Final OC Swarm gooooo

[duetmoxie]

[1]

[On what should have been a quiet day in Fort Alhambra, a swarm of small pets has somehow been unleashed upon the unsuspecting base and are now running wild all over it. Somehow you've been hired to help her recapture them.]

I'm really sorry about this...I don't even know how they all escaped.

[2]



[After a particularly disastrous deployment Rani is studying combat logs from prior Unity Group missions, from the bags underneath her eyes it's clear that she's been at this for several hours now.]

There are so many enemies....how are we supposed to be prepared for all of them...

[3]



[Something bad has just happened in the middle of a battle and Rani has charged into the middle of a massive swarm of enemies in response. ]

Y...you...I'll kill all of you!

[Her T-Link Rippers whirl out with a green glow and then fly through the enemies, ripping apart anything that stood in front of it. Rani herself has pulled out every weapon she could and began to unload every last bullet she had left. She does not seem to have any regard for her own safety and is recklessly continuing to push forward and soon enough she's completely surrounded. ]

I'm not going down until I take you all with me!

[She points her machinegun at the enemies again and then -click- she was out of ammo.]

Not like this...

[This looks pretty bad...]

Comments

3

[duetsavvy]

Not yet Rani! Come on, get a grip!

[Pew, pew - enemies on the flank are too focused on the Gespenst, which means they can't defend themselves too well as plasma beams fire all over them.]

We need to get out of here! ... We need a plan!

[duetmoxie]

But...we can't just let them get away. Not after what they did!

[The beams crash into the enemies, giving Rani a chance to recall her rippers and continue forward even without any ammo left in her firearms. The glowing blades circle around her as she continues to charge recklessly into the fray.]

[duetsavvy]

Yes! But there are better ways than charging head on!

[Split missiles, fire! The micro projectiles rain down - not on enemies, but on the cliff formation above them, causing a rockslide to disrupt their ranks, unless they prefer being crushed!]

You'll just... you'll just get killed too!

[duetmoxie]

If I get them before that happens it'll be worth it!

[Yeah, she is not listening to reason right now. Parts of her Personal Trooper began to spark wildly, the machine could not keep up with Rani's reckless behavior and it was starting to show. If you have a plan to stop her from killing herself Brye now would be the time to enact it.]

[duetsavvy]

No! Think about it Rani!

[More firing at the rocks - Bryanne deploys the rectangular launcher for this task. The falling rocks form an obstacle, a barrier that makes it very hard for the two to reach the enemies...]

[duetmoxie]

What are you doing!?

[Well that seems to have done the trick...]

[duetsavvy]

Preventing you from getting killed! And...

Channeling the enemies. Their escape routes are blocked, and unless they want to break through ranks and ranks of our allies, which'd be even more reckless than you just now...

[Brye glances at her display, showing a map of the surrounding area.]

I'm sure this is the only path they can take. Which means we can flank 'em.

[duetmoxie]

I...

[Well, that actually seems to have done the trick.]

...we'll have to take the longer way around now though. If we can't make it to this point before them then we'll miss the chance and they'll get away...

[She was still very angry but as much as she hated to admit it this was a lot smarter.]

[duetsavvy]

Then there's no time to lose. Let's go!

[duetmoxie]

Right...

[Rani goes quiet for a second, on Brye's monitor she can clearly see that the girl has something else to say but it takes her a while.]

...thanks Brye...for stopping me.

[duetsavvy]

Hey, we're still doing it, right? We can't just let the baddies get away!

So it's not stopping.

I'd say it's more like... directing.

1

[professional_weedkiller]

I have no idea...Maybe somebody forgot to close the cages properly after feeding them. All of them.

[duetmoxie]

This is my fault...I shouldn't have brought them here with me.

[professional_weedkiller]

Nah, they're cute. And this base is pretty gloomy so they helped make it feel nicer. We just need to catch them and prevent them from running away again.

[duetmoxie]

Things are so loose around here...when I was training we'd get in a lot of trouble if anything like this ever happened.

[professional_weedkiller]

Yes, it's great. We're totally free here!...At least as long as we aren't acting like jerks.

[duetmoxie]

...right.

[Rani looks a bit uncomfortable and hesitated a bit before she spoke, like she had something she wanted to say but decided against it.]

Ah...there they are!

[Luckily, the sight of the adorable swarm running past one of the grates stirs Rani.]

[professional_weedkiller]

Okay, I'll try to catch them. Give me a second...Once I figure out a way to that other side.

[duetmoxie]

Maybe we can pull off this grate?

It'll be a tight fit though...

[professional_weedkiller]

Got.

[Yeong just moves over to deliver a single, swift kick to the grate to kick it out to the other side. Then she unceremoniously starts wriggling through, apparently not concerned with her fancy designer outfit getting dirty in the process.]

...Really tight. Um, can you try to give me a push to see if that helps?

[duetmoxie]

Ah...sure.

[Rani gets behind Yeong and places her hands onto her. How she got herself into this situation was clear but the ridiculousness of all of it was just so confusing. She wondered if it was just as confusing for the girl she was about to push through.]

Okay, 3, 2, 1...

[And as her countdown ended she gave Yeong a stiff push to force her through. Hopefully nothing would go wrong.]

[professional_weedkiller]

Got it.

[If Yeong is particularly concerned with how ridiculous it was, she isn't showing and with a good push she easily goes through. From there it's just a few quick steps and a quick movement of her arm before she's holding one of the escaped pets.]

So...How are we gonna get all of them? There are a lot and we only have four hands.

[duetmoxie]

It...might have been a good idea to discuss that before we started this.

[Rani peaks her head through, slightly afraid to attempt to squeeze her way through.]

Other than doing this the old fashioned way I don't have many ideas...

[professional_weedkiller]

Probably...But we've gotten this far. Maybe we can find a cage somewhere?

[duetmoxie]

I still have a few left in my room, I can go grab them but...will you be alright with chasing them on your own while I get them?

[professional_weedkiller]

Sure. It'll be good training...Just not sure how many I can carry at a time. [She's not stopping her chasing down the fuzzy animals just to talk, her hand darting out to grab another one.]

[duetmoxie]

Alright then...I'll be back as soon as possible.

[And with that she darts off to retrieve one of the many cages she brought with her to Alhambra. A few minutes later she returns with two cages in each hand.]

Yeong? Are you still here?

[professional_weedkiller]

Yes. But the animals ran that way. [She gestures in one direction with her elbow, still only carrying the two pets she picked up, quickly moving over to put them in one of the cages.] I didn't think I should grab more, they'd be pretty hard to hold without hurting them.

2

[holdthefuture]

You don't. All you can do is put everything into it.

[duetmoxie]

And...what if putting everything into it isn't enough?

[holdthefuture]

You don't think about it until it happens.

At least I don't.

[duetmoxie]

...why do you think I'm thinking about this right now?

[holdthefuture]

You aren't in a fight right now, going up against an enemy. That moment makes the biggest difference.

Going on like this is just going to hurt you.

[duetmoxie]

Just doing nothing during my free time before didn't help me either, I don't want to make that mistake again.

I have to know more and be able to do more.

[holdthefuture]

How do you know when it's enough, then?

I'm not saying not to try anything at all, but there will always be something you can't prepare for.

[duetmoxie]

...I don't know, but even so I don't want to take any more chances.

The more I know the more I can do and I'm not going to let the fear of the unknown stop me.

[holdthefuture]

I think it's the fear of what you know that should be considered now.

[She points at those bags under Rani's eyes.]

...Like not getting enough sleep.

[duetmoxie]

I'll get sleep when I need it...

[She goes quiet for a moment.]

For now the most important thing is this...

2

[pulledplug]

You make it sound like the same plan doesn't work for most of 'em.

[duetmoxie]

It doesn't, we can't always just expect to win just because we throw so many different machines at our problems.

[pulledplug]

Well yeah, but if we just don't do anythin', then only thing you're gonna be able to expect and be right about is losing.

The big, fancy crazy stuff with dudes making deals over a table, that's for other guys who know what they're doin'.

[duetmoxie]

I'm not saying that we shouldn't do anything, I'm saying that we should at least do more than jump into battle without any knowledge and hope for the best.