiding spot, but as he listened for the shout of their scrambled voices, he realized that they were too busy to have seen him, each of them chattering in their native language. The vulpine strained to hear them, but he only caught a name and that name chilled his bones: Judas. There was only one Judas worth mentioning with the Hodori and that was the Imperial Admiral and Shade prayed that they were saying he was far, far away.

Shade scurried to the far end of the alley and just after he reached it, his radio came to life, All teams, this is Rainbow Actual. Mission is a go. Red team, proceed with suicide mission and distract the enemy. God speed to you. Blue team, pull the titans into the kill box, unload, then get out. Gray team, stay ghost as long as possible but move fast. All other teams, support red and blue teams. Shade grinned and pulled his cloak around him as he stepped out of the alley and started making his way toward his team's rendevou point just a block away from the loading area. For the first minute, everything was unnervingly quiet, but then all hell broke loose. An explosion echoed from somewhere to Shade's right and suddenly, Hodori scrambled out of the woodwork it seemed, charging in that direction, shouting in their native tongue.

The vulpine was the first to reach the rendevou point and he settled down to wait now that the Hodori were distracted. Leaning his head against the wall he closed his eyes and focused himself for the next part of the mission. It was simple in theory: get in, pocket whatever piece of working tech they could, get out, but attempts before had revealed how difficult that was. Hodori tech had a nasty habit of bleeding some kind of acid all over itself if it was bio-locked, destroying itself and the hand of whoever was holding it, but the only place one could find unlocked stuff was in the heart of an enemy ship. The vulpine shook himself, centering himself again as he waited for the rest of Gray Team...

[Black Garuga]

Black listened intently to his radio, then the call came through. Red team, proceed with suicide mission and distract the enemy. God speed to you. Black looked back to his squad with a smile on his face.
"Hey guys! good news, we can go shoot stuff!"

With that the squad began cheering and loading their guns, but all stopped when they heard a hodori squad approaching nearby.

"You know what that means, give 'em a fistful of frags guys!"

The squad all pulled out a grenade each, 4 in total, pulled all the pins at once and threw them into a window of a nearby building. All was silent, then the grenades detonated, sending smoke and shrapnel into the main street, stunning the hodori squad in their tracks.

"Ok guys, LETS DO THIS!" Black screamed as he and his group members ran into the street, gunning down any hodori in their path with assault rifles and shotguns.

"HERE WE ARE YOU SON OF BITCHES! COME GET SOME!" His hands-on approach to the distraction definatley worked, at the end of the street more hodori were pouring in, weapons in hand.

"this is where it gets interesting boys, give 'em what we got" Black said as they continued to fire magazine after magazine into the crowd of hodori soldiers that began to gather at the far end of the street.

[Poopenheimer]

"Suicide mission is go, proceed with sniper support" Artix cocked his rifle. Though not a sniper rifle, Artix was the best shot in his group, so using the iron sights was not a problem for him. He addressed his team. "Most of the Hodori are distracted by the suicide squad, so aim for the ones that have their attention on Gray leader." He took a shot at a soldier who was starting to fire upon Shade, hitting him in the head. "Well don't just stand there! get to it!" He said to his men, who promptly started to take aim. Artix thought aloud to himself. "I hope they come out okay..."

[Buzzwolf]

Leah nearly dropped her mug at the sight of the individual standing before her. Issamir Takari, 'in the flesh'. High Captain of the Imperial Fleet. his uniform and helmet, unmistakable. his jet black leather trenchcoat with high collar leading into a full face helmet that seemed to be more of a mask than a helmet, topped with an black hat pulled as far over the face as the mask would allow. the hat matched a classic military design, solid black with sharp edges and the Hodori Empire insignia emblazoned on the front. around the collar, beneath the trench, could be seen the start of a suit of light armor, no doubt covering completely beneath the coat. He took what seemed to be a simple glance around the bar, to which every person stood frozen in their place. waiting to see who it was this high ranking officer of the Hodori was after. then, he sat. at a bar stool.

A Hodori High Captain....was sitting...on a barstool...two seats away...reading a menu.

Panic suddenly flooded Leahs mind, and she tried her best to put all he focus into the swirling in he cocoa mug. was he here for her? had he been tapping the bar, and caught her conversation with Sasha? did he know about the shipment?! why was he just sitting there, reading a Menu of all things?! what the hell was his game?!

She stole a glance his way and nearly jumped out of her skin as he...turned the page. shit she thought. she needed to relax, he was obviously here on a rumor or he'd already have made a move by now. god, her hands were shaking uncontrollably. why was she so panicked all of the sudden? she'd been around Hodori before dozens of times! why was this one so much different?!

Because it was Issamir Takari. 'The Patient Hunter'. Trained by the Imperial Admiral, Judas himself. he'd been known to wait days, weeks, sometimes months even for his quarry, following them, tracking them, getting ever closer till he'd worn them out. some even said he'd hummed music while he moved in for the final killing blow.

Leah nearly jumped out of her fur as a hand settled on her shoulder, her already shaky hands splashing the hot cocoa on her hands and the countertop, she muttered a couple curses as she hurried to shake the hot liquid from her fur "I'm sorry miss," a heavily synthesized voice issued from behind her where the hand had been on her shoulder. she froze. "It was not my intent to startle you so, I was hoping you might be able to...assist me with something?" a black leather glove offered her a cloth towel for her hands. she couldn't move. she simply stared at that gloved paw "Miss?" the figure moved next to her, and there was suddenly...a second such paw...holding her own while the first wiped it with the towel. "we can't have you burning your paws now can we?" the voice that issued from the mask seemed as if it almost carried a note of...value in what it spoke. as if it actually cared about what should happen to her paws. "There now," the hands withdrew, leaving her to stare at her own handpaws "All better now, hmm?" he waited a moment for her to say something before continuing "Do you think you might be able to read this for me? I'm afraid I'm a tad unfamiliar with this Dialect" he continued as though he didn't even realize how traumatizing this all was. he turned the page and ran a finger down it till he found what he'd apparently been looking for

"Deep-fried...eel testicles? I'm pretty sure that isn't right...would you mind?" he laid the menu on the counter close to her, and pointed to the item he'd mistranslated

she just stared at menu for what seemed like hours. what the hell was taking Sasha so long in back! she finally looked up at him "You're...Hodori"

He looked at his hand,turning it over twice before 'looking back at her "Last I checked, yes. You're a Royal Fennec are you not?" she nodded "Ah! wonderful! I thought as much, it's been many years since I've seen one of your species! quite a peculiarly beautiful one too I might add" he was trying to derail her thoughts "You're a very rare breed, you know that?" he wagged a finger at her, a synthesized chuckle emanating from his helmet

"What are you doing here." she asked flatly

"Well, I'm trying to order some food, it you'd help me read this menu" was he thick or something? did he not realize how resented his kind was? especially in the lower levels? "You do know we Hodori have to eat as well right? we are living beings after all, not the gods we worship"

"no, no," now he was starting to get on her nerves more than anything "what the hell are you doing here?" she pushed her fingertips into the countertop "there's thousands of other diners you could've stopped in. what's so special about this one?"

"I heard Sasha makes some damn fine Hot Chocolate" a chill shot down Leahs spine. "Is that what you're having?" he pointed to the mug of forgotten cocoa "Do you...do you think I could try it? I'd hate to order it only to find out it's not for me" he asked as if there was genuinely a chance she might say no, he even waited till she nodded "Ah! Excellent!" he reached over the counter, somehow knowing exactly where to reach, and removed a straw from a cup behind it "If you'll forgive me, I must use a straw, the priests frown on us officers showing our face in public" he slipped the straw into the drink, and a small vent slid open on his mask to accept the other end."this is quite superb!" he said after a moment "I'll be sure to take some of this with me when I go" he removed the straw and set it neatly aside, as though organizing his thoughts.

"Now, Leah, You don't mind if I call you that, do you?" fuck, he knew her name "Well, Leah, that's a very pretty name I must say. but, I have a little business I need to clear up and I can be on my way, I'm afraid it won't necessarily be to your liking, but some things aren't much fun. Like my job for instance, do you know how tiring it gets that I have to give rebels a chance to surrender before opening a conflict with them! I offer them a chance, and half the time they just start shooting at me before I even finish my sentence! now how rude is that! but you, you're civil, I can talk to you" he put an arm around her shoulder, as though her 'buddy' "You get this kinda stuff" he let go "But I still have to do my job like all us good little soldiers, and I know we can't be the best of friends and all that fun shit" was he drunk? "Now then, where was I...AH! right! the business I came in for! You're a Cargo Hauler, are you not?" she didn't move, she simply watched him "Run things here and there, never asking what, just where and by when? sounds like quite the business, keeps your nose clean of any 'known rebel activity' doesn't it?" he finger quoted 'rebel activity' "Did you happen to still be on the market for a shipment today, or did someone already happen to take that slot from you?"

"I'm taking the week off" she said, trying to act calm as he touched closer and closer to what she herself was in here for

ah..." he clicked his tongue, which gave off an odd resonance through the synthesizer "I was afraid I might catch you on an off week." he leaned his arms on the counter, and odd humming coming from his synth "Do you mind if I ask ya one more question?" he didn't even wait for her this time "I'm sure someone as...popular as you, runnerwise of course, would know about...the Black Comet?" she did her best to not appear as if she was sweating bullets "I keep getting these odd reports of people seeing that old rattle trap flying around this area, like the damn thing still haunts the place or something. heh, imagine that, a cargo hauler haunting a skylane. HA!" he sat back, leaning his back against the counter, elbows propped up behind him, then he glanced down, as though he was checking his chrono "Ah, it would appear that I must cut our discussion short, my men seem to have found trace of this 'Ghost Ship'" he stood and stretched "I'm sorry that we must part on such a note, but work must be done and rebels must be crushed I'm afraid." he shrugged "It's the way of the world sometimes" he dropped a cred chip on the counter "I must insist, A gentleman always pays for the last drink" he turned and headed for the door without another word

Leah waited till the officer was out the door and the click of it shutting behind him sounded, then flopped her head down on the counter with a breath she seemed to have been holding the entire time the Hodori had been there. it was days like this that she had to remind herself why she was in this business in the first place

"Psst! Leah!" Sasha was standing in the doorway leading to the backrooms, just to one side, and out of view of the main door. and she was holding a gruesome looking Shotgun in her hands "Come on! you need to leave now! they know where the ship is!"

"But he...he just left to go with his...men...." she flopped her head back down on the counter "...fuck..." it'd suddenly occurred to her why he would suddenly get up to leave when it was found...he wasn't going to find it...he was getting out of the way. she started to clamber over the counter as the window behind her exploded an a shower of glass

[arinot]

Aisha took a few short breaths, composed herself, and dashed
Things weren't exactly going the way as she planned... but she was the specialist in this case
she was one who was going to make the equipment usable
possibly turn the tide

She took the opportunity to slide in next to shade, keeping herself as low as possible, grabbing... no more like clutching on to her GSW kit for dear life in one hand... which was kinda stupid as it was attached to her
And holding a submachine gun straight in her other hand... To be honest, she was surprised she was able to hold it in one hand. Just earlier she'd let it sling or kinda lug it about. Now it felt weightless... damn adrenaline felt crazy....

The goal was simple. The process of achieving it was not. It basically screamed of superfluous death. Well, the entire resistance screamed of it in the first place, but there was hope.
Hope... that was something she'd forgotten about.

"Ready when you are Shade"
Her voice wavered a bit. She wasn't a fighter... she was a doctor...
This was gonna be a hell of a day

[Shade Leshyr]

Shade gently patted Aisha's shoulder as he checked his gun one more time as Gray Team gathered. Taking a deep breath, the vulpine spoke, "Alright, with Red Team distracting them we should just have a small force to contend with. Let's try to stay ghost, but engage if you're sighted and if anything goes wrong with the experimental weapons, ditch 'em and get the hell out." With that, Shade lead them through a small alley, poking his head out on the far side, then shaking his head before turning back to Gray Team, "There's no one here... I don't believe it..." Turning back, the vulpine raised his rifle and broke cover, racing around the corner that lead to the loading zone. It defied every tactical idea that Shade knew, but upon reaching the pastel white circle on the ground that stretched the entire length of the space that had once been the "ground" level of a shopping center, he found no Hodori there to resist them, "... ok... this is way too easy..."

Shade stepped up to the circle and looked around, still seeing nothing. The vulpine gestured the squad forward and then pointed at a small Hodori console next to the transporter, "Aisha, see if you can figure that thing out."

Meanwhile, aboard a Hodori Cruiser in low orbit

The "war room" of the Hodori vessel consisted of a large room filled with various holographic generators that showed a diagram of the city below that filled the center of the room. Hodori "monitors" tapped commands into floating hard-light panels and the diagram would zoom in and out on various points of the city, but right now, all of them were focused on the sudden rebel attack, right in the middle of a "demonstration" by the Imperial Admiral Judas himself, and none of them wanted to be anywhere near the large, armored figure that stalked in a circle around the diagram. Each one of them could tell that he was getting angrier by the second.

A door beeped quietly on the far side of the room and slid open to reveal another armored figure. This one, however, bore a flashy red mantle that swayed as he took short, calculated strides into the room. Braced firmly in its left hand was a large red staff topped with a shimmering jewel of unknown origin, but most believed had been bestowed by the Holy One himself. The Voice of His Holiness strode up to the hologram and looked over it for a moment quietly before turning his attention to Judas, speaking in a voice so heavily synthesized that it sounded robotic, "Your troops appear to overreacting Judas. An entire sectors worth of troops for a small rebel strike force? I thought you prided yourself in training your troops to be... disciplined."

[Buzzwolf]

The faintest twitch. that was all that gave away Judas' aggitation with how the operation had been progressing. that...and his pacing around the holoscreens. He barely acknowledged 'The Voice' as he entered the bridge and chided him. The crunch of metal sounded from the holoscreen, and as he pushed back, the imprint of his armored glove remained in the scrunched metal. a low rumble came from the massive form of Judas as his eyes scanned the masses of holoscreens. "My Men are. my men are the ones running the show. what you see, are nothing but pawns, bumbling against each other trying to please their superiors." One of the holoscreens shifted suddenly, zooming out, shifting it's orientation, and zooming back in, on a part of Sector 12. a Hordoi Ship docked in the skylane, and a small squad of Horodi

The twitch vanished "Patience my friend...patience...everything is going exactly as planned." his armored glove reached out, and batted the side of the holoscreen he'd been looking at, sending it around on the display to face 'The Voice' "See for yourself. Captain Issimar has found The Comet" as it did this, he turned and strode toward the bow of the bridge, a even thudding of his heavy footsteps as he walked the 'bridge' between the monitor pits

"Have you ever played Chess, Mister 'voice'?" he looked out the forward view of the bridge to the city planet below as he folded his arms before him across his chest. how creative...the buildings and passageways looked like circuits on a motherboard. "quite an amusing little 'game'...the objective, to capture the king, a simple task it would seem, hmm?" a chuckle. whatever the Issimars task had been, the fact that it was going well appeared to have put the Admiral in quite a good mood all of the sudden "But it's more than simply...throwing pieces at each other...it's all about staying three steps ahead of your opponent. out manuevering them with a Ruse, misleading them into thinking you're up to something you're not." he stepped right up to the forward viewing screen "Quite an amusing game indeed"
______
The explosion threw Leah the last bit over the bar and tumbling through the small doorway behind it, glasses and liquor bottles raining down all around her. "Owww..." She groaned, wincing as she slowly opened here eyes to see Sasha standing above her in the process of leveling the shotgun at the monstrosity in what used to be the front window.

The monstrosity standing in the now wrecked entrance, appeared to be without a gun, or a weapon of any kind for that matter, and had beaten it's way through the wall. the beast of a soldier stood at a towering eight feet at the shoulder, it's armor a matte black in comparison to the glossy white of the other, much smaller, Hodori that flanked it. the beast would tear through the build till it found whatever it was it had been ordered to retrieve, or destroy.

in this case, it was either Leah herself, Sasha standing next to her....or the Black Comet. and any way that went...she was right in the middle.

The sweeping gaze of the Titans helmet stopped on Leah, and she would swear she'd locked eyes with it a moment if not for the thin lens of it's visor separating them. Time seemed to freeze for that moment as their gaze locked, the glass shards raining down glittered, small points of light like tny suns flashing among the chaos. a new line of suns started to come into existence, a vibrant yellow blade sliding to life along the massive gauntlet of the beast. a single piece of glass hit it and fizzled out of existence. The thunderous blast of Sasha's shotgun brought her lurching back to reality, the beasts shoulder lurched backward from the hit, merely annoyed by the disturbance.

"Move!" Sasha shouted, firing off yet another round into the beast. it made a sound like a deep growl and lunged at the counter, it's clawed fingers digging deep into the counter and tearing it back out of it's way, by then Sasha had a grip on the still stunned Leah's collar and was pulling her to her feet, already moving down the narrow corridor."Come on Leah! I need you here with me!" Leah stumbled to her feet as she ran, the wall emitting the sound of wrenching metal as the Titan started to tear it's way into the hallway. Sasha turned to fire off another round into the beast in an attempt to slow it down further.

one would seem she would've figured out it only pissed it off by now, but in the face of this creature, she found herself simply reacting.

The titan hooked a gauntlet into one of the side doors, and ripped the door frame and a section of the wall down, filling the hallway in front of it with debris trying in turn to slow it's quarry down in the tight hallway.

Leah covered her head as she kept running "What the Hell do you have in that shipment that you got a TITAN on our asses!?!? Gah!" she ducked a flying piece of door

"I'm starting to want that-" she fired again and it emitted a growl like noise

"Would you STOP THAT! You're just pissing it off more!" she huffed, ducking another piece of debris

"What the hell else do you want me to--Gah! --Do?!" she ducked through a side door to a stairwell, pulling Sasha with her. the Titan went sliding by, tearing a trail of destruction as it tried to stop and follow them down the stair well "It's not like I can punch it!" above them the Titan had finally found the top of the staircase and was tearing it up like a hunting dog digging a fox out of a foxhole. "Just. Keep. RUNNING!!" she panted throwing a glance over her shoulder as they hurried out the bottom door of the stairs a couple moments later, mere seconds before the Titan hit the bottom of the staircase with the sound of a cannon strike, and immediately tore itself a doorway after them. the strike sent both Sasha and Leah sprawling down the hall, her shotgun skittering away out of reach. Sasha groaned and pushed herself to her knees. her ears flattened as a shadow loomed over her. the beast stood a mere foot from here, looming over her as a tiger would the prey it was getting bored with. it leaned in close, Sasha trying to back away slowly from what would be a quick death, it seemed to be studying her, deciding if it wanted to kill her....or to steal her away. it glanced to the half conscious Leah laying a few feet away. it'd been told to bring one...but...which? it looked back down at the vixen before it, leaning in close as though to 'sniff' her

it's choice was suddenly made for it as a bright splash of plasma hit it and sent it staggering backwards. an unexpected hit from a weapon of it's own build "Yeah! ya like that?!" a deep male voice shouted at the dazed Titan, and a large black wolf made itself known, awkwardly holding a large Hodori rifle "Sasha, Leah, come on, that's not going to stop it for long" the large wolf, easily the biggest creature Leah had seen aside from the Titan itself, picked the two females off the floor with an ease only the truly strong held. he wore what appeared to be dark military fatigues, and carried the rifle in a way that showed his inexperience with it. "Come on, the ships prepped, the pre-flight's done, and if we hurry, we might make it out of here before fugly over there wakes up" he hurried along, his pace a light one, the vixens having to practically sprint to keep up with him. two turns, another short staircase and a security door, and the hanger was before them.

sitting in the middle, engines already warmed and humming, sat the sleek black form of the Black Comet. twin engines running on each side with the faint glow of the hyperdrive engine emanating from behind it's dark form. it was a creature designed for speed and maneuverability. the legends told it to be untouchable, even by the best pilots of the Hodori. "...wow..." Leah was speechless before the awesome machine. a legend in itself was sitting, right before her. "Just....wow..." she couldn't think of anything else to say in the face of the mighty machine

"Quite the beaut, eh?" the wolf grinned "Sasha here doesn't let me take 'er out that often, but I keep 'er in tip top shape anyway" he turned and called out a verbal command to the ship, a passcode that unlocked a lower hatch that lowered from the bottom side of the ship into a ramp "We've got it all coded for you as well Leah, make things easier in the long run" he ducked through the low entry, the vixens following silently behind him, Sasha immediately moving for the pilots controls and the Wolf for the the cargo hold, presumably to check on the crate. the large rifle he'd been carrying had been set near the entry hatch

"So...I guess we know what was in the shipment now, hmm?" Leah kneeled next to the rifle, something few, if any, did while knowing they were going to survive the next few minutes

Sasha barely glanced over her shoulder as she ran the start up sequence "Hmm? Oh, yeah...probably...can't imagine where else wolfie might've gotten that toy" she smiled and looked back at the controls, pulling a lever set back, causing the ship to lurch slightly as it slowly lifted off the launch platform

"Don't you close the door before lift off?" she asked, noting the still open lift ramp

"Oh! could you get that? you have to do that manually from the control panel beside it...old ship security protocols, ya know?" she gestured to the panel

"Odd protocols is more like" she moved to the panel and began working through the old interface trying to find the hatch control "I thought your wolf said he kept this thing up to date!"

"Corbin? yeah, he keeps it up to date, but you gotta remember, it's those old systems that make it so unique"

"Well, make sure ya let him know the internal electronics aren't what make a ship fast or sl--" just outside the ships ramp, the wall exploded violently toward the ship, throwing off the gyros that kept it stable as the beast returned for one last all-or-nothing go at it's quarry. the Titan latched onto the Comet's ramp, a definite ROAR coming from it this time as it fought to maintain it's hold on the ramp. then...it started toward her. "...Sasha!!! Guns! where're the guns?!?!" she yelled in a panic, Sasha fighting to keep control over it

"Fourth cabinet!...Port side!" the Titan kept pulling itself forward despite the outward forces pulling it back out. Leah ripped the cabinet open and grabbed the first gun she saw. a full size assault rifle, armed and ready for immediate use in case of emergencies

but before she had a chance to fire off a single shot, the wolf was back, wearing the upper half of a suit of armor, giving him the appearance of a high-tech footballer. his next actions secured that image in Leahs mind as he barreled through the cabin toward the hatch, and square into the Hodori Titan, knocking it's grip free of the ramp and carrying it out into open air. the two vanished over the side of the ramp. Leah dropped the gun where she stood and rushed to the edge of the ramp before it was closed, hoping to catch a glimpse that the wolf that had saved their lives was still alive and fighting. she had to pull her head back without getting the desired assurance. she collapsed against the now shut landing ramp.

"Alright, I think we're stable now" Sasha leaned back in her seat as the ship accelerated "Nice job knocking that Titan off us..." her eye caught the discarded rifle. her eye immediately shot to Leah, looking for how she'd repelled the Titan, and for Corbin, who would've had to help her with something the size of a Titan. her next glance was to the hatch leading to the back hold where the crate that was to be transported sat. no Corbin "Leah...where's Corbin...?" Leah sat staring at the floor in front of her "Leah...Where's Corbin..." her voice full of worry, edging on panic now.

"He...He saved us..." her voice was barely above a whisper. the ship slipped through the atmosphere, the dome that protected the pilot getting darker by the second as they broke through "he saved us...." The wolf she barely had met, Corbin as Sasha had called him, had just given himself so that they might escape. a near stranger and a close friend. and he was gone in a blink, not even a chance to try to stop him...or to thank him...

Sasha sat silently in the pilots seat, a tear running through her white fur as she sat silently for few moments before slowly turning back to the console to indulge an alarm that was flashing on the console. the ship silently slipped through it's hyperspace window, not another word passed between the two vixens

[Poopenheimer]

Artix took another shot, making sure to not cause any friendly fire. The Hodori soldier slumped to the ground dead.
"Good shot sir!" a younger recruit said out.
"Keep your eye on your own targets, never mind what I'm doing!"
"Yes but I'm just-"
"You're just what?" Artix suddenly noticed the blood dripping down from the recruits helmet. "Ah... yes... Remember to keep your heads down!" he shouted, before quickly ducking down behind cover. A plasma shot hit the spot two inches away from Artix's head. "Shit!" The Hodori had made their way to the roof through the building. "Gray leader! The roof-top's been compromised! You're gonna be without sniper support for a few minutes!" He threw a grenade into the doorway they were coming through. "Keep the pressure on boys!"

[Black Garuga]

Black listened to what just happened to sniper support, he turned towards his team in the middle of the firefight while still firing bullets.

"LISTEN GUYS! SNIPER SUPPORT HAS BEEN COMPROMISED! I REPEAT, SNIPER SUPPORT HAS BEEN COMPROMISED! THAT LEAVES US IN THE SHIT-HOLE, WE NEED TO BUY THEM MORE TIME! FOLLOW ME!"

Black led his team down the west end of the street, firing at the pursuing soldiers as they went along until they broke into a building and barricaded the doors and windows. They had hardly anytime for rest before plasma started to scream past their heads and tearing holes in to barricades and singing the exit holes.

"Keep to the floor guys! Lets try to get to the top of the building, that'll attract more attention to ourselves and give others more time! Lets move towards the stairwell in 3...2...1...GO!"

The squad leaped to their feet and sprinted towards the stairwell, plasma flying in the air. One of the new members of the squad, Fledger, forgot what he was told and ran towards the stairs standing fully upright. A perfect target. Plasma Tore through his soft flesh, burning and destroying muscle tissue as they went along, hitting his calves and thighs, crippling him and causing him to collapse and scream in agonizing pain. Black rushed over to the new member, keeping himself low behind shelves to provide cover.
"For fuck sake Fledger! WHAT DID I TELL YOU!? Now We're all screwed because you forgot to follow orders!"
"I didn't mean to Sarg! Honestly!"

The barricade was beginning to give way under the constant barrage of pounds and rifle shots, creating cracks in the wood.

"Well Now Fledger, I'm afraid there is nothing we can do for you, we still need to complete the mission, and since you got yourself injered, you will have to hold off those hodori bastards while we make our way to the top. I'm sorry but this is where it ends for you, if you do manage to take them out and stay alive by the time that we come back, I will ensure you get 3 god damn medals for bravery. Good luck"

Black propped Fledger up against a wall, bandaged his wounds, gave him a little pain-killer and a grenade launcher before him and his squad vanished up the stairwell, before weighing the door down with blocks of concrete and cinder-blocks that they found lying around. When they reached the roof they placed whatever they could find lying about up against the door to stop any troops getting through.

"Ok guys, pop some smoke here, that should make us more than obvious to the enemy. Wait here while I contact HQ...HQ, this is suicide squad, we are at the top of a generic office building, we are ready to pop smoke and fight to distract, we have one member down in the lobby, MIA as we do not know whether he is alive or dead, just let us know if we are OK to go or if our mission is redirected."

Black just prayed that he would see the end of this first assault.

[Shade Leshyr]

The "dead" Hodori lay motionless for a grand total of ten seconds before its head rose, growling out curse words in its native language. It spoke into its team speak rapidly and half the group chasing the suicide squad broke from the group and started toward the sniper building, intending to head the ballsy sharpshooter off. The group in the stairwell to the roof shouted out various threats of violence if the rebels refused to surrender, pulling back just a little to cut off escape, but ready to pounce if the sniper tried to set up for another shot. The grenade exploded harmlessly in front of them, only causing the front two to stumble back on reflex...

_____

The Voice stared at the admiral without a single break in his tone as he spoke, "I'm sure I've played a fair more chess than you have my heavily armored associate. There's an interesting little move that the king can do when he's endangered, perhaps you've heard of 'castling,'" The voice turned to a monitor near him and took over the station without so much as a look at the hodori running it and brought up a virtual chessboard, "you see, when the king finds himself out of options for defense, he often sacrifices another piece, the rook." He slowly pulled the bishop and knight off of the board, then made an opening straight from him to the enemy queen. Finally, after a dramatic pause on his last words, he switched the king with the rook.

It was at that moment that a pair of Hodori cruisers radioed the escape of the small cargo runner...

"And now Judas, your plan has failed and your pawns are no longer in a position to defend your king," again, The Voice manipulated the game, taking out the pawns on the defended side, moving the knights on the first side over, "but, as you know, the bishop stands next to the king and queen... watch and learn Judas."

_____

Gray Team, suicide squad is pinned down at the top of a building, leading the Hodori away from you. The operation is almost compromised, hurry up.

"We're out of time," Shade said as he turned to Aisha, "let's get this thing moving!" He watched with pent up breath as she began to work her magic, not really hearing anything she might have said. In a split second, however, everything went wrong. The console beeped loudly and locked up, going into standby mode as the teleportation unit lit up and a Hodori strike team appeared on the disk, staring straight at them. Shade didn't waste a moment, grabbing Aisha and pushing her along ahead of him as he retreated, firing off the experimental gun in his hand.

These Hodori, much to Shade's dislike, turned out to be more than the average soldier. They vaulted acrobatically off the disk and gave chase, moving fluidly from cover to cover as they shot on the fly, their aim too close to being true for Shade's liking as the ground just behind his heels melted into puddles of deadly plasma. Shade couldn't have hoped to hit them, but at least the chatter of gunfire made them keep diving into covers rather than bullrushing him, "Get to the extraction point!" he yelled to Aisha as he started rapidly scratching code through his radio:

Mission is compromised, repeat, mission is compromised! Need extraction now, now, now!