Food for Thought (Denon Dominion)

[Valiens Nantaris]

"I'm so surprised your blood made them super smart!" Tegaea said snidely, then laughed. "Seriously though, you are super in so many ways."

All of this talk, and dragging the body along, had perhaps distracted them to the fact that zombies were sneaking up silently and carefully behind them!

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

"You do want to get laid when we're done here, don't you?" Siobhan retorted with a laugh. "I'm totally super. Maybe this time I'll make them hot or give 'em force powers!"

Suddenly she stopped before she could make another quip, hearing noise. Out of the darkness zombies came swarming them, having used the brief distraction to get behind them. Siobhan brought up her gun and there was the cramp of a shot when she blasted two, knocking them back for several metres, but the creatures had numbers on their side.

Siobhan fired off another round, then slammed the boltgun into the head of one of her attackers, turning it into jellie as it was blown apart. More zombies lunged at her and she fired one right into the torso, but then she stumbled when suddenly one rammed her and she fell onto the ground.

The zombie jumped on her and bared its fangs. She tried to move up but a hard punch to her face knocked her down. The creature's teeth moved down towards her neck and trying to strike with its claws. In a blur her lightsabre flew up and the blue blade flared to life, chopping his hands off. She grabbed ahold of the levitated sabre and stabbed the zombie through the heart. Jumping to her feet, she twirled the blade and hacked at her enemies. Calling the discarded boltgun to her, she tossed the lightsabre in a wide spinning arc so that in flight it relieved two zombies of their heads, another lost an arm and the last got his torso separated from his legs, then it returned into her hand like a boomerang.

Suddenly projectiles and blaster bolts whizzed past her head, the red laserfire providing illumination in the blacked out street. The bolts blew holes into already weakened walls behind her. Dimly she could make out zombies emerging from the flanks, armed with a variety of guns.

The hail of laser fire was poorly aimed, the zombies were not trained shooters, but even a poor shot could hit and it gave their brethren in undeath time to get in close on Tegs and Siobhan.

 

[Tilda Sai]

@[member="Tegaea Alcori"] @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

"Affirmative," came Anika's reply to having a team ready in the elevator to examine the body. "Condition IV hazmat required. I want noone to get contaminated."

There was a rush of activity as the scientific division of Omega Pyre for this mission went to work.

Just prior to the zombies attacking, Anika's voice blasted from their comms.

"Aurek team you have hostiles approaching from your six!" The camera that Siobhan had placed brought up the holographic images. Her lips thinned as the fight ensued.

They were able to see the entire event from the perspective of Siobhan's personal recorder as well as the wide span lens of the sticky camera on the wall. Motion detectors on the droids went off.

"You have approaching hostiles with..." the shots were heard. "Inform the rest of the units that we have hostiles with weaponry!"

 

[Cira]

@[member="Zero"] @[member="Sarge Potteiger"]

Cira drew her attention over to the geared man she'd yet to meet. A faint smile drew over her lips, and she gave a nod of greeting. "You'll be with Cresh team with me," she gave a small jerk of her head over to Sarge.

"I need you both to recon the old laboratory where the scientists did their original study. It may be able to provide us more information on the mutated virus in itself." the fact that it was one of the more dangerous missions would not go unnoticed, as it would be at the heart of where the original zombie outbreak and likely.. subject zero would be.

"Let's go."

 

[Jorus Merrill]

Meanwhile, not too far away...

"Well, why not. If it's gotta happen, let it be with style."

The injection mark made his whole arm itch. The Mandalorian Shell Gun had two rounds in it: A concussion shell, and a lix round. Jorus steeled himself and opened the door. The first barrel roared, and zombies went flying. He picked one that was still oncoming, a female in relatively un-warped and un-decayed condition. Still undead, of course.

The shell gun fired again, bucking against his shoulder, and then the zombie woman was on him, her passions all manner of mixed up. He tolerated a zombified kiss and assorted pawings, then shoved her back before she gave him more than a love bite. The door sealed again, and Jorus sank down with his back against it, wiping his mouth and the bite on his neck.

"All right, Command, infection in progress. Let's see if the vaccine still works..."

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

@[member="Zero"] @[member="Cira"]

Sarge's gaze, hidden behind an orange polarized visor, flickered to the new arrival momentarily. Great, someone I don't know. He hated going on any kind of... well, anything, with someone he didn't know. It mucked up the plan because he had to compensate for the guy who didn't know how he operated.

"I assume you have the coordinates, boss?"

He'd need that for the pilot to get them as close as possible.

 

[Vora Kaar]

@[member="Cira"] @Sarge Potteiger
Zero nodded at the red headed woman. he looked behind him to the other man named only of what he knew as 'Sarge'. Most likely a Nick name. He had heard it uttered a few times. But didnt know How he would fight. From the looks of it the man Sarge was spec ops like soldier. New the ins and outs of weapons and armor. May have piloted a few ships. He nodded his helmed head at the man.

When the man asked the question Zero almost laughed. If she was sending them on the mission then she must know were they were going. So yes she most likely had the coordinates to where the original study was at. However He didn't say a word like he always was. He pulled out one of his GH-44 pistols and checked that it was loaded for the 6th time. He never trusted pistols. They were not always reliable. But a well placed Dagger or Sword blade was perfect for Zero. Everybody could see that Zero was a person that fought with blades of all kinds. he had a Sword prominently shown on his back and Daggers just about every where on his body. In his boot. in his sleeve. He even had a Hidden blade in his right and left bracer where they would eject out into the necks of anyone that got to close to him.

Zero place the pistol back in the holster on his hip and waited for orders.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

The melee was close and terrifying in its fury. Tegaea was glad she had loaded up with buckshot, as at this close range the explosive bolts would be of no use whatsoever.
One of them leapt on her and tried to bite her arm, but found her armour was more than a match for teeth. Bringing up the gun one handed she blasted the zombie at point blank range, turning it to mush in an instant and smearing her visor with blood.

Pushing the body off she caught another one with a spray. There was a flash though, and a blaster bolt impacted the wall near her, another glanced off her armour, but thankfully did no damage.
"The zombies have guns!" Tegaea shouted. She dragged their test subject behind cover and loaded bolts, opening a heavy fire on the enemy and driving them back. "Come on, @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"], let's go!" she said, hauling the dead zombie up on her back as a shield and running for the elevator.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Tegaea Alcori"], @[member="Anika Od'Manteiv"]

"They're not doing crazy cultist chants, I'm disappointed!" Siobhan called out to Tegaea, dashing after her. Blaster bolts streaked through the air towards them, by now she was focusing on using her lightsabre and reflecting bolts back. Many a zombie that came close fell to the rounds, but the creatures seemed everywhere.

She swung her sabre in a wide arc, cloving it into the head of a zombie, then leapt when a creature lunged at her with a vibroblade, slashing her blade downward into the zombie's shoulder and cutting down into its torso. A blaster bolt connected with a wall behind her, another ironically hit a zombie in the back.

The zombies moved to swarm them, she was grabbed by the shoulder and reeled as a hard kick hit her in the chest. She thrust her lightsabre forward, stabbing a zombie through the mouth when its fangs dove towards her arm, barely missing her. She quickly ran after Tegaea as the hail of blaster bolts became too much, reaching out with her telekinesis to raise a trash bin and thrust it at their attackers as they dashed towards the elevator.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

Elevators never came when they were needed was the old adage, and while they stood there waiting it seemed like forever. Finally though, there was a grinding of gears and the door opened. Several more Omega troops were there, and together they fought off the remaining zombies and started to ascend.
"@[member='Anika Od'Manteiv'], we are ascending. We have a top priority biological case with us. Make sure we aren't shot as we come up.... @[member="Cira"], we have captured one of the zombies and will begin a detailed examination of it. What are your movements?"

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

It seemed like ages but finally the elevator came for her and @[member="Tegaea Alcori"]. By then scores of zombies had fallen before them, blown to pieces, deprived of limbs, brains matter splattered on the hard concrete ground. As antidotes went, the boltgun was certainly an effective remedy.

Finally the elevator reached them and the mercenaries swiftly ascended. Some sporadic blaster fire came their way, but Siobhan spun her sabre in a fast motion to deflect.

"Make sure you don't get its blood splattered on you," she advised their comrades in reference to the zombie she and Tegaea had grabbed, not all of them had sealed suits of armour. One of their troopers plucked a grenade from his gear vest and hurled it into the fray below them, sending zombies flying through the air.

As they ascended upward their attackers retreated into the darkness, presumably plotting how to get their meal. Gradually the blaster fire coming their way died down.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

Finally, they reached the uppermost level and from there were conveyed to a converted hospital. Hazmat units were everywhere, and sealed off the area. Tegaea and Siobhan had to go through decontamination, though fortunately it was not that involved a process.

When Tegaea emerged, helmet under one arm and bolter slung, she came across Siobhan. "You alright? It got pretty rough down there!"

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

"Just the way we like it, huh?" Siobhan could not resist making a lame joke, moving from the wall she had been leaning against when Tegaea arrived, walking towards her after having just left decontamination.

"This is the holo-movie moment where I say 'it's just a scratch' and an hour later look rotten and want to eat your brains? I'd like to keep my good looks. I'm good," she assured her friend with a nod.

Then she looked a bit thoughtful. "Zombies with guns, what are the odds one of the scientists got a shot of his 'cure'. You ok?"

 

[Qae Shena]

In orbit.

Allaina monitored communications on the surface, knowing full well the second the Inivcta's firepower was needed, Allaina would have to be on the case. However, there was one thing they'd need - medical space. After all, they were dealing with a plague, a very serious plague. From the bottom of her heart she hoped and prayed the people she knew and worked with and cared about weren't infected. Simple as that. She wanted them all home safe and sound.

So, she keyed her comms. "Invicta to ground teams. If you have to medevac a case, bring them up here. Our facilities are ready for isolation cases."

 

[Cira]

@[member="Zero"] @[member="Sarge Potteiger"]

"I do," said the titan mained Prex, handing a small datapad to Sarge so he could input the nav coordinates. "We'll be going deep into the lower levels. From the reports, when Subject Zero escaped, the first plan of attack the security forces of Denon made was the burn the place in fire." meaning, they'd used ordnance that not only tore it into a warzone, but sent it all in flames.

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

@[member="Zero"] @[member="Cira"]

Napalm. Just great. That's what he wanted to be close too; flammable jelly that would melt him in a second. Nothing said 'safe' quite like the idea of him running around with his flesh melting off.

Tapping the datapad a few times, he sends the coordinates to the transport which immediately lifts off from behind them and banks in good and slow towards the trio, ramp lowering.

Sarge takes a single step backwards without looking and gets up onto the ramp before offering a hand to help Cira in as it was already rising.

Zero was on his own. Sarge didn't know Zero.

Honestly Sarge didn't expect her to take his hand, but he'd do the same for any of his men so it didn't occur to him that, perhaps, she'd see things a bit different.

"Right. Let's get going."

The man's visored gaze shifts to Zero and he flicks his head back up the ramp. "You too, since apparently you're being ordered along."

His head turns briefly to shout back into the transport hold. "Make room for two, I want them in some crashseats. Khal can't fly worth a kriff." There was a few chuckles and two of the soldiers stood to make room for both the Prex and the uh... robot thing?

Sarge still wasn't quite sure what the dude was.

 

[Cira]

@[member="Sarge Potteiger"]

Offered hand was offered.

She took it.

With a small grunt she entered the transport, the strands of auburn hair flying as the back wash of the transport blew air in all different directions. A brow rose, passing by one of the few soldiers she knew inside. Her hand came to squeeze his shoulder.

"O'hara." she nodded in greeting, before plopping herself down. "Hello boys," she then purred out with a faint half smile. Rare perhaps for Sarge to see, not so rare for those who'd been on missions before with the Prex.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

@[member="Anika Od'Manteiv"]

"Control, I've got the sweats, but I should be a rakghoul by now, easily. I say again, the vaccine works."

 

[Tilda Sai]

​

@[member="Jorus Merrill"] @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] @[member="Tegaea Alcori"]​

​

"Welcome back Colonel Alcori, Major Kerrigan," Anika gave them both a curt nod in greeting. While it would appear that she was outwardly cool, those who knew her would know that she was relieved that they were ok.

"Get me the status of Besh--"
That's when she heard the incoming transmission by one Jorus Merril. Her eyes shifted colours from a cold slate to a dark black. Did he really...

The Major turned around to lock her gaze to the Colonel and Major Kerrigan. "Merrill has been infected. It appears he injected himself with the old vaccine to see if it works." They would need to isolate him to see if there were any dangers.

Behind them, on the large holographic screens, shadows darted, and red light indicating heavy activity sent the sound of klaxtons blaring in alarm. Seemed like the zombies and rakhghouls were on the offensive, moving towards the elevators to attempt to move up.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

There was little to do for a while while the researchers got in close and tried to understand the zombie threat. Since Cira had descended down to the lower levels that meant Tegaea was temporarily in charge of things. That was good. After half hour of waiting, the lead researcher came out to them.
She made sure that @[member='Anika Od'Manteiv'] could hear their transmission too.
"Sir, we've completed the preliminary on the zombie victim you recovered. They would seem to have been about eighteen to twenty years old when infected. The strange thing is that I cannot pinpoint how long ago that actually was. There are no marks on the body from after the infection and transformation aside from some scars. It appears as though they have some form of tissue regeneration which is extremely powerful. Without a shot taking out the head or heart my guess is that these creatures could live for decades...and probably have! What's even more odd is that we examined DNA samples from from the blood washed from your armour. There were several different creatures, but all of them had an unusual DNA strain grafted to their genetic code. This was engineered, but why and whether this was deliberate is another matter! What's more, the brain showed it was still in good functioning order."
Tegaea considered this carefully. "Did you get all that, Anika? Relay it to @[member="Cira"]. Warn her that head and heart shots are the only sure way to kill these things, and that they're smart. If they're going to that research station then they might find a whole nest of them."

She looked to Siobhan. "Someone's been messing around. Either to cure something, or to create an elixir of life. We must be cautious."