Players:
Special Guest: Patriot Parker
Summary: The hunters wage a full-scale assault on the Mutant Underground, and Tony Stark gives his address to the nation.
Date: July 10, 2020
Log Title The Hunters Attack Scene 2
Rating: PG-13.
The Future - The Underground
Under the streets of New York City there are many tunnels that are long forgotten. There are many dead ends, rivers of sewage, pipes and maybe that alleged alligator. There isnt much light down here and if you dont have a flash light, youll be navigating the tunnels blind. Occasionally there is a bit of light that filters down from a storm drain. For those that dont know theyre there, its almost impossible to spot, but in spaced areas in the tunnels are markers to show those how to get to the mutant haven deep underground which is home to the redeemers and the rebellion.
It's been a long week for everybody. The Mutant Underground is still reeling from Bruce's betrayal. They've retreated even further into the catacombs of New Yorks sewers and have set up a temporary base of operations. For the Hunters, life has been busy, too. Their handlers have been whipping them up in a frenzy, getting them ready for what was surely to become one of the most memorable moments of history: The final elimination of the underground mutant threat.
The Hound Cam has done his work well. Down the City streets toward the largest of the tunnels, a massed battalion of Hunters, Hounds, and Omega Sentinels leads the charge. The promise of blood hangs thick and close in the air, and deep beneath the streets, the roof of the Underground begins to tremble…
As a prominent Hunter who seems to follow orders without question, Kalindi has been sent down with this rest of these government warriors. She is wearing her usual gold armour, though with the addition of an extra set of arms beneath her genuine set, each with a metal bar in hand. Her eyes are shining black through the visor of her armour, seeming to make the air surrounding them even darker. Now she marches. She does not think this will be the final battle it's being talked up to be. But orders are orders, and a contract is a contract. She uses her intimidating presence to help lead some of the troops.
Felix seethes. They've turned off his inhibitor, and set him the task of finding and killing mutants, and this time he's not allowed to pick and choose his prey. All the mutants have to die. The desperate rage filling him is as much for having to attack people that he might have chosen to save, as for the outrageous 'pep talk' that declared their enemies to be subhuman, less than vermin, something to be erased from the earth. And the collar is still around his neck, the coercion that makes him be a Hunter. If he refuses, it explodes, and "off with his head" becomes more than just an Alice joke.
He shifts to the form of a black puma, and swarms in with the rest of them, an army of hundreds mobilized to destroy the homeless and helpless.
Rashmi's gaze rises to the roof of the tunnels, eyes narrowing as the rumble begins to grow steadily louder. The last of the deadfalls is set into place, and hurriedly the redhead jogs back down the tunnels, skirting mines and boobytraps to rejoin the others. "Get all the combatants alerted," she barks to those in the immediate area. "They're coming! Get someone to tell Volk to get going! Hurry!" One of the SMGs at her hips is raised, the action checked and verified. "Everyone… This is it. Either we kick their ass all the way back to Washington, or here ends five years of scraping away at a government that doesn't deserve its place." Drawing in a breath, she looks up. "Everyone who's here… thank you. I'm sorry it has to come to this, but I'm glad to have you with us."
Domino had been leaned against a wall, one boot clad foot propped against the wall where her body had also found home. Her breathing seemed to be calm enough for sleep, and her pose alone showed it was a great possibility with arms folded over her chest and hands ever at the near rest and ready for the weapons in her shoulder rig. Her head hung slightly, long strands of noir hair veiling cocoaine pale features from view so the determination could not be made if she was sleeping but likely bets were being made somewhere to kill time here.
A child ran up though, bolder of the group in the vacinity and reached a hand slowly out for Domino's hip as if to prod and then run in a game. But the vibrations that coursed from the cieling and down the walls no other movement came from her body but one hand dropped down and caught the childs reaching appendage and held it tight. "Hide and seek kiddo. I'll come find you, you go hide. One…two…three.." Kicking off the wall she was at a stand, drawing her HK with incendiary rounds loaded over her shoulder. The kid took off running to hide, ignorant maybe, but hiding.
Arsenal's visor was down, reflecting the forms before him and speaking. His weapons were in condition, recently re-assembled, cleaned and prepared for this. A heavy sigh escaped him as he recounted the grounds above, weeks ago he had went to setting up a killbox but this wasn't the right timing, his explosives and traps were not completed. No tip off came for them in regards to this grand-scale assault but it was to be expected, a critical gaze was cast over everyone present, the OICW was strapped over his shoulder in each hand was another firearm, the left held his 30. machine pistol, the right the connected up plasma handcanon. They'd be put to use, this from the sounds of it was epic scale warfare, one of those battles he'd been preparing himself for. "I suggest we all battle-buddy up. Solo'n this shit will get us killed fast like." Added in after Rashmi spoke. No simple advice given beyond that right now. His sensors cast out, trying to pick up all the motion near, trying to estimate numbers.
The tunnels are breached in short order, owing to the sheer weight of pulverizing weaponry the Hunter contingent is able to bring to bear. However, camoflage is quickly discovered to be but the first line of defense. Tripwires crisscross the dimly lit tunnels, inevitably tripped by the less perceptive of the invaders and bringing down all manner of chaos and destruction. Hunters are caught by crude, lethal booby traps, battered by rockfalls and explosions, and in several of the tunnels, complete structural collapse seals off the way back. The Rebels have clearly been preparing for this for some time… probably ever since the turncoat made his attack. Down below, Rashmi nods shortly, signaling the others to back up, nodding at Arsenal's suggestion. "The traps will cut their numbers, but, this is still going to be a hell of a fight…"
While Kalindi's presence as a shining warrior of what is 'right' helps morale quite a bit, her expression would be a bit weary if one could look through her faceplates and the strange glow from her eyes as she glares down the tunnels. "Hunters, Hounds, Sentinels. It is time for battle!" is her offer for a rallying cry. It is spoken grimly. She raises herself up in the air with her armour so that her footsteps fall no more against the ground. She pays attention to the lay of the land, knowing the importance, but some of this troop is not so observant, having fallen and falling still to the many traps here.
Feline senses are sufficient to warn Felix of tripwire danger, and he manages to avoid the traps that many of his compatriots fall to. Of course, he doesn't stop his righteous charge to disable or demonstrate the presence of those traps, and the fact that his step doesn't actually land on the ground means that pressure switches aren't tripped — but he does go further in, roaring the threat, we come, flee little mice.
Rashmi's back presses against the tunnel wall, gun rising as the roar echoes down to the first major line of resistance. "DRAW THE LINE HERE!" she shouts in response, spheres fading into view, whirling in front of her in a mad swirl of discrete orbits. "THEY GO NO FARTHER!!!"
Fighting as a cooperative team would be absolutely lovely. Domino did not voice this aloud but she thought it in response to the exchange between Rashmi and Arsenal. Just once. Her eyes rose then and guaged the size of the area she had to work with, the lay of it and the tunnels that backed them, lined with piping long cut off. "Where are they coming from?" Likely she knew the answer but she wanted to hear something different. Everywhere. They were stuck like rats to flee one way or another, but either way her weapon moved like the second hand of a clock from one tunnel to the next. A flare was picked up from a crate and sparked to life then as she paused before a tunnel, sparking it to life and throwing it down the dark tube, shedding some light on one subject to have distant faces reflect back. "Tch." Sounded from her lips with the click of the weapon in her hand.
The shuddering crumbling innards of the tunnel ways had Arsenal's teeth gritting down clenching together as he shoved himself against a wall, making sure to bar the exit route for the children and non-combatants. The 30.cal trained and waiting on the main entryway that led into the 'gut' of the mutant hideout, on first sighting he would open up in deadly sprays no holding back in the least as he shot for lethal areas, torso, head, abdomen. Right now - children where at risk, innocents and on their doorstep were murderers who had no seperation from soldier to civilian. Downing each appearing face he could with gunslinger like reflexes, a grenade lobbed down the hallway to act as a daisychain of explosives off another. "Where aren't they coming from!?" He would yell. Remaining cloes to the others as both weapons lit up darkness in tandem.
Boiling out into the cavern, Hunters and Hounds immediately go down in a hail of gunfire, loosed by the explosions and gunfire let off by the trio of mutants. Many wounded, some killed outright, but even greater a surprise is the booming Sentinel voices, heard from behind the first wave [NEW DIRECTIVES ACKNOWLEDGED: CHANGING PRIMARY TARGETS] Followed by a hail of energy weapons fire into the back of the Hound ranks.
The gold warrior continues her path down the tunnel, pausing at the explosions she is presenting with, waiting for the wave of heat to subside before she goes any further. She sees Rashmi's line formed, and she blinks a few times before scowling unhappily, an expression that could be read by someone quite observant based on the crinkles in the sorceress' eyes. The bars in her false hands erupt into wires, four thin, sharp whips of streaming quickly towards the mutants on the offensive. Many of her warriors might be down, but this Hunter certainly is not.
Felix has made it to the front lines, and begins a practiced continual shifting as he advances the attack. Each bullet that he takes penetrates, painful, but the shift removes the damage, and he has sighted someone he knows. And he remembers her power - this will hurt, but it will hurt less than blowing up, right? He leaps, roaring, one eye winking as he cycles to a more humanlike form, the heavy collar around his neck blinking red-yellow-green LEDs.
Rashmi, however, either doesn't catch the wink, or ignores it entirely. Without taking her attention away from her less-than-fully-professional burstfiring, one sphere arcs up from underneath, interrupting the shifting Hunter's charge in midair by burying itself in Felix's gut…. and providing the opening for a second sphere to blur in from the side, battering at his upper back with the full force of a 90 mph impact, hurling him back into the throngs. From all around, now, the battle rages in full force, explosions, gunfire, and power flares echoing in from all around. This is no longer a raid, even a major one; war has come to the Underground, and this night all is chaos.
"Rhetorical!" It was the answer she knew but didn't want to hear as the lit up faces of enemies came from the flare light cast and the HK began its rapid fire of bullets that took no time now to fight morals on killing them, her aim remained higher than waist level on the opponents that were pushing forward through the tunnels, seeing some of them fall as the incediary wounds took their toll on light armor alone, let alone those wearing none. This fight was not as open as she would have liked it, the prepared explosives having to be left alone in close quarters, this base was about to collapse in on itself with the movement above alone it seemed.
A turn of events then came from the voice of a Sentinel and she paused, well the only pause allowed was a shift in intent facial features, set hard into fight, to a softened moment of curiousity. "What…the..?" Not falling for it…right? *Brrrppttt!* No gunfire ceased though, even as Kalindi's familiar form appeared and aim was taken at her with the glimmer of recognition from the fight in the Square. Unfinished business and the trigger was pulled, aiming for her torso.
The Sentinels laying down assault had suddenly shifted attacking rear-lines of those who were engaging them. Time to put on pressure while they were confused, out of the corner of his vision Arsenal watched one Hunter (Felix) get launched back into the 'horde' by Rashmi. Kalindi's form wasnt' hard to ignore in all the shimmering armor, lit up by the firefight. He recognized her from the execution, instant rage boiled inside and he swept his fire of both weapons at her, letting the hellfire rain down as muzzles flashed with vibrant life the attack didn't remain on her though it proceeded around her, Domino was firing her direction she could deal there he would concentrate on the massive swarm making sure to cover the others around him and try to remain a wall of fire. "I'll try to keep ya'll covered, just pick out the meaner ones you can!"
The tactic is effective, and several Hounds and Hunters are cut down in the confusion in the hail of gunfire. The more skilled and resilient of the lot, however, prove much tougher nuts to crack, figuratively speaking. Bullets and bombs are all well and good, but more punishing blasts of power are finding their way into the cavern; the battle, clearly, stepping up a notch.
Kalindi stumbles back in the air at the heat and impact of the bullets, pulling her armor slightly off of her skin to keep from getting burned. In fact, she does that with all her armour, inflating her size slightly but keeping everything attached by a series of strings, her wire attacks redirecting to slash towards Domino. "Oh, you people are such a bother. I recognize /you/," she says, frustration in her voice.
Outside, the stealth bots have been working hard to keep reinforcements out. Sniping each unit they could manage, and relocating. Theo? He's been staying out of it, mulling over his decision while everyone else does the fighting. It's difficult for Proto to fight in the tunnels because of his large size, but then again, it could be difficult for others to fight against him for the same reason. But the decision needed to be made. If he stayed out, it was possible that much of his work would be discovered. At least, that's his reasoning for not arriving previously.
A-1, 2, and 3 all suddenly burst through the tunnels, ambling like gorillas toward the fight from one of the tunnels. And behind them, Proto, the champion of Theo's goons. They come in from the sentinels rear. Since they had not been in the area earlier, they have been able to approach from the rear of the fight, hopefully catching a flank of sentinels unaware. The three assault units blaze away with their shoulder cannons, and once they reach a clearing, they make a space for Proto, who leaps into action, quite literally, aiming to tackle one of the enemy robots against the wall and crush it with his brute strength.
And while the battle rages on in the underground, all television channels around the United States suddenly fade to black. A moment passes as slowly a light source glows into being in the center of the camera's frame. A secondary light source, a golden glow, moves towards the center of the screen. Slowly inch by inch the glow becomes brighter until an outline of a man can be seen. You can change your stations but you will find me on each, and every channel. I have taken over the communications systems to speak to you, now, at our darkest hour. The voice is cold, and metallic sounding. The man steps forward, more small spheres of light become visible about his outline till he's standing directly in front of the camera. A familiar, yet different, suit of red and gold armor can be seen taking up most of the screen.
Knocked back into the melee, stepped on, kicked, catching a few stray bullets, Felix continues shifting, struggling to survive during this. And then a bullet hits his collar, damaging the electronic device. It begins beeping, shrill, and he closes his eyes. And there's a WHUMP as it explodes, and shrapnel lances out like it was a grenade into the hunters, hounds, and humans around him. There is considerable mess, unsurprisingly, but it will be hours before anyone has time to search the bodies.
The man who has usurped the televisions across the nation continues to speak. "Citizens of the United States of America, I address you from the ruins of a once great city, a city that once stood for hope, and the promise of a prosperous future. Now New York and other cities are nothing more than rubble, and ruin. Much like the American Dream, it has been lost to shadow and destruction." The helmet of the suit of armor is pulled off to reveal the man behind the mask, the serious expression of the presumed dead Anthony Stark, Iron Man. Several silent moments pass as if he wants everyone to take a good hard look at him, to know he is indeed standing alive and well in some destroyed building.
The eruption of Theo's armored troopers causes Rashmi to stumble pack a pace, keeping herself clear of the lines of fire of the new support. *brrap brrap brrap cliklikliklik—* "DAMN IT!" The SMG drops to her side, and her eyes dart left and right, as a high-pitched squeal of electronic static is heard from the Sentinel's speaker units, cut off abruptly; while the Omega Sentinels are still more than combat capable, they seem to have lost their ability to coordinate effectively… And it's at that moment, that Rashmi spots a familiar shape flickering through the tunnels. "RELOADING," she calls to Arsenal, Domino, and Proto-plus-three, "COVER ME!" With that, the redhead darts down the cavern, slipping into a freshly-opened crack in the tunnel walls.
Domino nodded, that being the only response to Arsenal speaking as she put her back towards him and Rashmi, not yet noting the allied forces coming in at the backs of the hunters, hounds, and sentinels alike. But she had her opposition in her sights and as those gold lashes came at her she ducked and pivoted to the side, keeping her back open and to her teammates she trusted would keep it covered as she baited Kalindi off. "How does it feel to kill America and what it stood for?" The tones were hissed through clenched teeth as in her dodge she reached up and gripped one of the pipes that lined the underground walls, swinging up and out with a kick of her feet against the wall to arch her body overhead and attempt to slam booted feet for Kalindi's head while the HK remained aimed at the remaining incoming forces to cover Rashmi, spending bullets on dropping others while her own physical focus was on Kalindi and that assault.
The assault of Theo's violent toys gave Arsenal time to reload, Felix 's apparent explosion also masked him from view in it's ensuing chaos while doing so he put himself between Rashmi and the assaulters. Both weapons returning to cover and spray in rapid cadence, placing himself along-side Proto. Cover was the name of the game and he was making sure to play it like a champ, a squishy humanoid hunter lunged at him and he reminded it just how much so it in-effective was a brutal roundhouse with class 10 level enhanced strength sending it careening into a nearby wall with a broken spine. Trying to maintain visual on everything that was going on. "Covered!" He yelled towards Rashmi.
"I say this to you, I pray thee to listen with an open mind, and open heart," says Tony. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."
"Oh darn," says Kalindi at the explosion of the other Hunter dirtying all her shimmering armor, the understated non-curse word the only thing she can think of, her eyes wide. She is a bit disturbed by the sight of a former ally seemingly exploded. She turns back towards Domino perhaps too late, stumbling backwards from the hit. The words, though, strike a greater blow than the ringing in her ears from the unsuspecting blow. She responds with, "It feels /terrible/." Because of the particulars of her mystical nature, she is completely incapable of telling lies, so that's certainly her honest opinion on the matter. She does swing the metal bars in her hands towards Domino, more skilled with her martial arts than her gold whip control.
The screams of Hunters, Hounds, humans and Rebels echo through the tunnels, and for the moment the Rebels look to be winning. Eventually, the invaders cease their assault, and for a moment there's silence…
And then the blackness of the upper tunnels is lit with a pair of red, insect-like eyes. »This music is getting slow,« comes a flippant, electronically-distorted voice. »Let's change the tempo.« There's a low rumble, building rapidly in intensity, and all around the silhouetted form, gleaming red-and-silver Spider Sentinels flood in from above, weapons lighting off before they even hit the ground and spitting a stream of lead into the Rebel front.
//Tony continues, "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness, prudence, indeed will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes, and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. //
"But when a long train of abuses and usuerpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government and to provide new guards for their future security."
"My cover is blown," Felix says to Rashmi from somewhere nearby. She might remember him - the voice at least. Or the voice, the grin in midair, the eyes. "Is there anyone you want me to get to safety?"
Tony's broadcast reaches a TV half a mile away, and Theo becomes momentarily distracted. "Tony?" he says aloud in his dark corner of the tunnels. "Well I'll be damned." It's only momentary, however, as he tracks the incoming spider sentinels. "This is not good," he says, his hands folded in front of him in the dark. He pinpoints the commander, uninterested in the person that Peter Parker used to be. He's an enemy, and enemies must be destroyed or captured. Theo makes his move with his techno-telepathy, and makes two moves against the Spider Sentinel commander.
The first happens only a split instant before the second, and that is a neutralization of the communications the power adapters have for the sentinels. He doesn't want immunity spreading if he's unsuccessful. The second that he performs is rather diabolical. He attempts to send an overloading electrical signal to the Sentinel's brain. Hardline knows that if he eliminates the brain inside of the sentinel, he can easily take control, and hopes that he can take command of the entire new regiment.
Meanwhile, in the thick of the fight, Proto changes targets, leaving his Sentinel victim lifeless against the wall. He leaps up to the entrance where the spider sentinels are pouring in, filling the gap to try to prevent all of them from coming in quickly. A-1 aids him, lighting up her gatling gun at the sentinels which had already come in from above. A-2 and 3 continue to select targets that protect the mutants in the tunnels.
"Down," Rashmi says from the shadows of the tunnels, as she pelts around the corner. "Just keep going down!" The redhead skitters around a corner, moments before a flicker of light is seen in the depths of the Underdround. Back in the main caverns, however, the fight has gotten truly brutal. High-velocity slugs whine through the air cutting a swath through the combatants to terrifying effect. The insect-eyed Sentinel seems to blinks, twitching slightly, before fading away further up the tunnel, his attention drawn elsewhere. »Ah-ah-ah,« comes the mocking voice from each of the massed spiders, »Didn't your mama tell you it's not polite to barge in without knocking?« The communications are neutralized as planned, the failed assault on the Patriot confined as far as Theo can judge.
At the end of her swinging kick the HK was slung back over her back with a swift motion of her hand and she dropped in time to get the impact of one of Kalindi's gold bars against her side, the harshness of it impacting her body against the wall. This did not stop the motions though at closer combat with the woman, her wrist sheaths glinting as they withdrew from their hidden place, one hand coming at Kalindi's center, aiming up beneath her sternum to stab into her lungs if the blow was made, her own words winded from the hit as she retorted to Kalindi. "Are you a dog then… or are you a machine?" Meaning hound or hunter. Domino could not always set aside her internal arguments to not kill based on the manipulations of another, despite the role the woman has played in deaths that struck too close to home. Trying to kill while trying to find a reason to leave this woman alive.
//Tony is silent for a moment. "It can be said no truer than that, from the Declaration of Independence, the Rite of Revolution, the document that states everything that the United States was built upon. We, as human beings are meant to learn from our mistakes. Once, we went to war to learn that slavery, was wrong. In another war we learned that one man's war to abolish a race of people off the face of the Earth, was wrong. Yet we come to find ourselves here again, where an administration has started a war to abolish a race of people, simply because they are different. I find it hard to believe that as a people we could sit by and watch this atrocity, as men, women and children die daily because they are simply different." //
They appeared as if they were winning, actually holding the line against the blood-hungry swarm until a spray of rounds catch Arsenal, his plasma handgun erupting in a flash of destruction, destroyed. Blasts strike him, tearing at armor, clothes and seering a hole through his helmet causing him to drop to a knee, scrambling to remove the helmet so he could see again as a superstrong Hound crushes into him with a power-leap using the Spider-Sentinel's spray as cover fire. The earth splits into a weblike design under Arsenal as ribs crack and superhuman durability manages to be penetrated his form half-mashed into the ground. A roar of victory comes from it until brilliant energy sword stabs upwards ending the warcry yet Arsenal is still down on his back.
"Hyuurgh," is all Kalindi can say as reels back to keep the blade from penetrating all the way into her lungs, but she doesn't manage to keep it from piercing into her flesh. "Stop. Stop. I am a Hunter. Signed a contract, but my word is bound to my soul… cannot renege unless they renege on me. Didn't know what it would come to." She tries to speak quickly, but once those words are said she tries to kick Domino off of her. "A lack of foresight," she adds.
As Proto shoves an arm up into the tunnel, he reaches over with a foot to pick up the Omega sentinel that it previously killed, and brings its main cannon up to the entrance. Hardline abandons the attempt to electrocute Parker's brain, finding it failing, and takes a moment to give his attention to a far easier target. The dead Sentinel that Proto carries. The cannon suddenly erupts, blasting away with all of its power up into the tunnel that the new Spider Sentinels are trying to come through. The robot moves just in time to avoid taking the brunt of the attack himself.
Still, Hardline hasn't forgotten Parker. He continues to track his movements as he leaves the fight.
A Cheshire grin fades and the big cat moves, as directed, down, using feline senses to seek those few recent families who had yet to be evacuated; there's a safe place in Canada, not all that far away.
"American citizens," Tony says, voice strong and commanding, "do not turn a blind eye to this horror; you do not have to live in fear any longer. One voice alone may not be loud enough to evoke change but a chorus of voices are. Unite my fellow Americans, unite against an administration that seeks to destroy everything that this country was founded upon. Rally against an administration that has killed innocent people, brainwashed some of the finest minds of our time, and murdered American Heroes in cold blood, It is your right as an American, as a human being to oppose this atrocity, to hold true to what our Founding Fathers decreed."
Spider Sentinels are blasted away up the tunnel, but so many more press through in their place. Harder and harder the massed robots press, shoving Proto back down through the tunnel mouth. Patriot Parker, it would seem, has gone to ground for now, leaving the Spiders to do the fighting for him. And fight they do, but their relative fragility begins to take its toll; wrecked shells piling across the cavern floors like broken toys, mauled by the bullets of their living bretheren.
"Fine print. Somewhere in there they lied to you, you are overlooking it." There was a form of hope as Domino did stop, but her stance only fell back into one still ready and expectant while in periphery she saw Arsenal go down, her muscles coiling beneath the reinforced leather body suit as if she would react only to see the blade cut up and through the body that assaulted Arsenal. This did not stop her from bringing her HK back from over her shoulder and aiming it back down the tunnel and continuing the blasts towards any that came too close.
Domino's eyes snapped from Kalindi to the tunnel where more bodies were fighting to push over and into their quarters, her body taking quick side steps to try and get to her downed partner and aid in lifting the body off of him if it was needed. They had the advantage in sealing off entry in this tunnel but in numbers they were lacking here and the firelight at the end of the tunnel was not a good sign in how many more were headed their way bullets first that had Domino suddenly lowering to a crouch while she spoke to Kalindi. "We're at a stalemate. If there is no fault in your contract, I will kill you or die trying."
Arsenal's form heaves itself from the 'hole' he was in, the dead Hunter toppling to the side. He'd faced these before, his ribs were not this obliterated and he was not so slowed but the Spider-Sentinels he had some experience with from their raid. Lunging to the side of a barrage of attacks he fell to one knee only to spark that plasma blade back to life, the 30. coming forward to 'brrap' off a few rounds as he rushed one, slamming into it to cut it's legs off then stab through it's top. Moving on in a quick lunge towards the next one, now forced to fight on a more upclose level as he was running low on ammo and his other weapon had been obliterated. "Situation? We can't keep this up…" His voice rasps.
As he speaks, Tony's voice gets more empassioned with his own words, "The American people have always defended their homes, their rites, and those of others when unspeakable acts have been done in the name of one individual or another. This is the time to rise up my fellow Americans. Rise up, rise up and be proud of this country again. You all have the power to change things before its too late, before we all become that which we have fought against for centuries. Let us lift this shadow from over our great nation, and return to happier times. Times when we all were free, and we all lived in a land of peace and prosperity, united."
Proto scrapes and claws to keep his position, but while he is powerful, there is only so much that he can do. With a sudden heave, he collapses to the ground, the weight of the Spider Sentinels overtaking him. The massive robot continues to flail, grasping for whatever sentinel he can lay hands on as they scurry about over him, trying to use them as blunt weapons against one another.
Hardline frowns, hoping that the spiders don't take an interest in his firstborn. A-2 maneuvers toward Arsenal, seeing him in a compromised situation. "I shall provite you with protection," A-2 announces to Arsenal in a rather emotionless voice. The robot lays down cover fire so that he can regain his footing. Unfortunately, it also puts him in a vulnerable position against the hunters. Hardline has a harder time tracking the hunters with his senses, for not all of them have telling devices, and an even harder time tracking the rebels. All of those guns run together after a while.
"The contract can be broken, I just cannot break it," says Kalindi to Domino, "They can break it, others can make them break it. But I cannot break it myself. It is- AAUGH!" She spins around as some of the spider sentinels fire at her, one of the bullets managing to catch her off guard in the shoulder. Whether it's intentional or not, she retaliates against the particular one that hit the weakspot in her armour, trying to destroy it. "What are you doing? You jerk!" she calls, likely directed at the controller of the machines. She certainly still hasn't learned what words are appropriate for what stress levels.
Into the camera's frame the helmet is lifted back into frame to slide down upon Starks head, the eyes reactivating to their glowing blue tinge. "Iron Man has returned to defend this country, and ALL of its citizens. I implore you, let your voices be heard; I can only do what I must. God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America." With that the image of Iron Man goes dead on the tv's around the United States leaving people to their previously interrupted broadcasting.
There's a flicker of light down in the open tunnels, followed by the rapid-fire percussive ring of teke spheres against metal shells and the high-volume thunder of a FAMAS on full-auto. "CLEAR!" Rashmi's voice sounds as she inches forward, seeking to push the tide of spiders away from the opening. "WE'RE BRINGING IT ALL DOWN! BREAK NOW, GO GO *GO!!!*"
This was a situation much like Caleb's. Domino's brows dipped and her eyes narrowed as Kalindi spun to return fire on spider Sentinel's that were going haywire. Her HK lowered and aimed at Kalindi's back once she had spun, her finger resting over the trigger, but when it squeezed the fire of bullets was aimed at the spiders, blasting at their metal shielding with incendiary rounds. "What is this contract? I suggest you speak fast." Seeing Arsenal had cover from A-2 she remained where she was and kept her attention focused on Kalindi as well as the incoming Rashmi and her words, pausing any retreat until Kalindi responded.
Proto struggles against the mass of spider sentinels, still coming in from above and pinning him to the ground. "I should've equipped him with an EMP," Hardline comments to himself. "That would've been really useful here." He watches through his mind's eye as the large robot makes a desperate push against the ground, unearthing himself from a pile of both living and dead sentinels. "Carry who you can," Hardline commands his servants. As one body, Theo's robots make a maneuver to push for the exit.
A-2 and A-1 are now out of ammo, and A-3 is low on ammo. Proto picks up two injured rebels and places them across his back, and then picks up two more.and carries them in his arms. It isn't the most comfortable situation to be certain, but it's what needs to be done. A-2 reaches out with his lumbering arms, and grabs Arsenal, placing him across the robot's shoulders. A-1 likewise takes hold of a rebel, and places her on its shoulders. A-3 takes A-2's position as the point defender, gun and arms working hard to fight back the spider sentinels.
"Thanks." Arsenal offered A-2. Another Spider-Sentinel destroyed with one final slash, retreat was the intention now. "Dom lets go!" He shouts towards her, his form not hesitating to slow and check on her - she was competent in her own right. She'd not have survived this long if she wasn't, with a staggering limp he began to quickly haul himself down the tunnel then in a sweep of mechanical appendage he is uplifted,"Hey you bucket of…" His voice drowning out as he went with it, he'd cover more ground this way anyhow - the broken ribs would see to that. His weapon aimed he fired over his shoulder in their escape.
"I receive a small pay every week, amnesty, my citizenship and they do not try to /kill/ me," she yells this last bit at the spider Sentinel. Lousy goddamn stupid spider Sentinels, "like the rest of my type. In return, my services. What they ask of me. I did not think of the full implications of that, it was stressful times. Captain America, I may not be like you people, but I wish he was not dead." She looks around quickly.
The thunder of the Assault rifle dies down for a moment; long enough for Rashmi to slap in a fresh clip, ducking and weaving behind piled bodies and wreckage, blasting the massed machines wherever she can manage. "QUIT TALKING AND *MOVE* OR *YOU WILL BE BURIED HERE!*" As much as her constant motion keeps her out of direct line of fire, the sheer volume of bullets filling the air ensures that she is hit. Her shoulder jerks back, a perforateg leg bucking beneath her, but still the redhead moves toward the escape route.
"Looks like your contract was just broken. I suggest you go." As a parting gift Domino fired several rounds on the wall just behind Kalindi, chipping off concrete into small sprays of shrapnel. On purpose, it was evident. "Anyone can offer you what they did, I just did." In her words the meaning was rather evident. She did not kill Kalindi when the back of her head was left as a nice target, and the words were enough to make her realize perhaps (MAYBE) she was free from any binding contract that did not make her free at all. Looking back at Arsenal as he spoke to her she watched him get caried off, following shortly after by Rashmi who got hit, one arm snapping out to grab the woman and then held out to offer her aid if needed.Backwards steps were being taken, firing off any rounds to keep the remaining opposition back.
A grim grin appears on Kalindi's face. Well, she's considered contracts broken on more vague technicalities than that in the past when she really doesn't want to follow through on them. She mumbles a few words and vanishes, teleporting herself out to stew for awhile over this whole encounter. What a bother this stupid Earthworld can be.
There is the sudden absence of A-3's gatling gun, as the cylinder continues to spin emptily as it finishes it's compliment of ammunition. Another punch. A sweeping grab to try to hold back the spider sentinels. He doesn't grab a wounded. He's staying it seems. It's more important for the living allies to escape than the robots. Meanwhile, A-2 and A-1 make their way past Rashmi. Proto meets Rashmi at her position, doing his best to squeeze by with his heavy load.
Arsenal hauls himself clear of the A-2 gone gurney dropping down with an exhale of air in a wheeze as he drew up from a crouch, his chest rising and falling while he stood there, relative safety reached for now as he eyed the direction they had just come.
Rashmi, jerked back by Domino's grip, stumbles into the tunnels, her suppressive fire still holding back the waning tide. As the rest of the group rounds the corner, a hastily cobbled-together detonator is pulled from a belt pouch, tossed to Domino. "Bring it down," she says, her voice tight with pain. "Bring it all down."
Once Kalindi disappears and A-3 makes moves to stay behind Domino pauses. It may just be a robot…Her eyes closed as if inwardly scolding herself for this whole ordeal and begins to move again. Taking Rashmi with her and keeping her weight off the side that had managed to be bruised by Kalindi. She seemed to have made out in better shape this round but was it really all that lucky. With Rashmi's words the detonator is caught she nodded and looked back as her finger did not pause this time, detonating the explosions that would seal off their escape, her other hand reaching out to offer aid to Arsenal in passing.
The roar of the bombs, deafening in the enclosed space, a roar of fire and tortured air that seems to carry with it the combined fury of all the Rebels fallen in battle. The ground bucks and heaves, as the charges placed in the greatest of the Underground's structural weaknesses detonate as one. The man-made earthquake seems to last an age, hundreds of thousands of tons of rock and earth collapsing upon itself to seal away the upper tunnels, once and for all.
Arsenal without word accepts Domino's offer for aid using her to prop himself up on with one arm slung around her shoulders, his free hand peeling caked and battered clothing to garments off of his flesh. Wounds riddling his body here and there, due to mesh underweave and durability perks he was not dead but the stronger blasts from Sentinels, a few Hunter to Hound attacks and he had been wounded, the cracked ribcage the worst aspect yet his face remained stoic, even with the trembling from the detonation causing a rattle through his form.
A-3 Continues until the sound of the explosions, and then turns to the exit. It may be a robot, but clearly isn't without a sense of self-preservation. The machine dives back toward the exit, but a large chunk of rock prevents its escape, landing across its legs. The weight of the rocks collapsing falls across the robot's frame, and covers all but the head and shoulders. A-1 puts down her Rebel, and rushes back to where the fallen robot lay. It takes him into her arms, and pulls, attempting to remove him from beneath the pile of rocks. It's clearly no use. So instead, she reaches into the other robot's neck, and disconnects the head, and then disconnects the gatling gun. There's something almost sober about the event it seems. She returns to the other robots, carrying the salvaged pieces of her ally.
Back in his safe portion of the tunnels, Theo lets out a sigh, and stares up at the ceiling. "I really should've stayed back at the bunker," he mutters to himself.
