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Your name is David "Gunny" Rockefeller, no relation.
A veteran of the united states marine corps, you find yourself in a far-out situation after an all-too-close encounter of the third kind!

In the last thread you captured some live samples of the insects infesting your station for Lyna to study, giving you a bit of information on an otherwise unknown threat.
You also managed to get your mom into custom skinsuit, which has more or less returned her mobility to her, allowing her to walk and act on her own.

After that, you spent a fair bit of time checking on equipment and training the new pirate raiders for the upcoming extermination campaign.
The topic of marriage also came up with Cylia, from whom you learned that Caithans mate for life, and her staying with you forever was just a given in her mind.

But then, you learned something unpleasant that you're currently in the middle of blocking out of your mind forever.
After a quick little three or four day mental breakdown, you drowned yourself in Kyla's embrace and forced yourself back onto your feet.

SHODAN hasn't spoken to you much since then, but the other girls have been taking good care of you.

You decided that the only way to pull yourself up was to just move, and with work to be done in the bug squashing department, that's what you decided on.
The very next day, you were suited up and now find yourself balls deep in mostly unmapped tunnels in the middle of a gigantic, hollowed-out asteroid.

One of the raiders you took with you almost immediately got injured, which you somewhat expected, but that also served to put the remainder of the men on their toes.
That also made them quite slow to move, and it seems neither bribery nor threats are enough to make them eager to do their jobs in the face of mortal danger.

So you currently find yourself leading by example, putting yourself on the front line for all to see.

Will things go according to plan? What will you find deeper in these tunnels? Will David's mental state hold up over time?
Find out this time, on (probably the last) Humanity Fuck Yeah!

>Last Thread: https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2024/6091170/
>All Threads: https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?searchall=humanity+-+fuck+yeah%21
>Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rNxD6ccWY5M48dLWuTWdr5LiYLuS_YIAMKlTLw42eeo/edit#gid=0
>Discord Link: https://discord.gg/PYJ7Aa3zQF
>>
>>6131428

You stride forward confidently, practically dragging the tox-unit behind you as he nervously holds down the trigger on his sprayer.
You're completely engulfed in a cloud of neurotoxin and ethylene glycol, to the point where even if it weren't pitch black in here, you'd still be totally invisible.

"Boss, come on... i really don't feel good about this one!" The tox-unit whispers over the short-throw radio.

You need to be quiet right now, so your helmet speakers are silenced.

"You don't need to feel or think anything, just listen to what i tell you, otherwise you're gonna die." You growl.

"Oh, gods, oh fuck..." He whimpers.

It doesn't take long to reach the end of the tunnel, and through your helmet's thermal cameras you can see past the fog and into the room beyond.
The bugs don't seem to have noticed your presence yet, so you pull back just beyond their vision and order tox-boy to stay put.

If you can help it, you're going to let that fog roll into the room on it's own without you having to enter.

And that's exactly what you do.
You sit there for a good five minutes, just watching him hold down the trigger.

The tanks empty, and you slowly and carefully replace them without making any noise.
After the second tank, his lines start to frost up. However, you have an easy solution for that.

You let him spray toxin all over your gloves, and use it to lube up the lines.
The ethylene glycol used as fogging solution, ironically enough makes for a great de-fogger.

It's also keeping the lines from freezing up on the inside right now.
Another five minutes pass, and you replace the tanks once again. This is the last set you have, so you'll have to get new ones from the nearest resupply station.

But it's a large room, and you don't know how well this fog is traveling.
You can't see it clearly through the thermals, and the only way to tell for sure would be to use your headlamp and go in there.

It probably wouldn't hurt to peek your head around the corner though.
If the bugs are convulsing on the floor, you'd know it's at least having some effect.

The fact that no insects have come in here to attack you so far is probably telling, though.

>Peek in and see if the poison is working. If it is, you can bring the others and move ahead.
>Just head back for now and wait it out. You're content to give it time to work it's magic.
>If you really wanted to achieve maximum damage here, you could lure any bugs left alive into the tunnel by making some noise...
>Write-In?
>>
>>6131429
>Peek in and see if the poison is working. If it is, you can bring the others and move ahead.
>>
>>6131429
>Peek in and see if the poison is working. If it is, you can bring the others and move ahead.

We better hurry.
>>
>>6131429
>>Peek in and see if the poison is working. If it is, you can bring the others and move ahead.
>>
>>6131429
>>Peek in and see if the poison is working. If it is, you can bring the others and move ahead.
>>
>>6131429

You want to hurry this along, so you take the slight risk of peeking your head around the corner.
It's a little hard to tell through the thermal camera, but... you think the neurotoxin is working. Really well, actually.

The insects that were scattered about have all stopped moving, and aren't even twitching.
The higher dosage must have really fucked them up.

Even the ones on the walls have fallen down and splattered themselves.
Ordinarily an unusual sight for a bug, but these guys aren't little. It'll hurt when they fall, even in station gravity, as long as it's from far enough.

...Ah, but there's a problem. The ones on the ceiling are still moving around, albeit slowly.

The toxin has probably gotten to them a bit, but it's heavier than air, so it's collecting mostly along the bottom.
However, there's only a few of them up there. You could handle it yourself if you needed to.

>This is the perfect opportunity to test your theories. Go in alone and see if they can detect you through the fog.
>This is also the perfect opportunity to test what your bolter would do to one of them...
>Just bring everyone in and use them as target practice. You don't have time to be fuckin' around.
>Write-In?
>>
>>6132019
>>Just bring everyone in and use them as target practice. You don't have time to be fuckin' around.

These guys need the confidence boost.
>>
>>6132019
>This is the perfect opportunity to test your theories. Go in alone and see if they can detect you through the fog.
>>
>>6132019
>Just bring everyone in and use them as target practice. You don't have time to be fuckin' around.
Shooting gallery and they get practice with thermals
>>
>>6132019
>>Just bring everyone in and use them as target practice. You don't have time to be fuckin' around.
Don't see why these have to be mutually exclusive
>>
>>6132019
>>Just bring everyone in and use them as target practice. You don't have time to be fuckin' around.
They need this victory
>>
>>6132019
>>This is the perfect opportunity to test your theories. Go in alone and see if they can detect you through the fog.
>>
>>6132019

Rather than waste time playing around or testing out theories, you decide to call this a good result and bring in the rest of the squad to clean up.
You find the raiders dutifully standing guard just outside of the fog, some distance back in the tunnel.

After informing them of your success, you guide them through the fog, and have them take turns shooting at the remaining insects on the ceiling with their thermals on.
It's a little added layer of difficulty that a bit of experience can help with in the future.

The gyro-rifle doesn't have this issue, though.
The computer in them will provide a clear aiming reticle, assuming you have a HUD. When wearing armor, you'd even be able to aim accurately from the hip.

You don't know when SHODAN will finish coding that, though.

The bugs stuck to the ceiling do make some effort to fight back, but they were already having difficulty moving.
After getting shot at, they dropped to the floor, sometimes injuring themselves... and directly exposed themselves to the thickest part of the fog.

It didn't do them any favors, and the raiders quickly cleaned up whatever was left.

However, you're pretty sure there's still one or two up in that hidden room on the ceiling.
You can't shoot up into there, but you have something for it.

"How are we gonna get 'em, boss?" One of the raiders asks, looking up at the hole above you.

You pull the pin on a frag grenade and aim it carefully.
The low gravity on stations really fucks with your aim at times like this, but it makes throwing straight up much easier.

"Cyl, if i miss this throw, blast it with buckshot on the way down."

She sighs.

"Okay, but do we really have to-"

Before she can start complaining, you chuck the grenade overhead and manage to get it in the hole.
Bonus, it doesn't come tumbling back out.

"...Damn, he's good at that, isn't he?" One man whispers

"Must have been luck. I don't think anyone can throw something that far..."

BOOM.
The grenade explodes, and you hear a brief shriek that quickly gurgles out.

Followed by a thin stream of yellowish bug-blood that drizzles down from the hole and splatters all over the ground.
Must have been a direct hit... poor bastard probably went right up to it.

"Was that an explosive?!" The guy standing next to you yells.

"Yep." You reply, walking off.

"What if you missed?! It would have fallen right back down!"

Man, it's like nobody listens to anything you say.
Whatever, you're not repeating yourself.

With the room thoroughly cleared out, you take the time to inspect one of those piles of... stuff.
It's still pretty foggy in here, but you can see clearly enough right in front of your face.

Pulling a ball of the pile, you see it's about the size of an apple, and it's... grainy. Grainy and fibrous.
Even in person, you can't completely tell what this stuff is.

But you do know it's mixed with lots of of fuel wax. You recognize it as the stuff from those vines up in the greenhouse.

...Wait a minute. Uh oh.
>>
>>6132787
Ruh roh!
>>
>>6132787
So we are in a tinder box, are the bugs smart enough to set up an ambush?
>>
Look out, Gunny Busters!

We're calling these guys the Gunny Busters, right? That's still a thing?
>>
>>6132787

You feel the problem before you see it.
Not with any of your senses. You simply come to understand.

"Is that supposed to be happening?" One of the men calls out.

Yep, there it is.

Turning around, you see a stream of fire pouring down out of the ceiling.
It's coming from the hole where you just tossed a grenade, and you distinctly remember a particularly large pile of this shit being located.

...A grenade isn't a very good firestarter, honestly. It shouldn't have done this.
There's no fucking way. Was it a hot shard of metal? Is that enough to burn this shit?

"Oh, god... damnit." You cuss under your breath, watching the stream of burning fuel pour onto the ground and spread out.

"Everyone on me! We're leaving right the fuck now!" You order.

"So that's not supposed to-"

"MOVE!"

...

You don't expect the fire to get huge. It'll consume all the oxygen in the area and then snuff itself out, most likely.
However, you don't want to get burned up, or to be in an oxygen-free environment after the fact.

Working together with Cylia, you collect your little group of dodos, and keep them between the two of you.
With you at the front and Cylia at the back, ensuring nobody fucks off or gets lost on accident.

The tunnels ahead are unmapped, but you know there's gonna be bugs in them, since what just caught fire was probably their food storage.

Ideally you'd like to make your way to a resupply station, but those are all in distant tunnels where bugs weren't found to be active.
Right now though, you're just trying to make some distance from the burning shitheap.

And you do... for a minute.

"What the fuck is this?!" You cuss.

You've come up to a dead end of sorts.
Not really a dead end, but definitely difficult terrain.

At the end of this tunnel is a goddamned crevasse. A big one, too.
It trails off into the darkness on nearly every side, including above and below. You have no idea how deep it goes.

The edges of the crack are as sharp as you'd expect broken metal to be. Did this happen when the asteroid was cooling, or while they were mining it out?

["David, smoke!"] Cylia calls out over the radio.

A few moments later, you see sooty black smoke billowing along the tunnel ceiling.
Fuck, you guess it doesn't matter right now.

The tunnel does continue directly across from you, but it's a good fifteen foot gap, and you don't know if all of the raiders can make that jump.
Alternatively, there are the occasional ledges and shelves where the semi-crystalline metal has broken off in straight lines.
Even more alternatively... well, you could drop a rope and hope it's long enough to reach the bottom here.

>Jump to the other side. Whoever can't make it will have to stay at the tunnel entrance and hope the oxygen holds out.
>Ledges are good. They might even hold your weight, and you can pick a different, non-burning tunnel somewhere along the way.
>Going down is easier than climbing up. Drop a rope and hope for the best.
>Write-in?
>>
>>6133286 #
>toss 'em
It's low grav, you could probably toss them across quite easily. Tie them if you have to before throwing them, if safety is a concern.
Please excuse the file name, phone posting in a foreign country right now
>>
>>6133290
Brother, the tumblr we knew has been dead for many years.
The war's over, you can come home.
>>
>>6133290
>Toss em.

This sure is looking kind of like a trap that we've sprung .
>>
File: rambo-nothing.gif (141 KB, 220x128)
141 KB
141 KB GIF
>>6133294
;_;7

>>6133327
If this is indeed a trap, then that just means we haven't yet applied enough firepower. Bring me the thermobarics!
>>
>>6133286
>toss 'em
+1 for yeeting the aliens
>>
>>6133286
>>Toss 'em
Maybe leave critical gear on this side of the ledge if the point is to escape the burning and oxiloss
>>
>>6133286
lads get tossed
>>
>>6133294
I was thinking, maybe you should end it when the carrier is complete. Giving you a fresh place to come back if you ever do.
>>
If its negatively affecting your mental health, then now is a good place to end it.

Literal cliffhanger. Also since he forewarned us, it still very much counts as having never flaked.
>>
>>6133286

"We're jumpin' it!" You shout.

"What?! Look how far that is!" Someone yells back.

"Gravity's low and you all passed the fitness test, you should be able to make it!"

"What if we don't?! Are we using safety ropes or...?!"

You watch as an increasingly thick plume of smoke pours out of the tunnel, engulfing your men.
No time for safety ropes, no time to argue, no time to think.

You grab the complainer by the hard plates of his armor, around the back of his neck and the small of his back.
Picking him up, you feel the suit's artificial muscle and servomotors kick into action, giving you a temporary burst of strength.

"What the fuck?! Woah-!" He cries.

You swing him around once, and then twice, building up momentum... and you fuckin' toss him.
He flies in an arc across the gap, screaming all the while, and lands less than gracefully on the other side.

"Are you fucking crazy?!" He yells, but you ignore him.

"Either jump across or i'll throw you!" You announce, pointing to the other side.

Several of the men are hesitant, but one doesn't seem to have any confidence issues.
It's the guy with the tesla pack, who also happens to have on a pair of exoskeletal legs.

"Out of my way, i'm jumping it!" He yells, clearing a path.

The men immediately move for him, and he gets a running start before leaping across.
Not only does he easily make the jump, he even manages to land on his feet and slide to a stop without toppling over.

You don't remember what race he is underneath that armor, but it must be a relatively agile one.

"You can make it! Jump across!" He yells back.

"Come on, let's go!" You also say, trying to encourage them.

That demonstration was enough for most of them, it seems.
One by one, they start lining up to make the jump, and most of them manage it without too much trouble.

Almost all of them fall after landing on the other side though, as they're making the jump with everything they've got.

Three men however, refuse to jump.
Two of them tell you straight up that they know they can't make it, and the third is probably thinking the same but won't admit it out of shame.

But that's alright, because you have a solution for that.
They end up flying pretty well. It turns out that the three of them are actually much lighter than the first guy you threw.

The lack of muscle mass probably has something to do with their inability to make the jump.

The last ones across are you and Cylia, by which point burning liquid wax has pooled into the tunnel, and flames are licking at the ceiling above you.
Cylia shakes burning fuel off her boot and scrapes it against a rock like she stepped in shit.

It doesn't go out easily, though.

"Ladies first?" You ask, ignoring the flames licking against your own suit.

"How about we go together?" She chuckles nervously.

Taking her hand, you both take a few steps back into the smoke and flame-filled tunnel before jumping across the gap, fire trailing behind you as you fly.
>>
>>6133980
Cool guys don't look at explosions.
>>
Cute. Also awesome
>>
I'm imagining spacesuit wearing David and his cool cat wearing sunglasses as they jump out of the way of an explosion.
Kawaii
>>
>>6133980

For the two of you, it was never a question of whether or not you'd make the jump.
However, when you land on the other side with smoke rolling off your suits, it puts some questions into the minds of your men.

"We're not gonna make it, are we?" One of them questions aloud.

"They walked into the fire..."

"Can our armor do that?"

That last one, that's actually a good question to be asking.
The answer is yes and no.

The unpowered armor is largely made up of carbon-based artificial muscle fibers, with some hard plates for structure and defense.
So while it won't melt or anything and it has some insulative properties, it also won't keep the heat from getting to you eventually.

You might last a few minutes inside an inferno like that before you start to get burns.
Problem is, you'd keep getting burned after the suit's heated up, because it doesn't have heat rejection systems built in like your powered armor does.

Their helmets also have a small air filtration system built into them, but without power they can't crack carbon dioxide, so they've only got a few minutes of air in an oxygen-free environment.
You suppose that's a good thing, since they'd pass out around the same time they start getting cooked alive.

Telling them that won't be helpful, though.

"No, it can't." You inform them.

Looking back at the cave you came from, you see plumes of superheated soot and smoke farther inside, indicating all the oxygen has been used up.
Then, at the mouth of the cave, it bursts into flames as soon as it hits the oxygen outside.

Liquid wax dribbles down into the canyon below, burning and lighting up the walls at it goes.
It goes down really far, actually. You don't think you've got any one rope long enough to make that distance.

"Look, up there!" One of the men says, pointing up into the crack above you.

Smoke is pouring out of other cave mouths higher up.
Although you didn't notice any other paths in the tunnels you'd been through, there must have been some.

As you watch the smoke billow, insects start to pile out of the tunnels one after another, with some being knocked off the edge by those behind them and falling into the darkness below.
There are plenty of flying insects with burned wings, and some whose wings are still burning.

Their wings flit rapidly to try and beat out the fire, but their shells and wings are coated in that same wax.
It won't go out. The beating of their wings just fans the flames, until they break off and float into the air as burning ash.

Unfortunately you do see a number of burning worker insects running around as well, but there's nothing you can do about that.
This fire might end up smoking out the whole colony in this area...

"Woah!" A raider cries out suddenly.

One of the flying insects makes a desperate jump across the chasm, landing hard against the broken wall next to him.
It clings to the wall, buzzing it's half-burnt wings aggressively as it turns toward him.
>>
>>6134698

>An extermination is an extermination. Kill the stragglers as they come out.
>They'll probably die from their burns anyways, just retreat back into the tunnels and avoid fighting for now.
>You bet you could finish the job by collapsing the tunnel exits. You happen to have plenty of C4 on hand...
>Write-In?
>>
>>6134699
>An extermination is an extermination. Kill the stragglers as they come out.
We're not currently being threatened. Conserve ammo, send Cylia with a team to scout ahead in case we need to get out of dodge (oxygen issues, etc.)
How well would C4 work on nickel-iron? From previous description it sounded like the chasm was sheared like metal being pulled apart or stress fracture
>>
>>6134699
>They'll probably die from their burns anyways, just retreat back into the tunnels and avoid fighting for now.

Always have a way out.
>>
>>6134699
>>An extermination is an extermination. Kill the stragglers as they come out.
>>
>>6134699
>>An extermination is an extermination.
No such thing as overkill
>>
>>6134709
It is largely metallic, but it's also very brittle, almost crumbly.
You'd have to try it to find out.
>>
>>6134699
>An extermination is an extermination. Kill the stragglers as they come out.

Marksmanship competition lads!
>>
>>6134698

Taking hold of your rifle, you fire a round straight down the middle of it's face. It immediately goes limp and falls into the darkness.

Turning 90 degrees, you take a few shots at the other insects as they flood out of the tunnel, clinging desperately to the walls of the canyon.
Your shots hit home, and the already injured bugs lose their footing as they seize up from the damage, falling off into the darkness below as well.

"I feel kind of bad for them..." Cylia sighs. "But they'd just suffer from their burns if we left them."

Cylia raises her rifle as well, taking especially careful aim.
Knowing her, she doesn't want to miss and cause any unnecessary suffering.

To you, they're just bugs.
You know they don't even have brains, no different from a cockroach back on earth.

They might be capable of responding to injury, but they can't process pain like a person does.

Still, your shots don't miss.
Not because you don't want them to suffer, but because you're a better shot than that.

What would your men think if you couldn't hit a bug the size of a person at this distance?

Seeing you and Cylia firing on the bugs, several of your men line up at the entrance and begin firing as well.
Even the tesla unit makes his way over and starts arcing across the gap, making quite a display in the dark canyon.

The arc doesn't kill them of course, but it electrifies the surface of the asteroid wherever it hits, shocking two or three bugs at once.
And of course, when their legs tense up, they fall off the wall.

Splat.

There's only enough room for about five men to shoot at once, so whenever one of the raiders fires a few shells, they swap out and let someone else shoot, as if they were at the range.
This is more or less what they trained for, after all.

They aren't terribly accurate, but since they're firing buckshot it doesn't really matter.
There's enough room for it to spread out, and while not every shot drops a bug, most of them do.

Which is good. Saves you and Cyl some ammo.

The occasional bug does attempt to jump the gap, but with you and Cylia there, it's not happening.
They seem to be more aggressive right now, though whether it's due to their injuries or the nest being disturbed, you're not sure.

If that place was a food store or something, you wonder if there might have been a nursery nearby.
You'd like to know if some of the eggs are mutated in this area, too.

They probably are. They'll all taking from the same food sources, it seems like.

But god, there's a lot of them.

The caves burn for half an hour before bugs finally stop crawling out from their holes.
By then, it's died down a little, but it'll probably smoulder for weeks.

The canyon has also started to fill with smoke, though it's little more than a light haze.
This crack must be huge, you wonder if it's dangerous? It might be affecting the structural integrity of the station as a whole.
>>
>>6135387

>Ask SHODAN about the crack. She might have some insight.
>You burned through some ammo there, make your way towards the nearest supply station.
>Technically you'd say your job is done... you killed a lot of bugs today, albeit on accident. Time to head home.
>Write-In?
>>
>>6135388
>Ask SHODAN about the crack. She might have some insight.
>Send some of the droids in - the ones that left the caches.
>>
>>6135388
>Ask SHODAN about the crack. She might have some insight.
>You burned through some ammo there, make your way towards the nearest supply station.
>>
>>6135388
>Ask SHODAN about crack. She might have some insight.

Heh.
>>
>>6135387
>This crack must be huge, you wonder if it's dangerous? It might be affecting the structural integrity of the station as a whole.
Unno, I don't think things in space have somewhere to fall to. If anything the gargantuan grav gen is keeping it together
>Resupply



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