As Raleigh Ray set foot in the vast chamber, he was still trying to get Hunter on the radio, but his focus drifted off at the sight of it all. The first thing that crossed his mind was how busy the little monsters had been down here. To do something like THIS right under the Coalition's feet, without setting off any seismic sensors... it was as astounding as it was terrifying! The second thing that crossed his mind was a question about the monsters' excavation itself.
Where did the put all the dirt?
It was then a radio sounded, refocusing his attention.
Steelcreek wrote:”Bear Two, this is Three-Three-Five, Stalker Scout. Be advised, the hostiles headed your way are mean at close range and they bleed acid. If you see any pale ones, those are psionically active, primary targets. I’m at your three o’ clock, up sixty degrees, so do not kill me! I’ll provide support from above.”
Raleigh Ray spotted the man's pale white head, practically glowing in the dark from afar. Suddenly excited, he enthusiastically waved to greet the man.
"Helooooooooooo!" he replied with an upbeat musical note to his voice.
It was then the rest of the man's words sunk in, and his eyes surveyed the horde of monsters between him and the pasty man. Why he didn't notice them before, Raleigh Ray couldn't explain. You'd think that sort of think would take priority over the other.
"Oh... shit." he said aloud as the weight of the pericardium sunk in.
Solene Bouchard wrote:"Covering fire!" She shouts to her squad.
Raleigh Ray quickly unloaded the broken skelebot body of Tweedledum from his shoulder, dropping it to the ground with a thunk, while simultaneously transmitting his orders to Tweedledee, the still-operable Skelebot.
"Tweedledee, lay down suppression fire against any hostile that closes in within 20 meters. Those white monsters are priority targets. Also, monitor any hostile activity against Coalition soldier self-designated as three-three-five. If an monsters get on him, lend him direct support fire unless you are engaged with a priority target. The instructions flew from his mind in a flash, transmitted directly into the robotic soldier's computer mind.
His battle orders issued, and his power armor's shoulder-mounted plasma cannons free of obstruction, Raleigh Ray unleashed hell.
Psyched for his chance to show the others that Bouchard wasn't the only one who could kick ass in a suit of Mauler power armor, Raleigh Ray started blasting away at the monster hoard. With so many, how could he possibly miss? Blast after blast of seering hot plasma lobbed through the air with all due fury. The rate of fire was so fierce, his helmet began to heat up and beads of sweat began to form on Raleigh Ray's head.
"DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!" he yelled as he unleashed certain death on his foes.
However... despite the fusillade of plasma blasts, very few actually hit their intended marks. Some fell short, some streaked over the monsters' heads, some hooked left, some sliced right. As a trio of the monsters rushed up on him, it suddenly donned on Raleigh Ray that he stood a better chance of killing the monsters with laughter than anything else. Though his plan was to make this a stand-off fight, it quickly degenerated into close quarters melee.
The Mauler power armor's thick shell proved to be tough and resilient, but not completely impregnable! Splashes of acid marred its outer shell, the spear-tip of a monster's tail pierced its side, and another monster's snapping jaws mangled the armor's face. Overall, it was turning out to be a bad day for Raleigh Ray; alias:
Spam-in-a-can!
The skelebot's computer brain tried to process the orders issued to it, but got confused over what constituted a Priority Target. Though it didn't go berserk, the mechanical soldier was confused. The confusion initiated an ill-timed self-diagnostic in its logic center, which in turn drew power from its targeting systems. Tweedledee blasted away at every hostile that moved, but with dulled reflexes, resulting in misses by a proverbial mile all over the place.
Sensing weakness, one of the monsters rushed up and skewered the Skelebot through the chest. Whether Tweedledee would survive to fight again, only time would tell.