2018-02-26: Sins of Empire
- Log: Sins of Empire
- Cast: Siegfried, Tolone, Kahm Yugh, Loren Voss
- Where: The Photosphere
- Date: 2/26/2018
- Summary: The attack on Wayside forces Gebler to pull Kahm and Loren out of Krosse, immediately assigning them with the Element Tolone on an operation that has long been planned, aimed at the heart of the Metal Demon home. Their success will strike a powerful blow against the enemy, but failure will leave them alone and unsupported in the vest nest of the vipers that drain the life from Filgaia.
<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.
The Photosphere.
A forward assault upon it is nigh impossible -- for one thing, the Photosphere is armed to the teeth with starship-grade cannons, even though it has been grounded for centuries. For another, it has an impenetrable barrier.
Fortunately, Solaris has a trick up its sleeve. Teleportation technology is rare, expensive, and experimental. For recovering the Teardrop, this was well-worth it -- and Gebler has a resourceful lieutenant with a few connections to pave the way.
There are three flashes of light, as Kahm Yugh, Tolone, and Loren Voss appear in the depths of the Photosphere. It is a deep lair, within the bowels of the ship; they appear on a catwalk, currently emptied. There would be no clear way to go, except that same resourceful lieutenant speaks over their ear-piece radios.
"This is Lieutenant Hawwa. Our high-altitude scans and some energy readings give us an idea of where to go. I have good news and bad news."
A moment passes. "The good news is your close. There is a ladder five hundred feet to your east." Then, a sigh. "You will need to climb the ladder for about two minutes. This should lead you into the repair ducts near the Teardrop containment unit."
<Pose Tracker> Tolone has posed.
bwiiiiip
The Element of Wind, Tolone, stands in the depths of this machine-city ship, and her head tilts. Cybernetic eyes drink in the visage of the place. Her head turns around like a slewing turret. "Copy," she answers the Lieutenant's voice on the comm bead, without further elaboration or detail.
What a thrill, Tolone thinks, as she finds the ladder and focuses her attention on it. She speaks in a quieter tone but seems to have come out of her adventures in Bledavik without...
... has she changed at all?
"This is your operation, Major. I'll back you up." After a beat, Tolone continues, "I'll take the rear on the climb."
And indeed, she does. Hopefully, nobody starts falling, but at least they would be caught if they do. Assuming something else doesn't get in the way of the Six Million Gella Girl.
<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.
For a second there, Kahm was concerned that R&D was going to use this little sojourn as the latest excuse to test out the short-range exoflight units he'd seen them developing. They looked interesting, but he wasn't particular keen on being a guinea pig for the latest 'will it fly or not' development out of that team.
Compared to that, teleportation seemed a much better deal, if only because Kahm understood less of the fundamental mechanics behind it.
The process itself was unnervingly calm-there was a flash of light, a brief sense of disorientation, and then he was somewhere else. Somewhere...far.
In the next moment, the Major had his bearings and confirmed the presene of Tolone and Lieutenant Voss. Lieutenant Commander Hawwa's voice through his earpieced received an acknowledging nod, "Loud and clear, ma'am." He said, eyeing the ladder and taking Tolone's cue to speak, "It's a long climb, and we'll be perfectly exposed if we're discovered with little way to defend ourselves. We'll need to operate fast and quietly. I'll take the lead-Lieutenant Voss, you'll be next. Tolone, if you can leverage your talents in any way to keep us under the radar, it'd be appreciated."
That said, the man followed the Lieutenant Commander's directions to the letter and presumably find the ladder, starting his ascent in short order.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
The timing between managing to escape, largely intact, from Krosse and arriving at the rendezvous location had been a tight one. There had barely been a second to spare. Between the preparations after that and arriving on location for the mission he'd been, well, 'recruited' for into the depths of enemy territory, from which a return was an uncertain thing...
A report has not yet been written, let alone filed.
One disorienting moment later, Loren arrives. He seems to be intact, he thinks, upon his own arrival. ...It was technically possible for errors to occur, a fact which he immediately dismisses from his mind, shoving his focus forward.
A voice speaks into his ear, courtesy of the combat gear he's wearing. "Understood, ma'am. No hostiles detected at this time." Briefly, his attention lingers Tolone's way, before turning elsewhere. "Sir?"
So he's in the middle on the climb. Great.
"...Understood. Let's move quickly."
<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.
"Glad to hear it, Major. If there's anything you need to know, please just ask," Hawwa says.
But then, she goes quiet. The three of them ascend the ladder; it takes the promised amount of time, but then it leads to a shaft that they have to climb on hands-and-knees. It stands only three feet tall, but there are grates that reveal a room below. It is an advanced laboratory; the center of it has a hollow pit, with the Teardrop floating suspended over it.
Its blue light shines over the whole of the room. There are, also, Metal Beasts here: things that walk on two spindly legs, too-long arms with an extra joint moving about. These Beasts are unlike most.
They are more akin to scientific drones.
A problem presents itself: the drop to the floor, from here, is a good ten feet. They are in one corner of the room -- with about forty feet to cross, to get to the Teardrop.
<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.
The ladder climb goes mercifully without incident. That was a blessing, as Loren wasn't the only one feeling the pressure of going from one mission to another in such quick succession. Kahm himself had been a poor state when they'd pulled out of Krosse, and the lengths medical had gone to get him mission-ready had been pretty exceptional: He had more stimulants, medigels, and emotional suppressants running through his system than any other time he could remember in his military career. Right now, his body was held together by the high-tech equivalent of duct tape and bubble game.
And he really would rather not put any further stress on it be getting into combat.
That's the thought running through his mind when as they carefully crawl their way to the teardrop's location, eyeing the prize from the relative secrecy of the shaft running above the chamber. The metal beasts didn't look like much to worry about, but they could likely warn more troublesome enemy types faster than they could eliminate all of them.
The Major considers his options, and speaks quietly, "Air ether can cushion our fall, but it's a long way to go without being sighted. We'll need some way to disable the beasts all at once...or confuse them. If I can get a sense of where the power circuits are, I could temporarily overload them and cause a power loss."
That would also bring trouble coming, but it might give them a head start.
<Pose Tracker> Tolone has posed.
"I have an active beam absorption and spoof return to suggest we're an air molecule to most RADAR systems, Major," Tolone says as she climbs up. "I'll have to tailor things more once we have direct sensor observation. However, my ECM suite's not an invisibility cloak. I'll report if there are more details that are pertinent."
She has nothing to say to Loren, it seems.
Until they emerge. To whom she then says, "Sometimes these operations are simple and clean. Refreshing, isn't it?" Loren is not looked at, but he clearly is being addressed.
The metal beasts are given a cursory scan. As is the room at large. "Hm," she says.
Tolone considers them. "Hm," she continues.
"In about thirty seconds the geometry will be right," she answers Kahm even as she impassively reaches up to detach her left arm part way. "Unknown armor toughness, but I could attempt a double shot. Their weapons don't seem high grade..."
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
As a member of medical (if thrust towards the front lines by his particular expertise) Loren has a pretty good idea of just what's running through the Major's veins right now.
Not ideal, but often these are the sacrifices people make on the front lines, he's learned. And it isn't as if Gebler every has the manpower to spare.
And speaking of (sort of) there's Tolone. Tolone, who, let's be honest, sort of creeps him out.
And sort of treads on what little self-esteem he has, intentionally or otherwise. For example, like just now. "Mm. ..Yes, ma'am," runs his reply; he refocuses on the scene below, through the grating.
They haven't been noticed yet -- at least, as far as Loren is aware. Even with some direct interactions and medical analysis of Metal Demons (the Tainted, that is) it's hard to say what these things are or aren't capable of noticing.
Or what Metal Beasts might be capable of. "They don't seem heavily armed. It's possible they'll bring the entire place down on us if we give them the chance. Any attacks should be quick -- and they're likely not the only thing rigged with an alarm in here, if they're smart."
He falls silent then, taking a breath as he closes his eyes and dredges up a small fragment of ether, power akin to the roiling wrath of the planet's heart, incorporating it neatly into the physiology of both ranking officers. "...There."
It's the least he can do. There's too many unknowns here, but they're past the point of caution, perhaps.
<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.
The Metal Beasts below do not seem built for wide-area observation. The room is well guarded, but not through the duct work. When emerges into the heart of the place, in a location ordinarily inaccessible, prodigious defenses can be rendered moot.
But... not for long. All it takes is one misstep, and then Loren could be proven right.
One of the Beasts makes an announcement. <<ANALYSIS COMPLETE. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION SENT TO LORD ALHAZRED... AND LORD SIEGFRIED.>>
Another answers: <<GOOD.>>
They step -- and Tolone has her shot lined up, as Ether fills both Kahm and Tolone, courtesy of Loren.
<Pose Tracker> Tolone has posed.
The surging wrath of the planet's anger settles into the cybernetic bowels of Tolone. "Feels nice," she comments.
She takes her arm the rest of the way off and shifts the stump that protrudes with a squat barrel towards the grate. At the announcement, she glances at Kahm for a moment, but does not speak aloud.
Three.
Two.
One.
SSSKRRANNK!! The beam of shrieking positronic force, prepared from ambush and amplified by the granting of Loren's Etheric support, stabs out with metal-vaporizing force at the processors, as best as Tolone could tell. Vapor rises afterwards from the reticular lens of the weapon. Tolone's cheeks puff briefly as she blows it clear.
The arm goes back on as she leans forwards, prepared to move!
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
Silence meets Tolone's comment on the etheric power boost. That, and a nod from the medic, as if he's uncertain how to respond to this.
There's not much more Loren can do at the moment except be ready. Anything could happen in the next few seconds.
They're already deep in the heart of enemy territory. He's as fine with all this as he'll ever be.
Maybe if they die there will be posthumus commendations.
<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.
The beam lances through the automatons. The Beasts collapse in a heap. They have a large, red mechanical eye in the center of their heads -- and all of them blink out. One, however, blinks a few times. As it shudders, a broken, screechy set of words is spoken -- the beam, it seems, cut through its voice mehcanism. <<UPL...OAD... T-TO... LORD SIEG...FRIED INTERRU-->>
It falls still.
<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.
Loren's invocation is well-timed; Kahm feels the power wind up his veins and into his bones, incorporating with the stimulants and other concoctions swimming in his nervous system at the moment to poise the Major for action. When Tolone takes her shot, the Major blows the grate with a small explosive charge he'd set while in wait, instantly dropping with it. A bit of concentration provides willing of cushion of air below to mute the grate as it crashes to the floor with Kahm atop it.
He'll touch down just as the drone beasts fall at once in silence....all save one.
"Tch." He says, and immediately springs for the Teardrop, closing the distance with a burst of honed speed. He races for the the pit the Teardrop floats over, surrounding his body in a protective sheathe of lightning-type ether just before he makes the leap-a contingency, in case there was a forcefield or defenses of some other type he could not see.
<Pose Tracker> Tolone has posed.
Tolone descends shortly, and emphatically, after Kahm. Her own Wind arts mean that she does n ot actually make a huge THUMP, but the impact is still considerable. She lingers, perhaps to give Loren something to climb down along, her attention snapping up as she watches Kahm's passage intensely.
He would know, of course, that this means Tolone is covering him, not judging him. (Well, maybe also judging him.)
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
It was almost a perfect shot.
An annoyed huff of breath at this -- and what it could mean -- escapes the medical officer, but he's quick to follow up after Kahm and Tolone, a burst of stone-solid ether lacing his frame as he takes the plunge down himself.
Between that, Tolone's boost, and the soles of the combat gear's footwear -- designed with something like this in mind -- his landing goes well. Loren rises, channeling out another pulse of ether into his fellow officers, this one designed to apply a small degree of the agility of the rapids.
Just in case.
<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.
The leap takes no real effort, with the assistance of wind ether. They land, hitting the floor with soft whumphs. The disabled Beasts do not rise; the way is clear.
The Teardrop itself presents a challenge, however. Once Kahm gets closer, he can see that there is more to the Teardrop than just grabbing it. There is a faint, glimmering golden aura -- shaped like a sphere -- around the Teardrop. A means of sealing it, perhaps.
There may be controls for this barrier. A console sits nearby -- though their command of the Hyadean language could present a challenge. The runes are alien.
<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.
Naturally, it wouldn't be that easy. Once Kahm realizes the Teardrop is surrounded by a security field of some sort he'll change his initial approach, slowing down and dissipating the aura he'd conjured around himself. This was now a problem of intel, he thought, as he scanned the command console and quickly grasped his comprehension of it was hopeless.
"Tolone, establish video with HQ." He says quickly, switching channels (literally) towards his earpiece. "Lieutenant Commander, I have some video feed coming in to you shortly. We've located the Teardrop, but there's some sort of barrier around it. We may be able to get it down with these controls, but we need linguistics to guide us through it-and fast, they may know we're here."
"Loren, on the console. Tolone, relay any instructions to him." Kahm ordered, drawing his side arm and keeping a sweeping bead on any access portal in the room. "I'll keep guard."
<Pose Tracker> Tolone has posed.
Tolone's left eye unfocuses enormously, the pupil devouring most of the sclera. "Done," she states to Kahm, approaching the console at a brisk jog and staring intently at it.
Did her ponytails move? No.
"If it has antiorganic fields, I'll give you my arm for a tool," she tells Loren.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
Of course, it's not that easy. Then again, if it had been, runs the fleeting thought--
It'd just mean they were 'expected', wouldn't it. No one would risk actually losing a treasure like this, even if the positioning they've attained courtesy of their entry is unorthodox.
Someone still has to physically take the Teardrop.
His gaze lingers on the barrier for a long moment. Then, he nods, already in motion towards the console as instructed.
His hand hovers over the console, only to freeze outright when Tolone mentions antiorganic fields. "..."
"...I may need to take you up on that, ma'am." Depending on what linguistics has to say. He can't make head or tail of this.
<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.
"I see it." Myyah Hawwa sounds unsurprised, perhaps even nonplussed. She falls quiet for a moment, while she considers what she sees on her screen. It might be that she is talking with the linguistics experts back in Etrenank.
"Voss, the four circles at the bottom are buttons. This should be a touchscreen." The 'should' be may be briefly concerning. "After that... Tolone, I need you to activate your arm's projector. I'm going to upload an image of the keyphrase that Voss should enter. Keep it still."
Her request proves difficult -- but not for the reasons that one might expect.
The letters will be easy enough to recognize, and once Tolone has the space she needs, flat surfaces are all over the place. No, the problem comes from behind them, as the door opens up with a hiss.
Siegfried stands there, in his dark blue armor. His eyes widen, and then narrow -- and their metallic nature reflects red, as he looks at them.
"Is there a problem?" Lieutenant Commander Hawwa asks.
<Pose Tracker> Tolone has posed.
Tolone extends her left arm forwards to produce the projector, which creates the relevant image like a peephole flashlight. At this point the door opens, and Tolone looks over her shoulder.
"Possibly," she says, handing an object to Loren as she turns around.
It's her arm.
It's warm.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
"...Understood, ma'am. Awaiting instruction," he replies to Myyah Hawwa, intent on the projection once it comes and then the display before him.
The door opens with a hiss behind him. At this angle, he cannot see who's just come in but...
But anyone who comes in here can't be anyone they want to meet.
It's a somewhat awkward thing to be handed someone else's arm, even if he's done some studies in cybernetics adjustments. He's... not sure what to say about it. And there are other things to consider besides that--
Though it feels like his spinal column has converted itself to ice, but though he goes rigid for that split-second, though he swallows, he begins to enter the code.
Someone else will have to answer the Lieutenant Commander. Someone else -- for now -- will have to handle whoever's just walked in. Right now, Loren has just one job, and that's to get this thing open.
Don't stop, he tells himself. Whatever else happens, you CAN'T stop.
...And try not to die until you're finished putting in the code, runs the little mental coda.
<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.
Is there a problem?
Oh, how to answer that question. Kahm's eyes were unmoving as the portal hissed open to admit the quarter knight leader. His sidearm remained hone, his eyes steady, not betraying an inch. Perhaps an effect of the drugs pumped into him-or maybe the Major was just that keen under pressure.
"It's a bit sticky." He admits, carefully maneuvering himself between Loren and Siegfried. "We'll need you to get a bead on us from here for extraction ASAP."
This was all spoken in Solarian. However, given the last confrontation Kahm had with the Quarter Knight, that may not matter at all.
"Back from house cleaning, I see." He opens with a goad, welling a lion's share of ether within his body, "I shouldn't have expected that diversion at Wayside to keep you all for long."
<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.
Siegfried does, in fact, look like hell. His armor is battered and damaged; part of the helmet has cracked away, making part of his face visible. The Quarter Knight slows to a stop, and his eyes turn upward. They look at Loren, first; then, they look at Tolone, registering the lack of the arm. Finally, they look at Kahm.
Anger is immediately apparent, and then the battered Quarter Knight rushes right towards Kahm. Glumzambor tears free from his back, and he leaps. It comes crashing down for his head.
"SOLARIAN!" he says. He lands as he slashes -- an arm comes up, a bolt of blue light firing for Tolone's back -- without taking his eyes off Kahm. After the day he had, those eyes brim with a rawer hatred than he usually shows. But, that's how they always look, these days.
"Know this," he says. He speaks not in his language, nor the common one of humans. He speaks in accented Solarian. "I will go to your city, but before I cast it down, I will kill every last Solarian child--"
He rams his blade, again, for Kahm. The rage is focused, though, trying to knock him away to clear a path to Loren. "--after I leave them as orphans!"
Loren presses the last key. The barrier around the Teardrop vanishes -- and the priceless blue gem starts to fall. Catch!
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
Don't look. Don't look. Just finish this. Don't do anything else. Don't look.
So runs the mantra on Loren's end of the room, as he keys in the code, one alien symbol at a time. At a time like this -- knowing what's ensuing behind him from the clamor and cacophany alone -- focus can be a hard thing to thread amidst the grip of tension. But he pours everything into it, proceeds methodically--
He might have accepted what will become of him, down in the catacombs, but it still doesn't make the act of it -- the anticipation of it -- any easier.
Go to their city. Cast it down, kill every person. That can't -- no, focus now.
The last key is pressed. And he, in that moment, realizes that the Quarter Knight is speaking his own tongue.
His focus shifts at last. He twists away from the console, staring at Siegfried. "When did you..."
<Pose Tracker> Tolone has posed.
Tolone's eye remains dilated as she stares levelly towards the Quarter Knight.
Siegfried looks like Hell. He also has Hell riding with him, as Tolone soon enough has cause to realize! The attempted strike towards Kahm produces that bolt from the blue which strikes against her back with a resounding SLAM; she staggers forwards, off balance, the back of her uniform smouldering.
Tolone is driven to one knee.
Then she pushes herself upright, saying to herself, "Compensating..."
Her head raises upwards as she looks towards Siegfried, and past him, to Loren, momentarily. She shakes her head at Loren once, then speaks, to Siegfried.
"Fantasies of violence... revenge on military inferiors. You've already failed in your mission to protect 'that item,' so you're promising vengeance. This sort of thing sounds like the reaction of an unhinged mind that can't accomodate the fact of defeat," Tolone says, with a sort of bland, nasal certainty. "Do the fantasies bring you gratification? Have you taken up harming cuccos or setting small fires in your spare moments, Quarter Knight?"
Tolone's other arm comes up and she lets her weight shift back into a guarded posture. She is doing this one hundred percent on purpose.
Also, the smouldering hasn't actually stopped; she may be, a little bit, on fire.
<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.
Siegfried was clearly injured, weakened. That was good-Riesenlied and her tainted had been a worthwhile chip to sacrifice for this operation.
Of course, Kahm was injured too, but he at least had the best field tech Solaris had to offer telling him otherwise right now. He was no less quick to read Siegfried's moment and dash aside as that might blade comes down, his footing momentarily thrown off the resounding *CRASH* the heavy blade made as slammed into the floor, smashing a crater that threatened to pull the Major right back onto the demon's blade.
Fortunately, Kahm managed to right himself with his next step and zooms close into Siegfried's melee range-too close, he hopes-for the demon to manuever that weapon of his in time as he launches electric fire at Tolone. Gun still in his right hand, Kahm draw the anemo blade in a sinuous draw-cut at Siegfried's flank as passed it, the edge of the sword ionized with furious electrons.
He hears the successive pinging that suggests success from Loren's end, and can only hope the Lieutenant now has the Teardrop in hand without looking at it.
Siegfried recovered quickly, and Kahm was less able to avoid that next swing of the blade, instead managing to block with his energized blade-a clash that did Siegfried more favors than him as the injured Demon's momentum and inhuman strength knocked the Major aside handily, racking his body with impacted pain even the best drugs couldn't dull. His footing gave just so before he regained himself, his blue eyes burning cold and remorseless at his attacker.
Anger could aid them in keeping the Quarter Knight off guard, but it also made him that much more dangerous. Kahm's movements didn't betray an iota of recklesness, even if his words followed on the end of Tolone's. "A lofty claim, as if you don't realize your carnage upon the surface has occurred only because it has been allowed."
Kahm couldn't move in time to keep Siegfried from Loren again, so he attempted to occupy the enemy commander instead with a series of energized ether shots from his sidearm, willing explosive, lightning-aspected energy into each bullet. "Know this-you hunt the 'lambs' only at the tolerance of the Shepherds, and soon the hounds will be set on you!"
In the gap of combat, there's time enough for an aside to Loren as the Lieutenant guffawed. "It's the same with all the Quarter Knights, or most of them. They're old. Old enough to remember Solaris before the veil. They know how to fight us....at least, as we once were."
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
His gaze -- or his attention, beneath the armoring -- briefly catches with Tolone's.
He doesn't have the time to feel the pit drop out of his stomach; our of the corner of his field of vision he can see it:
The Teardrop, already starting to drop out as the field cuts.
It's a durable substance, according to reports but--
But that's a hard surface below it.
And there's a reason why he lunges and dives for it as it falls.
It breaks and he might as well die here.
Kahm's history lesson may need to wait.
<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.
"Speak your language? I have known it since your grandparents' grandparents were alive." One might not want to do Siegfried's math; he really doesn't have a solid grasp on how long humans live.
He turns to glower at Tolone. "My psychology does not work like yours, human," he says. "I am something superior. I lived when your legends did," he says. "I remember our first war--our only war. It never ended." He looks back to Kahm, then, and his eyes narrow. "You call yourselves shepherds? You are not. You are dogs. I know how easily you die--and I know what sins your empire is built on!"
He doesn't say more about that. The lightning blasts from Kahm's firearm slam into Siegfried, and he goes flying backward, just as Loren's fingers wrap around the Teardrop before it crashes to the floor.
"No!" Siegfried cries, turning the arm cannon towards Loren. His attention remains focused on Loren.
"Time to go!" Myyah transmits.
Silver light begins to billow, then gather around the three Solarians. Siegfried fires two rapid pulses of blue light for Loren; the Quarter Knight's focus is upon him, as if he could stop him with one shot.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
Later, when Loren thinks about this comment and measures it out against about how long the Metal Demons are alleged to have been on the planet...
Well, it might be some insight into how the Metal Demon psyche works, for the researchers back in the labs. Maybe.
But at the moment, the whole focus of his world concerns the wellbeing of a chunk of crystal. He lands hard and rather awkwardly as he plunges forth to arrest the Teardrop's fall.
There are moments when the world and indeed time itself contract.
This is one of them.
Myyah's transmission rings out in his ears. What he sees as he lifts his head from the floor, the Teardrop grasped in one hand, is the cannon aimed directly at him.
Shots are fired, light lasing through the air.
He clutches the stone close, its light lost in his glove. Gritting his teeth, he burns ether, channeling all his desperation into it, enclosing it with the rigidity of stone, all into a barrier about him; briefly he glows with it.
It doesn't stop with him. All of them -- anyone he can reach, Quarter Knight excluded -- he douses in that white light.
Transportation is underway.
Time rolls on in the ensuing nanoseconds, as slow as molasses--
<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.
To clarify, Kahm had never called himself a shepherd. That would certainly be overstepping his bounds-he knew well where his place fell in the order of Solarian society. "I know what I am." He answers Siegfried over the reports of gunfire, "And a dog is more than enough to contend with you!"
Myyah's transmission promises salvation, but it might come too late-Kahm's eyes tracked Siegfried drawing a bead on Loren, and there was no telling how quickly the teleportation would come.
It wasn't a risk they could afford to take.
The Major's legs moved with barely a thought behind him, leaping between Loren and Siegfried as the Quarter Knight fired his cannon. Like the Lieutenant, Kahm brought all the ether forth he could must and projected it front of himself, compacted and spread into an energy shield, oblivious to Loren's similar actions in the same frame of time.
It was just enough to hold against the first blast, which was of such fury that Kahm felt his mental resolve stagger beneath the impact, completely shattering the energy field. Only a thin layer of ablative armor beneath his tac-ops vest stood between Kahm and the next blast. It wasn't nearly enough.
Time slowed to a crawl. Loren clutched the teardrop, Siegfried's eyes contorted in rage and desperation, Tolone preparing her next motion. Kahm seemed to see them all locked into permanent stasis as that lost shot bore down on him. He felt the the heat, the pressure on his uniform, the slow, acrid scent of seared synthetics filling his nostrils as the light grew overwhelming, and the world melted into blinding, white flash.
<Pose Tracker> Tolone has posed.
Tolone is glared at by a warrior that predates her civilization's modern form.
Tolone tilts her head back and smirks.
(Tolone is a rude person.)
"Your age hasn't brought you wisdom. You're just another -Lamb- who has happened to wander to this planet from a far off planet. Perhaps it's pitiful, but you're presenting us with some problems; so I don't have an incli-"
Tolone stops talking when Siegfried looks towards Loren.
Myyah transmits just as Tolone is leaping into the air. Her vertical jump is nearly four meters and she uses every one of them before any kind of Wind Ether comes into play. That Ether, guided with circuit-imprinted precision, buoys her as she turns round. From this perspective she can see Loren, who is already being surrounded by the effect. He doesn't have to live, Tolone decides.
He just needs to not drop the item.
Tolone tucks her legs up and pivots ninety degrees towards Siegfried. That aura of effect, the touch of the teleportation equipment, gathers around her. Long enough, she estimates, tilting her head further forwards.
Thunder strikes dead on; she streaks down like an artillery shell towards Siegfried's outstretched arm, head-first!
<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.
The bolt of blue light travels -- Siegfried shouting -- as the silver light gathers around Kahm, Loren, the Teardrop, and Tolone. The Quarter Knight doesn't see whether it strikes; he turns his head towards Tolone, who he ignored. That was a kistake. The thunder slams into his arm, blowing him backward. He spins up into the air with a shower of sparks.
A third shot towards Kahm and Loren never comes. The cannon and arm alike are turned violently; Siegfried flies into the air, and then slams into the ground. To his credit, he strikes the ground hard enough to leave a dent in the floor of the Photosphere.
But when he looks up, trails of silver light are all that remain of the three Solarian operatives.
<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.
ELSEWHERE
Kahm hit the floor with an unpleasantly morose thud, gradually blinking his eyes until the world faded into a recognizable form.
It was, he realized, the floor of the Tzadkiel's transporter room, and he was still alive-although the smoke still plaguing his nose suggested otherwise. A quick look down reveals the cause: A near-perfect, concentric hole burned clean threw his uniform and armor layer, roughly the size of his head. The skin beneath was flushed an angry red-irritating to be sure, but perhaps no worse than a sunburn.
Too close. Kahm thinks, rolling over to his side and coughing in a fit before rising to his feet. "Major Yugh reporting..." He said, turning to either side, "Tolone, Lieutenant, status...?"
<Pose Tracker> Tolone has posed.
Tolone reappears on the Tzadkiel's transporter floor.
She is smouldering. Her hair is in disarray. She's missing an arm. She straightens upwards and reaches behind herself to slap out some lingering ashes, sending small showers of ash and dirt from the back of her uniform to the ground.
Her left eye contracts back to 'normal'.
"Intact and operational, sir," she states. "I suppose we were fortunate he did not find Wayside less of an obstacle. Seemed fatigued."
Tolone's head turns to look towards Loren, however situated. She doesn't help him. "I need my arm back," she says instead.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
Protect the Teardrop, even at the cost of your life.
It's fine, runs the lightspeed followup thought. This is acceptable. He just has to buy seconds--
It's with no small shock then that he watches Kahm intercede.
Seconds. Seconds elapse--
And it's enough. With a stop-start of a jump across space, they're back.
"I've got it. It's intact."
Thus runs Loren's report in the moments after their sudden arrival back in the Tzadkiel.
Before his gaze slips to Kahm and he gets a good long look at the hole burnt through the Major's armor.
That should have hit him. Instead, it had struck the Major.
...Because of the Teardrop. Don't get ahead of yourself, the medical officer reminds himself.
He stands himself, somewhat awkwardly handing Tolone back her arm. "Lieutenant Voss reporting. The Teardrop is in custody. We need a medical team in here."
<Pose Tracker> Kahm Yugh has posed.
Kahm sees Loren's look, and seems to shrug his shoulders as non-chalantly as possible. "Good work, both of you. We needed a win."
He doesn't counterman Loren on the medical team, but he does bend his ear as another reports come in on his commlink. "Just a surface treatment, and ready a new flight suit for me. It sounds like Riesenlied wasn't deal with as thoroughly as we'd hoped."
There was a slow hum and discernible shift of motion in the transporter room-a sign that the Tzadkiel was changing directions. "Fortunately, we planned for that contingency. Lieutenant Van Houten's tracking device has already given us their position. We'll overtake them in a matter of hours, so be ready."