[Episode One] Gateway of Hopes

[CadetNewb]

"I can do that!" Cibo practically squeed. The intelligence agent listened for a brief moment for the source of incoming fire, and then stuck her gun around the corner to squeeze off a long burst of blind fire. She didn't let up either. Cibo kept on firing until they were paused in reply, forced into cover by the random spray. "Magazine's half full and dropping!" She called out. "Whatever you're doing, do it fast!"

[Kai]

Just as Cibo called in her status, the two marines the Sergeant had sent forward arrived, ducking into the doorway which the Intel agent occupied. "Let's start clearing rooms." The taller of the two informed her, pointing into the compartment and toward the door leading to the next room.

Meanwhile, Kai and the rest of the marines were forced to hold their ground as they had no real way to do anything other than fire from this distance. "Cibo, Before you head into the rooms, toss a grenade or two down the hallway, would you?" the blond Sergeant ordered the thin woman. As he looked forward through the scope display on his HUD, Kai could see what he had feared- the Drathonians were going into the compartments to attempt a flanking maneuver on the pinned marines- Luckily he had beaten them to it.

"Where the Hell is Adrian? Even if he doesn't have his stupid sniper rifle he can still snipe from here..." the officer muttered to himself, running through his displays searching for the soldier.

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

The severely wounded and nearly crushed Drathonian gave would could only be called a whimper as Destiny and Kwon threw their bodies into the room, the latter escaping another random closing by three full seconds. This time it remained shut, though a triangular gap had formed, displaying a sliver of the world beyond. This both answered the female Surandanian's question and greatly altered the strategic layout of the hallway.

"Ask that lizard some questions, if he's still alive and speaks or writes Trade."

Kwon offered a solemn, "Yessir," before kicking the Drathonian onto his back. This elicited a great growl of agony, but no resistance. "For your sake, you'd better know English because I don't speak trade," the Asian-American informed his captive before glancing at Destiny.

Back in the hallway, the firefight was going as smoothly as things could go considering lethal amounts of energy and high-velocity projectiles were traveling hither and thither with no immediately visible sense or pattern. Garrett's first thought was to authorize another round of grenades, but he didn't want to do any structural damage, which was more than likely given the situation. So he had to play the patience game.

"Do not give ground!" he ordered. "Any step ought to be one closer to that door." That wasn't too much of a problem, though, as the Drathonians seemed to have orders to retreat at all costs. That or, as the running theory went, they were all fresh pugs put on a detail that wasn't expecting any engagement.

[CadetNewb]

"Yes sir, double whammy coming up!" The slim intelligence agent let the gauss rifle hang off a tether to her chest as she reached for a pair of grenades off her belt. She'd need two - frag grenades indoors sometimes sent said fragments right through walls, and considering this was an office area, Cibo used concussion grenades. Plus, they were Drathonians, and blowing them up was fun! Cibo pulled the pin off one, and started happily counting away under her breath. "One Mississippi, Two Mississippi, Three!" The explosive was chucked right down the hallway, the pin coming off the second grenade as soon as the first left her hand. A blast shook them all, quickly followed by another bouncing clank and thundering boom. At that final signal, the two men stormed out of the hallway and into a room, Cibo hot on their tail, rifle at the ready.

'Ha! The softie isn't going in first this time! After you gents!'

[Kokuten]

"What the!? Where are y'goin' y'fuckin' pussies!" roared Asher through his external speaker as he popped out of cover and began to shoot the Drathonians in the back as they tried to run. His sights squared on the back of one the retreating Drathonians who received a well-aimed bolt to the back. While he was exposed, one the Drathonians supporting their retreat cracked a shot on the edge of his shin guard, knocking him off his balance for a moment. This angered him further, increasing his frustration in the wake of the enemy's retreat. The dangerous, and very likely insane, Terran ripped his knife out of his sheath, causing sparks to fly off the edge of it's uniquely designed mouth.

"Come back 'ere an' GIMME' Y'SKULLS!" the Surandanian again declared loudly as he leaned forward to run after the retreating Drathonians, moving like a wildman!

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

"Shit," the Sergeant sighed before sprinting after his gung-ho squad mate. He had to catch up before the man did something stupid; Garrett didn't even worry about shooting or being shot, he just ran. "WESTWOOD! YOU DRAW YOUR GUN RIGHT NOW OR I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL HAVE YOU ON SHIT DUTY FOR A MONTH BY YOURSELF." Shouting this at the top of his lungs did not make Sgt. Hendlow feel any less inclined to give chase, but it was his duty as a squad leader to give orders- and punishments when orders were not followed.

[Kokuten]

"Rargh!" growled Asher as his heels came down strong on the floor, sheathing his knife, and diving into cover a little ways ahead of the group. His reaction wasn't exactly immediate, since he was seriously considering running ahead to dig out their eyes, but he responded to orders none-the-less. The Surandanian conformed his body into that doorway and firmly gripped his strapped rifle. "What the hell!? Why tha' fuck are they runnin'!? I thought Drathonians had bigga' balls than this!" sneered Asher behind a polarized mask, which turned to face his fast approaching commander.

[Kai]

Destiny shrugged at Kwon's glance. "I don't speak lizard either. I think we should just off him and keep moving, personally." The scout suggested, looking through the gap in the jammed door, and trying to see if she could get a bead on any enemies. "We also may have to make another door, this one's jammed pretty bad."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The men were quickly hit by fire from the old slugthrowers their enemies were sporting, which pinged noisily off plates for a moment before the sound of automatic gauss fire pronounced a staccato end to the resistance in that room. When the room cleared, they could see not only a door way going to the next room, but also what appeared to be a hole in the wall. Not bothering to open the door, the marines flanked the hole, and peered around the corner- into the muzzle of some very large energy weapon. It went off, the flash blinding to anyone without some kind of eye protection, and proceeded to drill a hole through the next wall, showing that it was a bit more powerful, and had probably been set up as an ambush for when the Terrans advanced.

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

Hendlow gave a sigh of relief as he went sliding on his armored knees to bang into the wall, taking up a position just a couple feet behind Westwood. "What does it matter? Keep up the push, but don't go sprinting in there alone." I don't need another Gallagher, he almost said, but thought to himself instead. Maintaining a low profile, Hendlow advanced. He never took his eyes off his sights, and when a reload was required, it was a simple matter of letting the expended battery fall by the wayside so a new one could be slammed in. He was at the forefront of the advance, then, showing his men that he wasn't just a man barking orders, but a field commander fighting shoulder to shoulder with his men. He wouldn't have it any other way.

Now, however, the resistance was thickening as the Drathonians clustered outside the control room door. They had nowhere to go; it was either run into a hail of plasma or wait for the storm to come to them.

Kwon put a hole in their captive's head without a second thought. "That resolves that. Now," he turned to the door through which they had come. Clearly not an option. So he turned to look "ahead," parallel to the hallway. The room continued another 10 yards at least, and was that a door in the shadowy corner there? Tsung Kwon advanced with a quick stride. "I think there's one over here." Indeed it was, but locked via a perfectly normal and functioning panel. Kwon wasn't quite sure whether that was better or worse than a door on the fritz. "Do we have codes for doors other than the control room?" the Asian asked his commander.

Hendlow responded with a question of his own. "What are you talking about?"

"We're still locked in that side passage, some empty storage room or some-such."

Hendlow backpedaled and dropped on his stomach so he could safely assess the matter. The door was behind him about six feet. "No, I don't have anything for you."

"I'm no hacker, sir," declared Kwon.

"I'm sorry, but I can't help you at the moment."

Kwon sighed and glanced at Destiny. "Suggestions?"

[CadetNewb]

"Damn! Just when I thought we had the upper hand!" Cibo called out from behind her little spot of safety. The large energy weapon hacked out several more blobs of energy which splashed across and blasted away small chunks of the station that they were in. Whatever it was, it was getting rid of their cover! Cibo liked cover! It kept her safe from everything! "Someone shut up that red bastard already!" the intelligence agent yelled again, this time blind firing her gauss rifle at the source of the rancor. Spark traced across the hole in the wall from which the blasts emanated for better or worse before hiding again.

Cibo primed a third grenade, and as soon as the blasts of energy were aimed elsewhere, let the spool fly before chucking it at the shooter's nest in the wall.