You wake up what feels like only moments after you entered the pod and immediately begin coughing up the remaining fluid in your lungs. The pods are usually pretty good about purging it, but they must have been rushed this time.
>Alright people, Get up and get moving. We've got a launch window here; I've got to get you out as we approach otherwise you're gonna miss your flight company and then you're really gonna be screwed. You and your teammates pile out of the pods and wipe off the oxygenated goo before heading to the hanger. The ships waiting there aren't the clean, chrome tear drop shuttles but skeletal things, barely more then a frame loaded with directional rocket pods and what could only be described as series of clamps designed to wrap around your head, chest and limbs. You swallow your unease and step into the harness, flinching a bit as the clamps squeeze down on you.
>1 minute to launch.The atmosphere vents from the hanger and the blast doors slide open, revealing nothing but darkness beyond. You can feel the shuttle vibrate as the engines kick on and you can't help but grip the harness and hold your breath as the final seconds tick away.
And then the hanger is gone, yanked away in an instant. Below you is a world of dirty, brownish yellow clouds; through the few breaks in the great banks of smog you can make out countless points of white and yellow light against a soot gray background. They could be the lights of a tower city or the flames of a freshly nuked suburb; from up here it all looks the same. In the distance you can make out a thin glint of silver, another battleship orbiting the planet, one of dozens. You hold there, moving at thousands of miles an hour but feeling completely still, a grain of dust above a great dirty marble, all suspended in amber for that one instant. And then you're diving.
You can see them, just barely, the other shuttles coming in with you, silver specks falling toward earth. For what seems like a long while you fall in silence, slowly approaching the clouds. You hit the atmosphere long before the clouds and the shuttle jerks and vibrates as you begin entry, a protective envelope- created by the shuttles on board Field manipulator- shields you from the heat and friction of entry. You take one last look at the stars, the black sky and strangely comforting shape of the mothership before the clouds cut you off from them.
>We're entering the range of the AA guns. Beginning evasive maneuvers. The shuttle bucks violently and begins jerking around erratically, firing it's rockets and hurling you in all directions, trying to fool the guns below. You squint through the smog, trying desperately to see what's going on. You don't have to look for long. A burst of fire, barely visible but still unmistakable through the thick haze, erupts near you.
>Shuttle 3 lost.Another, moments later
>Shuttle 4 lost. (The following is for team a)
An instant after the 4th shuttle is hit something invisible lashes out and impales your shuttle like a butterfly on a needle, burning a molten hole straight through it. The engines sputter and begin to fail, the craft lists to one side and begins to veer off course.
>Ejecting. Activating Grav-chutes.
You don't even have time to process the words before you're crushed against the back of your suit. The harness you're in, as well as a good chunk of the shuttle that was holding it, is hurled explosively off of the shuttle and down toward the mountain ringed expanse of water below. The air distorts slightly around you as you fall, but you don't seem to be slowing down. You hold the harness and close your eyes, preparing for the impact as you tumble end over end toward the water. You hit several seconds later, but with none of the force you expected; it was like you'd simply jumped off the high dive. It takes over a minute to sink down to the roof of the target building, where the harness finally releases you. The rest of your team is with you.
(The Following is for Team B)
Another ball of fire.
>Shuttle 1 lost.
You're just about to call out over the coms when a beam of laser light, thick as your arm and with enough force to evaporate steel, sweeps over the shuttle.
>Empyrean
The bean sweeps near you, near enough that you feel the heat even through your suit, but misses you.
>Thomas
The beam sweeps upwards just as its about to pass you and your left hand evaporates. [End:6]You grimace and grind your teeth before slamming the stump of your hand up against the red hot exterior of the nearest rocket pod, cauterizing the wound in a burst of steam.
>Nick
You're next to Thomas, so as the beam of the laser slashs upwards and takes his hand, it takes your right arm at the shoulder. Guess it's a good thing it was robotic.
>Nik
The blade of the laser sweeps across your torso, evaporating a section of your gut from just below your belly button to just above your naughty bits. [end:5] You remain conscious despite the pain, though all you can do is watch the blood and charred intestine pour out, down onto your severed legs. [Mortal wound. You will die in 3 turns without serious medical aid.]
>May
You are the last to be hit, caught just as the laser lashing upward and away from the vivisected ship. It catches your right leg at the knee and then jerks in a sharp arc and hacks your left arm off straight through the funny bone. [End:2] Perhaps mercifully, you pass out from the pain. [Mortal wound. You will die in 3 turns if you do not get serious medical aid.]
The shuttle begins to fragment and fall apart, tearing into pieces as it falls. An instant later you are hurled away from it as the harnesses eject and hurl themselves toward the hard, concrete arc of the dam below you.
>Activating Grav-chutes.
You don't slow even a fraction as you plunge toward the ground, but you strike the ground with force equal to as if you jumped off a 5 foot wall, landing hard but by no means fatally so. The harnesses release a moment later.
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Topic: Einsteinian Roulette (Original Thread: Rules, Armory, Misson archive 1-11) (Read 3829420 times)