VFF The Book Continues part 5
POSTED BY: Colt999
UPDATED: Monday, March 16, 2009 23:49
VIEWED: 74804
PAGE 10 of 15
Sky: Captain! Look!
Everyone in the boat looked skyward to see the shuttle streak away from the estate. It was wobbly, but it still moved away unpursued.
Spots *being the mechanic*: It's damaged, but they should make it back to the Book. Probably won't be able to return though.
Brit *in an agitated wail*: There is wounded on board.
Colt *kneeling next to her*: Who?
Brit: Strangebird clipped his wings.
Sky: She called Stan that before. Was everyone else there?
Brit: Must wait... *she fades off into unconsciousness again.
Colt pinched the bridge of his nose and thought hard.
Colt *eyeing a comm he had previously put near the controls*: We can't communicate up through the building cause they are jamming us. Do you think we might be able to reach the shuttle once it gets closer to the Book?
Spots *thinking*: Should be able to. Especially if we narrow the band and focus it in the direction of the ship.
Colt: Do it. Tell whoever is there to stay there and tend the best they can to the wounded... to Stan. They are not, I repeat, not to try a rescue op at this time. We can't risk the other shuttle or the ship. Without them, we're all done for. And if we don't get a response, keep transmitting until we do.
Spots nodded and got to work, taking the comm apart to make it function like he described.
OOC: Wash, Stan is just gravely injured. He won't be waking up anytime soon, but DON'T KILL HIM!!!
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The overturned table they're crouching against rocks as a gust of bullets ding its metal surface.
Mobbex: Why're we still here?
Oram: You passed out! I had to drag you over here, else you'd be fish bait by now.
Mobbex, his eyes wide in incredulity and wonder: You... I... How the hell did you manage that?
Another salvo of bullets strikes the makeshift barrier, disrupting their exchange.
Mobbex: Lao Tyen Yeh, how many are they?
Oram: I don't know...
Mobbex takes a quick peek at the enemy, then ducks precipitately once shots start ringing off around him.
Mobbex: I'm countin' four... *draws his revolver and deftly unlatches the cylinder* ...one of 'em's got a repeater, he's the one makin' all the rick-a-ding-ding. 'Others have small arms and stun rods... *frowns as he inspects his ammo supply* ...I don't suppose you've got some 45. shots handy?
Oram: *rolls her eyes upward* Tell me that was a rhetorical question...
Mobbex: *his frown deepens* A what?
Oram: No! No, I don't!
Mobbex: *exhales deeply* Well, s'like my ma used to say, crazy times... *plunges his hand down his pants and pulls out... a half-moon clip of 45. ACP shells, which he holds up triumphantly* ...call for crazy guys!
Oram is left gape-mouthed at the patent idiocy of the spectacle. Mobbex gleefully primes his weapon, happily oblivious to the dismayed look on Oram's face.
Mobbex: So here's the idea, I'm thinkin' we take the fight to 'em. I go right, an' y'go left, all guns blazin' like. We take 'em out 'fore they know what hit 'em. What'd ya say?
Oram: Uhhhh, how about we retreat like the smart people we are and pretend to be heros? That sounds much more fun... and then our survival rate triples also!
Mobbex: Huh? What's that nonsense I'm hearin' now? Retreat? Take a look around ya girl, there ain't no place for us to retreat to!
Oram: Well for starters there's the shuttle...
Mobbex, cutting her off: Wh- you mean they're still... *his head spins towards the far end of the lobby and the doorway to the landing pad* Wong ba duhn! *starts making crude hand gestures at Wash, urging her to take to the air without delay* Go! Just ruttin' go, you moron! Go!
Oram: What!? *taps at his shoulder frantically* What are you doing!? *thwacks him on the back of the head with the butt end of her pistol* What is wrong with you!?
Mobbex: Ow! *drops his antics and turns to face her, stroking the soreness on his noggin* Huh!? What's wrong with YOU!
Oram: She can't leave! She's our only ticket out of here!
A shift occurs in Mobbex's demeanor.
Mobbex: *grabs her by the shirt collar and and pulls her in close* I am yer only ticket outta here. Them... *points to the shuttle soaking bullets like rainfall on the landing pad* ...they're target practice. 'They stay here, they're done for, so they're goin', dohn luh mah?
Oram: F... Fine, genius! Get us out of here then!
Mobbex gives her a black look, then unhands her and resumes his signaling. Within minutes, the shuttle takes to the air and steers clear of the estate.
Oram: Great. Now what?
Mobbex: *thumbs the hammer of his revolver into its firing position* Now we bust 'em hwoon dahns up!
Oram: *shakes her head in disbelief* You're crazy.
Mobbex: *grins cocksurely* 'Just figured that out, did ya?
Oram: That ain't the question, you dope! You take them head on you're gonna get us both killed!
Mobbex: Oh yeah? Let's hear yer brilliant plan, then! And don't go talkin' 'bout any o' that retreat rubbish, we don't got no place to retreat to no more.
...
Mobbex: I'm waitin'!
Oram: Oh, save it! If you're so keen on getting yourself shot dead then go right ahead, only make sure you do me in first, 'cause I'm NOT getting caught by slavers!
Mobbex: *raises a quizzical eyebrow, his mien wavering between curiosity and disbelief* Wha-? You talk crazy nonsense like that an' tell me I'm the crazy one? You a helluva piece o' work, aren't ya?
Oram: Look, th
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Oram: Fei gan xing hou – we’re dead now…
Mobbex, who heard her, just turned and gave the girl a funny look.
Mobbex: What's it with ya today an' dyin'? We get'n outta this, ya hear me? So jes keep close an' keep shootin'.
*Doing exactly as Mobbex had said Oram shoved new bullets into her gun and began firing towards where she believed the guards were. Bullets whizzed by, clipping chips from the walls and metal fragments flying everywhere. “Moog” and his friends shot back with vengeance, coming closer to hitting Oram a few times.*
Moog: Ya give up, we’ll be gentle with handling ya!
*Oram’s reply was a well aimed bullet to his chest. Their retaliation was the grenade that they'd been discussing. Instead of coming to near where Oram was standing it landed not far from the overturned table, where it made an almighty ‘THUD’*
Oram: Ohhh, go se.
*She jumped up to get away, but was too late to escape. She ‘felt’ the blast rather then hear it and just before being knocked out she felt fire, pain and what could only be described as being crushed on the left side of her body*
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F
g f!
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Quote:
Originally posted by ORAM:
Oram: Fei gan xing hou – we’re dead now…
Mobbex, who heard her, just turned and gave the girl a funny look.
Mobbex: What's it with ya today an' dyin'? We get'n outta this, ya hear me? So jes keep close an' keep shootin'.
Mobbex squats to maximize his explosive power and starts a quick mental countdown.
3...
Ruttin' hell... someone blew it big.
2...
Them folks are jes too damn green! 'Be curious to see how they'd manage without me babyin' their sloppy asses...
1...
Aw, hell! Here goes...
He darts out of their precarious refuge and sprints across the hall as fast as his legs will carry him, with each thrust from his powerful lower limbs lunging him several meters ahead. The sputter of gunfire once again fills the room, spurring him on to quicken his pace even further. Suddenly, he makes out a set of sharp, ringing sounds amidst the havoc, like a metal casing clinking and rolling off the floor. He instinctively hits the deck, shielding his head with his bare hands, just as a thunderous explosion rips through the room. He feels the resulting shock wave whiz past him, along with its deathly cortège of shrapnel and debris, then gets back on his feet and takes a judging look at the blast's aftermath.
One of the guards has been nicked by fragments from the bomb's shell and lies bleeding on the floor, clutching at his wounds. Another one staggers to hit feet, his ears no doubt still ringing from the detonation. A third one has his gun trained on him.
Mobbex dives to his side as the guard lets off a shot, then draws his piece mid-flight and responds in kind, nailing him square in the throat, before coming down hard on his shoulder. He feels a tingling sensation run up and down his arm upon impacting the floor, but tunes it out, having more pressing matters to see to.
Meanwhile, the one remaining guard seems to have emerged from his idle state and is now clumsily waving his weapon in Mobbex's direction. He fires, but misses widely, a fault he won't live to redeem. Mobbex levels his pistol and presses the trigger twice, sending a pair of rounds bury themselves in the man's upper body.
The mercenary sits and blows off the undulating tendrils of smoke oozing from the borehole of his gun, grinning boastfully at his shooting prowess, when a thought strikes him. He springs to his feet and hurries back towards the overturned table where he finds Oram lying unmoving against a wall with her arm curved at a most unnatural angle.
Tzao gao...
Mobbex: *kneels beside her and nudges her shoulder* 'You dead?
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*abbey looked on in horror as she watched the guards with the girl across the hall. Their evil laughter and her quiet whimpering as they did whatever they wanted. Finally, not being able to take it any longer, she sat down on the floor, pulled her legs up to her chest, squeezed her eyes shut and put her hands over her ears. After what seemed to be an eternity, she heard pounding on her door. She looked up. There stood the two guards. Her heart froze. Were they going to come in for her now?*
Nasty #2 *as he touched his fingers to a wicked claw mark that went deep across the one side of his whole face*: Damn girl gouged me!
Nasty #1 *ignoring the other guard*: Well visiting takes a bunch out of you, so we’re gonna get some chow. After that, we’ll be back. Some of the other fellas might want to meet you too. Looks like you and your friends did some major damage downstairs, they might be looking for some kind of… comfort. But don’t worry, we’ll be real gentle, just like the boss asked.
*Nasty #1’s eyes raked slowly up and down abbey’s form.*
abbey *shakily*: You leave me alone. My people will be coming for me.
Nasty #1 *laughing*: Honey, no one is coming for you, unless you count the folk the Boss called.
*Nasty #1 blew her a kiss and Nasty #2 just smirked at her. Then they left. Silent tears started to pour from her eyes. Could it be true? Did they leave her? No. Oram wouldn’t have let them leave her. Neither would Colt. If they weren’t there anymore, then they would surely come back for her. They had to. What if they all were dead? She shook that idea out of her head and started to look around for a way to help herself.*
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*** hit comm***
Mobbex ? oram ? what the hell r u two doing now?
hurry up and page me when y'all are done alright.
*** looks ot the window wondering if everyone is alright, hits comm again***
hey capt you there?
*** figures he will now know what to do . all of a sudden sees the big explosion ot hte window ****
Oram , mobbex come in... R guys All right?
I am a leaf on the wind
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*Spots finished up modifying the comm to hopefully be able to send a message to the Book.*
Spots: We won’t be able to receive. I had to hook the wire there and bypass the… *looks up and sees Colt and Sky looking at him a little impatiently* Well, we won’t be able to receive.
Colt: Will the Book get our message?
Spots: I think so. No guarantees.
*Colt nodded and took the modified unit and stood, pointing it in the direction of the Book.*
Colt: Shuttle 2 or the Book. We can’t receive, but I want you all to listen very carefully. Do what you can with the wounded. Keep them safe. Brit told me Stan was hit, but I don’t know about anyone else.
Brit *loudly, from down by Colt’s feet*: BOOM!
Colt jumped, nearly dropping the unit. Up above an explosion sounded.
Colt: What in the rutting Hell is going on up there? *turns back to comm* We’re holding put. Brit says that crew needs us in this position. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT attempt a rescue mission. It looked like the shuttle isn’t in good shape when you flew overhead and we can’t risk the Book. When we’re done here, we’ll rendezvous at the Book.
Sky: You think they heard?
Colt: Hope so. *he spoke over the comm again.* Just a recap, folks. We can’t receive any comms. Take care of wounded best you can. Do NOT try to launch rescue. We’ll rendezvous soon at Book.
*Colt took the comm and handed it back to Spots.*
Colt: Keep transmitting those instructions. Maybe they’ll get it.
*Spots nodded and did as he was told, adding a “Cause-the-Cap’-said-so” to the message.*
*Colt looked down at Brit.*
Colt: How much longer?
Brit: Twisty, twisty broken bits, up and around again… *she stopped at tilted her head to the side as she looked at Colt.* Soon.
*Colt took in a deep breath and set his jaw. The waiting was killing him.*
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*Oram’s head felt fuzzy, almost as if it wasn’t attached to her body, and her ears wouldn’t cease their damn ringing. Keeping her eyes closed and willing herself not to give into the threatening nausea, she was ready to welcome a blackout again when she heard heavy footsteps.*
Voice: Tzao gao...
*Then a hard nudge to her shoulder caused her the groan and shift.*
Voice: You dead?
*Large fingers came around her throat and Oram panicked, thinking she was done for. Her eyes flew open and she immediately wished she was dead, the flickering light played merry-havoc with her focussing, but her instincts were screaming at her to move. Trying to pull away, she turned her body away from whoever it was and felt the world dim just a bit as an excruciating feeling like someone had stabbed her, shot through from her shoulder to the tips of her fingers. As she screamed at the sudden and agonizing pain she knew something was wrong.
The owner’s fingers immediately covered her mouth, almost preventing her from breathing. Oram, not wanting to be placed in any more of dire situation than she already was, didn’t bother to fight back.*
Mobbex (in a hurriedly and tense voice): Shhhh, Doc, you wanna get us killed?! I just took out the last few here, doesn’t mean we’re safe. I reckon we’ll be playing that retreating card you're so fond off.
*Oram blinked the tears of terror, fear and intense relief away, and tried to shake her head in answer, but it caused her to want to vomit, so she settled for just blinking up at him. Thankful it was only his hand on her mouth and not a knife at her throat.*
Oram: Mobb…
*The name refused to come out formed or any resemblance of a proper sound and Oram feared it was a heavy concussion or, and so much worse to think of, a brain injury. Mobbex gave her a funny look, almost as if he were to say something in concern, but seemed to rethink his own words and helped her get to her feet instead. He got her up surprisingly gently from the almost utterly destroyed room and she could just make out the damage that they, including the guards, had caused.*
Mobbex: There’s an elevator that they haven’t been smart enough to cut the power off to yet, if we’re lucky we can get out here without any more injuries…
*His voice trailed off as he looked at the Docs back, she’d been hit by shrapnel, and her shirt (he didn’t know where the fancy jacket had gone) was all torn up where it’d hit, there wasn’t too much blood, but there was a risk of that changing if they moved around too much … or did summersaults.*
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