Nagalisk Calling

[Final Warrior]

Katie giggled (an actual DREAM MAKER giggling on the job...), walking away with the rest of Alpha in an entirely different direction. Members of Bravo team went with them, while others stuck with Simon, grinning under their helmets. Tek piped up in Simon's HUD.

"Uhh... there's no need for a dropship. Our battleship is nearing, and so the customary tradition of attempted suicide must be observed."

This being a squad-wide broadcast, brought much laughter. Leo, the only one not laughing, spoke over the comms. "Codop, we're jumping from this ship to ours. Y'know, out the airlock? Now quit harrassing the dropship drivers and get over here!"

The team, finally assembled at an airlock, lined up.

 

[VoxEladrin]

Simon sighed as he walked back to meet up with Alpha team and grinned weakly at Leo "You were always too crazy for your own good, Leo." Simon said with a slight hint of amusement. The airlock doors opened and the command ship was on the other side.

"Right lady and gents, get ready to jump." Leo ordered and on the command, the group jumped into space, and floated there for a bit then landed on the hulking mass of metal infront of them. The climbed down to the airlock and entered the ship.

"That was the most fun I've had in ten minutes." Simon chuckled. "Now, I've got to go see Divinia." He finished and then walked to the civilian deck.

 

[Final Warrior]

Katie undid her helmet, grinning at Leo.

"C'mon. Let's join them!"

Leo shook his head, still underneath his helmet. "Can't I've got to make a report to the Commander and the Admiral."

Leo walked off to the Captain's Quarters, where Commander Geans and Admiral Codop were waiting.

Meanwhile, Divinia was doing medical check-ups on injured combatants in Medical.

 

[VoxEladrin]

Simon snuck up behind her quietly and then slapped her bottom playfully. "Miss me?" He grinned and chuckled again, "I'm back from the Blackcloak and finally ready to take you to that cafe now.

Divina smiled and nodded, and walked with Simon to the cafe he suggested after he removed his armor and got into his civvies.

 

[Final Warrior]

Divinia order her usual, a white-chocolate mocha latte.

"So, how was hell?"

 

[VoxEladrin]

Simon grinned at the question. Obviously he had fun. It quickly turned to a frown though.

"We hit the ship, true. But we lost many men to this weird cloud-like thing called Nano-D... It ate through their armor! That armor is two sheets of durasteel for God's sake! We're gonna have our hands full in the future if they set those things loose on the Fleet." Simon said.

Simon's hands shook slightly as he held his cup of java.

 

[Final Warrior]

"Interesting. I got some epidermal samples of Marines who had been afflicted with some sort of 'airborne acid'. It had eaten through most of them. Nothing I could do. Upon inspection, it seemed that the particles weren't biological at all, but rather chemo-mechanical. But... two sheets of durasteel? We'll have to be careful inspecting the ship then... but maybe we could turn this substance into a weapon against the Nagalisk."

What Divinia did not mention was HOW the Nano-D destroyed the Marines. It had bonded to the molecules the composed the armor and their skins, breaking the particles down and then incorporating the broken-down materials into the structure.

Divinia stayed Simon's hand with her own, smiling.

"How can you be so calm, Divinia? You've seen the wounds. I saw the wounds happen, but you've seen the aftermath."

"I guess it comes with being a doctor. Marines are scared of how strong MY nerves are, would you believe that? I've spent a large part of my life as combat medic, ship's surgeon, head of the medical board, ship's doctor, and now xenobiologist. I remember a horrnedous wound inflicted upon a Marine once, who got too close to a dying Nagalisk Lord. needless to say, we couldn't sew his belly up in time, as the durasteel fragments of his armor had shredded his intestines. I've seen enough lethal wounds to last three lifetimes."

 

[VoxEladrin]

OOC: Divinia is twice as old as Simon He's 19 remember?

Simon couldn't help but wince. Three lifetimes. Simon had been around all kinds of hell, true, but nothing like this. It fused the skin to the armor and broke it down. Nano-D...it could be used as a weapon, true, if someone could just capture a sac of the things.

"This Nano-D stuff...is it some kind of micro organism?"

"Have you not been listening? Its a chemo-mechanical compound." Divinia repeated.

"Still, It sounds unplausable to get one of the sacs containing them. If we dont get it, then millions of innocents would die from being eaten alive, cell by cell at an extremely rapid pace. If we do get it, how do we know it'll work on the Nagalisks?" Simon asked.

 

[Final Warrior]

((Nah. She's a child genius. *Quickly edits post*))

"Well, it should in theory work. I can't say how; I'm not authorized. And in case it doesn't, some tech-weeny'll end up molecularly editing the substance. But I thought we were here to talk about something other than work."

Divinia smiled coyly as she finished her drink. The caffiene would keep keep her going for the night of work ahead.

Elsewhere...

It was like he lived his life here, in the training room. It was always the same forest, the same camp, the same everything. If he didn't change things up soon, he'd become a victim to monotony. A more modern situation would have suited his needs, but he stuck with a forest, as usual.

"Still... I need to keep up on the basics."

Three shots rang out, followed by bodies hitting the soft, leaf-covered, earthern ground.

"Scratch three... now where are the other two?"

Leo chambered another round in his simulated sniper rifle in the middle of a simulated forest in Earth's fall season, from years before the Nagalisk.

 

[VoxEladrin]

Simon smiled back at Divinia and they began talking more sentimentally (cencored j/k). But even after all of that talk, Simon had barely touched his cup. Divinia stared down at it and then back at Simon.

"You ok? You don't look too good." She asked, putting a hand on Simon's forehead.
"Yea, I'm fine...just thinking about that ship..." Simon trailed off. He was haunted by that one moment in time where he saw his squadmates wreithing in pain on the ground as they were eaten down to mere particles. Simon had never seen anything more horrifying than the tiny machines of Nano-D.

"Uh...Sorry, Divinia. I was lost in thought there." Simon said and he looked back into her eyes. "Too much crap went on that mission."

 

[Final Warrior]

"Too much crap goes on in every mission. Be glad you've never been in a post-mission operating room. You ever seen a chours of grown Marines crying and bleeding at the same time?"

Some of Divinia's tomboyishness was showing through. She wasn't afraid too assert that she was more masculine, or at least had a stronger stomach, than most Marines.

"But hey... we all go through a lot of things in life. At least everyone has someone that they can talk to, right?"

"Oh yeah? What about Leo? Have you ever seen or heard of him opening up and pouring out his innermost feelings and emotions?"

Leo's emotions, or the lack thereof, was a running joke in the DREAM MAKERs team. Leo had once said that to him, "emotions aren't necessary, on or off the battlefield." Suffice to say, that launched him to a new level of fame.

"Leo's got Katie. I heard they even ended up in bed together at least one time."

 

[VoxEladrin]

"But then again, he had her in bed WITH clothes on." Simon laughed. He never knew that Leo would be the joking type. He knew that Katie had run out, half laughin, half fuming and Leo had a hand print on the face. He definatly didn't expect something like that.

"Hrm...wonder where Leo is anyway?" Simon asked.

 

[Final Warrior]

"No idea. Knowing the squad leader, probably reading something or another on troop tactics or killing Nagalisk on the simulator. He's so one dimensional. But what do you mean that Katie had her clothes on? She never told me that!"

Elsewhere...

Sweat dripped down his nose. He had his last target... but he had been noticed. The Nagalisk was weaving in and out of the trees, forcing Leo to jerk the rifle around, unable to get a good shot.

And then, there it was. Rising out from the trees, leaping at Leo. In that same instant, Leo blew a nice-sized hole in its chest.

"Too close."

The simulator powered down and Leo got up, wiping sweat off of his face. Time to take a shower.

 

[VoxEladrin]

After walking Divinia to her quarters, Simon headed to the simulation room for some training himself. He saluted Leo quickly on his way and entered the sim room. He set the location to an urban indoor environment. Cramped hallways and dark corridors and ambush points. Simon hooked in Tek so that he could help him set the enemy count.

A single-Gear recon mission. Simon chose a scout Gear, the Cheetah. It has advanced sensors and radar but light armor plating and weak weaponry.

Tek made a mechanical yawning sound. "Right, 10 Nagalisk scouts, sir. They're equipped with anti-personel needlers.

Simon's Cheetah hummed to life and powered up. He turned on the wheels and begun his scouting...

 

[Final Warrior]

Leo stepped out of the showers, dressing in his uniform and departing quietly. He stopped by the mess hall to grab dinner, where he ran into Katie, who sat wating alone at the "reseved" table for the DREAM MAKERs.

"Hey, Leo."

"Hey."

The two sat eating in silence, as they didn't need words to communicate. The two had known each other long enough to be able to read the other's body language and facial expressions. Leo was trying to control himself as usual, and Katie was plain shy around her commander and friend. For the first time, Leo initiated conversation.

"Good job on that Blackcloak."

"Huh? oh, thanks... you're not too shabby a commander, yourself."

 

[VoxEladrin]

Simon had been out in the building for well over an hour, still no sign of the targets. This recon mission seemed a little fishy. Maybe the radar was malfunctioning? He shrugged and moved onward. When he saw a Nagalisk at last, he didn't hesitate to open fire. After killing the Nagalisk, he was suddenly attacked from all sides from above. His gear was destroyed and he ejected and quit the program. "DAMNIT!!" Simon cursed, slamming his fist into the ground. "Damnit! Tek...why didn't you tell me they were there?"

"Sorry, chief. Orders from Commander Geans. You need to do this on your own. Use your own instinct and you can do anything on the field." Tek explained, sounding disappointed. "Honestly, could you not see the cloaking signs? The light around them was bent." Tek continued.

"Yea yea...I'm gonna call it quits for now." Simon said with a sigh and exited the Sim room.

 

[Final Warrior]

Leo and Katie finished their dinner in relative silence, other than ocassional combat comparisons. Leo took both his and Katie's platters and placed them in the "used" bin. He came back and sat next to Katie.

"What?"

"... Nothing."

"No, let me guess... you can't stop looking at me, can you?" Katie giggled. "Leo, you're blushing!"

"I have no idea what it is you're talking about." Leo got up. "Going to bed. You should to. We've got a long report meeting tomorow."

"Really? Then I'll stay up and sleep tomorrow during the meeting."

Leo shook his head slightly and went to his rooms to sleep. Katie left as well, but to do late night studying.

 

[VoxEladrin]

Simon walked to his quarters after eating a meagre supper of baked potato and steak. He got out of his civvies and fell asleep dreaming of battle and of the horrifying Nano-D's

OOC: Warg...short post >.<

 

[Final Warrior]

Divinia went to bed and dreamt, of all things, Simon. ((Muhahaha.))

Katie couldn't sleep. She stayed up, studying for her promotion exam.

Leo slept a dreamless sleep, the best kind.

And so a new day began, with the normal hustle and bustle, added with the fact that the Hyperion was coupled to a Nagalisk battlefrigate and there were still wounds to be attended to.

((I edited my post in Desert Sword, just so you know.))

 

[VoxEladrin]

Simon's dream ended with thoughts of Divinia and he eventually woke up, late as always. He stretched a bit and then got dressed and went through the usual daily routines; shower, breakfast, hygenic junk. He walked out of his quarters and headed to the Sim room for some training on that mission again. He had to master the ambush, to use it against the enemy. "I'll get you buggers this time..." He muttered as he activated the Sim.