Ok, next song, folks!
MA:L BG Music #3.
To download this one, hit [Free] at the bottom of the page, wait for the countdown (it should be about 30 seconds-1 minute), type in the clearance code they give you, then hit [Save] when it prompts you. You should be good, then!
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Craig Pace ground his teeth together, as he listened to Brian’s explanation. He wished he wasn’t so jumpy; he might be able to actually help their situation if he was a bit calmer. Still, even he could tell that they couldn’t stay here for too much longer. “Guys, we’ve got to get going. Brian, come with us. It’ll be safer in a group.”
Pace leading the way, the group headed down a few more hallways. They didn’t have to switch paths along the way, though they did have to squeeze just a little to get through one hallway that had been covered in debris. It looked obvious that the battle for the ship was escalating. Finally reaching the door, Pace reached to the open it, Georgiana at his side with Xi’ku’s gun to cover him if something went wrong.
They were greeted with a scene of chaos. Debris everywhere, scattered lights were out, and but two people to be seen. The first, slumped down next to now open doorway, was an elderly Cerakesh man with a Captain’s hat pulled low over his eyes. The second was a tall human man, dressed in a workman’s outfit but obviously more important then that, pacing back and forth on the relatively clear crew deck. This second man had his back to the open door, as he watched the battle raging outside the main view port. He was talking in their direction, obviously to the Captain that lay at his figurative feet.
“…And that is why, captain, we of Cadre Astra Delphi are here, now. Your PGC goons screwed up, and let the Legion loose.”
Meanwhile, Craig saw his chance to do something to really help. Seeing that the unknown man hadn’t realized they were there, he crouched down silently, trying to pull the ship’s Captain to safety. George, not entirely sure what Pace was up to, simply watched the other man, gun trained lightly on the floor but ready to fire if needed. Unfortunately, the narrow doorway only allowed two people in at a time, causing the others to wait behind the front two.
The semi-conscious Captain looked up a little at Pace’s touch, quickly recognizing the member of the bridge crew. Giving him a stern look, he reached inside his long captain’s coat and handed him a pair of keycards. Meanwhile the unknown man continued on unaware of the presence of a new group of people.
“I can’t allow the Legion to go free, you understand. It has fallen upon my shoulders to clean up this mess, and I’ll kill every man, woman, and child in this fleet to do so, if necessary. Now, for the last time Captain, give me that keycard!”
Spinning around to face the Captain, he was confronted with a new group of people that he hadn’t realized was there. Sensing the situation was quickly turning bad, George leveled her pistol and fired. At the same time, the unknown man leapt to the side, squeezing off a single shot of his strange, bulky pistol before it was caught by George’s well aimed shot, exploding in a flash of light.
Georgiana Rose Ureon’s eyes widened as the fired bolt of white hot energy dived directly at her chest, washing her face in pale light as it screamed forward.
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Meanwhile, Special Commander Marshall Prost had a situation.
He HATED ‘situations’. They were what resulted when a plan was more or less finished, but at the last moment something went catastrophically wrong and you had to throw everything out the window. Right now, for example. He had been a leading group of soldiers to secure and clear the launch bays on this freighter, completing part two of his plan to save the lives of the civilians and everyone else in this fleet. Of course, that was before some idiot climbed into the cockpit of one of the VF-19 Vindicator II’s, which were the combat machines that were suppose to secure and protect the civilian fleet. He wasn’t sure who their enemy was, but he knew they would try to destroy or capture the fleet’s group of VF-19’s so their odd red-colored Armors could take apart the fleet at their leisure.
He had a hunch, though, that the person who had climbed into that cockpit wasn’t one of his.
And if there was one thing Marshall Prost hated more then situations, it was his hunches. He had figured out long ago that his hunches were rarely wrong, and by listening to them he had lived much longer as chief of the UMP then even he would have guessed. And right now, something in the back of his head was telling him that the situation was turning bad, quickly. Calling back to the rest of his retinue, he charged low, in an attempt to get to the VF-19 before the pilot could get it online. They rushed forward, in what was now their second attack on a recently boarded Armor in the past few hours.
Ducking behind a bulkhead for cover, Prost couldn’t help but wonder how much longer Za’che was going to take before she gained communications with Carter. She seemed to be taking her time going about it, at any rate.
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He wasn’t entirely sure why he did it, in retrospect. Maybe it was his romantic hope that when they got to Carter, he could finally find someone to settle down and start a family with. Maybe it was natural bold manliness, directing him from some forgotten corner of his mind, telling him to act. And maybe it was just his normal ineptness around women, telling him to zig instead of zag. Either way, Craig Pace wasn’t quite sure why the bolt of white hot energy quickly sinking into his chest didn’t hurt as much as it should.
Leaping up from his crouched position next to the captain, he leapt up, knocking George backward through the doorway and out of the way of the deadly blast of energy. He himself was knocked backward as the energy bolt hit him, pushing him onto his back in was now a Summer-Georgiana-Craig pile up. The ship’s Captain, seeing his chance to move, snatched up George’s pistol and slammed the bulkhead shut, yelling back to the scattered party in the hallway. “Carter doesn’t know we’re in trouble! Get to the communications mainframe and send out a signal, or all is lost! Don’t let them get the cards-“
Xi’ku rushed forward, leaping over Craig as he was pulled backward to Hannalore, who was already opening her doctor’s bag. Brian, hearing the Captain’s words, spun quickly and crouched behind a jut of cover, covering the groups back. He didn’t want to get jumped while they waited. While Xi’ku tried to open the door, the nurse got to work, a grim look on her face as she took in the hole in the man’s chest while Summer watched from the background in shock, unsure what to do in a very real, unplanned situation like this. Hannalore leaned over Craig’s lower body as she got to work, quickly ordering the Instructor to help pull items from her medicine bag and hand them to her.
Come on, Craig, don’t do this! Stay off The List!Meanwhile, Craig couldn’t help but wonder why everyone looked so worried. The energy shot obviously just skimmed past him, because he didn’t feel anything at all. He was going to be fine, but… he did feel awfully tired all of a sudden. The brisk trot at the events today was starting to get to him, and he just needed to rest. Blinking, he saw George and Summer looking down at him, and could see Hannalore’s pale pink hair down by his hips. Smiling up at George, he reached up and handed her the two keycards. “Here, take these. The Captain gave them to me. He said not to give them to anyone. Would you look after them for me?”
He blinked again, and then shook his head a little. The waves of sleep were really hitting him today! He must be positively exhausted! Seeing the concern on the faces above him, he grinned as he remembered why they must be so worried.
“Sorry, George, I think I’ll have to take a rain check on that coffee. Do you mind? I’ll catch up to you… when I’ve woken up…” Gently shutting his eyes, Craig Jeffery Pace sighed happily to himself. He was falling asleep in the laps of three lovely ladies. Maybe he WAS getting better with his lady skills. He’d have to test that when he woke up…
Slamming her fist into the wall, Hannalore grit her teeth in frustration, her face contorting to that of furious anger.
Fires of Sol! Another one I’ll have to face later… Wrestling her face back to stillness like she had been trained to, she looked up at the others, her voice a forced calm. “He’s… he’s gone. I mean, dead… I couldn’t save him.”
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Ok, one of the key cards is to the armory. You can find that
here. The other one is the Captain’s access card to the ship’s subsystems.
Also, the game is Paused until everyone has had a once over of the Armory and chosen their items. Make sure to indicate what you are getting and that you are ready to start in that thread.
