trans_9 | Phase 2 - Running the Ratrace

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Phase 2 - Running the Ratrace

You have my sincerest apologies, but I have my mission.

The traps start. Rotating blades coming out of the walls and floors and ceilings, jets of fire, lasers, holographic enemies. The clear walls of the maze let them see what's happening to everyone else.

The traps start, and they have to stay alive despite them. If they stop avoiding them, it's their own fault, you see, if they die. That makes it indirect enough for Stacy's Anti-harming-the-crew protocols to be avoided, as Hal, despite his reprogramming, still has to follow some constraints.

Please commence with killing yourselves by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The only chance the group has is if they work together to stay alive, and somehow they have to take out the shield projectors creating the maze even though they themselves are shielded...

[ooc: Cooperation is key, people. Hal can only adapt to one power/skill-set at a time, not all of them.]

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He's blasted in the back again and this time, he actually feels it, but the only way you could tell would be from the set of his jaw. He's too focused on what he's doing--and on shielding the three of them with his TTK, and rooting himself to the floor so he can't be budged, with a hand touched to the floor.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

Tears sizzle away. He knows he's helping to save Paco's life, but it's still hurting him to do it, hurting someone who just saw their best friend die.

"Done!" The heatvision blinks off. "Tobias, help cover them, Slobo, keep Wyn alive and do whatever you have to do it, Wyn and what'syourname--Kyle? Take out the turrets and Wags and I'll work on the chompy things. And Cass, bandage up the stump, give him epi, and see if you can get him on his feet. Do we have any saline or lactated ringer's in the medkits? I took a smaller kit, I don't know what's in yours."

Another chomper appears near them, and Kon lets it chomp on his arm, breaking the grinding mechanisms, then rips it out of the floor and sends it into several of the turrets.

Edited 2009-10-25 05:06 (UTC)

First, bandages, quick as she can. Second is the epinephrine injector she pulls from her kit, and she doesn't hesitate to inject it into his outer thigh. The trans suit's seal didn't even matter, seeing as his arm was missing. And then, third, before any moving around, she pulls out the oxygen supply and hooks him up to it, holding the mouth piece over his face and keeping herself braced against him for support.

The last thing they need is for a big guy like him to lose consciousness.

"Just breathe? Alright. Then we've got to keep moving. But it's going to be okay, alright? We're superheroes."

She watches him, concerned, trying to tune off the chaos around them, while rooting around in her kit for other useful things.

"G-Got it," he muttered weakly, concentrating on breathing deep from the mouth piece. "Gotta move. Gotta do...something. Dunno what. Something. Plan. Plan's are good."

He wasn't looking at his arm. Wasn't going to look at his arm, and he had to think of it that way because he was pretty sure he was barely hanging onto his sanity by the skin of his teeth, and he couldn't afford to break down right now.

"Oh yeah. Gotta kill the whatsit."

Why he wa here could be answered in two short words: John Connor. What John Connor told him to do, he did. John Connor said to get involved, and so here he was. He hadn't been told to talk, of course, but even if he'd had...he wouldn't have done as well with it as he did with suddenly being thrust into war.

The terrain was unfamiliar, but the enemy was not. Another AI, meant to protect, intent on killing all of them. Pointing and shooting, surviving, those things he could do, too.

He didn't think twice about responding to orders. He'd seen much worse than an amputation in the field, even if usually the cauterization didn't occur by eye-beams.

His pulse-rifle was comfortable and familiar in his hand. Using a living being as a shield was less familiar, but apparently he had the durability of a Terminator. There was no other cover to use. The sooner he could shoot the turrents out, the less time he need wonder how wise it was to trust a humanoid shield.

"RAGS RMASH!" Yeah, Kon, Wags is several steps ahead of you on that point.

"This is why I need my raygun." Wyn mutters, concentrating very hard on trying to take down the turrets and definitely not on Paco's medical emergency. "Kyle Reese has a raygun. It would be useful right now. But no."

Pay no attention to her, teammates. For now, at least, anger is a better way of dealing with what she's just seen than panic.

Slobo has been watching everything go down silently. Finally, after seeing the drama unfold, he starts making his way to Wyn, taking down the chompers with his crowbar, which is now nicked and scarred and missing it's hook. He stands in front of Wyn, and quickly punches one into submission.

"Alright, I play guard. You use brains and figure a way outta this mess." He pulls his chain and tosses it into a few of the chompers, letting their teeth get caught up. "I shoulda grabbed more chain."

< Got it > Tobias calls back as he hears his name. He gets blasted too, and one of his stalk eyes goes dead. < Darnit! > He's glad it'll go away when he demorphs. He wishes he had time at the moment, but that's not possible. The fighting is too intense.

Slobo looked around quickly to assess how deep they were in it. What he saw was a small team falling apart in the face of danger. Everyone seemed phased by the Beetle's death, and that Pablo kid was not having a good day. After a quick moment and a few more dispatched chompers, he uttered something to himself.

"What would Birdboy do?" That was simple. Robin would have come up with a plan right now, using everyone's strengths. Kon was panicked, something other than the bug's death was making him act a bit irrational, and Wondy wasn't fighting for some reason. Probably connected. Slobo had a quick moment of panic. He wasn't a tactician.

But then again, he did know how to frag in short order, as he thought of Static and Katara during training. That was almost tactics. And someone needed to say something cohesive to focus the group.

"ALRIGHT, I AIN'T TIMMY, BUT HERE'S WHAT I THINK; BLUE! THE TURRETS AIN'T JUS' YER ENEMY! WITH YER FLYIN' AND STRENGTH, THEY'RE POTENTIAL WEAPONS! GUN GUY, WOLFY, KEEP FRAGGIN'! GEEK GIRL, USE THAT PUSHEY RAY TO GIVE MORPHEY SOME COVER, AND MORPHEY SHOULD SWITCH TO SOMETHIN' LESS VULNERABLE!" He paused for a moment to uproot a chomper and throw it at the others. "WE DON'T WORK TOGETHER, WE GET FRAGGED! SO LET'S STEP IT UP AND SHOW THE DAMN COMPUTER WHO HE'S MESSIN' WITH!"

He could only hope his teammates would listen. Or that the plan would work until they came up with something else.

Hey, a plan's a plan, and Wyn's not about to complain about something that sounds both mostly functional and not likely to get them killed. She will, however, complain about being called 'geek girl'. "I have a name!" she calls, still trying to buy time for the blue space pony to shapeshift.

Tobias used the bought time to return to his hawk form and then morph again. He was tired and it was hard but he had to be battle-ready. This time, he pulled out the heavy machinery as far as his morphs went: Hork-bajir. He missed the surround-sight of the Andalite, but he could take on a lot more beasties at once with all these blades sticking out.

< Thanks >

'Gun-guy' seemed the appropriate term for the moment. The lack of a proper name didn't faze Kyle--on a long term basis, names were an essential differential between human and metal, but in a combat situation as the one they found themselves thrust into, what mattered was that everyone knew what they needed to do.

While 'frag' was an unfamiliar term, he received the intended message perfectly well. It was one he had no issue with obeying--shooting metal was one thing he would never question.

Hal can adapt. And one of the things he does is direct a blast he knows Kon will block from the others with his body. A red blast.

"Gnnh!" Kon cries, as he drops to his knees, suddenly weak. "Crap!"

Red sunlight. And not enough ambient yellow sunlight on the ship to recharge even when it stops.

"Slobo! Red sunlight. You're gonna have to handle most of the fraggin' now."

The gun turrets turn to aim for him.

This should be the part where he looks scared, but it isn't. Yeah, so he's powerless. He knew that might happen. It's happened before.

He's also taken a page out of Batman's book. He's prepared.

He flexes his wrist and the gauntlet there starts to warp and change until a large gold shield with an S appears, deflecting the fire.

"Yeah, the super has to be useless without his powers, right? If you think that, you've got another think comin', pal."

Because this is what they're dealing with:

He dodges out of the way, at an angle where any shots that miss him won't hit the people behind him and slams one of the chompers with his shield and uses the sharp edge of it to cut it off at the base. Then he throws it so it slices through two gun turrets before it comes back sailing back to him.

Guardian's training apparently hadn't been for naught.

"Still got it."

A chomper flies over Kon's head, taking out a turret. Slobo grins at his old friend.

"Thanks fer the ego boost, pal. But I don't need ya powerless ta know I'm better 'an ya." The grin grew wider as Slobo's mind began to work. "Alright, team, all bets're off. Morphey, take over guardin' geek girl." He looked around, at the turrets, the chompers, and their general situation.

"Alright, ya little punk. Ya can adapt. Awesome fer ya, compy. Lesse how ya adapt ta dyin'." With that, he jumped into the chompers, allowing them to break themselves down on his skin, throwing peices at remaining turrets.

"THEY'RE PLAYIN' OUR SONG, HAL! LET'S FRAGGIN' DANCE!"

Kon has to make another dive and roll to avoid a chomper, taking him away from Slobo, and then a blast or two at him has him ducking away backwards from that, until one of the others demolishes the turret firing at him.

But with Slobo trying to cover his back, trying to protect Cassie, who's hanging onto Paco, trying to prevent Wyn from being made into mincemeat--the air is full of fire, and only a few of them have offensive capabilities now, or even defensive capabilities.

Another turret opens up at a bad angle, but Kon can see it. And that's why his shield is flung, deflecting the laser fire and smashing into it--before it can blast the hell out of Wyn and Kyle.

It leaves him wide open, and were he even aware of the turret opening up with the mini-rockets behind him, he'd reflect on how...appropriate this is. Guardian taught him to fight like this, the shield was an homage to Guardian, and Guardian died like this--tossing his shield to protect someone else and leaving himself wide open. No one else will be able to reach him in time, not with their hands full like that.

Then he hears the whoosh of the rockets, and does turn and see, but the only thought he really has time for is:

"Oh shi--"

She doesn't have time to think, but a million things instantly fly through her brain regardless. She has to protect him, no matter how powerless she is, for a multitude of reasons.

First and foremost is the raw, angry, emotion, because she loves him, and she'll take any hit or kick any ass she has to just to protect him.

Second is selfishness, because she can't see him die again, or even come close to it, and damn anything or anyone that tries make that happen.

And third and final, it's logic and reason, because he stands a better chance of getting people out of there than she does.

Cassie lets go of Paco, pushing herself to her feet as fast as her human body can manage. Kon is less than two steps away from her from there, and that's just enough time to get herself between him and the rockets, arms up to defend.

Those bracelets don't mean much against powerful hits without superhuman strength to take the recoil, but it doesn't mean she can't try. Cassie Sandsmark is nothing if she doesn't try to do the right thing, and she has it in her mind to do more than try.

"NO––"

When the rockets hit, things feel like they slow down. Cassie doesn't understand it, and for that split second when they blow up, she chalks it up to that "life flashes before your eyes" phenomenon.

But, to her good fortune, or fate, or perhaps her own innate power, there is no flash of memories. There's just the explosion of bursting rockets against her outstretched arms, and when the smoke clears, she's left standing.

"–– YOU DON'T," she snaps.

She runs, and then she's in the way before he can stop her and his heart catches in his throat, and there's that anguish, the kind that makes you nearly drop to your knees, the kind that's just like the terror and pain he felt the moment he saw the explosives in Tana's necklace start to blow.

You don't get to walk away from seeing your girlfriend's face burned off while you stood feet away without being affected. He had finally opened up again and let himself love Cassie, but the fear had always been there, especially in their line of work. In their Young Justice days, it'd had him shoving her out of the way of laser beams when she was just as invulnerable, going "Look out!" when she could take care of herself perfectly fine, and he knew it. It'd been so hard even just to tell her (http://pics.livejournal.com/pikakao/pic/006z3r8h/g229).

He can't do it again. He can't deal with it again.

The cry is one of complete anguish and despair. It's the cry of a young man that watched the girl he loved die who is, as far as he can tell, watching the same thing happen all over again.

"CAAASSIEEE!"

...Except the smoke clears, and she's still standing there, defiant.

Tears are running down his face, and they stop as suddenly as they started.

"...Cass?"

She's surprised, to say the least, but she isn't about to question it now. She breathes, hard, and for an instant she turns to look at Kon and recognize that she just scared the living hell out of him.

"It's okay," she says, glowing lasso out between her hands already. Electricity crackles through it, white-hot, and she doesn't stop to fret over him and his tears.

She has asses to kick.

The lasso goes out and lashes around the offensive turret, and she unleashes her anger through it, causing an explosion. A few seconds later, her foot goes up against an oncoming chomper, and she shoves down and through the top of its mouth.

"Take care of Paco. I'll deal with these."

But her powers had been gone. And Zeus gave them, so how...?

It doesn't matter.

He snags his shield back and goes over to help Paco. They've just switched places now, him powerless, her kicking ass, and he could care less that he's the powerless one. He doesn't care where the powers came from. He doesn't care that she gets to be the badass one now and he has to play Joe Schmoe and medic.

He watches chompers ripped from the floor and turrets ripped out of the wall with her lasso, as she does what she does best.

It's a bit like jumping into anything one has neglected for a bit. The first bit is warm-up; being a bit rough around the edges and instinctive, punching through something here, kicking there. Her comm ring gets broken on the third punch through a chomper. Proper technique starts to settle in after that, Amazonian training kicking back in.

She starts to feel really useful for the first time since she got on the ship.

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Phase 2 - Running the Ratrace

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