The sudden explosion and listing of the ship register in Crispy's mind, in an animal place that is gibbering with terror. He swallows the fear down as he holds on to the rail for dear life and begins trying to sort this situation out. Quickly sort it out, he thinks. Time's not on my side. He clenches his teeth and starts struggling toward the vehicle level, fighting the listing of the ship with ever step and using the guardrail as a lifeline to hold to as he moved.

<< @Team {Crispy} : No injury here - I'm moving towards the vehicle area as well. Be advised, Baller says there are some MOTHER FRAGGIN GIANT CARNIVOROUS PARANORMAL SPIDERS in that semi-trailer. And the semi-trailer was damaged in the explosion and might not be structurally stable anymore. So you know, be careful. Let's get our gear and get the frack out of here somehow. Everyone be on the lookout for liferafts we can use, I'm not crazy about swimming to the island.>>

Specific instructions are given to the drone to cease all scanning with the UWB and instead switch to low-light and thermographic scans of the area.

<< @Ricoh, @Team [Nova] A little status report: There was a big explosion on the ferry. Someone has stolen explosives from whoever is in those vehicles, it seems, and used them to good effect. It rocked the boat pretty good. Not entirely sure yet, but there is a possibility that the ship will sink. Erm... I hope the car is insured? Plus, the big truck was transporting paranormal critters, apparantly. We don't happen to have some air support, we could call in, right? >>

<< @Hijackers{[Ricoh] : Yeah, lemme just pull my THOR Cannon out my pants and unleash hell on DOWNTOWN SEATTLE!!! >>
<< @Hijackers{[Ricoh] : over >>

apparently in the sixth world, text messages convey Sarcasm effectively... or you are reading something between the lines here.

<< @Hijackers{[Ricoh] : whaddya mean, Transporting Paranormal Critters ? jeebus, secure the area, get control of things and how far are you from land ? >>

<< @Ricoh [Nova] A couple clicks still. I don't know for sure. Seems like there are, at least, three different groups on this ferry, including us. On the plus side, whoever put down the explosives is after the people with the truck and the critters, not us, as it looks currently. And they just provided one hell of a diversion. We will see what we can do to get on with the mission. What's the status on the other teams? They still in? >>

<< @Hijackers{[Ricoh] : Yeah, mission still a go overall, other teams still prepping for insertion >>
<< @Hijackers{[Ricoh] : can you identify and separate the groups? I hate to say it but we may end up defending Vashon's interests here >>
<< @Hijackers{[Ricoh] : with the end result that we cross them and take the goodies for ourselves, CONTAINMENT is the key here though, What have they Got ? >>

Seeing the heavy smoke everywhere, Tatjana reconsiders and moves away from it and towards the first exit to fresh air (breaking a window with her cyberarm, if necessary). Thanks to her magically souped-up reflexes, and still invisible, she is moving as fast as possible, while holding her breath. If possible, she tries to orient herself into the direction of the ship's prow.

As soon as he saw the first spark flare off he tensed. * aw just blow* was about as much of the thought before he was picked up and flown into the wall. He smashed into the back wall with the velocity of a thousand angry bees, He coulda sworn he heard the bastards too. A few seconds later after he regained his senses and stoped fighting with the bees he realized he was, well pinned it seemed. *well, this is fragging wonderful. Heh, at least its not boring* He realizes that his left arm is numb and that it hurts to breath, thankfully his armor did what it was supposed to do. Save his life. He sends a comm message to the team just as he got a little delusional again.
To team: OW OW OW OW, DEAR GOD, PLEASE GET THIS VEHICLE OFF ME, slightly injured, pinned also, BRING SOME FRAGGING BEE REPELLENT, also, something down here, dog sized not sure what.

<< @Team [Nova] Ok, keep cool, we are on the way. Crispy! I am right across from you, coming to your side now, this one is full of smoke. Hopefully we can make it in time... Oh, and I'm invisible, so don't freak out. >>

Tatjana moves across to the other side, as announced, and opens the door towards the staircase, intent on heading downstairs to the parking deck.

It takes all of Crispy's strength of mind to stay calm, stay frosty. One thing that helps is the commlink semi-automated behavior that is now shunting all of Ricoh's messages to a LATER folder. He tries to take a calming breath and chokes on the thick black smoke coming from down below. There's hardly time to register all of the tacnet updates when the door in front of him opens on it's own. He would've been slightly surprised, except for Nova's warning and her position on his AR tacnet feed.

<< @Team {Crispy} : Nova, we need to move below to assist Longshot and recover our gear. It looks like there are lifeboats up here - let's get down there, get Longshot and our gear as fast as frakkin' possible, then get up here and pop a raft into the water.>>

With the message sent, Crispy eyes the billowing cloud of noxiousness and prepares himself to take the plunge. At least the smoke coming out of this stairwell is appreciably less than on the other side of the ship. That side doesn't look like a person could survive in that without a replacement air supply. He makes sure in that moment of hesitation to access Baller's camera feeds, hoping the little drone's sensors can make the situation below less chaotic.

The cloud of smoke fills the top half of the vehicle bay, roiling like a blanket of black over the layer of hot air.

Longshot tries once more with the help of his armored suits servos to extract himself but the trucks weight and the off kilter angle of the boat don't help and he thrashes and yells inside his air cooled helmet.

"Keep calm and breathe, you can still breathe! And the guys are coming... I hope"
He looks around for signs of danger and catches a glimpse of one of the guards underneath another stricken vehicle.
The green glow of emergency exit signs iluminating him and the blood pouring down his face making him look ghoulish
Like in some B rated trid.

Activating the external helmet speaker longshot calls out,
"Can ya hear me? You okay?"
The guards head rolls to one side and their eyes make contact, his lips move as if to say something but no words come.
Then with a jolt his body begins to vanish backwards into the smoke, as if being dragged to safety, inches at a time...
Slowly the face fades from view, eyes screaming in panic at longshot but otherwise unable to resist, as if paralyzed.

The realization hits too late, that might not be being saved, he fumbles with the rifle through the heavy gloves but can't prepare it quickly enough .. Not even for a mercy killing.

The sounds that follow he will remember for the rest of his short life, when asked to describe them all he would say was "chittering!"

The chaos of the scene, as shown in the AR feed from Baller's sensors, was overwhelming. Nothing was clearly visible, and the merc didn't have the attention to spare to try to pick out details. As Crispy advanced cautiously down the metal stairs, he quickly muted the sounds coming through from the little drone's mic, as the screaming and crashing noises threatened to turn the merc's skin a much paler shade than it's normal color. Sweat began running down his body, either from the heat or the stress or both. It reminded him of Bogota, the sweating.

The drone wasn't much help now that things were getting hot. Crispy sent a quick mental command to the iBall drone to rendezvous at Longshot's location, hoping the extra eyes on the scene would help when they arrived to assess the situation. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Crispy went into a low crouch, using the vehicles as cover as he made his way towards Longshot.

"Right behind you," Tatjana says to inform Crispy of her presence.

She is glad to see that there is less smoke here (for now). Hopefully, they can make it in time.

Once they are downstairs, Tatjana checks the surroundings for possible enemies, especially those nasty critters that seem to be roaming freely now, before continuing on to Longshot's position.

Longshot takes a deep breath to steady himself. *Focus, remember the training that the old man gave you you've been through worse.. much worse. He takes just a moment to focus himself and his concentration. Forcing his numb arm to move he lifts his rifle and scans the area he can see. Ready to fire at the first thing that moves wrong.
As an after thought he sends a sub-vocal message to the team.
<To team: warn me before you get close, or you may take lead to the face. let me know your approach and when you are here.>

<<@Team {Crispy} : You can keep updated on our position with the tacnet. Be smart, don't be like Hammerson.>>

Longshot takes a breath and steadies himself. Ok, you've been in worse.. remember the training the old man taught you. After concentrating he looks around and spots something in the haze. He lifts his rifle up forcing his numb arm to work and shouts. HEY, DON'T MOVE, WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? RESPOND NOW OR I SHOOT! Longshot holds his fire until the target either speaks or does anything but speak. If it makes a move or says something he doesn't like he will fire a long burst followed by a short burst. If it responds.. well, he is pissed off anyway.

The guard was human-looking, but just barely as the smoke billowed and swirled at the bottom of the stairwell. Crispy could tell the guy was in trouble with the coughing and the choking and the...bleeding? Frag. Stairwell was too crowded with so many bodies on it, he would have to squeeze by them and the guard already looked ready to collapse out of pain and fear. He needed some of that good old fashioned encouragement that only someone from the military could relate to.

Get topside NOW! Move your ass! Those fancy liferafts, get in one and make it ready to leave and we'll join you in a few. Don't leave without us or I swear to Christ I will find you and make you sorry you didn't stay down here in the hold with those things! GO GO GO!

Tatjana informs Longshot about their imminent arrival, when she sees a guard coming up from downstairs, blocking their way.

<< @Team [Nova] Longshot, we are getting closer to you. Don't freak out if you hear something, I am invisible. >>

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking"
the voice sounds crackly and full of terror
"We have experienced a technical failure, please make your way to the emergency exits and to the escape boat, where a crew member will assist you"
"Can we please ask you to stay calm and move quickly but do not run, Thanks"

Crispy is busy but cocks an ear at the announcement, "That's not Roger!" he thinks

Sparing a moment's thought to dwell on the fact that poor Roger was probably fishfood, Crispy shook the melancholy off and continued on, knowing that he could still help the living.

A small nagging doubt tugged at the back of his mind. He realized that it was the singular use of the word "escape boat" in the announcement. Well, nothing to be done about it now. We'll cross that bridge when we get there...or not. He chuckled silently, which turned into a hacking cough as he inhaled thick oily black smoke. Frag he wished he had remembered to bring his respirator from the Humvee. Maybe Longshot would let him have a lungful from his milspec gear, when they reached him...

To team: Where the hell are you guys, would you hurry up I am in a slight predicament here! Staying cool now that he was somewhat calmed himself down he fires at the thing that just covered him in some sort of sticky goop. "BACK OFF YA BLODDY FRAGGERS!"cursing to himself as he hears the clip empty.

We're headed your way! Keep those things outta our way, we'll arrive shortly.

Crispy's quadriceps protested as he continued to run at a crouch, trying to keep as much vehicle between him and...whatever...it was that was crawling around the ceilings. The sweat dripped freely from his skin due to the still-raging fire...or was it the adrenaline doing that? He was never sure, but it always seemed like every firefight was held in an inferno. He adjusted the grip on his pistol, wiping his palms on his pants as he paused at the end of a humvee, waiting a breath before dodging behind the next one in line as he made his way towards his teammate's location. It seemed that Nova was keeping up with him, at least the tacnet said so. He hadn't seen her in the last few moments, but then again he hadn't really expected to. He just hoped like hell that Longshot's situation wasn't something that was gonna cost them a lot of time.

The smoke thins and then billows back, bolstered by hot steam after water is poured over the diesel engines to quell the flames

From over head the skittering of arachnid appendages rattles off the steel girders and ships bulkheads, the noise quietens as the spiders retreat to darker corners

The wet thud of a corpse as it impacts the truck roof next to him snaps Crispy from his thoughts as the glass in the windows shatters and tinkles to the floor
"Holy crap!" He jumps back in surprise.

as Longshot sends frantic messages, Nova's form shimmers and becomes visible next to him, her face grim and all business.

looking at the crumpled and web encrusted form they glance worriedly at each other and pick up the pace, leaving the dead form of a guard staring with glassy eyes into the abyss. his lower legs completely wrapped in silk and his stomach and guts ripped out of his abdomen in a bloody, gory mess .. obviously only half consumed.

The arrival of the unexpected visitor turns Crispy's stomach, but he swallows the bile that rises in his throat and continues on. He's faced worse, seen worse... or maybe not. This engagement was starting to reach a pitch that was outside "normal" combat experiences against other metahumans. Frag.

Seeing Nova get to Longshot first, he arrives shortly thereafter and takes up a covering position behind one of the vehicles.

I've got you two covered! Let's get to the humvee! Go go go!

Breathing once, twice, to get her composure back, after the little shock-moment caused by a certain half-mutilated corpse, Nova soon focuses on their matters at hand again.

The towering form of a strange-looking treeman appears next to her only moments later, and she seems visibly more relaxed due to its presence. The spirit must be one that followed her own call.

"He will protect us from those spiders and other threats that might still lurk here," Tatjana says.

She has ordered it to protect her and her allies.

Longshot is in trouble, his brain overloaded with adrenaline and the smoky tang of fear all mixed with an unhealthy dose of "what the holy frag" !

And on top of that he swears to any present and available deity that he can feel a cool summer breeze and hear bird song! "Don't lose it now man, keep it frosty!" he mutters under his breath in the helmet.

Tatjana is of course used to the peaceful aura of protection emanating from her spirit ally but it is more than a little disconcerting to any not versed in the magical arts, no matter how beneficial its effects.

Pushing past a stricken vehicle Crispy approaches his team mates, spotting that the awkward angle of the ship has caused the two trucks to collide sandwiching Longshot between them and partly underneath the chassis of one.

He doubts that extracting him is going to be easy, maybe... "I just need a can opener!" He smiles despite the grim situation.

But still, that armour seems to be the only thing keeping the vehicles from crushing his colleague, it'd be easiest to just pull him out and leave the suit in place.

The spiders, they were strange. But Crispy could deal well enough. Sure he was spooked, but he had it under control. Frosty. Now the treeman appearing out of nowhere...that rattled him a little. He was halfway to pulling the trigger to it's fullest when he hears Nova's explanation and manages to release the trigger without firing, a muttered curse under his breath. Still wary about the...whatever it was near him, he turned to assess the situation. Longshot was trapped between and under some vehicles that had been rocked by the explosion apparently. First order of business was getting him free.

How though? As Crispy's thoughts raced, a plan formed. Nova, cover me. I'm going to hotwire one of these things and get Longshot out of there. Selecting the vehicle that had the highest chance of freeing Longshot and the lowest chance of smooshing him in the process, Crispy approached the door with his trusty hardware kit in hand, holstering the Predator. He sure hoped his teammates could protect him from spider-things while he was occupied...

"How about we just get a car-jack? The hummer should have one..." Tatjana says. "I will get it... need my stuff, anyways. You need something from there, too?"

Then she heads over to the hummer, her spirit following her like a good bodyguard, ever watchful for any threats.

Checking on Brian, to see if he is still with them, she gets into the back where she can access the compartment with their equipment. Tatjana also looks into the trunk to find the aforementioned car-jack.

* * * * *

Tatjana returns with Crispy's duffel bag in her hand, which she promptly hands over, while she is carrying her own backpack and rifle bag on her back. The towering form of her plant spirit following right behind her. Thanks to the concealing powers of the spirit, they are barely visible, however.

The pistol is in a hip holster, worn openly for easy access. Her badass sniper gun is still in the rifle bag. Not much use in such close quarters, but she didn't want to leave it in the Hummer either. She has also changed her jeans and leather jacket for a black armor suit with helmet and is using its internal breathing system now. Her voice sounds a bit muffled because of that.

"So, let's see if we can get him free with this."

In her other hand, she shows the Hummer's car-jack now.

"And then, maybe, we can get back to our earlier discussion about some medical attention. Still feeling a little dizzy here."

<<@HIJACKERS [Brian] : I can't see you guys on the other life raft, you make it off okay ?>>
<<@HIJACKERS [Brian] : the crew were really helpful and they stayed with the sinking ship, least that's what they told us ... >>
<<@HIJACKERS [Brian] : I can see a rescue ships lights coming up the river, you'll be safe soon so keep it cool.. >>
<<@HIJACKERS [Brian] : I'll try and catch up with you on Vashon, I need to get back to rowing now ! >>

<< @Team {Crispy} : Yeah, bring that big duffel bag of mine from the shielded compartment in the back.>> With Nova gone to the humvee, Crispy puts his car-thieving career on hold and draws his heavy pistol again, taking up a defensive position near Longshot.

You ever think compadre, you ever think "you know what? being on a sinking, smoke-filled ship crushed between multiple vehicles while being attacked by giant paranormal carnivorous spiders sounds like a good time to me, where do I sign up?".

"you having fun to eh? reminds me of work I used to do in my old company, crazy drek man. Fun stuff, if not terrifying, gets the adrenaline pumping hah. though its a first for spiders. personally hope its a last. The part that Irks me the most is the part where I am stuck between these things." Longshot replies as he slaps another clip into his rifle.

THIS reminds you of work you used to do at your old company? Man oh man, I gotta hear those stories! First thing when we get back. Get some brews, maybe some chicas...

Crispy goes silent for a few moments as he dreams of being back safe on dry ground.

We gotta get off of this boat before it sinks, but also before that fraggin' rescue ship gets here. Wonder if Sarge's humvee is an amphibious...

Sunday 01:15:00 Ferry, Tacoma-2-Vashon

<<<@Boss[Baller] : Kzzzzzrrt ... REBOOT sequence INITIATED.... Reactor: ONLINE ... Sensors: ONLINE ... system status : Immobile but functional >>>
<<<@Boss[Baller] : SITREP: mobility hindered by biological substance : SCANNING ... solidified fibrous material, resemble structure of natural secretion of species Arachnae, Silk, >>>
<<<@Boss[Baller] : GPS activated, position 10 Metres above Sea level, systems would sustain terminal impact damage .... SUB-SYSTEM user named 'Frikken' Lazorz': shutting down >>>


As the smoke clears, the team are treated to a gory view of the interior vehicle compartment of the ferry.

Dangling from the ceiling at various and seemingly random positions are what can only be described as coccoons of approximately two metre lengths, the sticky silk material hardening fast in the night air about Five Metres above their heads.

One of the objects, hastily abandonned under intense machine gun fire shows the half exposed innards of one of the guardmen, intestines trailing almost to the floor and dripping vital fluids and stomach contents onto the deck in a pool of biological gore and mess.

Longshot now freed from his position and mobile almost retches in his helmet and turns away from the ghastly sight, covering the southern portion of the bay with his weapon reloaded and ready.

The bird-song and gentle sound of wind through leaves, does very little to calm the emotions here as the spirit spreads its branchy appendages to conceal them from view.
and does nothing to deaden the short *WHOOSH* and the echoing boom of a close by impact of explosive material on the surface of the water outside
<< @Hijackers [Brian] Hey guys, is that a flare you have or .... what the FRRAAAAAAA....! >>
the commcall dies as quickly as it is initiated. and Crispy looks at his cohorts as they look back at him with horror etched on their faces.

Upstairs, the bursts of automatic fire reduce in occurance and are replaced by the shouts of angry voices both male and female, the words lost in the echo down the steel corridor and in the cavernous steel hull,
but the tone ... is one of confusion.

Crispy's confused by the messages sent by his iBall drone, but then again, maybe he's not thinking straight these days. In truth, he's still not sure he's in his right mind as he sees the cocoons on the ceiling and their gruesome cargo. His dark skin goes pale as he fights to keep down the dinner he wolfed down just a few short hours ago. You know, if you look at those intestines the right way, they look like the sausages from the mess hall. And that dripping blood is a match for the tomato sauce from last night... This last unbidden thought sends him over the edge, and he bends over to give everyone a view of what he had in his stomach only a few short moments before.

Straightening up, he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand as he looks around for his drone. If it was shutting down he'd need to secure it before they got their hoops off this crazy murder ship. The rest of his gear was already secure, still stowed in the duffel bag that Nova had retrieved from the humvee. The comforting weight of his f'n-scar was hanging from his shoulder, giving him more confidence that he could deal with threats of the physical kind. Now if only they had a way to get to the island without drowning or being blown up by whoever or whatever was out there...or being torn to pieces by those giant carnivorous paranormal spiders...this latest thought brought a fresh bout of nausea, but Crispy was able to control it this time. He hoped he'd live to laugh about this later, and tell stories like Longshot did about "the crazy drek" he had done at his last job.

The sudden ending of Brian's commcall, along with his disconnection from the tacnet sent a fresh chill down Crispy's spine. There was nothing to do about it now. He just had to hope the merc was alive and would rendezvous with them later.

Well, anyone have any ideas how we can get out of this alive?

<<< @HIJACKERS [RICOH] : $^%$^ ITREP ? $%^ERE THE FR$%^ RE YOU $%^*&* .. RESPOND WHAT IS GO%$^&%& ON OVER THERE ? &*^ >>>

Glancing over to Crispy as he so politely showed his stomach contents longshot tried to comfort him a bit "heh, you never really get used to stuff like this do ya, They tell you that you do but its a lie." after a few moments thought Longshot makes sure to grab his bag of gear when a thought occurred, "hey uh, worst comes to worst, anyone got any waterproof bags or coverings? we should try to salvage what we can." he refills his empty clip and looks around the humvee for anything else he may can carry, his or not. while scavenging he replies "well, we could try to swim there, though thats a bit of a long swim. I am guessing all the lifeboats are gone as well. Oh while we are discussing this see if anyone in those cocoons are alive, then make sure they are sane, and cut them down. Also, any of you got any pain reducers? my head feels like there is a troll thrash band in it and I think my ribs are bruised up pretty bad and it seems Ricoh is pissed."

Yeah, I got a medkit in here. motioning to the duffel bag. Not sure we have time for the complete works now, but there's probably something in there to tide you over. Once we hit Vashon Island soil proper, I can give you and Nova some quality time with the 'doc. and he proceeds to rummage inside the duffel bag looking for a slap patch or something.

a pause

I sympathize and all with these poor fraggers, but I'm not wasting precious time cutting 'em down while we could be finding a way to save our own hoops

"not just for them, maybe one of them has a secret boat or escape plan for if this happened, never know."

"Well, we need to get off this boat. If the ship coming in is from the same guys, that brought us this mess here, they will want to cover it up. How about swimming? Oh, and Crispy, why don't you put that medkit of yours to some good use in the meantime?"

"hey any of you guys have any knowledge that may help with figuring out who did this? what factions use tactics like this, either of you know about these spider things? stories? myths? anything we may can go off of? also, there seems to be a radio on that guy dangling up there, can't really make out the chatter on it." Longshot nods towards the moving cocoon. "oy, I second that, me first though! I can take care of myself I have some training in it but I wouldn't mind deferring to someone more specialized in that area. "

Let's see about getting somewhere that doesn't have the threat of giant carnivorous paranormal spiders, then I can do some medicking.

The fog cleared somewhat after emptying the contents of his stomach, and Crispy saw a little more clearly. Or maybe it was the smoke starting to dissipate coupled with the use of his respirator. Whatever it was, the merc felt much, much better.

Yeah, let's cut a few of those bodies down, see if they have anything we can use. Worst case, maybe we can sneak aboard the incoming ship and take control of it. Crispy takes his own advice and climbs up on the roof of one of the nearby vehicles with survival knife in hand to get at the cocoon that contains Baller. He pauses for a moment and grins down at his teammates, his face screwed up into what he hopes is a piratical look. Yarrrrr!

"Factions? These guys belong to Vashon, or not? The question is... who blew the engine up!"

Alright..almost there... Crispy stood on tiptoes as he reached up with his knife and made several slices in the strange cocoon hanging from the ceiling. Gotcha you fragger! as Baller rolls from from the cocoon and into Crispy's waiting hand.

With a triumphant grin on his face, Crispy continues to slice into the cocoon, trying to free the body that's inside. Making quick work of it, the body slides out and drops to the concrete below.

His mission accomplished, the merc jumped back down to the ground and turned to Nova. Ok ok, this sounds important. Longshot, cover me while I work will ya? as he took out the medkit from the duffel bag.

The sticky strands of webbing make cutting through them hard work but Crispy grimaces against the effort,
trying to make it look easier than it is but only really succeeding in looking like a pirate monkey, less like a pirate.

Occassionally his blade catches a slab of hardened chitin that dulls his blade, it looks like the air is hardening the woven strands into something akin to Kevlar
"Jeez' this drek's almost bullet proof!" he grimaces and finally severs the thin cord and the body drops the the deck crushing a spider corpse below it with a sickening SQUISH sound.

Stepping off the top of the truck he wipes his hand on his cops uniform trying to get rid of the tacky substance, only managing to stick the knife blade to the material where it hangs blunt and useless "Guess I better get changed huh, No peeking now Tatjana, need to savour some mystery neh?!"
He grins and moves off to the hummer for his gear, the blade held in position as if glued to his pants, waving his hands to try and shake off the remnants from his skin.

Looking down at the immobile body, Tatjana & Longshot both hear the radio squawk,
from an old fashion shortwave radio, military issue for non-matrix areas not a standard Comm.
<< @*******[Vashon] : ...... REPEAT .. callsign convoy, advise location over... dammit Drago where the hell is that truck, the boss wants the cargo transferred to our ship asap... Get those Bow Doors open NOW ... OVER! >>

The guard is conscious but unable to do anything but breathe through some accidentally left holes in the coccoon
"Hhhh eee lllp .. mee ee !" He barely manages a mutter that you have to crouch closer to hear.

Returning from the Hummer, Crispy begins attending to wounds on his team, a quick glance at the form on the floor he recognises the Ork that confronted him earlier "Drago"
he sneers at his pleading tone "nah bro, you're fine. just walk it off!"

Tatjana feels a lot better after the medical treatment. A bit of rest would be great now, but as it stands, there won't be much rest anytime soon.

"Thank you, Crispy. Feeling much better, already!"

Looking around at the total mess that has been a nice little ferry trip not too long ago, the anger flashing up on her face is hidden by her helmet.

"Whoever caused this crap is going to pay for it. What do you say? Let's waste those drekheads! And then we can take their ship... definitely beats swimming!"

With those words, she begins to unpack her sniper rifle...

A mischievous smile starts on Crispy's face as he hears the radio chatter. The smile grows to a drek-eating grin when he hears Nova's suggestion. Count me in! He moves to Longshot with the medkit in hand, talking as he works.

I have an idea. They want the bow doors open, I say we open 'em for them. Nova sits up high with her sniper rifle, Longshot and I take positions closer in near the doors. Give these jackholes the reception they deserve.

"sounds like my kinda plan comrade! ey any of you guys got any explosives? I was trained in demolitions. ships already half sinking why not finish off with this bang? Now, my old CO would say, "you bloody idiot think about what your doing! let them come in then sneak over and highjack the dam thing, survival first, combat second!"

"Sorry, no. Got some explosive ammo, but that's about it."

A deafening sound catches you all by surprise, but looking around nothing materialises
and you realise it's the massive chains of the anchor rattling freely out of it's mechanism

Out in the bay a foghorn sounds dully, as another ship approaches you guess.

The radio chatters away as the team communicates between vessels

"Yeah comms are jammed, but we're gonna have hell trying to corral the bugs"
"Leave 'em! The truck is more important, get the doors open or we make another hole! We're lined up to connect!"
"Yeah yeah, Dragos down there doin it, his biomonitor is active, guess the blast killed his radio!"

Listening to the chatter for a second, Crispy turns back to his teammates. Longshot was looking worse for being smashed between the trucks, nothing Crispy had in his medkit could really help all that bruising except some fast-acting ibuprofen. Nova was better, but still also had that tired look in her eyes. It had been a long night for all of them. But the night wasn't even close to over.

Everyone's ok with the new plan? Nova takes up a fortified sniping position with a good view of the bow doors, Longshot and I hide ourselves near those doors. When the hostiles come through, we let 'em come inside, then Longshot and I sneak onto the other vessel and attempt to take control. At some point Nova, you open fire, creating a diversion and a few fresh bodies. That kinda thing could cause enough confusion on the other vessel to give us a chance. Thoughts?

A pause.

And also, sounds like there's even more valuable cargo in the truck. If everyone's on board, I'm going to search for whatever mechanism this slotter was trying to open the doors with. Nova, Longshot - can you search the truck quickly to see if you find this valuable drek they were chattering about on the radio? I'll have Baller help out.

Another pause

Maybe if this works, we drive the humvee over and save Sarge the aneurism.

Crispy leans down to the gasping body of Drago and pulls his head up. What's your name soldier? Where are you? Crispy hopes he gets a good enough recording of Drago's speech that he can play it back if needed for security or to cause a diversion. He eyes one of Drago's thumbs thoughtfully. No telling if there was a thumbprint reader on the other ship...

Crispy leans down to the gasping body of the guard and pulls his head up. What's your name soldier? Where are you from?

The body feels limp in his hands but held completely rigid by the full hardened silk structure that surrounds him, only able to breathe, the rest of his face covered over by the strands he sputters out
"was Vashon security detail... look chummer, get me outta here and we can all live to get paid !!"
He coughs up some bile and is unable to move his head to discard it so it spills down his chin onto his chest near Crispy's hand
"My name's Drago, I'll get you on the other ship as my team.. the Johnson is paying BIG for the cargo, no questions asked just need to get it off this boat, ya scan ?"
The pleading tone in his voice says it all, he wants to live!