trans_9 | Off to work

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Off to work

||Attention, Attention,|| Stacy's voice rang out suddenly throughout the ship. ||Will the following personnel please report to the Obs Deck:||

||Michael Blanc,||
||Kazami Shiro,|
||Andrew Davis,||
||Aibghalien Marsai,||
||Spiderman--616 universe,||
||Julian Keller,||
||Nanashi,||
||Katara,||
||Lash,||
||Wags-Tail-Alot,||
||Phillip,||
||and Vita.||

||Attention, Attention...|| The message repeats over and over, until all of the people she was calling reported to the Obs Deck.

Once they get there, they're greeted with an unusual sight. The mouth in the huge statue on the wall opens, revealing a screen. On it, the dossier for the mission flickers into display, understandable to every person there. Smaller copies of the dossier appear in holographic form in front of everyone.

The planet's stats, right next to a rotating picture of it, a dusty brown orb with orange clouds overhead:

Planet Designation: Arkez prime
Status: Terrestrial, H-class.
Non-sentient life: Scattered pockets of hardy flora and fauna.
Semi-Sentient Life: None.
Sentient Life: None.
Water: 13% of the planet's surface.

Climate: Arid, desert climate [Click here for cultural equivalents for non-Earth cultures.]
Landscape: Dry, arid, desert landscape.
Air: Normoxic concentration: 28% oxygen, 62% nitrogen, 5% xenon, 5% trace gases, such as hydrogen, krypton, and argon.

Air Pressure: 14.543 pounds per square inch.
Sky: Red with orange clouds.
Sun: A class F2V, yellow star.

Warnings: Terrain can be hazardous. Recommend caution when navigating terrain.

Mission: Minor Ohm splinter force detected on planet's surface. No Node detected, minor threat. Destroy before reinforcements arrive. Ohm artillery detected. Unable to send in heavy weaponry to engage. Ambush/Reconnaissance team will deploy to reduce Ohm threat prior to full engagement. Details to be provided.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Just be careful Spidey replied, using the waldoes and the devices Phillip gave him to watch the creatures - and take pictures within the suit's hard drive, just in case. Spider-Sense is a tad bit wild here, meaning they're a bit on the wild side. Knowing our luck? They'll probably attack me and Clifford right about now.

You're just saying that so they don't do it.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. You say they won't attack us, they'll attack us. You say they'll attack us, they'll attack us. No option that doesn't involve them trying to rip off our heads so they can wear them as jaunty chapeaus. Wags said.

Katara nodded quietly to herself. This was pretty much exactly what she'd expected would happen, more or less. She definitely understood that she'd have to help take down the firebugs, and the others would be assigned to thin the head, so to speak, so none of the others rushed to the firebug's aid. The moment she had water at her fingertips, she wouldn't waste any time: they had to take them down before reinforcements arrived. She didn't want a repeat of last time.

Quick, deliberate and strong. As it was, she could already feel strength coming to her: was this what Aibga-alien was capable of?

She had trouble with the name herself.

Right. Just say the word.

Of course Nanashi was happy to be pulling everything else away from the firebugs. It was bad enough that it was so arid here, she didn't appreciate the thought of anything to due with fire.

We should just take the initiative instead. I know I can take a lot of hits before I am disabled, so shall I do my best to draw the tank's fire?

Wags was tempted to let her do it, but decided against it

Were you even paying attention last time we fought these guys? As much as I want something horrible to happen to you, I'm voting we don't go with your suicidal idea. Shut up and stick to the fucking plan.

The tank doesn't fire anything, anyway. It knocks things over. It's the flamethrowing bugs that have the range. Kazami rubs his neck, looking at the sky. Someone, save him from masters of strategery. The wolf's way of putting it, I don't agree with. But his sentiments, I do. Julian Keller is in charge, with a decent strategy, and I'm not sure that a woman who gets even the combat capabilities of the enemy wrong is the one to disregard his orders for.

Drawing away the tank was among the things he requested, and I did not say that it was firing anything. Besides, I am not saying that I would not need help.

Oh? I misheard you say that you wanted to draw the tank's fire? He snorts. Perhaps you'd feel more comfortable in the rear, while we handle everything.

Is this really productive? Unless I misunderstand, what she's proposing is in line with the strategy of the first group drawing out the tank and... soldiers? I suppose? Her proposition is that she specifically attracts the attention of the tank, hypothesizing in a vacuum that her ability to withstand its assault exceeds that of the others. If we assume this isn't baseless, what is the point of argument? It is either acceptable to allow one person to specify a target or not.

Aibghalien's mind simply worked on levels beyond the norm, and communication by the commrings exacerbates that. The sentiments poured through like a wall of rock, sharp and heavy and entirely too fast.

The problem with drawing the tank is that it's far too clustered within the environs to be counted as a possible alternative to the strategy. However, our mission is to take out the artillery as quickly as possible, in order to eliminate the rest of the Ohm within a specified time. Stacy will not wait forever for us.

Phillip rubbed his chin and wondered something. Micheal, if you will, I'd like to try something to perhaps give us a edge in all of this. Specify keywords: I might be able to pull up a winning strategy from the Gaia Library.

And with that, Phillip closed his eyes as green-yellow light flowed from him and his eyes closed. Please proceed while I am doing the look up.

Wait, if you're trying to think of something and they haven't seen us yet, then why should we start the attack?

Ah my apologies then. I keep forgetting I don't have Shotarou with me.

«Shut. Up. All of you.» God... this group. At least the X-Men bickered while following orders.

«We don't have a whole lot of time before they figure out we're here. Get into position, we're starting the assault.»

Katara had not said anything during the arguing. She figured all that would have done was made things worse, and it was a fairly delicate operation to begin with. At this point it was typical: people were going to bicker and have different ideas, but ultimately, Julian was the leader. What he said, they'd have to follow.

She felt that tightness in her throat and that fluttering in her stomach. Time to face the Ohm again.

While the arguing was going on, things weren't going entirely unnoticed.

In fact, if they were to take a look back at the Ohm, they'd notice something missing now.

The Tank, specifically.

Oh, wait, there he is! Looking down at them from atop a nearby hill.

Oh...Oh shit. Well, there goes the element of surprise.

The massive beast rears up slightly and lets out an inhuman rumbling, and in a few moments, the Ohm Grunts began to rush in towards them.

Time to get to work, it seems.

As the group was arguing, Spider-Man's Spider-Sense started blazing louder. Noticing the missing Tank, he began to call out to the group. Guys? Guys? Hello! We got a problem! Tank's missing! Everyone, it's...

Cue rumbling.

...just found us.

Retracting the waldoes and retrieving Phillip's devices, Spidey sprang up as the Grunts came out at them. "At this point, I just want to say... DO YOU APES WANNA LIVE FOREVER?!"

Aibghalien, with a sigh, cast Invisibility on himself, then took off in a wide arc around the battlefield.

I'm still with the plan. Moving around behind. If the fire-things move, I'll engage them from whatever angle I'm at.

If she had the time, she would have face palmed. Great, so much for having the upper hand. What was more, she was SUPPOSED to be following Aibghalien according to Julian, but now he'd disappeared. Not that this was going to stop her though.

She moved swiftly and was by Julian's side, her arms set in attack position. If she had to give Julian some cover, she'd have it for him (though from what she remembered, he may have been better at that part).

"Tch." Trust a woman to talk so much that she distracts everyone from the enemy. That thing's a lot faster than the size would have us think. He flings his arms out to the side, then brings them up over his head in a slow arc. "Henshin..." He brings one arm back, then jerks the other arm back as he pushes it forward. "V3!" He leaps into the air, transforming in a rainbow flash of light.

As Kamen Rider V3 turns in the air, he twists his body, spinning almost like a drill. "V3 Screw Kick!" At least his first attack takes him directly through one of the Grunts, tearing it in half. It should balance out the horror his teammates feel when they realize that they're on a mission with someone who has names for each attack and uses them. Unfortunately, this leaves him surrounded by the over-sized bugs, but he's pretty sure that the others will have his back. If not, there's a few ways he can work his way out of this crowd alive. As long as they don't expect him to play tag with the Tank.

Andy really wanted to sigh. And hit some of his teamates. And sigh.

But that wasn't the time, so he moved towards the group he was supposed to help attack. "Blue Unicorn!" Andy shouted as he activated his morpher...

And soon enough his was the Blue Ranger, and ready for battle against the evil planet destroying bugs.

Aaaaand sideways the plan has gone already. Dammit...

«Keep the ground forces busy, and keep them away from the transport!» That was their ride out of there, after all.

Still, with the grunts storming towards them, as well as the Tank, that meant the Firebugs were significantly less guarded. He grabbed Katara around the waist, «Let's go, we have a mission to accomplish», and flew off over the melee, heading towards the bugs.

Nanashi felt just as frustrated, She hadn't been talking about a different set of orders at all, Aibghalien was closer to what she had meant. Julian had said to draw the tank and soldiers away from the elf and Katara, and that was exactly what she had in mind.

That was too late to explain now. The best choice of action was to just be quiet and get down to fighting. That was definitely something she was unaccustomed to. Well, clearly it was a position she would need to get used to.

She unsheathed her sword and dove into the battle behind Kazami.

The Grunts, perhaps owing to the lack of a Node to really control them, reacted much more animalistically to the group, their advance more like a stampede than anything else. Some of them fell to the crew's initial attacks, but the rest kept coming, a teeming mass of scything claws and blades.

The Tank, however, maintained its composure far better than its comrades. While the Grunts moved for the group, it was already making its way back to protect the Firebugs, its powerful legs and bounding leaps putting it well ahead of Julian, Katara, and Aibghalien.

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