Foothold: Ch. 2, Of Jungle and Stone

The Marines are Berthed in the belly of the starship, and essential for attack and defense, whether it be on the gorund, or inside the ships during boarding actions. Fighter pilots and ships may win battles, but Marines will win the War.
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Straken
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Re: Foothold: Ch. 2, Of Jungle and Stone

Post by Straken »

“Ah hah,” Dom gave a rather simple response as he was not really sure what he expecting. “Guess that explains quite a bit, actually. Though, as far as crazy goes you seem like you’re on par with others I have met as a marine. More interesting than the people I grew up, at least. Mining colonies aren’t all that interesting if you don’t have a good hobby, and even then it can get stale after a while.”

Standing on his own side of the cave, Dom was enjoying his chance to talk relatively normal for a bit, and he noted a few instances of his idle body gestures mimicking Card’s as he adjusted his stance when she did. “But yeah, compared to you I’m rather boring, or so it would seem.”
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Gwathdraug
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Re: Foothold: Ch. 2, Of Jungle and Stone

Post by Gwathdraug »

"What? Forgetting already that you are the one out of all of us that blew up a Hammerbeast, Dom?" Card grinned behind her helmet, it was good to be around people who just took things as they came again. "I spent my whole time covered in the wreck of our own position and the best I did was kick a lizard to death."

On the verge of saying more Card stopped as the sounds of Asher and Camilla's movements above made themselves known. I'm not going to turn around. They both just got out of medical. I am not going to turn around.

Tightening her grip on her dagger and puffing her breath out in frustration Emma forced herself to keep smiling behind her helmet as she refused to budge from her current position. "If that idiot gets the both of them wounded all over again I'm going to stab him."
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Straken
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Re: Foothold: Ch. 2, Of Jungle and Stone

Post by Straken »

“Meh, high explosives are just that, ya throw and ya duck and ya hope you are far enough away, but kicking a lizard to death is something I likely won’t be doing anytime soon,” Dom joked lightly as he kept with the mood. Before he continued however he also noted the clamor at the top of the ladder, and his curiosity got the better of him.

“Yeah, it like quite a ruckus up there, maybe we were a tad hasty comin’ down here when we did.” With that Dom settled back against the cave wall and crossed his arms while looking at the base of the ladder.
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Mr. Blackbird Lore
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Re: Foothold: Ch. 2, Of Jungle and Stone

Post by Mr. Blackbird Lore »

It all happened so fast. She was listening pointedly to what sort of nonsense Asher would spout next, eyebrow cocked inquisitively. Then there was a split second of irritation when he grabbed Camilla's gear. Then came the realization that gravity was about to have its way with the two of them. "You stupid son of a--" Private Enos didn't finish her exclamation because by then her survival instincts were kicking in. There was no time or energy to be wasted swearing at a deaf man.

The pair began their fall flipping literally head over heels. The gun in Camilla's hands had become a burden and tossed aside hastily. Her freed hands flailed, seeking purchase on something, anything to slow their descent. Her palm found the ladder's rail and all five fingers locked onto it in a death grip. The combined weight of two marine bodies crushed her pinky and ring finger on the next rung and tore free of her grasp- and very nearly tore her shoulder out of its socket. Seemingly out of options with this latest defeat, all she could think was, If only I had put my helmet on...

Seconds later, they struck dirt with a THOOMP. A cloud of dust whipped up, obscuring daylight and the unfortunately entangled pair. As the dust settled, Camilla groaned and rolled off poor Asher who'd taken the brunt of the plunge. She put a gloved hand to her forehead and found lovely welt forming just above her right temple. Anger welled up in her, driving Private Enos to her feet. She rounded on the still prone form of Asher and without even a moment of thought, punted his helmeted head as hard as she could. "You stupid FUCK! You damn near fucking KILLED US!"

She reared back for a second kick, paused, then lowered her boot. Rationality had finally returned to her shaken brain, but her anger still simmered- it was in fact inflamed by the realization that their teammates were not far away and had borne witness to her near-death experience, and her sudden outburst. Camilla clasped on her helmet to hide from the humiliation. After recollecting her discarded carbine, she growled at Asher via the comms, "Ever do something like that again and I will break both your legs and throw you over the Wall."
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Kokuten
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Re: Foothold: Ch. 2, Of Jungle and Stone

Post by Kokuten »

All the way down, Asher's legs had been flailing out to strike against anything. The last time he fell like this, he was going towards a large body of water, with Emma Card cackling all the way down behind him. Even as he fell, coiled with Camilla, the marine couldn't think of anything but the bitter disgust he felt for the officer in that. He had a hard time legitimately hating people, but Card seemed to have it out for him. Ever since they first met, when she made him crash his face against a pile of plastic shards. Then when she had him help her steal back a knife for her. The frustration seemed to stave off the pain as his helmet collided against one side as Camilla brought them to sudden stop, but he simply bounced back and off, still latched to the woman. He would've let go earlier, but the slow made him think she had stopped them.

Falling fast again, he braced himself, readying for the sudden stop that would kill a normal man.

CLRUAGSH. The sickening sound resounded through out his whole being as the extra weight of Enos' body slammed him into the solid ground. He felt his rib-cage bend, the synthetic paste rolling inside of him, offset by the shock. His whole body felt like it had been electrocuted for a moment, followed by the sensation of suffocation as the air buffeted from his lungs. Little, wet pinpricks of warmth along old wounds spread gently as old wounds opened themselves for a moment. Asher made a chocking gag, as he settled from the fall. The pain all over his body was immeasurable, especially so when he tried to move. Yet, when he found the gumption to do so, the strangely muffled world screamed at him, before snapping his head aside.

The force of the native's kick felt like it had almost snapped his neck, but that was actually the ghostly pain of his previous landing at the fight on the wall.

Yet, despite the shell-shock, Asher managed to turn over, not hearing a word of what Camilla had said. He still couldn't breath, and further, could not wheeze, because he felt some kind of water clogging his throat. With a bit of rustling, and clicking, his helmet unsealed and came tumbling off of his head. Asher's face was curled in what looked like a white-faced rage, but he eventually began to heave. After rocking for a second, he vomited a little bit of blood onto the floor, clots and liquid working over his lips and splattering into a grisly display. Once his managed to get his throat clear, he could breath, partially. He wheezed, and breathed, trying to force air back into his lungs, inviting great pain into his chest by doing so. Thankfully, though, his lungs managed to take in some of the oxygen around him.

With that, he pushed himself up, fighting through the pain, and scooping up his helmet. His eyes carried around lazily, glazed, before meeting on Camilla and gaining focus. The shell shock was fading, and he managed to speak again.

"Whud-... Mugh," Asher brought the softer side of his arm to his mouth to wipe off the blood, staining his face with dirt, "Whud you say?"

Matched with his curious expression, he seemed more concerned in the words he had missed, rather than the near-death fall. This was made especially true as he promptly put his helmet back on his head.
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Mr. Blackbird Lore
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Re: Foothold: Ch. 2, Of Jungle and Stone

Post by Mr. Blackbird Lore »

Camila turned to face him, glaring behind her reflective faceplate. The glare became confusion when her eyes alighted upon the blood staining Asher's lips. She was still lost in the turn of events and didn't snap out until Private Westwood had secured his helmet. She sighed, shook it off, and reminded herself, he deserved it for being an idiot.

"I said, if you ever do something like that again I'll break both your legs and throw you over the Wall. Idiot." She sighed. "And clean yourself up. You look like shit." Camilla turned her back on Asher after that and marched off after Dom and Emma, still simmering. Another shitty mission with a bunch of shitty foreigners who don't know anything, she grumbled silently to herself. Can't believe I signed up for this.
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Kokuten
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Re: Foothold: Ch. 2, Of Jungle and Stone

Post by Kokuten »

"Well, excuuuuuuse me. I guess I shoulda' brought m'Bitchaway, just t'get all tha' bitchin' out tha' room," grumbled Asher as he got scolded again. He started walking, albeit with a limp, and then quickly translated into a comfortable stride. "I don' even know why y'so angry, is y'fat ass 'dat almos' killed me. You didn't get landed on by dat' big ol' thing."
CadetNewb
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Re: Foothold: Ch. 2, Of Jungle and Stone

Post by CadetNewb »

As Camellia and Asher argued, a face peeked over the rim of the hole.

Backlit by the light behind it, the figure could only be seen as a dark form by the two, watching as they quarreled. But it soon, very soon, became apparent that this person was smiling. And not just smiling - this person was grinning ear to ear. This perverse smile was accompanied by a shining glint in the eyes that somehow seemed unearthly wrong in its utter delight upon seeing the two. On top of that? There was mischievous blush to the cheeks, and the way this person bit the top of the poncho worn, yanking at it with her teeth while wrenching it away with her hands at the same time in eagerness said many words about this person. If anything, it was as though a predator had finally found its prey.

"I'm sooooooo going to fanfiction you two hard. Really, really hard," Pepper's shining green eyes perversely shined.
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Straken
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Re: Foothold: Ch. 2, Of Jungle and Stone

Post by Straken »

Dom jumped slightly as Asher and Camilla came tumbling down the shaft, but otherwise stayed put as he watched their exchange with general amusement. This was as close to a slapstick comedy sketch as Dom could get while on Foothold, and with the bloody puke not counting he was enjoying it. Thinking about how frequently situations similar to this one happened, the engineer couldn’t help but count himself lucky.

“Never a dull moment in this squad, though Pepper’s comment was odd even by our standards,” Dom said with a chuckle.
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Mr. Blackbird Lore
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Re: Foothold: Ch. 2, Of Jungle and Stone

Post by Mr. Blackbird Lore »

"A shame your lungs weren't crushed to dust," she muttered quietly, her voice confined to the interior of her helmet. In the midst of her musings, Pepper's jibe went unregistered. Sooner this mission starts, the sooner I can get out of here, Camilla reminded herself. Then she took a deep breath and tried to relax her already tense muscles. One step at a time, and I'll get off this goddamn rock. Speaking of moving forward...

"Card, any idea where the Sergeant is?"
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