Pluto Company charges closer...

Coalition Forces are dug in...

As someone mentioned - this 1500 foot charge is slightly disconcerning... it would appear this V.I.P. is extremely valuable... more so than Pluto Company it would seem. The life of the expendable soldier... I suggest you cherish these moments, while you can...

The charge is a bloody one as Pluto Company is cut down by missiles and laser fire. Perhaps Tolkeen's most efficient tool is their forcefields of sorts - put to very good use in this situation as the majority of Pluto Company press on staring the full power of Coalition chaos right in the face.

Third Platoon is sheltered from most of the incoming as they are behind the other platoon... save for Calliandra's robot, and Arven's Ostrasaurus which are hit each with a volley of 4 missiles.


Pluto Company holds at approximatley 500 feet from the perimeter of defense around the transport. Approximatley 50 infantry men are lined up around it in a semi-circle in their hastily-made fox holes. The Enforcers and Spider Skull Walker are smoking piles of rubble within seconds, with kudos going out to newcomer Calliandra and her well placed strikes.

A tornado forms from thin air to clear a path directly in front of 3rd platoon. Several of the SAMAS armours are pulled from their flight pattern and hurled in various directions. The infantry directly in front hug the ground in an attempt to avoid the tornado. They are soon overwhelmed by creatures created of Earth sent forth by Lieutenant Zephram. The way is made clear and Silvermasque is on his way in... followed closely by Fearless and Jelme.

A Coalition mind melter steps forward from the debris of the transport and begins to demonstrate his power. Null is telekinetically pulled from his hovercycle and tossed to a pair of cyborgs. Null is easily subdued and is in quite the dilemma. Anniyan and Braga are quick to help. Braga rides in on his Silonar, Anniyan on his hovercycle. Braga's silonar is killed via massive amounts of rail gun rounds to the face.

Silvermasque is almost within reach of his target when he runs into an invisible wall... yup on all sides...

It is Van - plotting a way to help grab the VIP - who notices another officer cowering within the debris... an older... familiar face...


Lotus, Mithas, Xion, Harmon and Sharp The Red lay heavy covering fire into each officer that so much as looks at Silvermasque and his target.

Razgriz has re-animated nearly 2 dozen corpses of fallen Coalition soldiers - they have risen and begun feasting on their companions.

War... is... hell...

and then it gets worse...

From the rear, the direction of Hillcrest - comes an entire Fleet of SAMAS in all their models (well over a hundred) and another Death's Head Transport. It would seem the rescue effort has arrived.

and then it gets worse...


"THIS IS MAJOR HULAN TO PLUTO COMPANY! HILLCREST HAS FALLEN UNDER ATTACK - OUR ESCAPE ROUTE HAS BEEN CUT OFF - WE MAY BE SURROUNDED - HEAD FOR THOSE TREES TO THE WEST - THEY WILL PROVIDE COVER FROM THE AIR FORCE! 3RD COMPANY GET THAT FUCKING VIP SECURED AND INTO THOSE TREES OR I WILL KILL YOU MYSELF"

and then it gets worse...

OOC - the trees are about a half mile away

 Trouble, trouble and more trouble - on his way in 'Masque fired his cannon to glowing incandescent white trying to keep heads down ahead of him and it's bought him the joy of being the first to slam headlong into an invisible field of energy at better than two hundred kilometres and hour, driving even the two-ton tiger to his knees as he staggers back and discovers the field on all sides.

 It's the work of moment for him to trigger the light lasers in his arm, probing at the wall in an attempt to discover its resilience, and then he's moving again. "'Masque here - I am stalled, invisible bubble!" he calls to advise the team of his fate, as he investigates whether the field provides overhead cover, and if it does drops to one knee to pull a grenade from his harness which he will then drive a couple of feet into solid earth at the edge of the field...

 The big guy is nothing if not resourceful...

   Zephram finds himself in something of a moral dilemma.  Things begin to slow down around him.  He peers over his shoulder and spots the incoming cloud of Coalition armour, flying fast towards them.  He glances at the control panel of his hovercycle and then forward to his destination.
   "I will meet you all in the forest"  Zephram transmits over his radio before beginning to put his plan into motion...
   He incants the words to a spell, targetting the V.I.P. for whom they have come.  If he guesses correctly, the man may be injured by the spell, but not killed.  The chasm will open directly beneath him, leaving nothing but empy space under his feet down to a depth of a hundred feet.  Then as fast as the eart ripped open, it seals itself shut again, trapping the target a hundred feet beneath the surface.  Zephram then casts another spell before standing up on his hovercycle and leaping off at high velocity.  When it looks like he will hit the ground he instead sinks into the surface as if the dirt and rock were as permeable as the air above.  His hovercycle continues forward in a straight line and there is no further sign of the earth warlock.

edit: spelling
This message was last edited by the player at 01:16, Wed 16 Aug 2006.

Van's eyes widen, and his mind begins to race. In a moment that seems to stand still as if he were in fact time slipped, he realizes that this very second he was in possession of knowledge that no one else realized. If they were successful, this would change everything. This would be history. One day Erin Tarn would write about the fabled Pluto company, whether or not she agreed with Tolkeen's politics or their shady dealings.

Think fast stupid... he says to himself, trying not to screw this up. This mission had to succeed. "WAIT!!! Not that one!" he says over the radio. "Over there, under the debris! It's the Emperor, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Prosek!"

He looks around at who is still in a position to make the grab. Hopefully Zephram heard before he created his chasm. If not, Van's got other possible ideas.

   Zephram will make a second chasm and take both targets before descending under the earth...

Is that it? thought Van. He somehow expected it would be harder, more deaths. After all, a prisoner like that doesn't come for free. Of course they still had to get out of here...

"So do we make for the trees now? Are we done here?" he asks over the radio.

Continuing to fire with his CS Plasma Rifle he will get on his board and make for the trees if that's what everyone else is doing.

Xion somewhat shocked at the uncharacteristic display of rashness from Zephram, shouts back into the radio, "Trees now, we gotta get soem kinda cover. MOVE!"

Mephisto rides alongside Van on their route to the trees

"Perhaps you have not noticed the Coalition Air Force behind us my young friend. They will likely light this entire field ablaze within moments. The Major did order over the radio to make for the trees now..."

Zephram created another mystical chasm beneath the second officer - allegedly Prosek...

In total - Both Coalition officers, plenty of debris, Silvermasque, his bubble, Jelme and his horse have all fallen into the chasm.

Fearless managed to maneuvre with his hovercycle.

Zephram disappears into the Earth and the rest of Pluto Company turns to flee towards the trees...

The SAMAS armours in the sky have fired their missiles... 100 SAMAS = lots of explosive projectiles...

move quickly...

Calliandra directs Bernadette a few steps forward and, as carefully as is possible, scoops up Braga. The robot then pivots and sprints towards the indicated trees.  Large gouts of earth are thrown into the air by Bernie's churning legs, and by the zigs and zags Callie directs the robot through in an attempt to evade the incoming fire.

 There's a titanic 'slam' as a telekinetic bubble full of oversized white tiger descends into darkness, impacting on the uneven cavern floor like a hamster in an invisible ball, cyberjet nodes flaring to keep his fall controlled and to allow the massively powerful hydraulics and servomotors in his legs to take the impact without harm.

 Once down - and with communications quite firmly cut off by the significant quantities of rock between him and the Team, 'Masque sets about doing what he can to change his situation - first and foremost changing out the clip on his cannon for a fresh one (never put a weapon away empty in a combat situation - you never know when you'll be pulling it again), then sliding onto the mag-hold on the back of his armour before bringing all four arms up and around to bear on a single spot of the energy sphere that imprisons him.

 With a harsh roar of shredded atoms, four brilliant flares of actinic-blue lightning hurl themselves against the barrier, searign energy snapping and clawing with incredible force as the very air itself boils away from the point of impact as the temperatures rapidly reach the point where rock would glow cherry-red and sag.

 And again...

 And again...

"You fuckin biiiiiiiiiitch!" Arven yells at Lotus as his darling petunias head explodes under a barage of missiles and he goes pitching forward rolling up onto his feet. Without a thought of slowing he charges forward into the fiery mouth of hell anger and hatred driving him. Railgun rounds, laser and plama fire are deflected by his force field while his four guns of the same alien construction send blast after deadly blast into CS troops turning thier armor into worthless slag. When the call for retreat to the trees sounds the Rahu-Man turns to see the approaching air force and his heart sinks. For a moment he thinks about making a final stand but then declares, "Fuck This!" and runs for the treeline. He is painfully slow so he is looking anywhere he can for some means of transportation. He will even ask for help, which is very much unlike him.

RADIO: "Hey you bastards somebody give me a fucking ride or I am gonna be toast!"

"Bullocks!" Is all Sharp can really say. Giving up on firing his C-14 he instead fires up the jets on his hovercycle as he hightails it towards the treeline.

Obidiahs is completely incapable of using a radio not that he needs one to quickly figure out what is going on as everyone begins fleeing for thier lives. Choosing an impact crater that provides him at least minimal soft cover he jumps in feet first crushing the bodies of dead soldiers beneath his massive bulk. Turning to face the oncoming juggernaut that is the Coalition airforce he spares a quick glance back at his fellow tolkeenites and knows that they will be slaughtered if someone cannot buy them some time. Raising his iron fists in the air he shakes them defiantly in the face of destruction.

The original tornado he created begins descending almost on top of him but moving outwards towards the approaching airforce. At the same instant the air around him swirls violently flinging everything that is not lashed down outwards leaving him in a whirlwind of dust. Another massive tornado drops out of the sky beside the first and then another on the other side of it. Four 100ft tall churning vortexs of natures most potent destruction might slow down the Samas and all the deadly firepower they bring. The proceeding nine tornados that break off from those four likely will almost ensuring that hundreds of members of Pluto company will live to fight another day. Even if the man inside the shell of the golem does not.

The 100ft tall 1300ft long heaving wall cloud of elemental fury advances towards the Coalition air contingent absloultely destroying everything in its path.

Harmon 'races' into the fray, though his pace leaves him still in the rear of the formation. A quick incantation brings out his Armor of Ithan, but it's strength is not tested. He is content to maintain formation on his hovercycle and lay covering fire.

H seems to be slowed by his inability to locate the VIP. In fact, the speed and ferocity of the battle is almost overwhelming, and the obese mage seems to have trouble keeping up with the development of the battle field.

He redirects his craft and seems about to plunge towards Silvermasque's position when great chasms open in the earth. The resulting chaos is enough to deter him from further advancement.

He clicks to the radio, Where the hell's that VI-Pansy? Zephram? Tiger-man you there? he shouts into the mic as his craft races away from the battlefield.

He spares a respectful, if unnoticed nod towards the great golem who seems to have decided that he is their sacrificial lamb.... though perhaps not permanently so....

He flees towards the woods.

Razgriz leaves his animated dead to hold off the remaining soldiers from Obidiah.

Driving the ATV he pulls alongside Harmon calling for Harmon to get in the back. Xion leans out his passenger window laying fire into the surviving soldiers. Arven leaps 20 feet through the air landing on the back of the ATV. The body rocks under the impact.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:42, Thu 17 Aug 2006.

There were 137 soldiers in Pluto Company on the way into this battle. Approximatley 1/6th were killed without firing a single shot, or unleashing a single incarnation.

Another 6th were killed during the grab for the VIP, and the run for the trees - by the surviving soldiers.

These losses may be acceptable to Tolkeen command. Not to the survivirs of Pluto Company who find themselves running for their lives from a Coalition Air Strike.The Coalition airforce fires a mix of missiles and rail gun rounds carpeting the battle field with no regard for their own men.

Pluto Company is shredded. Those hit with missiles are blown into the air, limbs disintigrating. Others ripping open, spilling their inards across a range of field. Those hit with rail gun slugs are literally shredded into piles of flesh. Those who stop to help their wounded friends, are cut down like weeds.

The hovercycles are fine. Their speed, and maneuvering pilots kept them safe. The ATV is hit several times, as is Arven's force field. A missile exploded under the ATV at one point, lifting it off the ground, but only for a second.

Calliandra is hit several times. The missiles are avoided, but rail gun fire is practically unavoidable in this situation. Braga keeps himself on the opposite side of the incoming fire.

Only a few others make it to the trees...

Those in the chasm are safe from the chaos above...

(Silvermasque your force field has collapsed)

The Coalition Air force begins their descent to the crash site, until the tornadoes start forming. Dozens of SAMAS are smashed into eah other, others are hurled out of the winds. Some are trapped within trying to battle the winds with their piloting abilities. Most of the power armours split off to either side circling around the winds. The transport backs away, allowing the SAMAS to "handle" the threat.

The SAMAS fire is halted as the remaining ones move around the funnels.

Zephram arrives to his stuck and waiting companions, and the two prisoners.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:59, Sat 19 Aug 2006.

 [ NB - This post assumes no gaping chasm under the earth. If there's a cavern down here, I'll edit. ]

 As the energy field surrounding him collapses under the fearsome particle-beam bombardment, 'Masque ceases fire to give him a moment to check the status of his onboard systems - determining his approximate depth and position from intertial guidance and promptly plotting a rough course that will bring him up somewhere in /relative/ safety a few hours furious digging from now.

 On the bright side - he's avoiding the thundrous rumble of weapons-fire that trembles down through the earth from far, far above as he raises one arm, switching from the brute-force of the P-beam to the scalpel of concentrated laser fire and starting to slice the rock into neat 'bricklets', which he rips free with the inhuman strength of alloyed metal claws.

 Shocktroopers - they take a licking but /damn/ do they keep on ticking.

   Zephram "flies" through the earth as fast as he can.  It looked like Silvermasque and Jelme were swallowed by the chasms as well.  He calls the mud mounds back to him and has them move forward as well to help by casting some dig spells of their own to help free everyone.  Zephram should be able to direct them to where the buried people are.

Harmon grabs the offered hand/claw without any obvious reluctance at dealing with the dragon-necromancer. With a grunt and a clumsy hop, he lugs his 300 pound frame into the ATV.

Where the hell are supposed to go?!?! he asks, between heavy breaths. He is obviously anxious about the proximity of the SAMAS fleet.

As he struggles to gather himself Harmon slows his breathing and reaches out with his senses in search of any nearby ley lines, Always the bane of the Coalition, he thinks as he searches for a line's distinctive magical impression.

The tree line only seems "home-free" for the first moment... then the relization that Mithas is alone sets in...  the next moment is spent looking through the chaos to determine where his 'mates are if any are left.  He can hear the radio, but it seems like people panicking and he doesn't want to add to the confusion... instead he begins to take aimed shots at Coalition tropps who may be following any remaining Pluto company.

The militia-man barely survives his battle with 2 Coalition Heavy Cyborgs. He likely would not have if it were not for Braga and Anniyan. During the struggle, Null expended much of his energy manipulating electricity as a defense to keep him shielded from the unrelenting assault from the two mechanical men. His body field had fallen quickly; one of the shock troopers stepped on his chest trapping the zapper beneath him. From that position he shot Null in the face at point blank. The other borg focused his fire on the incoming Simvan and his silonar.

The Mega Juicer was more muscle than the machines expected, as they were outmatched and knocked to the ground just as the call for retreat was sounded.

Anniyan was not ready to retreat right away - and stayed back to finish off one of the Borgs. Within seconds Calliandra had arrived to give Braga a lift, and Anniyan followed.

Null followed as well, but he fell behind... he was last seen heading to his hovercycle, the one he was telekinetically hurled from moments earlier...

The battle field is set ablaze. ANd now four tornandos cover the area in strong dark winds - carrying most of the bodies, and pieces of bodies up into their funnels and ejecting them into the distance.

The animated dead are cut down swiftly, but the SAMAS fire appeared to have killed most of the survivors of the crash, except for the ones who took shelter in the debris of the Death's Head.

Soon enough the SAMAS fleet round the tornados and launch dozens of missles at Obidiah's position. Alreday nearly invisible, the hulking giant is covered in the dirt-filled winds created of his magic. It is however obvious where he was standing, and that is where the missiles hit. The entire section of earth is blown into the sky, with no sign of a golem... or even pieces of him... almost simultaneously the tornados all begin moving in different directions, they appear to be acting as natural disasters now, as oppsed to a weapon of Tolkeen's. The SAMAS retreat to stay clear of the winds, and return towards the second Death's Head transport.

Silvermasque, Jelme and the Coalition officers are literally sucked into the chasm as it opened and tumble towards the bottom. Silvermasque begins blasting his way out of the bubble, and Jelme attepmts to make a leap from his horse to the walls of the cavern. Letting out a grunt of effort, a psi-sword appears at his side, as he jumps to the wall, and stabs his sword into the rock. Within seconds he is pulled down, following the others on their speeded descent to the bottom, where they finally land, Silvermasque in his bubble first, followed by the first CS officer who lands face first on the bubble. Then the second officer, the alleged Emperor, who lands beside the other, face first...
Jelme can be heard yelling on his way down... but it is the robot horse that lands on the officers first (on its side) - a true test of CS body armour and their "impact defense capabilities". The officers still grunt in pain when it lands. Jelme is next who lands on his horse.
Silvermasque then breaks the strength of the TK force field, and the others collapse on top of him.

Jelme - "Be thankful Fearless managed to move..."

The seconds pass by. The alleged Emperor and Jelme do not have any oxygen. They open their mouths to yell at someone else to do something - but are already out of breath. Silvermasque and the other body-armour clad officer will be fine for hours however...
In less than a minute, but more than enough time to panic Zephram arrives and the area opens again providing a little air, and room to move.
Jelme and Silvermasque quickly restrain the two men.
Zephram continues digging towards the surface, as earth and rock move out of the way before his outstretched hand.

Many have arrived to their safety in the trees, to turn and witness what occurs behind them - the ATV is parked at the tree line, those inside are forced to go on foot from here - still retaining the knowledge that Hillcrest is under attack. Sarah is still working in their medical station. And Arthur returned to join his merc comrades who were in Hillcrest last. Saul is still there being interrogated, and the precious statue of Ren...

Major Hulan is here along with ten other soldiers from other platoons in Pluto Company.

Mithas - Van - Fearless - Razgriz - Arven - Xion - Lotus - Sharp - Braga - Calliandra - Harmon - Anniyan - Mephisto

All they can do is watch as the last of them enter the temporary safety of the trees.

Null is nowhere to be seen. Along with Silvermasque, Jelme, Zephram, and the two officers. Some saw them fall down a chasm, but there was no guarantee that it was Tolkeen created... Not to mention Obidiah was destroyed.


The winds are keeping the Coalition from following behind into the forest. But they will likely not last long, and there are other ways into this forest. There is little time, and going back to Hillcrest is not an option...
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:28, Sun 20 Aug 2006.

 At the impact of the two officers, one cyber-knight and a horse falling through the space originally occupied by the bubble, 'Masque is barely staggered but quick to act - one arm punches forwards and three fifteen foot steel-coloured tentacles lash out from his wrist, coiling around the two Coalition officers and discharging thousands of volts through their fragile mortal frames - enough to stun rather than to kill, even through environmental armour.

 In the moments before Zephram breaks through into the cavern he works with feverish haste, vibro-claws, duct tape and the material of the light environment shelter in his NG survival kit to 'share' the oxygen supply of one stunned coalition officer with Jelme and the other officer... It's a temporary solution at best, and does nothing to abate the cherry-red glow of the nearby stone, but is for the time being the best he can manage.

Mithas begins to re-group with the Pluto members.  Getting off his bike and making his way to Xion... He attempts the radio.... Silvermasque, Zephram? and waits for a reply.  He moves beside Xion to report to him.....  Turning to Xion, how long do we wait for them?  We're going to need to move within minutes wouldn't you agree?
This message was last updated by the player at 01:33, Sat 20 Oct 2012.