[Asterisk]

There was no response from Strelka.

Sitting closest to the front, once the ship was hit by the rocket and she with a half face-full of intestine and shrapnel to which her aura blocked, she had immediately torn her seat-belt off, then pushed off the corner of one of the seats. Sliding downwards, she caught Dread Trigger before falling out the open front, firing her gun downwards and cushioning her fall with the explosion from a Flare round before doing a barrel roll on the field.

Guess this really isn't just a training exercise. Perhaps not anymore.

Crouching while hidden in the wheat and moving towards the nearby crash, peeling off the remains of her seatbelt, she looked towards the general direction she had felt the rocket hit from, weapon at ready while she waited for the others to recover. If they were still alive.

Cover your bases Strelka. And what's left of theirs.

The first missile was just for grounding the ship. There was always a second one for a direct hit. Likely a third. Possibly even more. Possibly from multiple locations. Definitely always people, whoever they were. The White Fang? Another organization? These thoughts, composed through instinct, went by in a small fraction of a second. Too late. A grenade hit the crash. These people, whomever they were, were skilled.

 This is fucked up, I'm calling in the cavalry.

Still looking outwards for any more grenades or attackers, and listening for any from other directions, she reached into her pocket on the side of her shirt and pulled out a device before sticking it in her ear. Nothing but a low hum. "Fuck!" Their communications were being jammed.

[Aura: 88%]

[Th3King0fChaos]

Cherry was relatively unhurt when the ship exploded, just some shrapnel that her aura caught other than that she rode the whole time in her seat then when the ship finally came to a crash, she unbuckled and started to put on her mask. Cherry then said in a stern voice, "Alive, so this isn't a walk in the park". Cherry walks over to Merletta and tried to see if she could help.

[snaketicus]

Fionn was scared deep down.

Very very scared.

When the rocket had hit his mind had frozen for a short moment before his cold exterior had taken over, overriding his terror like an operating system booting up. It was as if time had slowed down as he felt the slow lurch of the flying vehicles descent, falling through the air like a shot bird. Yes, the bird was wounded and bleeding out across the sky. The man was so fixated and cold he hardly noticed the bits of brain and organ splattered across his coat. He stood from his seat and held steadfast again the walls of the craft, ripping the belt and harness away in hysteria. He was going to escape no matter what. As he stood he looked up and found himself staring coldly into the eyes of the mission leader. She was going to sacrifice herself he realised.

"Ah... Better her than me."

The man stared her in the eyes as they fell with his unnaturally cold expression; there was simply nothing there. No terror shown across his unassuming face, for it was all bottled inside. But his coldness was not competence and his lurching from his seat would cause him great pain as the ship crashed, throwing him to the back. Fionn was conscious through it all, however.

"Sound off if your alive."

Fionn heard this as he stood slowly from the rubble, holding his injured back. He could feel a warm trickle of blood running down his forehead from scratching and gashes. The man slowly stood up to look down at... the leader.

Oh, she had lived.

Fionn looked down upon her and studied her injuries, judging them to be worse than his own. "Do you need a hand up?" He asked, offering her his shoulder in his cold monotone.

[Vox Machinae]

OOC: ShowHide

Sorry this took a while. Illness, and setup shenanigans for Cutepocalypse got in the way. Also had to ask Aros something, but I can work around that.

Lil Rose stumbled out of the wreckage, looking around in a daze. "I'm, like, 'kay an'-" A sudden surge of pain snapped Rose back to reality as her leg was bro- That didn't happen. She lifted the offending limb, moving her knee. It was fine. For now.

But the student was very nervous as she checked her backpack, making sure Sacky Hak was going to be ready.

"Ah, Merletta Yoru." An old woman in a lab coat, baggy pants, and bikini top rose into view from the crest of a hill looking down at the crashed Bullhead, her arms wide. "It's been ever so long since we met last. Perhaps you might remember me."

The woman sneered, snapping her fingers as two more figures, both in heavy combat armor, crested the hill. A man and a woman, the man wielding a rifle with a long, sword-like bayonet, the woman with bulky gauntlets and a grenade launcher.

"Your carpet-munching friend Samantha certainly had a lot to say about you, back then..."

The armored man looked at the armored woman, nodding down at the students and the Huntress. "Two for me, two for you, eh?"

"If you want," was her only response.

The doctor between them just spat, turning away. "Handle it however you want. The Rav just wants you two experienced against Hunter tactics. Leave the Huntress to me, and I don't care if you do your little divide and conquer tactics until you're moss and dirt." She looked back over her shoulder, her sneer gone. "Vytali Hunter students. Meet Radicance and Hedora. You're gonna get very familiar, real soon."

It was the only warning they got before the rifle and grenade launcher rose, a hail of bullets and another grenade like the one that brought down their transport making staying still a very bad idea.

Holding still like Lil Rose, and getting blasted six feet away by the force of the grenade was certainly one of the bad ones.

[ArosFarron]

As the grenade went off, Merletta stumbled back. She recognized the voice as she stumbled out of the Bullhead. "Fresno. I should have known you would have been the one to shoot us down." She exclaimed angrily as she grabbed the handle of her pistol, her other hand on her side. "Last time we met, I remember that you were in a fit of rage after we destroyed that illegal breed pool of yours. How did that turn out after all." She winced in pain slightly before having a sly smile on her face. There was a fury in her eyes. "Kids, this is who we call a Bitch. Someone who wants to play god and create life because she can do nothing else then that due to her need to feel loved. Poor little Fresno was never loved as a child. Don't pity her. She does not know what she is." She quickly pulled out Thorn and fired one shot at Fresno. "Don't you lay a finger on these students. I might not care much about adults, but these kids are my responsibility. If you want to hurt them, then you will have to go through me." She was serious but knew she could not fight for long as the blood trickled down her side.

[Asterisk]

From the side, Strelka fired an explosive flare round at the woman with the grenade launcher.

[Th3King0fChaos]

Cherry stands behind Merletta then, as the first fire is shot, Cherry waited for an order to be called. She is scared, but her mask didn't show it, however, her hands are visibly shaking. She was afraid of what might happen, this isn't just normal training or a surprise, this is actual combat. Lives are on the line, and she was terrified of this.

[snaketicus]

Dodge, the mans brain screamed at him.

And dodge he did.

The man rolled out of the way of the blast and behind a piece of crashed bullhead as he heard the maniacs above and the oh-so courteous leader of the mission speaking to each other. Just what in the fuck was this mission? This was not what the man had signed up for in the damned slightest. Fionn, the keen man he was however, knew opportunity and value when he saw it. A back and forth like that showed him that Ms. Merletta had answers to the many, many question that he would pose.

This gave her quite a lot of value.

Fionn thought back briefly to the seconds before the crash and back on his own thoughts at the time. Why had he been so willing to allow a sacrifice simply due to a grim turn of events? To have done such a thing was reckless, he should've realized that she'd be important at least in identifying who the hell had shot at them. Had he been that panicked?

Panic must be purged from the mind.

If he let himself become panicked over something such as that he was no better than the common street trash he looked down upon.

Jumping forth from his cowardly position the man stood beside the Yoru lady, pulled Roulette from his belt, changed ammo types, and let loose three shots of explosive ammunition aimed in the direction of these new adversaries. As he did so he activated his semblance. In this burning wreckage, crouching down, and distorting his image he hoped to heavily throw off the aim of his opponents. Hiding the presence of Yoru didn't hurt either.

Fionn pulled the cylinder from his massive revolver, shoved in three more volatile rounds, and turned to Merletta. "Madame Yoru, I highly suggest we move from here." Fionn began to slip his free hand into hers, hoping to pull her to her feet. "You owe us too many answers to die here, Ms."

[Vox Machinae]

Fresno had casually raised her hand when Merletta raised her weapon, her aura flaring when the bullets were fired. Predictable, she thought, watching Merletta and Fionn's rounds slow and stop. Slowly, she looked back at Merletta, and smiled, letting the bullets drop as she terminated the dust pattern. "The new strain of Guardian beast is performing admirably in the field. Despite the setback caused by you and your girlfriend." Slowly, casually, she knelt and touched the ground, and her aura suddenly flared again. "... Ask her when I'm done with you."

The only warning Merletta had was suddenly feeling as if Shiphrah Fresno was in the ground under her feet before the roots and stalks of the immature wheat surrounding them suddenly, and explosively, grew and entangled her.

The two students near her didn't get much chance to help as Hedora surged forward, his boot catching Fionn's jaw despite his illusion and sending him flying back toward the bullhead in a flash of light and surge of unnatural force. He swung his bayonet at Cherry, the tip barely grazing past the nose of her mask, spinning and kicking her in the gut to send her stumbling into Fionn with the same flash and force. "Heeeeey, kids." The soldier held his rifle casually as he started approaching them, raising it to point at the two students. "I'm gonna need you both to do me a solid, and not stand there and die. Okay?" It was a casual conversation, for someone who immediately opened fire.

Radicance was significantly less well-mannered as Strelka's flare round flew at her, only to be deflected by an unseen force and whiz past her and explode against the ground a good distance behind her. "Nope," was all she said as she fired a grenade against the ground between them, the explosion kicking up a large cloud of smoke and dust. "Not that easy." Casually, with one hand while she walked toward where Lil Rose had fallen, Radicance fired four grenades in rapid succession from her launcher at Strelka, each taking a slightly different trajectory thanks to the distortion field generated by her semblance. It was noisy enough to get Lil Rose's attention, her beanie perking up as her ears did and she figured getting out of the way was a good idea, running behind the wreckage of the bullhead to prepare an ambush.

Fresno just took a moment to watch the two engage the students, casually walking toward a held and relatively hopeless Merletta with a smile on her face as she reached into her pocket. "Typical Vytali bitch," she said, spitting in Merletta's face, watching the saliva roll down the Hunter's cheek. "My research was illegal, but it was necessary to protect my people. From the Monsters. From the Demons. And from you."

Calloused fingers pulled something from the pocket. A seed.

"... And that's why I took so much pleasure from executing your dyke girlfriend, you ignorant Vytali cunt." Without any mercy or gentleness, the doctor took hold of Merletta's jaw, forcing her mouth open and jamming the seed and her fingers to the back of Merletta's throat as a tingling feeling robbed her of strength in her jaw muscles. "Shhhhh, shhhhh, shhhhhhhhhhhhhh," Doctor Fresno shushed, listening to Merletta gag, "Don't get any ideas about finally having another woman's fingers inside you, you disgusting abomination. Just swallow the seed..." She paused, and closed her eyes and sighed. "... Right. Phrasing. ... Might as well own it, I suppose. Swallow the seed for once."

The old woman seemed amused with herself when the seed slid down the Hunter's throat, and she stepped back, arms crossed. Smiling. Cocky.

[ArosFarron]

Merletta coughed as the seed was shoved down her throat. She spit on the ground near Fresno. "Don't you dare talk about Samantha. She was more of a woman then you will ever be." She shouted, tears starting to show as the news about Sam started to take hold. She clinched her fist as she struggled to get free of the vines holding her in place. After a couple minutes, she gave up and holstered Thorn. "Fionn, take Edge and switch it into Bolt Caster configuration, use it to get you and the rest of the kids out of here. Fresno, your fight is with me. I give myself willingly just let the kids go. They have done nothing wrong." Merletta was unusually calm and somber, almost as if she was regretting everything. "Funny, Sam always wanted me to look after others. Just let them be Fresno. Haven't you taken enough, first Kenneth, now Sam. Please just let them grow to be who they are born to be."

[Th3King0fChaos]

As Cherry saw everything kick off she literally got kicked off, her feet. She felt herself hit another person behind her. She felt that one and started to get up and when she did she kicked off and away from the hail of bullets that was about to hit her. She then readies for the soldier to come at her. She lost her old fear, her new fear is death, and today she doesn't want to die.

[snaketicus]

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