12 - Defending Monolith Tower

Somewhere in the Crystal Wastes 4000.04.06 22:12 UniTi

Zev emerges just as Dravik unleashes a shot at a Unity Trooper, which finds the mark and drops the man(?) in a spray of blood.

"NON-LETHAL!" Zev barks into his helmet. Dravik chuckles and mutters something Zev doesn't fully catch, some comment about his Marksman's rifle.

The entire crew has set up behind rocks and crystals out here in the aptly named Crystal Wastes, as have the approaching Unity Troopers.

Luckily, scanners only pick up a handful of Troopers and they begin to advance, weaving in and out of rocks and crystals as they approach the tower.

"INTERLOPERS!" a booming automated voice comes from the loudspeaker of an overhead drone, one that is surely recording, "YOU HAVE ASSAULTED A UNITY PEACE OFFICER, THE PENALTY IS UP TO FIVE HUNDRED YEARS IN PRIS--" the drone goes silent as it explodes far above their heads.

"Damn," Lira grunts as she comes under heavy fire, military rifle rounds ping off of the crystals all around her

Juniper and Zev move up in tandem, Zev finding a covered target for his Infantry Laser and... misses with a curse.

In the following seconds Dax, Dravik, and Juniper all advance up the western side of the battlefield, teaming up on the nearest Unity Trooper who was trying to outflank the group. Through their combined arms fire they push the man back out of cover and, importantly, don't kill him - though he looks worse for the wear. He quickly scrambles back into cover but that's all he can do before being forcibly made unconscious by the pommel of Dax's blade.

"Knocked one out!" he yells in triumph.

Lira weathers more fire, the eastern side of the battlefield focused on her. Silas moves to help and is rewarded with a hail of bullets of his own, and Zev takes up the rear on the eastern flank.

Juniper charges forward, flushing a Trooper out from the rocks with her powerful shotgun blasts but Dravik inexplicably misses a wide open target and the Trooper darts behind cover.

On the eastern edge two Troopers gang up on Lira, a set of rounds finally striking true as she recoils from the rock, nursing her hand when a second hail of lead drops her.

"You're gonna pay for that!" Dax shouts as he charges the same Trooper Juniper had flushed out, dropping him with a Hand Flamer that is, of course, set to as non-lethal as gouts of flaming liquid can be, which is to say not non-lethal at all.

The Trooper drops in a smoldering pile of armor and Zev can only hope it's held up to the torrent of flames. They did NOT need the whole of Unity as a rival, not now when he was so close to getting his revenge on those voidcursed Warpjacks!

Zev and Silas... keep missing, had they hit anything at all in this firefight?

Luckily for them, Dax continues to be the star of the show, flanking the remaining Unity Trooper and projecting flames an impressive and distance, dropping yet another in a pile of ash and molten armor.

The final Trooper reaches up to their helmet, nods, and makes a "tactical retreat" - seeing the rest of her squad lying in heaps around the battlefield.

Zev commends Dax briefly then commands the others to investigate the marine-like tower that is nacreous in texture.

Meanwhile, he approaches the mysterious figure that was running from the Unity Troopers a tall and wiry man dressed in the manner of an off-world Isolationist though Zev couldn't quite place from where. Instead of asking his comp to look it up he simply speaks to the man.

"Brannick I presume?"

The man nods, "And you must be Captain Zev, I've heard much, though it seems your crew's reputation is not unfounded. I'll make this quick as Unity reinforcements could return at any moment."

Zev keeps his mouth shut regarding that second shuttle.

"You and I have a common enemy: the Warpjack Marauders. I hail from Dustmire out on the fringe beyond Quintara on the whip of the spiral," he says, meaning the top-most portion of one of the galaxy's spiral arms, "We're an agricultural station, peaceful and keeping to ourselves... but the Warpjacks have been slowly taking over our station and now I fear it is being used as their base of operations here in the Quintara sector."

"Bastards! Thank you Brannick, I know the place - I'm from Quintara IV, we'll clear them out."

"Oh, I'm... sorry for your loss. I now see why we've a common enemy. Be careful Captain Zev, these pirates aren't particularly brave, or skilled, but they are savvy, brutal, and have numbers."

"Thank you Brannick, do you have any further details, or can we meet again?"

"I'm afraid not Captain, on both accounts. I'm here to sell our grain and return before I'm missed. Once back on Dustmire I can't be found sending external messages - please hurry, and remember there are people living on our station too."

Zev nods as Brannick trudges off into the wastes toward a beat-up and likely rented skimmer.

"WE GIVE GREAT THANKS OH ENDLESS ABYSS," Zev hears an animated Silas chanting as he's raised a large weapon over his head, "FOR THIS MOST BOUNTEOUS FIND OF A BLESSED MACHINE OF DESTRUCTION, A SPEWER OF SHELLS AND EXPLOSIONS, PLEASE GRANT THIS WEAPON YOUR ALL CONSUMING POWER, MAY THE ABYSS CONSUME ALL."

Zev swears he can feel Dax rolling his eyes behind his visor, as Silas ambles over, "Captain! Oh glorious day for I have found and consecrated a Shell Gun!"

"I know Silas," Zev chuckles, "I believe we all know. You are a most effective, uh... emissary(?) of the Abyss."

"Thank you Captain, we are called Voidspeakers."

Lira takes the gun from the smaller man's hands, answering two questions at once: If she was okay, and who was going to use this new weapon.

"Thank you Voidspeaker," she grunts and, surprisingly, bows to Silas, "Lira likes."

As this exchange happens, an ornate shuttle makes a landing approach near the Tower.

"That'll be Magnus, let's get paid and get off this rock. Seems our destiny leads us to Dustmire!" Zev declares as he approaches Magnus' shuttle to complete their transaction.