Log Title: Cyborg Retrieval
Characters: Major Bludd, Nightgaunt, Over Kill
Location: Near Brasilia, South America
Year: 17 May, 2007
TP: Non-TP
Nightgaunt is dirty. He's been out in these jungles, relying on his survival training, for days. He only has what he left with a week ago, tracking down the Vectors that he discovered hacking into the aircraft. He's left his helmet with his jet, which is securely locked down and camoflauged. And so the hunt goes on...
Over Kill is by the river where he powered down earlier. He has pieces of vector hanging from his semi organic flesh and is in the process of trying to remove some. None of his BATs are around, which is odd considering he has three of them. He's dealing with some wildlife. Leeches. He's pulling htem from his left hand, grumbling. At least he's distracted.
Nightgaunt is trying to keep fairly quiet, so as not to alert his quarry. He made this promise a long time ago, and damned if he doesn't keep his word. (Well...okay, normally he doesn't have any qualms about breaking his 'word,' but this is personal.) He hears the rushing waters up ahead, and catches a glimps of movement through the plants...
Over Kill removes the errant creature and grumbles a bit. He digs in his left leg, pulling out a syringe and some blue and green fluid. "Almost out of this. I'll have to raid the Columbia base and get more soon."
Nightgaunt heard that. It alleviates any doubt in his mind that he's doing the right thing. He does a quick check to make sure everything's in order. He slowly unslings his Steyr, drawing back the charging handle as quietly as he can. Then unsnaps one of the pockets on his flight suit, withdrawing something and clutching it in his free hand. He rests the rifle on his arm and sights through the scope before speaking, "Colombia's a long way behind you, Over Kill."
Major Bludd's Vipers move through the jungle in two teams, scouting for the Joe encampment, Over Kill, or anything of interest.
Over Kill turns around to hear the familiar voice. "Nightgaunt.." He says softly, his right arm unclicking and falling to the ground. His left goes for a machete on his back. "It's been too long. I'm surprised to see you without the rattler. Shall we finish this?" he asks.
Major Bludd leads one team himself, as he had to send one of his men back to the Colombian base for treatment for malaria.
Nightgaunt's left thumb flicks something that's presently concealed. He focuses through the scope with his real eye, the electronic one shuttering so his aim isn't distorted. He flicks the safety off, "We're long overdo for that, I think." He squeezes the trigger and tries to place a round right between Over Kill's eyes.
Viper #17 stops his advance and motions to his commander.
Over Kill clicks his new right arm into place, the one with the machete. He motions
Nightgaunt closer "Hand to hand then?" he asks. "Let's finish this.."
Major Bludd creeps up and peers through the vegetation toward the riverbank.
Major Bludd nods, a grin stretching his thin lips. He motions the other men down, then motions them forward with a sweep of his arm.
Nightgaunt smirks slightly. His finger twitches slightly, but the trigger mechanisms hold it tight. He smirks, opening and focusing the blue orb that serves as his left eye. "And I'm supposed to trust you?"
Over Kill holds out his hands. "NOthing but the machete.. I can remove the arm if you wish. My automatic weapons systems are still offline thanks to that EMP you gave me."
The three Vipers spread out in a line and advance slowly toward Over Kill, crouching low to the ground as they move.
Major Bludd raises his voice so that Over Kill and Nightgaunt can hear him. He calls out, "That's enough, boys."
Over Kill turns to Major Bludd "Stay out of this.." he snarls. "This is something that's needed to happen for a long time.."
Nightgaunt's lips twitch slightly, a brief ghost of a grin, but he maintains his flat expression. His finger eases off the trigger and he flicks the safety back on. "Only wish I could've offered you more." He drops the magazine out of the rifle and hangs the weapon on a branch, flicking out the blade on his right wrist. He drops into a fighting stance, ready to tear the cyborg's head off if he gets the chance. He practically scowls, though, when he hears Major Bludd's voice...
Major Bludd says, "You're both coming back to base with me."
Over Kill looks to Major Bludd "You will not take me alive.." he starts to back away.
Nightgaunt still keeps his left hand held tight, staying in his ready stance. He calls out, "Over Kill can't be trusted! Check the surveilance footage, he had his machines hacking into our aircraft!"
Major Bludd sighs heavily, actually appearing to regret what he's about to do. "Have it your way, Over Kill."
Major Bludd motions to the Vipers to advance.
Major Bludd looks to Viper #17 and makes a cutting-the-throat gesture, then backs up into the forest.
Viper Squad 1416 leaps forward, weapons trained on Over Kill.
Nightgaunt doesn't advance just yet. Those Vipers might be able to make his job a little easier...but he knows that finishing Over Kill off will fall on his own shoulders.
<Cobra (IC)> Major Bludd says, "Bludd to Team Two: return to origin point immediately and head due west. We've encountered Over Kill and need backup."
Major Bludd radios to the other half of the squad.
Over Kill motions to the trees. "BATs... cover me. I'm going to make a run to the east." A BAT moves out from the north, west and east, making a triangle around their leader. "Do not attempt to stop me. They will destroy you." there's a bit of insanity in his voice. Too long in the field. What has it been? three months?
BAT Squad has arrived.
Major Bludd says, "Shit."
<Cobra (IC)> Major Bludd says, "Bludd to Team Two: On the double! We're now outgunned."
Nightgaunt takes this opportunity to drift back into the jungle (but not without his rifle.) He fades back far enough to keep an eye on Over Kill...hopefully while maximizing his own cover. He snakes through the trees, attempt to flank the cyborg...
Viper Squad 1416 fires 3-round bursts at Over Kill, ignoring the BATs for the moment.
Major Bludd steps back into view and takes aim at the apparently retreating cyborg.
Unfortunately, for the Vipers the BATS haven't forgot about them. The BATs each fire at the vipers, trying to cover Over Kill's retreat.
Over Kill turns his attention on Major Bludd. He moves his way out of the protection of the BATS, as Bludd and the Viper's shots both rip into his armor. He tries to keep this out of melee distance, for the moment, leaving his back open to Nightgaunt. "Let's do this." he takes a swipe with that machete at Bludd.
Nightgaunt comes around a little more from the side, having overshot the group a bit. He doesn't imagine he'll have enough time to reload his rifle... Slinging the weapon over his shoulder, he steps in and thrusts his blade at a joint in Over Kill's armor...
Major Bludd tries to deflect Over Kill's blow with his rifle but the machete slashes into his right bicep, just under his shoulder plate.
Major Bludd swears and attempts to smash Over Kill over the head with the butt of his assault rifle.
Viper Squad 1416 take aim at the advancing BATs.
The BATs aren't too creative. They approach the Vipers, leaving their leader out in the open as they return fire, simply advancing as one loses an arm from the viper's assault. They don't feel pain. And they don't strategize.
Over Kill doesn't strategize either. But that's because he's an idiot sometimes. He rolls out of the way of Major Bludd's attack and right smack into the wrist blade. The blade hits the back of his neck with the sound of metal ripping into flesh. He pulls himself back, the back of his neck is wide open and bleeding red. He actually growls in pain. "A slice for a slice, eh Nightgaunt?" with that, he pulls his own machete back towards Gaunt, trying to slice into him in return.
Nightgaunt hisses as the machette tears the front of his suit open. There's even a subtle *thunk* that could well be a cut bone. Nightgaunt doesn't seem to be backing down, though. The pilot sticks with what he knows best: sharp and pointy. He drops in and tries to shove the weapon straight into the cyborg's midsection, trying to cut a hole in that armor...
Viper Squad 1416 continue to fire bursts at the BATs. Viper #17 directs the other men to each take aim at a single BAT, and the group so divides their fire.
Viper #17 snarls as his bullets appear to bounce right off the BATs' armour.
Major Bludd steps forward and attempts to slam the butt of his rifle against the back of Over Kill's head. With a sneer and a grunt of pain as he flexes his injured arm, he brings the weapon down...
Major Bludd is slow to recover from the hunched position his attack put him in.
As Over Kill takes the Headshot, the BATS suddenly power down. Over Kill falls face forward, blinking a bit. Well that knocked his network offline at least and possibly more. He offers a feeble kick, trying to defend himself, but he's down. He murmurs soemthing into the ground, the back of his head seems to be one big bloody mess.
Major Bludd snarls, "You had to have it the hard way, didn't you?"
Nightgaunt takes full advantage. He spots the hole in Over Kill's armor and moves in, looking up to Major Bludd. He draws his left arm back, speaking just loud enough for the Major to hear: "Run." He opens his hand, revealing the object he's been holding this whole time. With all his force, he shoves the grenade at the hole in the cyborg's armor...
Major Bludd barks in pain as Over Kill's leg strikes the back of his left knee. His leg buckles and he stretches out his arms to stop his fall as he lands heavily on the ground beside Over Kill.
Major Bludd's eyes widen as he sees the pilot shove a grenade into the fallen cyborg.
Major Bludd says, "You idiot!"
Viper Squad 1416 take notice of the grenade and scatter into the trees.
Major Bludd makes an attempt to haul himself to his feet.
Nightgaunt pulls his hand back as he turns around, the clink of the grenade's metal spoon flinging away as the pilot starts to run...
And the BATs stay still, completely deactivated. Over Kill doesn't even have time to scream as the grenade goes off. His body jerks forward, circuitry exploding outwards. When the smoke clears, he stays still, face down. If he's not dead, he's close enough to it that he's no longer a threat.
Major Bludd scrambles away from the booby-trapped cyborg, half limping, half crawling, into the trees.
Nightgaunt finds himself in a scene straight out of Die Hard. The grenade goes off and catches the pilot on the edge of its blast, picking him up and throwing him into a tree.
Major Bludd is likewise too close to the blast and is sent tumbling off into the jungle. The trunk of a tall tree shudders a bit.
Is that rain? No..that's just most of Over kill's insides coming back down from the sky. One of the BATs takes a piece of falling shrapnel to the head, and another gets crushed by a flying leg.
Major Bludd coughs, painfully.
Major Bludd keys his radio and wheezes something into it.
Nightgaunt groans as he forces himself to stay conscious. That hurt. He slowly gets back up to his feet...he takes his time because if Over Kill were still up, Nightgaunt would be dead by now. He slowly stands up and looks over at Over Kill, admiring his own handiwork. He takes a few steps forward, "Be glad I didn't have my Rattler..."
<Cobra (IC)> Major Bludd says, "Back to the river, lads. Help Nightgaunt ... collect Over Kill."
Major Bludd gets to his knees and immediately regrets it. He tries to stay on his hands and knees while keeping his weight off his left knee, fails utterly, and falls over.
Over Kill twitches ever so slightly, or is that the body settling? There is a pool of mechanical fluid and blood about him, and most of his chest is blown outwards. From his position face first on the ground one can see his spine and parts of his brain hanging out.
<Cobra (IC)> Over Kill still hasn't disconnected from the frequency. Maybe it's a mechanical glitch.
Viper #17 comes to his commander's aid, helping Bludd regain his feet.
Nightgaunt winces and clutches a hand to his ribs. Blood runs over his hand from the wound in his chest. It looks a lot more painful than he's showing, though...nor is he letting on that his mechanical eye has shorted out.
Major Bludd swears as he and the Viper try to work out how best the soldier can support him while not aggrivating his other injuries.
Major Bludd finally swats the young man away and limps back toward Over Kill. Viper Squad 1416 emerge from the foliage and stand around Over Kill's ... remains, exhibiting reactions from awe to near illness.
Major Bludd says, "Well, that went well."
Over Kill stays very very still on the ground. He sees a blood red shadow which may be someone approaching him. If he's lucky, they'll kick his corpse and leave him for dead. He makes sure that shadow is a person and not the barrel of a gun and spends some time restraining this urge to twitch and scream in agony.
Nightgaunt approaches the remains, glaring down at the machinery and body parts. "We need to dispose of the remains. He's tried to subvert Cobra too many times."
Major Bludd shakes his head. "I want as much of the head and brain stem as we can collect."
Major Bludd says, "If Megatron is as interested in him as he seems to be, there must be a good reason for it."
Major Bludd motions to the Vipers to collect the remains.
Over Kill tenses a bit for a moment, or maybe it's rigor mortis. Something in his chest sparks, sending an electrical charge down the muscles of his back and spine. He swats at the Vipers if they get too close.
The Vipers spook at the electrical discharge, backing away from the cyborg's remains.
Viper #77 squeaks, "He's still alive!" He turns a decidedly unpleasant shade of green and dashes for the treeline.
Major Bludd peers at Over Kill.
Major Bludd glances around at the Vipers, who stare at Over Kill, unsure of what to do.
Over Kill shakes badly, unable to stay still any longer. He coughs a bit, trying rather hard and unsucessfully to sit up. He ends up lifting his head a bit. "Go..away." He murmurs unable to tell one shape from the other. He shivers a bit, perhaps on the verge of going into shock.
Major Bludd snorts. "Lot 'o damn pooftas, alla ya."
Major Bludd frowns in distaste as Over Kill fidgets. "Don't you know when yer dead, ya loon?"
Major Bludd grabs a rifle from one of the Vipers.
Over Kill murmurs distantly. "Too late for surrender..isn't it.." he tries again to move, tensing a bit.
Major Bludd laughs, shaking his head in disbelief. "Oh, *now* you wanna give up? Now that yer lyin' in pieces? Where's yer bravado now, eh? 'You'll never take me alive, copper!' Eh?
Major Bludd lowers the rifle, relaxing his grip on it. "Mate, I woulda taken ya back ta base at the start of all this. But you hadda be a tough guy."
Over Kill chuckles a bit, causing his whole body to shake "Yes.. I see now..didn't stand a chance.." he murmurs. "If you're going to finish me, do it. Destroy me.. won't get anything from destroyed circuitry.." he coughs. "Cold.."
Major Bludd smiles grimly. "No. I planned ta take ya back ta base, and now that's exactly what I'm gonna do."
Major Bludd says, "One way or the other, Over Kill, yer comin' with me."
Major Bludd says, "Ya made yer choice."
Major Bludd turns to the Vipers. "Collect him."
Over Kill nods "I did. I lived..as a BAT and I'll die like one.. initating self destruct.." oh crap.
Major Bludd swears in at least two languages. He shifts his grip on the rifle, holds it like a bat.
Major Bludd raises the rifle over his head, intending to slam it down onto Over Kill's cranium to prevent him self destructing.
Over Kill 's systems grind as they try to activate something. It seems his self destruct mechanism is offline. He curses softly.
Viper Squad 1416 hear the words 'self destruct' and run for the trees again.
Major Bludd freezes in place, the rifle still held over his head. He grits his teeth. "Why can't you just follow orders?" he whispers. He throws the rifle to the ground angrily, wincing as he aggrivates the knife wound Over Kill gave him earlier.
Major Bludd thunders, "Get back here, you lousy bastards, and collect this damn thing!"
<Cobra (IC)> Major Bludd says, "Bludd to base: I need air transport from Brasilia ASAP."
Viper #17 comes back, somewhat sheepishly, and moves to pick up Over Kill's head.
Major Bludd mutters, "Bloody pooftas."
Over Kill murmurs. "Follow..orders. What are your orders, sir.." he winces as his head is moved, trying to curl up and away. He seems very disoriented. He murmurs in a mechanical voice. "Falling to backup systems. Organic and Mechanical system failure."
"Right now," Bludd says quietly, "your orders are to lie still and not resist the Vipers who are attempting to help you. Is that understood?"
Viper #17 looks up at Bludd from his crouch beside Over Kill.
About half the Vipers have returned and are, somewhat hesitantly, picking up pieces of
Over Kill's smashed form and carrying them off.
Major Bludd says, "We'll rendezvous at origin point and go to Brasilia from there, lads."
Over Kill stays prone "Confirmed.." he states. If he's flipped over, his eyes seem unfocused and most of his back has been slammed into his chest. His armor is keeping his vitals inside his body at least.
Major Bludd says, "Good. Now just relax. We'll be home before you know it."
Over Kill tries to nod but it comes slowly "Yes, sir. Are there Joes in the area?" what? He doesn't know how he got out here?
The Vipers work as a team to carry Over Kill's chest armor and vitals carefully away. As the last bits are collected by the stragglers who couldn't stand to view the mangled organics, Bludd walks with the men carrying Over Kill's head.
Major Bludd says, "You're hurt, Over Kill. Quite busted up, in fact. So you're off-duty as of right now. I won't have my men going into the field wounded. Now lie quietly."
Major Bludd ponders the semantics of the word 'lie' with respect to a man whose body is in pieces. He squints his eyes shut and shakes his head to rid his mind of the thought.
Over Kill takes a while to give a response. "How many casualties? Can't detect the network.." oh sure. His legs and arms are seperated from him and the only thing he's concerned about his his BAT network. "Doesn't hurt really. Tired. Think I'm going to nap.." oh yeah. He's out of it. But he's very still and very cooperative at least.
Major Bludd says, "Don't worry about it, lad. Just take it easy for now."
"I'm talking to a disembodied head," Bludd thinks distractedly.
Major Bludd shakes his head gently, raising a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, his eyes closing for a moment. "I am too damn old for this," he mutters.
Over Kill stares straight ahead. "Must have been some sort of battle.." He murmurs, before he simply remains quiet. Oh yeah. It's one of those nights.
Bludd and the Vipers trek across the jungle until they reach the outskirts of Brasilia a few hours later. COBRA air transport is waiting to take them back to their Colombian base.
Major Bludd can't load the troops and Over Kill onto the transports fast enough, though he treats the situation with professionalism.