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Description
The fireworks drew kaleidoscope patterns over the courtyard; the bursts of bright garish light sketching patterns over the bodies of the men they had felled. The cacophony of sound accompanying the strobing lights surely had masked the gunfire as no shouts of alarm reached them from the gardens beyond.

“How did they get past the defensive perimeter?” A rhetorical question, but it came unbidden through Meri’s shock and anger.

“That is a fantastic question,” Eibhan replied, his voice steady but thick with an anger that matched her own. He shifted one of the soldiers with his foot and bent to retrieve the dropped rifle. “Conventional firearm…” he turned the rifle in his hands and eyed the empty courtyard, continuing, “… and no suppressor.”

Thinking aloud Meri scanned the perimeter. “Counting on the fireworks to conceal the sound perhaps.” Or they didn’t care if they were heard.

“They could have killed us long before approaching.” Eibhan took a long look at Meri, his thoughts playing across his features.

“But they didn’t.” They wanted us alive. Her first thought, but something bothered her about it. The man she’d felled had seemed almost… hesitant. Reluctant.

Crouching beside her fallen foe, Meri searched his armour for anything to identify him. “There are no unit markings, or insignia.” Meri shifted the unconscious soldier and eased his rifle out from beneath him.

“We’ll need to run their blood tags to be sure.” Eibhan was crouched over the second soldier, mirroring Meri’s actions. He brought himself up to a crouch and covered the courtyard with his looted rifle.

“Assuming there are any. They could be corporate soldiers, or mercenaries from the Colonies.” They weren’t though. She couldn’t say why, but she was certain they were from the Empire. “I’m going to
call it in.” They needed to alert the palace guard. She flipped open her comm only to be greeted with a red bordered ‘NO SIGNAL’ warning. “Jammed.”

Eibhan quickly checked his own. Alarm spread across his face before fading into hardened resolve. His jaw clenched. “We need to go.”

Meri retrieved the other fallen rifle and cleared the chamber wordlessly. Dread was growing in her. This was far more than just an isolated infiltration. They needed to regroup.

By the time they reached the outer doors, the cries of jubilation from the gardens had turned into screams of fear and pain, and the echoing explosions of the fireworks were accompanied by short staccato bursts of more gunfire.

***

This was an unplanned addition to An Inconsiderate Interruption . I tried to play with the lighting here to show the mutlicoloured bursts of fireworks. I’m not entirely sure it conveys that, but I’m happy with the render regardless. Earlier attempts washed the colour out in the whole scene (it turns out RBY lights overlay to white, who could have guessed?). This is another great example of the Universal Dress performing admirably, even in more extreme poses like crouching. Easily one of the best dForce assets I have.

If you are interested in following along, I have prepared a timeline for the storyboards here: Storyboard Timeline .

Description
The fireworks drew kaleidoscope patterns over the courtyard; the bursts of bright garish light sketching patterns over the bodies of the men they had felled. The cacophony of sound accompanying the strobing lights surely had masked the gunfire as no shouts of alarm reached them from the gardens beyond.

“How did they get past the defensive perimeter?” A rhetorical question, but it came unbidden through Meri’s shock and anger.

“That is a fantastic question,” Eibhan replied, his voice steady but thick with an anger that matched her own. He shifted one of the soldiers with his foot and bent to retrieve the dropped rifle. “Conventional firearm…” he turned the rifle in his hands and eyed the empty courtyard, continuing, “… and no suppressor.”

Thinking aloud Meri scanned the perimeter. “Counting on the fireworks to conceal the sound perhaps.” Or they didn’t care if they were heard.

“They could have killed us long before approaching.” Eibhan took a long look at Meri, his thoughts playing across his features.

“But they didn’t.” They wanted us alive. Her first thought, but something bothered her about it. The man she’d felled had seemed almost… hesitant. Reluctant.

Crouching beside her fallen foe, Meri searched his armour for anything to identify him. “There are no unit markings, or insignia.” Meri shifted the unconscious soldier and eased his rifle out from beneath him.

“We’ll need to run their blood tags to be sure.” Eibhan was crouched over the second soldier, mirroring Meri’s actions. He brought himself up to a crouch and covered the courtyard with his looted rifle.

“Assuming there are any. They could be corporate soldiers, or mercenaries from the Colonies.” They weren’t though. She couldn’t say why, but she was certain they were from the Empire. “I’m going to
call it in.” They needed to alert the palace guard. She flipped open her comm only to be greeted with a red bordered ‘NO SIGNAL’ warning. “Jammed.”

Eibhan quickly checked his own. Alarm spread across his face before fading into hardened resolve. His jaw clenched. “We need to go.”

Meri retrieved the other fallen rifle and cleared the chamber wordlessly. Dread was growing in her. This was far more than just an isolated infiltration. They needed to regroup.

By the time they reached the outer doors, the cries of jubilation from the gardens had turned into screams of fear and pain, and the echoing explosions of the fireworks were accompanied by short staccato bursts of more gunfire.

***

This was an unplanned addition to An Inconsiderate Interruption . I tried to play with the lighting here to show the mutlicoloured bursts of fireworks. I’m not entirely sure it conveys that, but I’m happy with the render regardless. Earlier attempts washed the colour out in the whole scene (it turns out RBY lights overlay to white, who could have guessed?). This is another great example of the Universal Dress performing admirably, even in more extreme poses like crouching. Easily one of the best dForce assets I have.

If you are interested in following along, I have prepared a timeline for the storyboards here: Storyboard Timeline .