((A comet of frozen stupid: Priceless.
I think it would have made more sense for me to keep accelerating to get closer to Miyamoto's speed but I guess in the end it wouldn't make much difference.))
I'm guessing the net plan has gone out of the window with so little time left, so... If possible have Steve project Miyamoto's path on my HUD like the outline of a battlesuit sized tube with a line in it (the line is supposed to be the battlesuit's center of mass). Tie the other end of the cable on my chisel to give me some extra mass. Jump towards Miyamoto's path (having Jack propel us with the foam if it will help) and then throw the chisel at his path, if I'm not already in it. Have Steve highlight us and the wire and chisel harpoon in Miyamoto's HUD if possible. Make my peace with Steve.
EDIT: Of course cut the wires holding me to the rocket with the monorazor if necessary.
"Geronimooo!"
(On the edge of my seat here...)
((I hope you didn't get tired of waiting and that you enjoyed it. I know I did. And I'm sure piecewise liked having more time to work on Preplexicon . Now it's all on the dice. Live or die, I'll be happy. If I die then I'll become a stupid and tragic figure, that came within reach of its goal but failed at the last second. Perfect ending for a B-movie actor. If I live, well... I live. What's better than that? I like Flint too much and I'd hate to have to make another character.))
You scramble and tie one end of the cable to your Auto-chisel, Lock one arm around Jack, cut your connection to the rocket pods and then jump. You go sailing gently forward, a line flame retardant foam spraying out behind you. As the intercept timer runs down you hurl your auto-chisel turned lifeline back down into Miyamoto's path.
[dex:6]
It goes rocketing straight through the path; much farther then was necessary but in the immortal words of Lance Armstrong, "Fuck it, that's close enough."
All you can do is wait the last few seconds as the timer ticks down. At 9 seconds you see Miyamoto; nothing but a speck of flickering light. At 5 you can see a black dot riding a glowing corona. At 2 he's a black mass the size of your thumbnail, riding a candleflame. And then he's past you, a glow of bright exhaust rapidly slipping away. You have just enough time, as the length of cable vanishes in an instant, to realize just how fast he was going. And just how much this is going to hurt.
The cable tears three of the five loops you wrapped through your suit and then snaps taut, and you and Jack are gone.
[end:4+2]
[jack end:6]
Jack loses consciousness instantly; hard to tell why, maybe the acceleration, maybe the force of the impact snapped his spine, maybe all his organs have collected at the bottom of his suit, hard to say. Probably best not to think about. Your leg, where the cable was attached, is completely numb, probably broken, maybe worse. You're struggling to stay conscious, dazed and having a hard time identifying exactly what the hell is going on. All you can see is the surface of the planet slowly rolling by under you. You blink and you're in Miyamoto's arms, the surface of that planet much closer, moving much faster. The edge of the world seems to be coming up. You blink again and you're all floating in the dark. You turn your head to see where the planet is, but there's nothing. You close your eyes.
Miyamoto takes a deep breath and pulls his arms out of the control cuffs and wipes the sweat from his forehead.
"Never again." he mutters to himself, watching the distant marker of the HMRC rescue shuttle slowly closing in. "Never again."
Somewhere behind him the UWM ship's signal abruptly cuts off and everything is quiet.
The little armada of shuttles returns to the Sword some time later, one dragging a dead shuttle that slams into the floor of the hanger as soon as it hits the Sword's gravity, and another towing Miyamoto and his cargo. The Hanger is swarmed with medics and technicians as the dead and dying are rolled out in their pods and Miyamoto hands off his teammates to a few very baffled men with gurneys.
Mission 8 Completed !
Those of you in pods, wake yourself up in the other thread. Those of you not, continue to be awake in the other thread as well.