Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

[SeanWolf]

Eira was in the middle of her own attack on the tank, ready to finish it off now that its gun was disabled. She heard Tobias call out, felt her own danger-sense alert her to the incoming threat, and dodged to the left just as the missiles struck. The shockwave from the blast pushed against her, but she managed to keep herself stable. The tank flipped up into the air, heading right for her, but she stood her ground. Cloaked in her ice, she caught the mangled tank as it landed on top of her and lifted it over her head with ease. More annoyed than hurt, Eira swung the remains of the tank around before hurtling it straight at the walker.

The tank crashed straight into the Heavy walker and exploded, causing it to stagger. The Walker observes the battlefield, and quickly determines it is outmatched.

Instead of attacking the team directly, the walker's back opens up. A single large missile emerges with sirens blaring and warning lights flashing the entire time.

"WARNING: NUCLEAR SELF-DETONATION IMMINANT."

[1 Heavy Walker remains: Warhead Detonation in 2 turns]

"Stand back, Sana!" The voice from within the smoke shouted. From the smoke, the shadowy figure dashed out and leapt onto the walker, revealing himself as a shirtless black wolf with hints of silver and a destroyed drone's arm embedded in him. Assessing the situation, he determined that disarming the warhead would be out of the question as the clock didn't give them enough time. There was one other option...but would it work was the question burning in his head. *Frag it* he mumbled, then directed his attention to the crew below, specifically the one with ice on her. "HEY!" he shouted. "I'm going to pull the warhead out! When I give the word...FREEZE THE WARHEAD and I'll throw the missile sky high! Hopefully the ice contains the blast!"

[Welsh Halfwit]

Sana backed away, already thinking of possibilities of how to get out of this if Hawk's plan didn't work. Her fingers flew around her keyboard interface, sending a message to Hivemind. "Big bomb," it read. "Going off soon. Suggestion. Teleport it into space. Cannot recall teleports on Beacon but STEELHAVEN has them. How fast can you learn?

[CyberDragon]

With knowledge of what was to come, Jenny turned her attention to stopping the event or, at worst, minimizing the damage as she turned her sonic lance attack on the heavy droid, straining to keep the beam of waves going on the armoured beast.

Kolt swore under his breath as the walker announced it's impending detonation. His shields couldn't contain a nuclear explosion, and trying to funnel it upwards might just cause the radiation to spread through the atmosphere. That just left trying to disable it before it got a chance to explode. Forming forcefield blades out of his forearms, he rocketed towards the walker, aiming to fly just underneath it, between the legs. Flying with his back to the ground, he had one blade extended upwards, aiming to slice at it's underside and damage it's internals, the other to the side, hoping to damage it's legs and send it crumbling to the ground.

While Jenny's attack did not appear to do much at first, the vibrations running through the heavy droid loosened many connectors and joints. When Kolt flew under it and sliced through its legs, he managed to damage some of its structural support. With the rest of the connectors damaged, the droid collapsed under its own weight into a heap of metal with a live bomb laying on the top.

Sana backed away, already thinking of possibilities of how to get out of this if Hawk's plan didn't work. Her fingers flew around her keyboard interface, sending a message to Hivemind. "Big bomb," it read. "Going off soon. Suggestion. Teleport it into space. Cannot recall teleports on Beacon but STEELHAVEN has them. How fast can you learn?

"Near instant. Connecting to the Steelhaven, making calculations, routing power, bypassing security restrictions, and activating the teleporter are not instant processes. Hivemind responded.

"I will work on getting the Teleporter working, but it is not a guarantee. Get the bomb into the air. I'm sending Arcangel to intercept in case the Teleporter doesn't cooperate."

"Stand back, Sana!" The voice from within the smoke shouted. From the smoke, the shadowy figure dashed out and leapt onto the walker, revealing himself as a shirtless black wolf with hints of silver and a destroyed drone's arm embedded in him. Assessing the situation, he determined that disarming the warhead would be out of the question as the clock didn't give them enough time. There was one other option...but would it work was the question burning in his head. *Frag it* he mumbled, then directed his attention to the crew below, specifically the one with ice on her. "HEY!" he shouted. "I'm going to pull the warhead out! When I give the word...FREEZE THE WARHEAD and I'll throw the missile sky high! Hopefully the ice contains the blast!"

Eira nods to Hawk, shifting her ice armor into a single long blade. She swung it through the missile, severing the payload from its propulsion before encasing the warhead in a thick sheet of ice.

[1 turn until detonation]

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Hannabelle adjusted her position as quickly and carefully as she could so as not to spend too long in one spot now she'd identified it. She took up position again and waited on her chance to shoot.

Liz snarled in pain as the Varanian bit down on her arm, but kept her grasp on the weapon firm. Lewis turned to try and help his mother now that his own opponent was dealt with, but it seemed she had her own plans. Turning her snarl into something of a smirk, she started to grow, and grow, and grow, turning into her Shipmaster form and towering over her opponent.

Liz snarled in pain as the Varanian bit down on her arm, but kept her grasp on the weapon firm. Lewis turned to try and help his mother now that his own opponent was dealt with, but it seemed she had her own plans. Turning her snarl into something of a smirk, she started to grow, and grow, and grow, turning into her Shipmaster form and towering over her opponent.

The Varanian was caught entirely off guard by the sudden transformation of his opponent. The warrior guardsman backed off in alarm, staring up at what was clearly a far more powerful foe. Trying to understand what had happened, the Varanian kept his distance. He hesitated, trying to figure out whether continuing the fight was worth it.

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Corp rolled his eyes but no-one could see them. "Recon, is the little guy familiar with that weapons factory? If he is, you want to weapon him up and we'll go deal with it? Sarah, you're sticking with the Laird and his brother."

Recon nodded to Corp and vanished in a blur of speed to go talk to the smaller alien in the barracks, reappearing a few moments later.

"So, uh... That was weird. He got really quiet when I brought it up, kind of like how people get when they feel like they're being interrogated."

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Jaken pulled himself up and tried to escort Hive to a window. "Still tired," he explained. "So I can probably only manage one or two portals. If we need to escape, which roof do I aim for?"

"We don't need to escape now, so you won't be aiming for anything other than some rest." Hivemind chided. "There's a bedroom through those doors. Go take a nap, regain your energy. I will tell you if we need to leave."

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"I hope they're all OK." Cherry remarked, holding in the sneeze.

Hivemind didn't answer, instead leaving his own hopes implicit. For now, he kept watch over the situation.

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Keeva laughed back. "Nothing like an invincible force," she chuckled, feeling the strain as she put some extra power into the arm, to see if it could push back.

"Gotta be honest..." Vex grinned as he watched his arm slowly push towards the table before steadily increasing his own strength until he gained advantage, "I feel a whole lot less invincible in this place. Feel like some of the mortals here could break my arm if I did this with them."

[SeanWolf]

Eira nods to Hawk, shifting her ice armor into a single long blade. She swung it through the missile, severing the payload from its propulsion before encasing the warhead in a thick sheet of ice.

[1 turn until detonation]

With all his might (and a little personal help), Hawk pulled the warhead out of the mech and, with the mightiest of roars that could shake the planes of eternity, heaved the ice-covered warhead towards the sky. What would come next? Unfortunately, Hawk didn't think that far ahead when he first developed this idea (Not a common occurrence with him, but it does happen on the occasions when time is of the essence). However, he did realize one small detail: Ice + Ground = Shattered Pieces Flying which also means Shattered Pieces + Civilians = Trouble.

[Welsh Halfwit]

Sana made her way to what she thought might be safe. She knew there was no chance against a nuclear explosion but the outcropping might survive against shrapnel. "Hawk, you getting to safety," she called.
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"Not much more I can... do there," Jenny said, feeling the arm strain through the suit. She switched back to pistol based suppression fire on any she thought were attacking.
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Corp shrugged. "Tell him that, without the information, we're going in anyhow but we might not be able to destroy it so easily, with minimal loss of innocents. Tell him that. I know we'll fight for every one anyhow but he needs to know he's helping. Offer him safe passage after. If he wants it."
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Jaken looked over at his boss. "You realise that thing you got's tried to influence me? Makin' me think of things I want?" A tired, wry, grin showed some of the teeth the boy still needed to work on. "Only one thing I want and I've seen enough bad sci-fi to wish for that or give it much thought. Always a monkey's paw, as Humes say."
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Sarah Kept herself close to the laird and his brother. She checked over Conall
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Cherry kept working, looking to see if she could 'eavesdrop' on the Varanians.
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"I think you'll find," Keeva strained, pushing against Vex's arm with some real pressure, "in a few minutes... that I'm not one of them!"

[Hlaoroo]

Corp shrugged. "Tell him that, without the information, we're going in anyhow but we might not be able to destroy it so easily, with minimal loss of innocents. Tell him that. I know we'll fight for every one anyhow but he needs to know he's helping. Offer him safe passage after. If he wants it."

"Perhaps Ah can get some more out o' him?" Conall suggests, with Cailean interpreting, before Recon can run off again.
"Ah was the first to establish rapport wi' him sae he might trust me more. Also, his name's Et'wan. He might cooperate more if you use it. He might find 'little guy' offensive."

[Legotron123]

Kolt, seeing the flaw in Hawk's plan, threw a forcefield a few feet up in the air over the team and as many nearby civilians as he could. He kept all his focus on making it as strong as he could, waiting for the moment the bomb went off.
---
Liz took a single, powerful stomp forward, standing as tall as she could to emphasize the sheer height she had on her opponent. "Surrender. NOW." She commanded, as she tossed her opponents weapon behind her, it landing somewhere in the green besides the air strip.

[CyberDragon]

As Hawk threw the core into the air, Eira did her part to lift it as high as her range would allow. The core flew up a quarter mile into the air before detonating.

Eira strained against the force of the blast, grunting as she tried to keep the ice together. She could feel it cracking, and her control over it wavering, so she opened a hole in the top. An enormous plume of fire erupted into the sky, the sound of the blast overshadowing the sonic boom that would have heralded Archangel's arrival. The winged Champion flew through the air, getting between the explosion and the ground below.

Eventually, Eira couldn't hold the ice together anymore. It shattered, sending shards flying towards the ground, striking Archangel and bombarding Kolt's shields. Archangel was forced down by the concussive blast, slamming into the shield among a cloud of icy shards.

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Recon was just about to run off when the brothers stopped her. She shrugged.

"I mean, you're welcome to try. I don't know if he's going to want to talk to me anymore."

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The Varanian, seeing his leader and only backup taken down and now facing another enormous Varanian several times his size, and having been disarmed, still stands tall while glaring at Liz. Still, he takes no more aggressive actions.

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Hivemind looked at Jaken with an air of both concern and curiosity.

"...You're very strong-willed, then. I should have put that thing away far earlier than I did. You are correct in that there would have been dire consequences to using that thing."

"I will need to tell you what it is later. We have no expectation of privacy here. In the meantime, I will need to get this crystal to Dr. Donner for further study."

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Feeling that Keeva was at the limit of her strength, Vex carefully pushed harder. Their arms slowly moved in Vex's favor until Keva's arm touched the table. Vex released his grip and stretched his shoulder.

"Not bad! You're a lot stronger than most mortals. Who built your arm?"

[Welsh Halfwit]

Jenny shifted her focus to the bomb as she kept firing on the incoming. She computed what she might be able to do if the field fell. She'd have seconds but that'd be enough.
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Jaken shrugged. "Ran halfway across a galaxy. Had to be strong willed to do that. Even more to stop." He chose not to take the bed but settled for a seated snooze at one of the tables.
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"That was my dad," Keeva explained. "Back in the universe we're from. Dead now, of course," she added sadly, "so I maintain it." A wry grin. "An engineer who learned on herself!"
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"II'm trying to hear Varanian comms," Cherry told her Hivemind. "IThey don't seem to talk to eachother."
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Sana kept her head down and tried to cut into any enemy computer systems. She figured it wouldn't be fatal if they worked out she was there as she was in the fringes of a battlefield anyhow.

[Hlaoroo]

Recon was just about to run off when the brothers stopped her. She shrugged.

"I mean, you're welcome to try. I don't know if he's going to want to talk to me anymore."

Conall suddenly looks suspiciously at Recon. "Why's tha'? What did ye dae?" he demands.

"He asks if'n ye ken why he won't talk." Cailean interprets for Conall, not wanting to offend the woman, just in case. He then turns to Corp.
"It's yer call, sah. Skirmish or factory first, or shuid we try talkin' tae Et'wan first?" he asks the mouse.

[Legotron123]

Kolt did grimaced a little as all the ice shards rained into his force field, but still kept the shield up relatively easily. He split off the section of it that Archangel was on, slowly lowering it to the ground, before tilting the rest of it so that all the ice tumbled off onto the sidewalk. Once that was dealt with, he dispelled the force field before walking over to the heavenly hero. "You alright?" The vulpine asked, offering a hand to help him up.
--
Liz smirked as the last of the mercenaries stood down. "Smart choice." She said, before her expression turned serious again and she took a single heavy step forward. "Now, where are the eggs you took today?"

[SeanWolf]

As Hawk threw the core into the air, Eira did her part to lift it as high as her range would allow. The core flew up a quarter mile into the air before detonating.

Eira strained against the force of the blast, grunting as she tried to keep the ice together. She could feel it cracking, and her control over it wavering, so she opened a hole in the top. An enormous plume of fire erupted into the sky, the sound of the blast overshadowing the sonic boom that would have heralded Archangel's arrival. The winged Champion flew through the air, getting between the explosion and the ground below.

Eventually, Eira couldn't hold the ice together anymore. It shattered, sending shards flying towards the ground, striking Archangel and bombarding Kolt's shields. Archangel was forced down by the concussive blast, slamming into the shield among a cloud of icy shards.

Just as Hawk predicted, one of the flying shards nailed him in the stomach, causing him to grunt and briefly shout from the hit as he landed in front of the group. As he stood before the group, a shard of ice in one side of him and a mech's arm in the other, he slowly caught his breath. "Everyone OK?" He asked the group while taking both pieces out of his belly, wincing as the wounds sealed up and healed. "I'm Hawk...I'm the guy that radioed in a while ago, warning of the attack..." He then saw Sana and Kaleb and smiled, though still slightly pained as his healing finished. "I see you two made it with no problems...uh sorry for tossing you off the bridge; Didn't want you two wrapped up in what happened back there..."