*****
It had been what appeared to be yet another eventless year; months after months of various trainings and testing?s of various weaponry developed by the Military, and doing mock missions around the "Above Surface" worlds. But beyond the monotonous daily life; things appeared to be nothing out of ordinary for many years in the Above Surface worlds.
Even for a highly regarded member of the Guardian Fighters, Akrn never found out what really goes on in the "Under Surface" worlds - any operations down there were kept as strict "Military Confidence" and the only times when he had a chance to venture down there were during more mock missions in highly controlled environment.
It was now the time for the end-of-year break and Akrn had been given a short break after what appeared to be an eternal wait for. And despite that he had been told to remain on high alert for any possible "real" missions; Akrn never really allowed it to detract him from his plans - after all; it had been the same for as long as he can remember, what could possibly go wrong this year?
Near the "Capital City" Akrn sat on a bench inside the city park observed the normal life that went on around him - families stocked up groceries for the dinner party; elderly couples and kids fed the swans in the lake; and other military people from the same establishment mingled with the civilians that other than the uniform they wore; they appeared not unlike each other.
*****
Things weren't always what they seemed, that's for sure. At least, that's what Murahan would always think to himself. Murahan was beat; it'd been a rather long day in the Slums of Phlan. The slums were infested with monsters. Orcs, Hobgoblins, Trolls, you name it. The City Council was on the warpath with getting this situation all under control, but there was only so much they could really do; there was a limited guard, and though the guards were indeed well trained, they needed to stay within the city's walls to protect everyone in town.
New Phlan was cut off from Old Phlan by very large stone walls. It was a night and day difference when you walked through the doors to the old city from the new one.
Murahan stood with four other adventurers. Felgar, the Cleric. Gydolin, the Fighter. Goldleaf, the Wizard. And Exdous, the Thief. Compared to the others, Murahan was not quite up to par in terms of experience, but Murahan still had his own way of doing things that got the job done.
Murahan, didn't know.
He didn't know where his adventures would eventually take him. As of right now, there was a wicked castle to the south that was the center of everyone's worry. But little did Murahan know, that this would all only be the start of something much, much more. More than anything he could possibly imagine.
Exdous: Alright, the tracks check out- up in that building ahead is where some of the Orcs have gathered. From the looks of things, I'm figuring there're about 6 in there.
Gydolin: Everyone alright for another round?
*Goldleaf took off his hat and wiped his brow.*
Goldleaf: I think I have another spell in me. After that though, we'll need to take some rest.
*Murahan walked along the wall a bit while the others were talking, and stopped suddenly.*
Murahan: SHH.
*Felgar picked up his pace from his waist and made a quick scan of the area.*
Felgar: ...?
*Murahan put his ear against the wall. He could hear a good deal of rumbling and what sounded like voices. He pointed his short sword toward the door at the opposite end of the area they were in towards one of the buildings.*
Murahan: We have to move- sounds like a patrol unit. A larger one then usual.
*Gydolin frowned and walked towards the wall. Everyone else stood fast to await Gydolin's orders.*
Murahan: I, really think we should get moving.
Gydolin: Relax. It's probably nothing again. You need to take it-
*The door blew open, and what appeared to be 20 Goblins rushed the room.*
Felgar: What the hell?!
((To Be Continued...))
--Slums of Phlan--
*The Goblin Leader glared at Gydolin.*
Goblin Leader: You didn't think you'd go unnoticed around here now did you? The Boss doesn't like you and wants you removed.
*Murahan gave a quick glance to his surroundings. They five of them were certainly cornered to say the least. The Goblins blocked all the exits, and were snarling and spitting.*
Felgar: Well, this isn't good.
Murahan: Am I the only one who's noticed that the leader is the only one that can formulate complete sentences?
*Gydolin stood ready with his long sword, and shot a few words back to Murahan.*
Gydolin: Keep it quiet- this isn't the time to talk.
Goblin Guard: EHHHHHH, WHAT'S DAT SUPPOSED MEAN?
*Murahan ignored Gydolin.*
Murahan: See, right there. What the hell are you saying?
Goblin Guard: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! I YOU MAKE SOUP BONE FROM SKIN BODY HEAT FIRE!!!
Murahan: Heat Fire? What the hell is Heat Fire.
Gydolin: ...knock it off!
Goblin Leader: SILENCE!!!!
Murahan: Hey I'm just trying to-
Goblin Leader: NOT YOU HUMAN SWINE, HIM. *He turned to the guard.* BE SILENT YOU FOOL!!
Goblin Guard: HE MAKE FOR BONE HEAT FIRE SOUP!!
*It was dead silent.*
Another Goblin Guard: AGREE!! HE MAKE FOR BONE HEAT FIRE SOUP!!
*The Goblin Leader drew his sword on the guard.*
Goblin Leader: SILENCE AT ONCE, OR I SHALL ROAST YOUR BONES AND EAT YOU MYSELF!!
*Goldleaf held his hands out, and a sudden black cloud appeared over the goblins. They all dropped to the ground.*
Gydolin: !?
Goldleaf: Sleep spell. Trust me when I say, I won't be doing that again anytime soon unless we get some rest. . . .
*Goldleaf fell to the ground; Felgar and Gydolin quickly picked him up.*
Exdous: The way is clear, let's head back to town.
*Gydolin glared at Murahan.*
Gydolin: You're going to get us all killed one of these days with that attitude of yours.
((To Be Continued....))
Hovering above the surface of Naju was one of the terraformation cruisers. With a cup of coffee in his hand, John was standing near the illuminator, watching as the powerful rays of light being cast from the vessel were causing all kinds of seismic mutations below. This particular area was supposed to be filled with breathable air in few hours, thanks to the advanced orbital tools used by the United Space Federation government.
John Targa was a Space Hunter - one of the rogue mercenaries crusing the stellar infinity in search for any cries for help or easy cash. This particular assignment seemed to lean towards the latter, as his only order was to observe and report in case of extreme conditions. There were not supposed to be any, as no hostile fractions (such as the Pfhor or Space Pirates) were sighted across the whole Naju star system.
Suddenly, a beeping sound penetrated his earshells. John's neural interface has captured an instant message.
- Hi there, cowboy! - he sure recognized this feminine, yet a bit cold-hearted voice. That was Samus Aran, the ballsiest bimbo from this side of the Universe. - Wasn't expecting to see you here, just standing still with your arsenal holstered!
- Neither was I expecting you, honey. - John grinned, - Are you in this, too?
- Nah, I was just flying by to Na Pail. Ever heard of it?
- You mean this huge archaeological paradise filled with prehistoric villages, sky temples and those Skaarj bastards? Nope, never heard of it.
Samus's laughter filled the comm channel.
- Haha, that was a good one. Anyhoo, hope we'll meet again soon. Love ya!
- Love ya, - John drank a little from the cup. The coffee was cold as hell, but he liked it even more this way.
Samus was a legend. A mere month ago she travelled to the planet of Zebes and stopped the Space Pirates from producing a new kind of weapon of mass destruction, known as Metroids. These creatures were able to suck out all lifeforce from a victim in seconds, and when exposed to radiation, they mutiplied. Considering how much of Solar radiation was floating in outer space at any given moment of time, this made the Metroids even more horrifying.
John, on the other hands, wasn't that high in the global Hunter rankings. He wasn't an especially powerful fighter, as well - it was all about his endurance and pure luck. He, too, had his moment of glory, when he was among the Turrican assault suit fighters that were storming the Machine's hideout on Katakis. It was a horrible slaughter that cost so many soldiers their lives. However, thanks to John's suicidal lunacy, the Machine's defenses were successfully breached, allowing Commander Bren McGuire and his elites to put this Giger-esque nightmare to an end.
All these flashbacks were interrupted by the annoying sound of red alert. John turned from the window and saw both the guards and scentists running back and forth the observation room's corridor, some of them being armed with plasma rifles.
John rushed to a nearby random guard and asked:
- What's going on? Why's all this panic?
- The team below! - said the guard. - Looks like they've stumbled upon the hostiles.
- They WHAT?! - John scratched his head while watching that guard sprinting away to a nearby planetary shuttle. - Awww shit...
* * *
When the docking locks were released, EinhanderZwei rushed out of the launch tunnel towards the planet. John flipped several switches to channel all available power to the afterburner system, thus disengaging the gunpod manipulators and disarming himself. It didn't matter right now anyway, as speed was essential.
After breaking through the orbit, EinhanderZwei zoomed across the surface to the alarm source, as it was broadcasted on the shuttles' maps via mothership's comm center.
- Oh my... - sighed John, as he noticed a smoke pillar rising at the horizon. The closer his gunship flew, the louder were the laser blasts and terrified screams somewhere ahead. Must be something really bad attacking the villagers. The civilian casualties can be tremendous in this case, as John was aware that their armament was supposed to be ridiculously weak.
John's gunship has finally reached the destination and quickly hard landed on a plateau made of alien matter. As the cockpit has opened, John jumped out, already carrying his S-gun. Before his eyes was a burning village with its inhabitants shooting at something John has never seen before. The attackers looked like some kind of geometrical shapes spewing energy balls at their targets. A couple of S-gun bursts made the two most unfortunate enemies to break into shards.
- Eat some Contra, you fu..! - John's glorious entry line was interrupted by a close-range blast. He tripped over a crack in the ground and fell on his back. While he was attempting to stand up under heavy fire, one of the geometrical enemies flew towards him without firing. At the same exact moment, John heard a strange voice in his head, which presumable belonged to the creature.
- We know that you are not with these people, soldier. Get away from here. That is not your war.
- I am a Space Hunter, a peace keeper. - John replied and raised his weapon. - So every war is mine, bitch!
With this shout, he squeezed the trigger.
[[ to be continued ]]
==Post #4==
Setting: Naju Capital City - Akrn's house near the surburbs and well away from the Military Establishment / Time: sometime in the afternoon
Akrn was just settling in back at his former home where he used as a retreat during the much needed holidays. He just barely finished placing the final item into the fridge when his communicators rang at the most inappropriate hour. A quick glance at the screen showed that the incoming call was from his fellow Guardian Fighter and de-jure archrival Tetharil, or "Terry" as he is otherwise more commonly known as.
A look of disgust quickly formed on Akrn's face - he never really liked Terry; especially all the pranks and related that he has pulled on Akrn year-round; including the one where it backfired so much that he almost lost his entire flying capabilities as result.
Akrn initually ignored the call; but it kept ringing and ringing; after about 5 minutes Akrn finally gave up and answered the call:
Akrn: "Goddamn it Terry what is it that you---"
Terry: "I want to ask the same bleedin' thing! But nevermind that; we need you at the Airport. Right now!"
A very bemused look on Akrn's face.
Akrn: "...what? what the hell for?!"
Terry: "did you not check the news?! A major city down the Far West Naju [EinhanderZwei's second half of post #3] is under attack!!"
Akrn, still unimpressed: "This is not yet another of those "Mock Missions" again, is it?"
However; before Terry can answer; the call was cut off by an incoming call of much higher importance and from a very high ranking Military officer. Obligingly Akrn answered the call.
Officer: "Greetings G.F. Akrn; sorry to disturb your very important holiday but--- we need you to report to the Military departure gates of Naju Central International Airport - NJM - immediately.
Akrn, with the obvious tone that his holidays has just been ruined: "yeeeeeeeeeeeeeessir" *hangs up*
With that; Akrn let out a very long sigh and held his hand on his forehead; realising that maybe there is something real going on this time.
Short while later; a young-aged girl by the name of Sigurbelle entered the house from the garage doors; her outfit was very dirty as result of some work she had done in the garage; and was still holding a screwdriver when she entered. Sigurbelle was originally hired to be Akrn's personal mechanic whenever the Military would prove to be anything but useless; although during the days when Akrn was away she was usually left in charge oft aking care of Akrn's house in the mean time.
Sigurbelle: Who was that from?
Akrn: The military; I guess i'll have to get going again...
Sigurbelle, clearly upset: What? At this hour?? What about out Reunion-Dinner? And I can't even show you the 'surprise' I have been working on in the Garage?? >:
Akrn, resigned: ...i guess it'll have to be postponed until I get back; if not the next time...
Sigurbelle, giving Akrn a hug: Well; if you need to go you should get going then!
Akrn nodded; and took the wing-'backpack' that he dismantled from himself not more than 20 minutes ago that was lying in the hallway as he made his way back outside. Once outside; Sigurbelle helped Akrn reinstall the wings back onto him while he hailed a passing Taxi.
Sigurbelle waved Akrn off while the Taxi drove off the parkway and made its way to NJM.
===End Post===
[[ JOIEFJIUBOPOPWIEFJKJNKG"!?$%^% @_@ that was tiring]]
When there were seemingly no hostile aliens in sight, John turned on the coolant in his power armor and walked towards the crowd of scared workers. Upon approach, he was greeted by a presumed leader.
- Are you the superior here? - asked John.
- Yes, my name is Bradley. Thanky very much for help, mister...
- ...Targa. The name's John Targa. Space Hunters merc, class D. I am assigned to bodyguarding you here. Did you suffer any casualties?
Bradley turned his head to the medics escorting several unconscious bodies to a nearby mobile hospital.
- Not really, Mr Targa. We have five injured, but not fatally.
- Good. How did you stumble upon... these? And what were these things anyway?
- Well, first it appeared that something's got wrong with the terraforming laser, and it has created a tunnel. We decided to dig it up, and once we did, there was this weird square door. It has opened, and then they flew out and started firing at us.
- Hmmm... - John thought for a second, deciding on what to advise. - Have a quarantine barrier deployed around the dig and never ever let anyone in without my notice. I'm paid for being responsible for your lives.
- Yes, Mr Targa, I understand - Bradley nodded and suddenly pointed somewhere behind John's back. - Hey, and what's that?
John turned around and saw a winged silhouette speeding towards the city borderline. It was pretty hard to see it behind the cloud of sand and steam, but he was pretty sure it wasn't a threat.
- Looks like another merc at our service. Or it must be one of the Guardian Fighters - I heard that some were assigned to this operation as well.
==Post #6==
Setting: Naju Central International Airport, (2 hours before Post #5)
[[ A couple info about the mission at hand to the Guardian Fighters while taking off as well as Akrn's familiarity to the whole Terraforming project will be included here - tomorrow ]]
Akrn arrived at the Airport to a group of Guardian Fighters huddled in a group being briefed about the mission at hand, prepared themselves with weaponry and taking offs. Other than Tetharil, Akrn barely recognised the rest of them. He knows that a number of new Guardian Fighters had been constructed in recent months to cope with reports of increased disturbances around Naju; but Akrn know that this was still too early to be sending out these rookies out to 'real' missions.
Heck; having thought of that, Akrn was brought to the attention that he himself was yet to be sent out for any 'real' missions - maybe he is just as Rookie as the rest of them.
Rookie GF: *points to Akrn* There he is!
The whole Guardian Fighters assembled there turn to Akrn, the Officer emerges from the group to stare angrily at him.
Officer: You're late! *gestures for Akrn to join the group* c'mon; we don't have much time to spare!
Akrn joins the group and at the centre of the circle laid a map - the Officer points to a place on the near western border.
Officer: Alright, one more time since Akrn just joined us... *circles to a small dot marked on the map* reports are locating distress signals at this location - you [plural] will be heading there ASAP to observe and report on the exact details! Be careful though - that area is nearing uncharted territories so we are not sure what danger lies there!
Rookie GFs: Yessir!
The group disbanded and queued up on the runway for takeoffs; one by one the Guardian Fighters shifted into plane mode, made the short roll to the runway and took off. Akrn was the last of the group to leave.
Officer: I know that you're still no more a Cookie than the rest of them, but I want you to keep a watch on those kids - make sure they don't do anything reckless and get themselves in danger, ok? You lot are a very prestigious group to us and we don't want to have to do any PR repairs afterwards.
Akrn, taking it all in: s--sure
Akrn shifted into the plane and revved its takeoff jets.
Akrn, as the jets ignite and he speeds down the runway: Guardian Fighter Akrn, Take off! *flies into the sky*
---
Enroute to The Far West; some distance in the skies
Terry: I wonder why they sent us to The Far West - I thought that area was sealed off as inhabitable just a few months back.
Akrn: I think it's something to do with the Terraforming Project that is taking place there. Maybe they decided to push ahead with it and see if they can succeed?
Terry: You know something about it?
Akrn: Not in great detail, no. The last time I was indirectly involved was during some training exercises at the South Coast few years back. Just a couple months before that I heard the people involved was attacked by some mutant cetaceans or something. So the Military took samples of it and made further mock missions in order for us to obtain scientific information about them as well as adapt to them incase of further incidents.... Since then though I have been hearing about plans to Terraform The Far West but was continually delayed because of some technicality/legality or something.
Terry: Could this be of something similar?
Akrn, after some hesitation: Possibly, although I am personally surprised that they sent us out for real this time - usually the people located there - or some especially-hired mercenaries - would've taken care of the problem themselves and have us cleaning up the "trash" later.
Terry: ...sounds like we should get there quickly so we could find out what really happened - maybe they got themselves in trouble.
With that Tetharil ignited his boosters
Terry: Welp; I'll be taking a boost there. Take care of the rookies and make sure they don't get lost, m'kay?
Akrn: ...sure.
With that, Tetharil accelerated off ahead of Akrn and co..
[[ End new addition ]]
***
The Far West areas of Naju; where the reported disturbance was originally reported to be coming from
Tetharil arrived at the area couple minutes ahead of Akrn and co.. He observed a slight destruction of the city that originally housed the workers that were involved in the recent Terraforming; but nothing to the scale of what he and the other G.F.s had been briefed about; or what the News reports were saying before that, too.
Tetharil found a wide empty space that allowed him smooth landing and shifting into walking mode; made his way towards the group. But before he could speak to the "leader", Bradley; he caught his eyes on John Targa. The two; having acquainted with each other for a long time previously; gave each other friendly brofists while Terry quietly informed John that "the rest are on their way" before turning his attention back to Bradley.
Terry: Well, it seemed that everything's calmed down now - anyone care to briefly explain what happened?
===End post===
While Bradley was retelling the whole incident to Terry, John took a look around. The presumed city, currently a small camp, consisted mostly of supply crate stashes, a mobile hospital and several tents with scientists inside. One such tent in particular caught his attention, as it was the only one to have a giant antenna rising towards the Naju sky.
Placing the S-gun to a back holster, John walked towards the comm center. One of the civilians was him approaching and rose up.
- Sir!
- Let's skip this part, I'm not a military official anyway. Have you notified the mothership about the alien encounter?
- Not yet; looks like the communication line has been jammed. We're trying to fix it, but no luck so far.
- I want to take a look. - said John and stepped towards the portable communication mainframe that standing on the ground. It had five screens serving multiple purposes, but right now, they were showing the same pattern of white noise, only colored in green. John felt a bead of sweat rolling across his forehead. He knew what cut off the mothership connection - or, more accurately, who.
- Was the channel compromised at the same time as the alien attack?
- According to the system logs, it was slightly before. Here. - answered the scientist and called the logs on his PDA screen.
John's eyes scanned through the boring lines of text and system variables until he saw something very familiar.
- I'll be damned...
John ran out of the comm tent towards Bradley and the gathering Guardians.
- Terry!!! You will not believe who did this all and woke the aliens.
- What's the matter? - asked Bradley.
- You're not supposed to know her, but we Space Hunters and the Guardian Fighters sure do have this person in our most wanted lists. Well, technically, it's not a living person.
- You don't mean..? - Terry slowly raised his head to see the presumable coordinates of the mothership hovering above Naju.
Just at the same time, the clouds became torn to shreds, as a powerful beam fell from the sky right onto the camp, instantly vaporizing most of the buildings and inhabitants.
John and the Guardians were caught by the shockwave and thrown away. Moments later, the terraforming beam has disappeared, leaving a massive smoke cloud where the village previously was. None of the mercs were harmed, but the whole scientific team, including Bradley, was now dead.
- Son of a... - John was almost speechless. - Why?!
Just as he shouted this, a large amount of floating square shapes rose from the gigantic hole in the ground. Targeting John and the Guardians, they started floating slowly towards them, spitting energy balls.
==Post #8==
A small distance from Tetharil, John and the Camp
Just as Akrn and his team of rookie Guardian Fighters were just regrouping and making their way to Tetharil at the camp; the shockwave from the laser beam fired upon the camp caught everyone by surprise and threw everyone off their ground. Akrn instinctively dived at whoever the Guardian Fighter was closest to him to protect him from the shockwave.
As the dusts settled, Akrn got up, looked around and made sure everyone was still around.
Akrn: *shaking the dust off him* ...everyone alright?!
Rookie GF-1: *getting up* y-yeah, we're unharmed as far as things went.
Rookie GF-2: What the hell was that?!
Rookie GF-3: Don't mind that! *points to the floating squares* what are those?
Akrn: *looking up* I... don't think they are of friendly nature *to everyone* Everyone! Arm your guns and take your positions!
*The other Guardian Fighters arm their pistols/rifles and take up attacking positions around the area, a fight ensues between the squares and the group, with Akrn attempting to draw the main attention of the squares and divert the fire away from the other Guardian Fighters*
===End post===
After several minutes of fighting off the aliens, the ammo in John's gun got depleted rather quickly.
- Ah, crap! - John growled and threw away his useless weapon. - I guess, this bitch was getting bored without any violence going on around here!
- Who are you talking about?! - Terry dodged another incoming blast and tried to outscream the laser fire racketing all around.
- Later!
John reached behind his back and grabbed the Fireball launcher. At the same exact moment, one of the squares rapidly flew just towards him and delivered an energy blow to John's torso. Swearing like a tailor, the Space Hunter fired at the enemy, causing it to fall apart, as well as the unfortunate ones who happened to be crossing the line of fire.
- Will those a-holes ever end?! - asked someone loudly.
At the same precise moment, a massive metallic creature sprung out of the crater. It was shaped like a pair of giant robotic claws attached to the metal mount with something that seemed to be missile launchers on its sides. As they fired at John and the Guardians, it was now clear that the creature was indeed armed with explosive projectiles.
- Everyone, take cover! - John swiftly jumped away from the first in the series of explosions and launched another fireball towards the creature. - Damn it SHODAN, why can't you just die?!
==Post 10==
The ongoing battle between Akrn and Co. against the floating objects
As the battle wore on it became apparent that whatever they were facing was of magnitude that even they could not quell. Akrn had to think up something, and he needs it fast.
Once a short breathing time had been achieved; Akrn looked around to see if any of the other Guardian Fighters needed medical attention - thankfully, the only Guardian Fighter that was to be seen sustaining significant damage was Akrn himself, as he had been trying to draw all the fire from the original enemies. Although many of the G.F.s now appeared confused or with the "I am out of chips/ammo" expression.
Akrn: You lot! At this rate if we stuck around we're all going to perish; so the only thing i can suggest you lot to do is to retreat at once to the Capital City, quick!
Rookie GF-3: What about you? You look like the one that should be finding the nearest repair centre!
Akrn, pushing the G.F.s away from the battlefield as the "metallic creature" was just appearing out of the crater ahead of the group: Just go! I'll catch up with you later, I first need to find Terry!
Rookie GF-4, as the others fly off, visibly worried: just come back to us alive, ok? *flies off, the last to do so*
Akrn turned his attention back to the battle ahead, between Tetharil and John against the missile-firing metallic object. He realised that even with the calibre of Tetharil's weaponry and skill they could not dispatch this object. They need to be removed from the battlefield as soon as possible.
Akrn looked into his selection of secondary weapons he could equip himself; there he saw a recently upgraded Forcefield that he can use - still a primitive design dispite being rated "Level 2": it doesn't efficiently deflect all of the enemy firepower away, and it drains his chips like a mofo. But it now mattered not; he thought that if he wasjust trying to get Tetharil and whoever was with him out of there he would have enough time.
Akrn flicked on his Forcefield and observed his chip reserve deplete at a rate he never before witnessed with other arsenals of his; but given the right conditions he had about 2 minutes max to find Tetharil and get him out; he just hoped that it was enough for him.
In spite of all the explosions and the dust particles as the result; Akrn was able to quickly find Tetharil and shield him within the coccoon of his forcefield.
Akrn: Terry! You alright?!
Terry: Akrn! You finally came!
Akrn: We don't have much time; you need to get out of here and quick!
Terry, pointing to John: But what about him?! We can't leave him behind!
Akrn and John then exchanged glances at each other. Akrn somehow recognise John's body shape but yet unable to pinpoint where exactly had he seen him before; or even his name.
===End Post===
==Post 11==
As someone gets his arse handed to him
John stomach was hurting like a bitch, but he was still able to fire at the unidentified robotic monster. Thanks to the shellshock, majority of his shots were meters off. The Guardians were more focused on the target, thankfully, as several bursts have managed to rip some shiny metallic shreds from its body. But the robot was still functional, spewing deadly rays from between its robotic claws. After some of them missing the GFs due to some supernatural kind of luck, it was again John's turn to be a sitting duck. Another laser blow torn away the shoulder pad and metallic sleeve of his power armor, leaving ugly smoking scratches on the mercenary's skin.
- Ahhhh, Jesus it hurts! - screaming, John collapsed to the ground. Before he lost all consciousness, he heard an arrogant female voice in his head, probably coming from the communication link:
- I guess that's enough for now, meat puppet. But I'm not finished toying with you, hahahaha...
- You computer whore, go to Hell... - John squeezed these words from between his snapping teeth and fell unconscious.
=== End Post 11 ===
---New Phlan---- Unknown Sector
The team made it's way back to New Phlan. Gydolin, Felgar, Goldleaf, Exdous, and Murahan were all pretty beat up, after that last encounter with the Goblins. Mostly everyone had turned in for the night, save for Murahan. Murahan had taken a walk over to the boat docks, where it was quiet, and most importantly, where no one else was. . . .
Murahan slid his short sword from its sheath. He took a small rag, and began to wipe down the blade, which was ripe with Goblin blood. He stared out into the horizon, seeing no boats at sea at the moment. No way they would be right now anyway.... The undead were on the rise. Wights, Ghouls, Ghosts, you name it.
Murahan started to unscrew the handle of his short sword, revealing a small compartment. From the compartment, a very small black clip fell into the palm of his hand. Murahan took note of his surroundings, to see who might or might not be around. He was still indeed, alone.
Flash-sideways-scene
John ran out of the comm tent towards Bradley and the gathering Guardians.
- Terry!!! You will not believe who did this all and woke the aliens.
- What's the matter? - asked Bradley.
- You're not supposed to know her, but we Space Hunters and the Guardian Fighters sure do have this person in our most wanted lists. Well, technically, it's not a living person.
- You don't mean..? - Terry slowly raised his head to see the presumable coordinates of the mothership hovering above Naju.
Just at the same time, the clouds became torn to shreds, as a powerful beam fell from the sky right onto the camp, instantly vaporizing most of the buildings and inhabitants.
John and the Guardians were caught by the shockwave and thrown away. Moments later, the terraforming beam has disappeared, leaving a massive smoke cloud where the village previously was. None of the mercs were harmed, but the whole scientific team, including Bradley, was now dead.
- Son of a... - John was almost speechless. - Why?!
Just as he shouted this, a large amount of floating square shapes rose from the gigantic hole in the ground. Targeting John and the Guardians, they started floating slowly towards them, spitting energy balls.
Clipping the clip to his left earlobe, he then squeezed it together with his thumb and index finger.
-This is Murahan, calling GF Fringe Division. Encoder #612643. Again this is Murahan, calling GF Fringe Division. Encoder #612643, acknowledge.
There was nothing, but static. Murahan waited, another minute, which was a full minute too late for a response. The terror then washed over him, as he knew that only one thing could have happened.
The GF Fringe Division had been destroyed. Which meant, he was stuck in another time and space, away from his home on Naju. . . .
-My god. . . .
((To Be Continued....))
==Post 13==
The first thing John saw after opening his eyes was the cleavage. Then, the glasses. Finally, the white coat. Still trying his best to collect his jumbled mind, he was able to conclude that this was a nurse.
- Great, you woke up! - she said in delight. John attempted lifting his arm to wipe the annoying sweat from his forehead. The limb was barely moveable, but after several tries he kind of succeeded in this.
Judging from the interior and the uniform on a girl next to his bed, he was at the sickbay. However, there was no indication on which mothership it exactly was - the one hovering above that savage battle with aliens, or maybe even some vessel cruising at the opposite side of the planet. Hell, it could be USS Enterprise, for all he cared.
- Hello, lady. Can you please tell me what ship is this?
- You are onboard USS Compile, property of the Terran Colonization & Terraforming Research. - replied the nurse while filling in something on her PDA. - How do we feel?
- Ack, stop it. - John waved with another arm. - You were forced to rebuild my whole body from the flesh molecules and metallic junk, am I right?
- I am not sure what do you mean. - the woman scratched her cheek. - When you were transported here, your organics were mostly intact, but the cybernetic interface got it worst. We have replaced it with identical model, and that's pretty much it. However, you were suffering from some kind of heavy concussion, even heavier than it is expected to be received in combat.
- What do you know about combat? - John grinned sarcastically. His stomach was annoyingly aching, and the legs seemed more phantom than present.
- You are right, I do not really. However, I can surely tell that it looked like someone had hacked your cyber interface and was messing with your brain connectors.
- My WHAT?! - John looked away from the medical cutie. - So this f'n thing has finally got me. Oh joy.
- Can you please specify your name? - she replied. - You don't want to be John Doe while still alive, do you?
- Michael Pare. No, I'm fooling around. The name's John Targa.
- Thank you... - the woman made few more taps on her PDA screen and hid the device in the lab coat's pocket. - Why exactly Michael Pare, though?
John smiled and slowly sat up on the pillow. Thankfully, he was able to sense his legs again.
- He starred in that movie with a premise similar to our disaster here. A mining colony, some megacorporations, helicopters on the moon - just like the Guardians. Good stuff.
- I see... - she smiled warmly. - Anything else I can do for you? Will you be able to walk?
- I'll try, yeah, but in case of emergency, I'll find you, kindness. - John got his both arms flexed and started crawling out of the hospital bed. - Oh, and what's your name?
- It's Bayonetta, but you can call me Bay... Michael!
- As in Michael Bay? I get it. - they both laughed as John finally stood up.
* * *
Wandering across the vessel, John was looking for a free terminal to check a few things. It was not the same ship as was hovering above the demolished construction ground, so he needed to check the status of Terry and his teammates that could be likely dead at the moment.
His worst nightmare, however, occupied the majority of thoughts. SHODAN, an advanced computer AI that John was oh so unlucky to confront in the past, was back from the dead. She couldn't kill him when he was a sentry at the Citadel Station who mowed down a huge percentage of personnel turned to zombies thanks to this digital bitch taking control of the medical equipment. [ System Shock 2 spoiler, don't read if you haven't beaten it! ] He was the last survivor of USS Von Braun after SHODAN returned from oblivion to make it the proving grounds for her genetic aberrations. [ Spoiler end ] For some sick and twisted reason he, John Targa, was again picked to be SHODAN's torture toy. Of course she was the one who took control of the terraforming laser and dug a hole in the ground deep enough to unleash the alien bastards. But who exactly were the aliens? How did she know about them anyway? How will this encounter between John and her end? He was looking for answers... and survivors. The jam was getting tighter every hour.
---New Phlan--- unknown area
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I82d6NBRFjA ((Murahan's Theme))
Murahan was enchanted by the moonlight that washed over the sea's horizon. If it's one thing this world had, it had a certain calm beauty to it. He was indeed stuck in this unfamiliar world, but it wouldn't stop him from his mission- the mission to learn as much as he could, and gain whatever skills possible while doing so.
Such was the life of being a Leaper. Well, such was the life in the Fringe division on Naju anyway. The Fringe Division was never really quite accepted on Naju, due to the nature of their experiments. No one ever thought they were worth all the funding, until recently that is. They were able to development a machine that could transport a human being, to different periods of time and space. Murahan was the first one to undertake this task. And as it stood, he would possibly be the last. That is, unless he were to find a way, to get back to his own time. But, there was a way to get back. The trouble with that was, someone needed to access the trap door beneath the now ruined lab, and activate the fail-safe switch. . . .
Naju to some might seem like an alien world. But this world he was in, was very alien to him. Goblins? Orcs? Magic? It was hard to believe that these things actually exist.
Murahan put the small black clip back into its slot in the handle of his short sword. Just as he made the final twist to completely lock the handle of the sword back into place, he heard someone approaching.
-Can't sleep either? *Exdous said as he stepped down to the dock.*
-I'll feel better once we figure out a way to take care of what's lurking around the slums.
-That's a tall order, *Exdous replied* but as long as we keep our heads level, we should be fine.
Murahan really didn't want to talk fundamentals with the Thief right now. But then again, talking to the Thief was better then talking to the jerkoff Fighter. At least the Thief could talk about things other then how amazing he was with a two-handed broadsword.
-You think the legends are true about that Dragon the southern castle? *Exdous said as he looked out to the horizon.*
-Not really sure. But the folk seem pretty dead set on it. They believe Tyranthraxus is as real as the ground we're standing on. *Murahan replied.*
--YOU TWO, LET'S GO. WE'RE HEADING BACK INTO THE SLUMS. *Gydolin shouted from the distance.*
((To Be Continued...))
===Post 15===
Right after the end of post #11 and before #13 (which by the way, isn't #12!)
Terry, right after seeing John collapsing: Goddamn it John! *to Akrn* we have to get him out of here, too!
Akrn, struggling with the weight of him and his armour: who's this guy anyway? You know him?
Terry, helping Akrn carry John and finding a safe spot: An old acquaint of mine. you could say...
------------
A small distance from the original battlefield, still outside the Naju Habitability Boundary, but at least safe
Terry, with his visor down and checking with some on-screen radar and communication signals: Listen Akrn; up in that direction *points* is a space ship, USS Compile, who will be able to fix this guy. Can you and your remaining fuel make it there?
Akrn, looking up: Why are you asking me to carry this guy up there, all the way out into space?? I thought you were the one made for speed.
Tetharil then pointed to certain parts of Akrn's armour/shell; referring to a particular feature that are plentiful on him; while completely absent on Tetharil's own outer shell.
Terry: see those? Those are space-grade heat-shields, they will be necessary when you want to reenter the atmosphere. I don't have such luxury - if I tried going up there and coming back, I will burn up in a comet-like spectacle.
Akrn: but... i don't know the people up there! What if they won't take us in??
Terry: They will still be able to identify you as a Guardian Fighter, they will let you in.
Akrn, hesitantly picking himself and John up: ...you sure about it? Can't we just carry him back to Naju Central Base and do the repairs there?
Terry, sighs: ...there are reasons that John cannot go back.
Akrn: ...what do you mean?
Terry: it's lengthy*; we don't really have the time for that - so you'll have to press on with this plan.
Akrn then arranged John in a easy-to-carry position while transforming into Fighter Plane mode and prepared to take off.
Terry: Don't worry; I'll be doing what I can to establish a communication link with them. If everything goes well, the people of USS Compile will be able to fix you up there too.
Akrn: ...I just hope what you say can be worked out.
With that, Akrn took off into the skies while Tetharil briefly watched him disappear into the clouds above. He then transformed into a Fighter Plane and flew off in the other direction back to Naju Central.
[[ * - EinhanderZwei has the liberty for coming up with events surrounding his "exile" from Naju Central Base, or whatever he had done that earned him animosity among the Military ]]
------------
USS Compile, still before events of Post #13
Deep above the atmosphere of Naju, Akrn made it to the landing docks of USS Compile; but the stress of injuries taken from earlier battle [Post #10] as well as the stress of the spaceflight has all but worsened his body - he was barely holding together when the crew of Compile got a glimpse of the Guardian Fighter inside their own spaceship; a different one than Tetharil while it was still docked on Naju.
Akrn was only able to tell the receiving crew members that the person he was carrying needed urgent medical attention before collapsing himself.
------------
Naju Central Base - communication centre, during the events of Post #13
The Rookie Guardian Fighters, who were visibly shaken from the battle that they took part earlier in, were seen huddled in a group supporting each other while all showed a visible worried looks on them. Sigurbelle is also seen among them although she is more concerned with repairing any damages that the Rookie G.F.s got during that battle.
Tetharil; on the other hand, was seen in front of a communicating terminal getting increasingly anxious and annoyed at its continued failure to establish a communicating link with USS Compile.
Sigurbelle, to Terry after finishing with the last Rookie G.F.: Any luck?
Terry, lightly banging the terminal: ...nope. Still getting nothing but Timeouts
Rookie GF-4: Is Akrn still alive?
Terry, with fingers to his ears/antennas: I'm still picking up signals from him, so chances are very much "yes". But I cannot send any messages to him - probably meaning that he has been placed on electronic hibernation or powered down in some way or another.
Rookie GF-1: Will they be able to fix Akrn, though?
Terry: That's what I am worried with! They don't have the manual for Akrn's model, only mine, which wouldn't work for Akrn because our models are too different. *tries with the communicator again" so if I can at least establish some sort of a link with the people on USS Compile I can upload the manual to them...
------------
Interior of USS Compile, after the events of Post #13
John was wandering around the spaceship still looking for an unoccupied terminal to try reestablish communications with Tetharil and co., when he noticed the crew members walking around the corridors and talking with other crew members with increased urgency. One crew member noticed John:
Crew: Oh, you were the one that was travelling with the Guardian Fighter!
John: what's up?
Crew: Can you come with us for a moment, please?
John followed the Crew member to another medical bay where he saw a very damaged Akrn lying on the bed with its medical staff and engineers very cautiously working on him. Other engineers seemed to be furiously flicking through volumes and volumes of what appeared to be manuals - but none of them appeared to match to that of Akrn.
Crew: We are having absolutely no idea how to work on this guy because we do not have any sort of information or manual on his internal systems - and the ones we have are way outdated for his model.
John: Couldn't you download it from Terry? At least he would have access to the needed informations.
Crew: We tried that, but all communication links with Naju Military went unresponded. It would mean only one of the two: The Military is actively refusing our request, or someone is purposefully jamming our communication attempts.
John was unnerved at the second possibility.
===End Post===
===Post 16===
- All this is useless. - John sighed. - She won't let us do anything. SHODAN is a too far sophisticated creature that can possess whatever the hell she wants.
Just as he said that, a flashing line appeared across one of the monitors: 'NO SHIT, MEAT PUPPET'.
John rolled his eyes and smirked pathetically.
- Told you!
- What can we do then? - asked the crew member while trying to keep Akrn as sane as possible, given the overload damage. - I won't risk engaging the medical equipment if it can control it remotely.
- You'll have to shut down the terraformation laser. - John replied instantly.
- What?!
- You see, SHODAN is bad, but she's not a network. Without the laser, there'll just be no point for her to be here. Either that, or someone should be transported to another mothership and attempt contacting the GFs on the ground.
- No, it'll take too much time. - said the medic.
Suddenly, a visible shock rolled across the floor. Red alarms flashed for a brief minute below the ceiling, as another random crew member punched some keys at his terminal.
- They're firing the laser! It's been set to twice the required power - is it trying to pierce the planet from pole to pole?!
- F'k! - John screamed and ran away from the engineering room. Once in the corridor, he noticed Bay talking to several other nurses. Walking as fast as he could, given the outcome of his concussion, John approached them.
- Listen, Bay, I need to know where're you keeping my power armor. Also, can you show me where the central engineering is?
Startled, Bayonetta looked at John and said:
- Are you kidding? You can barely walk!
- I know, I know, but something needs to be done here to save the Guardian Fighters below. See that guy in the local engineering? He's dying, and we cannot fix him unless we obtain some vital info from the men below. And it would be really kickass if we'll manage to pick them up, too.
- I understand... - said the nurse. - Your power armor should be getting fixed in the Armoury over there, and to get to the engineering central, I'd advise you to use the teleport pads.
- Thanks, lady. - John smiled awkwardly. - No, save the cheesy goodbyes for later.
Leaving Bay and three other nurses staring at him, John headed towards the Armoury sign above one of the many doors scattered around the gigantic corridor.
Ah, this feeling of being empowered again. The technicians did one hell of a maintenance job, so John felt a little bad about shouting at them and demanding his gear back. Oh well, a round of beers at the nearest bar is the best apology among the spacemen. When the last power lock was in place, and only John's head was unprotected at that moment. Suddenly, a metallic sound was heard from the door. John looked back and saw a limping, beat up Guardian that was lying on the construction slab mere moments ago.
- You're John Targa, right? The John Targa? - the Guardian said in a painful voice.
- Yep, supposed to be. Why the hell are you walking around here? You look even more busted than I am.
- I am a useless piece of junk without Terry's blueprints anyway. We, the Guardians, were not trained to be useless.
- Okay, pal, save your pathos for later. - John waved his hand, and at the same precise moment, a radio announcer spoke from above:
- Terraformation systems offline. Warning: A breach in the firing mechanism. Unidentified carbon units aboard.
Akrn and John looked at each other.
- Alright, I'll need you. - said the latter, and they ran off to the nearest teleporter.
==End Post==
For those who're curious, the movie that John was referring to in Post 13 is called Moon 44: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097910/ (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097910/) And yeah, it stars Michael Pare. And yeah, it has a similar plot to what's currently going on here (but I'm not ripping it off, I swear by God). And yeah, it's a good decent little sci-fi flick!
===Post 17===
Interior of USS Compile
While Akrn and John made their way through the hallways of Compile with Akrn going at a snail's pace due to his highly rugged and unstable body - much to the annoyance of John Targa considering the situation they're in - one part of Akrn's throught was shrouded in a state of confusion: he knows that one of the "core objectives" that he needed to complete as a Guardian Fighter stated to 'dispose a rogue mercenary named John Targa'; it was programmed right into his core systems the day he was made - yet there he was, right in front of him, who appeared to be treating Akrn more as an ally than as a mortal enemy that deserved the aforementioned objective. To make his confusions worse, his teammate and archrival Tetharil seemed to have known him for a long time and mentioned about him unable to "return to Naju Central" for reasons he did not explain. [Post 15]
Could John just be buying his time to get Akrn's trust and have him assisting with his own agendas; and then plan to have him disposed of when it was all completed? Will Akrn be urged to leave the Guardian Fighters and team up with his work as a space mercenary? Or perhaps there was just a misunderstanding that happened before his time that just needed some dialogue? Maybe he happened to have 'failed' one of his previous missions? Will his assistance to John have a detrimental effect on his status of a Guardian Fighter back at Naju? And what does Tetharil know of all this in the first place?
Having thought of all that in quick succession; Akrn realised that given the state they were in he shouldn't let his paranoia take precedence over the task that they were facing. He discarded as much as he can about all those worries and started arming himself with whatever weaponry and defense that was still operational.
But Akrn knew - somewhere and somewhen down the line, questions will have to be answered.
===End Post===
===Post 18===
John and Akrn stepped to a door labeled 'CENTRAL ENGINEERING'. After catching his breath, John asked:
- Okay, let's do it. I hope that she didn't get a hold of the medical equipment yet.
As the door moved to the side, revealing the room interior, they thankfully were not greeted by zombies or corpses. However, they were not greeted by the engineers either. Pointing his gun at John, he stood there, towering above all the cables and frames that covered the floor. John sighed in vain. He knew this guy. Purple hair, long chin, violent look in his eyes...
- ...Bren McGuire. - John stared at his ex-commander with a mixed feeling of surprise and disgust. - What are the odds!
- As the Chief of Security on this vessel, I am forced to stop and question your decision. - McGuire replied coldly.
- Who's this joker? - asked Akrn.
- I am afraid I am the only one to ask questions here. What the hell do you both think you're doing? Why haven't you even talked to me or the Captain? If you shut down the terraformation lasers, fine. If that will make SHODAN leave our ship, even better. But how the hell do you think we will deal with her occupying another ship of ours?!
- And they say I've become an asshole after leaving the Turrican corps. - John sighed.
Akrn stared at him and McGuire without having even a small clue on what's going on. Meanwhile, one of the engineers working in the background noticed the standout at the door, but Bren just turned around and told him not to pay attention. While he was doing all that, Akrn finally summed up enough courage to ask again:
- John, who is this guy?
- Bren McGuire, my former superior at the Turrican Assault Suit corps. - John whispered theatrically.
- Former? Why did you leave them?
- Sins of my youth. - John boldly looked McGuire in the eyes and asked: - Okay, do you have a better plan?
- I surely do, Mr Targa. You are under arrest at the charge of sabotage. Let us proceed to the bridge.
John and Akrn had no choice but to sigh and obey. After all, they were not the ones with the guns at the moment.
They walked through the narrow corridor composed of gleaming lights and metal framing, all at Bren's gunpoint. Suspiciously, there was no personnel on the floor - either they all were on their lunch breaks, or this place was supposed to be deserted. All three of them kept deadly silence until they reached the teleportation chamber.
- Go in. - ordered McGuire.
John raised his hand to push the lock button, but the door got split into halves on its own. Inside the painfully white room, in front of several mangled corpses, stood Bayonetta. Looks like the fight was pretty bad, as her left arm and midriff were all bruised and bleeding.
- Shit... - ignoring the pulse blaster aimed at his back, John quickly stepped forward and caught Bay just before she fainted from the pain. - She's unconscious. Where's the sick bay here?!
McGuire holstered his gun and helped John grab and carry the nurse's body in the most convenient way available.
- There's none here, and the teleporter control console is all smashed out.
- Looks like Bay was forced to damage it in order to keep the zombies from arriving...
- I can fix that. - said Akrn. - Give me five minutes, I think I will be able to mend this thing.
- OK, go. - John nodded and turned to McGuire. - Man, look at these guys. It's like someone was trying to recreate the Philadelphia Experiment and failed just as miserably. All these gears and cogs sticking out of rotten flesh...
- Yep, even the worst monstrosities of the Machine weren't as gruesome. - McGuire sighed. - John, I have to apologize.
- For what exactly?
- For signing your retirement papers. These f'kers at TriOptimum were holding their soldering irons at my cojones after all that tragedy with Von Braun...
- Von Braun was aeons ago, don't mess with me. And besides, I wanted to leave your forces anyway.
- But why?
- You've all became TriOptimum's torture toys for money, so I've just decided to get even more money. My payment as the Space Hunter is noticeably bigger, that's no secret.
The silence was intense. Only the buzzing sounds of Akrn's tools kept it from getting too suspicious. Suddenly, a grin emerged on McGuire's face.
- Wasn't it because of someone named Samantha? I heard, you know... rumors...
John chuckled:
- Think whatever you want. After all, you've happened to be a princess saver yourself, eh? There, on Katakis...
- Ah, Yuko! - McGuire nodded. - We've married after you gone rogue. She's a biologist on the Tyrian outpost station now.
- How sweet. - John smiled. - Congratulations, sir.
- Thanks, Targa. And what about you? Ever thought of raising some space babies and retiring to be a pharmer Bob? Maybe it's your princess you're holding now!
John looked at Bayonetta. She had very delicate facial features, slightly hinting at her possibly Asian origin. Her hair was very long, pitch black in color and shiny, perfectly fitting her overall vampirish image. Those thin glasses and killer body didn't hurt, too.
- Are you kidding, sir? I know her for about 30 minutes! We have exchanged possibly ten or so lines so far.
These five minutes of cuteness were interrupted by Akrn:
- Alright, I think we're good to go.
The three (or four, counting the unconscious nurse) of them stepped inside the cubic teleportation chamber, and as the dematerializing rays began gathering all around them, McGuire turned to Akrn and asked:
- Well, you heard our girlie talk. What about you?
- Her name is Sigurbelle; she's on the planet surface now. If due to your interference something happens to her down below...
The rays were wrapping fast, but just a moment before they were reduced to scrambled molecules, Bren was able to hear the end of Akrn's sentence:
- ...I'll erase your ass, 'sir'.
==End Post==
===Post 19===
Naju Central International Airport (NJM) - Spaceflight Departures
Inside the hangar of parked aeroplanes; a small group of characters were to be seen trying to make their way through the maze of disorganised parking. The person leading the pack was an anthropomorphic Lemur (http://heatherkat.deviantart.com/art/Horaculous-Sketch-Commission-263458179) named Horaculous; constantly turning his head around as if he was trying to remember where he parked his plane - or where it was dragged to when they were moved around months before. The female engineer named Sigurbelle followed closely behind him - clutching her toolbox as well as what appeared to be a rather heavy binder; and a member of Rookie Guardian Fighters behind the duo.
Horaculous, spotting his plane amid all others: Aha, there it is!
Rookie GF-2: Seemed like forever since Naju Central shut down the Spaceflight programme, huh?
Horaculous: ...yeah *finds a nearest ladder so he can climb into the cockpit* even my own beloved plane is gathering inches of dust *blows some away so he can get his door keys in* Still never really understood why they shut down the programme.
Rookie GF-2: I think it's something to do with all the "alien invasions" that has been happening around the local solar system as of late. Heck; even we ourselves are getting some of them from just within, from the "Below Surface" worlds! Keeping us Guardian Fighters busy, that's for sure.
Sigurbelle, looking at the GF still unsure: You really sure about this?
Rookie GF-2: ...think about it this way; if we can't get communications electronically, we'll just have to do it the old-fashioned pigeon-mail way. And as much as I hate to admit it; Horaculous is the only remaining serving pilot that knows how to pilot a spaceflight-worthy plane.
Horaculous started his plane; thankfully it was still operational dispite months without maintenance and nearly empty of fuel. He called on the Rookie GF to the control panel nearby who inputted a request to refuel Horaculous's plane. An automatic crane made its highly noisy and rusted route through the hangar and poked the pump into the plane's fuel tank.
Horaculous, shouting back from the cockpit as he is putting his helmet on: Are you coming or not?!
Sigurbelle: y-yeah! *goes up the ladder and into the passenger seat of Horaculous's plane*
Sigurbelle sat down on the huge leather seat although she had trouble keeping herself comfortable with the bulky toolbox as well as the binder. So much that she needed assistance just to put the seatbelts on.
Horaculous: alright, two Golden Rules as a Co-pilot: 1) Keep your mouth shut and 2) don't touch anything. You get all that?
Sigurbelle, still wondering what she got herself into: y-yeah.
Of course, it was all her idea from the start to come along - eventhough the Engineers on Compile could have fixed Akrn with just the manual that Sigurbelle was carrying; she still had doubts about the reliability of the engineers.: what if they screw up, or misconfigure something in his systems that would undermine the stability of the entire body? Besides; she herself is also highly worried about what Akrn could end up getting involved with so she felt Akrn would need her company at least for a short while.
Horculous, as he flicks some switches: Alright! Refuelling done, take off in 15 minutes.
Horaculous taxied its plane around the airport to the runway that was specifically designed for spaceflights. Once the all-clear to take off was obtained, Horaculous and Sigurbelle waved their good-byes to the Guardian Fighter still on the ground and took off into the skies in a furious, majestic fashion; the one that Horaculous dearly missed with the old plane of his.
Just as Horaculous and Sigurbelle vanished from GF-2's view; another one of them Rookies GFs appeared - she was seen as if she had been running around trying to look for him and was panting heavily as she caught up.
Rookie GF-4: who was that?!
Rookie GF-2: no-one important, just Horaculous taking Sigurbelle to Compile so she can check and fix Akrn. Why? What's up? what's the hurry?
Rookie GF-4: I-It's Terry! He needs us all assembled - NOW!
Rookie GF-2: ...wut?
The two Guardian Fighters then ran off back into the terminal looking for Tetharil.
===End post===
Note: Horaculous and Sigurbelle would not arrive on Compile for another 3 posts.
===Post 20===
USS ThunderSpectrum, en route to the motherships gathering above Naju
Standing in the darkness of ThunderSpectrum's armoury, Rydia was loading up her gear. Neither the darkness, nor her own bareness bothered her, as her whole body was a complicated structure of pipes, radiator frames and wires wrapping the electric and electronic parts, which only made sense in any kind of outfit. Speaking of which, as Rydia clicked the clasps on her white Angelic Armor, she took a pair of Defender pistols and checked if their clips were fully loaded.
ThunderSpectrum was a neutral state of its own. Neither it did belong to the Terran Military, nor to the TriOptimum corporation. It was not under the control of the Space Hunters. Nobody exactly knew who was turning all the screws there, and the majority of civilians were not even aware of the actual ThunderSpectrum's existence. Some said that it has crossed the event horizon once and ripped its sinister hull through the very flesh, blood and surface of Hell, but the only public person, John Targa, always refused to give any interviews about their mission.
Rydia's Angelic Armor was not simply a badass Biblical reference. Underneath her cybernetic limbs and ribs was her organic core that was not produced by human race. In fact, only two ThunderSpectrum crew members had autonomous bodies - her and the Security Chief, John Targa. Few hours ago he has been spotted in a strange anomaly of a warzone at the Naju orbit during what was supposed to be his off time. Despite his value to the ThunderSpectrum crew, they knew he was a reckless daredevil and a playboy, so it was not the first time they were forced to rescue him from another space mantrap he's gotten into while chasing another space patootie.
However, this time the planet itself was different.
A large LCD screen above Rydia came to life. She raised her sight and saw the elderly face of Captain Trenz. Despite his actual body being a twisted mess of screens and wires, he and the rest of the crew preferred using elaborate human avatars whenever possible to avoid his units going insane from the uncanny valley effect.
- Are you arming yourself with the Defenders only? - Trenz raised his eyebrow.
- Positive, sir. As we are about to confront an incompletely researched entity, I prefer obtaining the armament onsite.
- That's sort of wise. - Trenz nodded. - Have you received the planetary information?
- Negative, sir. Only the location of Chief Targa is available.
- OK, then head to the briefing room next, please. We will exit the subspace in roughly 30 minutes.
- Aye, sir.
The briefing room was as alien and otherworldly ship section, as was the majority of other areas. The floor and ceiling were only hinted at; instead, it looked like some sort of a cybernetic nightmare spawned across the room. All the combinations of electronic parts mended together into an enormous superstructure that actually formed the ThunderSpectrum itself, were looking like a group of fossilized alien terrors mingled together into one horrifying organic blob.
But what looked like an Eldritch alien horror to some, was a home-sweet-home for Rydia and her crewmates. And now, standing before the gigantic holographically projected screen, she watched the myriads of useful information pieces flowing directly into her own memory bank, physically emerged across her spinal area.
- Alright, Rydia. Let us recap. - Trenz's voice flew across the room from the speakers hiding in one of the bionic blobs hanging from the ceiling.
- Mission?
- Search and rescue.
- Object?
- John Targa.
- Location?
- USS Compile, the Terran colonization vessel.
- Orbit?
- Naju, an uncharted alien planet.
- Confirmed threats?
- SHODAN, the rampant artificial entity that took over the Compile.
- Possible threats?
- Looks like SHODAN is intended to use the terraformation technology to break into the underground chambers of Naju and let loose the inhabitants, so she will assemble yet another organic army at her command. This is all theory, though.
- Other fractions?
- Guardian Fighters, Terran Military, subtle sightings of Space Hunters roaming around.
- Civilians?
- The terraformation ships' crews, and a certain number of colonists on the planet surface.
- Additional information?
- Targa is not alone there. His company is Bren McGuire, the former Turrican Assault Suits commander - he's loyal to us; then there is Akrn Salthic of the Guardian Fighters - watch out for him, somebody has infused him with an order to assassinate John; and someone named Bayonetta - she's listed within the medical crew of Compile, but there is not much other information about her, so keep your eyes open on her as well.
As the information stopped streaming into her spinal cord, Rydia disconnected herself from the machine and walked towards the teleportation chamber's door.
==End Post==
===Post 21===
Interior of USS Compile
Akrn, John, Bren and Bayonetta teleported to another sector of the spaceship; the one that Akrn and John already recognised: it was the one they travelled through after John was fixed/cured at the medical bay [Post 13] by the very same person that ironically ended up being needing medical attention.
As John and Bren carefully laid Bayonetta onto an hospital bed so she can get the medical attention; Akrn's internal thoughts continued to be shrouded in confusion: since John positively identified himself as the "John Targa" that his mission stated was to eliminate, his character-identification interface in his system would constantly identify him as an enemy, not as an ally; no matter how much Akrn himself tried to override it. He was still left in the dark about the source of the mission and why he needed to get it done. To make matters worse - there was no way for him to overwrite the status of the mission himself because since it was programmed into his core module; he did not have the "privilege" to change its status unless its own systems have positively identified the task as "complete".
Maybe, he thought, that this was all but a system glitch as result of the damage he had sustained in the earlier battle while still on the surface - after all, he was still yet to be fixed in full due to the fact that the engineers on this spaceship did not have the needed manual of his system. If only his personal engineer, Sigurbelle, was here, he would have then be able to personally ask her to have a look at it and maybe shed some light on it all.
In an attempt to once again divert the attention away from all that; he gathered whatever energy left and asked the duo:
Akrn: ...so, where are the "carbon units" that the intercom said have infiltrated this ship?
-----
Naju Central
[[ My creativity is gone again... basically what is happening on the surface of Naju is that now 6 sectors of Naju (Areas 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and one other area of Naju) is under attack; Terry just ordered the Rookie Guardian Fighters to split and try check out what the hell is going on ]]
=== End Post ===
Post 22
On the importance of data and communication.
USF Compile terraforming cruiser.
John used to deal with his duties with the highest amount of attention he could provide long-term. For this reason, he typically spent his whole day in the main control room, with vidcoms set to automatically accept connections after a 10 second delay.
Unbeknownst to him, old legacy transmission protocols didn't get the same treatment. Instead, they would need to be manually accepted, their use considered a potential security risk by modern standards. Not that this would even matter. What it really mattered is the current situation, which caused the incoming connection request to keep being ignored so far.
Naju surface, unidentified location.
A man is waiting for a radio speaker to come alive, while holding his head with both hands.
That's impossible.
2190 days.
And some idiot is going to fuck up everything!
With terraforming beams!
The man looked up as he heard the long time forgotten noise of
Jets... where... in supersonic flight? Where?
Oh.
Yeah, that's clear now.
I must have gone mad.
===Post 23===
USS Compile, sickbay
Return Of The Puns & Movie References
- I'm led to believe that it refers to those a-holes dispatched by this poor babe. - John sighed. - It's so damn ironic how she was able to help me simply because of SHODAN's reluctance, and I am completely unsure now, whether this digital bitch will strike again.
Bren slowly moved to one of the wall-mounted terminals and pushed several keys.
- Yep, I can definitely see SHODAN's patterns here, occupying the control nodes. How many time do you think it's needed before Mrs Bayonetta gets an infection and dies?
John slowly sat down on a nearby storage box and took a pack of cigarettes from the container placed on his hip. This quick bondage they applied to the nurse's body was surely a piece of crap, but at least it managed to arrest the blood and make her suffering slower, so she was not supposed to meet her maker too soon.
- So, this grasshoper walks into a bar, and the bartender's like, - John blew some smoke from his nose, - 'Hey, we have a drink named after you!'
- Uh-huh, - said Akrn while examining the debris sticking out of his stomach area.
- And the grasshopper says: 'You have a drink named Steve?' Haha!
- Haha, that's funny. - Bren replied.
John looked at Bayonetta's body resting on the operating slab. Would not hurt at all if she regains conscience sometime soon, otherwise it was getting real creepy. Maybe she was in fact a vampress, and SHODAN has managed to arm her zombie minions with silver bullets?
- Hey, wanna smoke? - John turned to Bren with the cigarettes in his stretched hand.
- Nah, maybe later.
- Akrn, you?
- John. - Akrn stared blankly at him. - I'm afraid I have no lungs.
- Uh, right.
Suddenly, Bayonetta gave a loud moan and raised her hand. Startled, the heroic trio forgot to react, so they just looked at her trying to sit while holding her bruised midriff with even more bruised hand. Bayonetta turned at them and smiled awkwardly.
- Hello Gentlemen... For how long was I unconscious?
- For damn too long, ma'am. - John blew another smoke cloud. - Wanna some?
- You moron! It's forbidden here! - Bayonetta looked at him with anger. - 'Off-World Interceptors'? OK, give me one.
John tossed the pack to her, and the nurse quickly caught it with her pale fingers. Once that was done, John stood up and walked to the medical tools on display in one of the storage drawers. Of them all, only McGuire had a gun, and both John and Akrn were unarmed due to all this big stinkin' surge of panic all around. A scalpel would be fine, but with all these glamorous medical advancements our hero has witnessed throughout the times his ass was un-handed to him at multiple medical stations across the Universe, he knew he could find something better than a simple scalpel. Just as one of his longtime pals, Isaac Clarke, once proved that even a welding iron can dismember the alien bastards in a couple of fancy moves.
Of course, John was right: next to a scalpel, a drill, a skull buzzsaw and some enemas (wait, what?) there lied a nice big fat laser drill, looking more like a blaster gun from the ancient science fiction movies.
- I'll go snoop around a bit. - he said to the gang. - Don't move until I return, stay here and stay silent. Okay?
- John, take my gun. - Bren walked up to him.
- Keep it. - John shook his head. - You'll need it in case if they get me and smell your blood or something. Search the lockers, too - there should be some surgical equipment you can arm yourselves with.
The medical bay door slowly opened, and John carefully stepped outside with the drill in his hand. No zombies were in sight, but the '< LANDING PAD | CREW QUARTERS >' sign was already stained in some ugly crimson gore. Of course, going to the 'CREW QUARTERS >' was more than suicidal, so John decided to check out the Landing Pad. No sound was heard anywhere, not even a stereotypical groan right from a George Romero movie. Only silence, and flickering light at the ceiling, and metallic walls stretching far away with some turning points here and there.
Will John be able to survive the horror before SHODAN makes another move? Evil was impressively resident here...
==End Post==
===Post 24===
USS/USF Compile Sickbay
Akrn, as he observed John heading off: what an adventureous guy, isn't he? *moves to gather some medical equipments* Well, can't really sit here and do nothing. *moves the tray and the cart next to Bay* Need any first aid, Ma'am?
Outside USS/USF Compile
Just outside the shut landing gates, a Skygrasper (http://gundam.wikia.com/wiki/FX-550_Skygrasper) styled plane could be seen hovering about, as if it was waiting for the gates to open.
Horaculous, into the mic for as many times as he could remember: Horaculous of Naju Military Support Division, requesting permission to dock inside USF Compile; please respond... *to Sigurbelle* It's no use... noone's picking up our communication attempts. [Post 22]
Sigurbelle: What about Akrn?! Is he alright??
Horaculous: I... wouldn't know, let's hover around and try if we can see him or at least someone who can respond to us.
Horaculous then hovered his plane around the seemingly unresponsive spaceship trying to find any sign of life.
Horaculous: This is looking like a ghost ship more than anything else.
Post 25Unsuspectable trouble.Naju surface, undisclosed location.QuoteThe radio begins to emit odd, repetitive noises. It often happens, after so much time on the field, somebody always took care of it. If only one could swap out dead components from teammates with the same easiness.
This time the noise was much, much different though. It must be a very different issue. The noise even has a some beat of sort. Some cadence. How was it called? Rhythm. There used to be this thing with... songs... and with most songs there was...
HOLY SHIT! VOICE!
SR: Seightmour Rey here. First engineer of Alpha team, Calyxia Colony Self-Defence Forces. Dispatched to planet surface, mission code NXST-00. Over.
Radio: this is Naju Airport control tower. You're transmitting on a unsecure channel. Over.
SR: coms are mostly FUBAR. I need to contact the terraforming vessel. Over.
Radio: we cannot confirm your clearance
{A}. Over.
SR: control, I have been waiting for extraction for years, holding the line here. I saw jets over my head. Where is my extraction. Over.
Radio: provide your location. Over.
QuoteHere it comes. The location. In planetary coords. It used to be tactical units, with origin at... where was it?
Hands quickly sketch some calculations on a pad.SR: Minus 755.4103, Minus 1421.2027. Over.
Radio: I have been given no information about your extraction. Over.
QuoteFlying jets here. They're shitting me
SR: I need to send a message to terraforming vessel. Do not resume terraforming operations. I repeat: do
not resume operations. Over.
Radio: we will take care of your message. Stand by for further communications. Over and out.
NJM control tower.A man puts down a pair of headphones. He then pushes a few buttons on an apparently not working console and gets up with a visible disappointment for the disservice. His uniform reads Earl, as he gets near a woman and asks her to put down the headphones as well.
Earl: Leona, I need to talk. My coms went crazy and I got a message, from a man on an obsolete voice-only codec.
Leona: my coms are white noise. We're useless here. The whole IT infrastructre is messed up. What's the problem with that guy?
Earl: he claims to have been dispatched to the planet years ago and to have seen our jets.
Leona: so what? We don't know everything. Where is located.
Earl: to the opposite side of the planet. Apparently not so far from landing point Alpha.
Leona: that's impossible. We didn't dispatch anything there!
Earl: so what should we do?
Leona: you go to the server room and beat up the sysadmins till they make this shit work again. I'll try to talk to the high-rank officers to confirm this mission code and its clearance.
Earl: and so we leave the control tower?
Leona: WTF, Earl. The coms are unusable. We couldn't do anything anyway. Call me lieutenant from now on. I order you to go to the admins. I'll reach you there.
Earl: yes Sir.
The two figures disappear downstairs.
Note {A}.
Here I introduce the notion of the network being stormed. Coms are apparently under some sort of EMP and internal IT got busted. It's clearly an intended attack and I guess it's a good hook to place there a virtual reality universe which got disconnected from the "real" Naju we're on. I mean, if the Naju Fringe division is operating on Naju itself (perhaps to deal with SHODAN) then this might fit.
Post 26
Compile, Landing Pad
This laser drill was a miracle. Once it sliced through the ugly brains of another zombie, there was not a drop of blood on the floor. Only a partially beheaded corpse and the chunks of its skull. Obviously, this digital bitch has managed to start manufacturing some kind of brain-controlling interfaces and began to forcefully implant them into the crew, not caring about such minor things as anesthesia or disinfection. As a result, most of the zombies had their flesh rotten to just bare basics, enough to carry the homebrew mechanisms forcing them to kill and kill again.
Fortunately, John could boast a decent experience in dealing with all sorts of deadly contaminates, and on his shit-o-meter, the current situation ranked only around 7 of 10 - at least, this time he was not alone, and the Compile interior was far from claustrophobic. He had an impromptu backup team and weak enemies; the only problem was to cure everybody and find the armoury.
Instead, he entered the docking bay and stood for a while near the broken airlocks. Looks like SHODAN took care of them as well - nobody will be able to enter or exit the Compile, especially on those teeny-tiny shuttles that the terraformers were using.
John spotted two more zombies. They slowly walked towards him, moaning. One of them raised his arm, and a set of blades popped up from his wrist.
- Boring. - grinned John and took care of both. Pierced through their heads, the corpses fell down on the floor, now completely dead.
Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice in his head. Of all the communication channels that SHODAN was able to grasp, there was a very special one that nobody would dare to touch, let alone jam.
- John, come in. - said the familiar voice on the other side.
- F'k me...
- For Christ's sake, John! This is your sister!
- Yeah, hi Rydia. How's it going?
- You don't have a slightest idea of the jam you've stepped into. Wait for me, I have your location now.
John scratched his chin and turned the drill off. It was always a bad sign if the Captain was forced to awaken Rydia and send her to the hotspot - she was always reserved to the very worst of the situations, and still, one vessel's takeover by one local AI was not that critical. Or was it?
One of the airlocks began to shake slightly. Then, something started welding it out from inside. After the glowing contour was completed, the airlock shielding fell to the ground after a strong punch. Through the hole, John saw the interior of ThunderSpectrum's shuttle, complete with the seat and grim-faced Rydia climbing out and stepping on the docking bay floor.
- A peaceful day off, you said. Nothing but fun on a resort planet, you said. And what now? - she said angrily and fixed her short black hair.
- I've taken a simple sidejob hoping for some quick buck! Who could've thought that SHODAN will plan her glorious return, above the uncharted planet, no less?!
- John. - Rydia sighed; as the gynoids were never supposed to do this, it looked real creepy. - It is not uncharted.
- Huh?
- Let's find a safe spot, and I will tell you everything we know. Do you have one?
- Yes, let's head back to the sick bay. I have a couple of other survivors there, let's go.
==End Post==
===Post 27===
USS(F) Compile Docking Bay/Arrivals
Amid all the chitchat between John and his dear sister; another figure poked his head through the cut out hole between the Airlock and the Docking Bay. It was Horaculous, he had parked his Skygrasper near to Rydia's ship when they found each other while still outside Compile looking for a way in.
Horaculous, nervously waving at the duo: Erm, hope I am not distracting any intimiate reunion or something...
Then, a visibly impatient Sigurbelle made her way into the Docking bay too, clutching her toolbox and the binder of paper.
Sigurbelle: ...where's Akrn?!
===End (quick) Post===
Post 28One inNaju surface (-755.4103; -1421.2027 planetary coordinates)The sound of a falling aircraft is filling the air. Rey quickly jumps on a high stone wall nearby.
Since his dispatch to surface, he never had the chance of hearing what it sounded like a rhapsody to ears used to silence and a man used to think himself as the only human alive on surface.
It has been years, but survival is a matter of being ready, being on the offensive and being able to take quick decisions. There are very little things to consider, voices by one side, an aircraft to the other. He quickly jumps down and grabs a tactical backpack. A couple of minutes later Rey is out of his camp, moving towards the branch which would take him to either the ruins or the swamps.
It's much harder to make quick decisions when the choice will decide whatever you'll be succesfull or not. He didn't had the chance to accurately spot the crash site and the aircraft sure looked small, sure the pilot would try to land on a strong vegetation. Reaching the forest would take little care but finding a crashed aircraft in there sounded like an impossible mission, unless the pilot was alive and leaving signals.
Navigating the ruins is mostly a matter of keeping your hears open. Step after step, large monolithes of black stone leave their place to crumbled arches and walls. Hearing is the other required skill.
The sound of a small gravine interrupts Rey as he was approaching an open area. Hiding behind a pillar he readies his rifle. The falling continues. A quick glance. A group of jumping meatballs are raging around the gravel. They must have just captured some prey. And animals don't pay attention when they're pulling the last blow on their food. A quick sprint, a jump, Rey lands on top of collapsed dome, grabs a metal frame and lands in the interior. Outta there. No contact. Good. Slow down again.
Step after step. Did he saw something there? Nothing important. Down a drainage channel and then back up on nearby stone stairs. The abstract paint of lichens on the channel are a thing of the past. He quickly stops on top of some structure clearly meant for hydraulic control and starts climbing on a trellis. A few minutes go by.
QuoteSouth route clear.
Rey throws himself down and sprints nearby the artificial river, going in the opposite direction he came from. He's running as fast as he can to reach a building and go through it. The ruins are in much better conditions here albeit their construction style is possibly even more intimidating than a wall about to crumble. Soon, Rey finds himself navigating tight roads and slowing down to a crawl. There is too much to take care of there. Below his feet. At each crossings. Above his head a robotic spider jumps outside a dark spot below a balcony.
QuoteFk you.
The laser rifle shoots its death ray. The silence is broken only by the sound of a metal carcass hitting the ground and shattering to pieces.
Step by step. Twenty meters take almost a minute. Rey flattens on a wall and looks around a corner. A large gate has been breached. No signs of life.
QuoteTime to get serious.
Note: the aircraft crashed is one of the Guardian Fighters Tetharil dispatched during post 21. He's not supposed to be there.
Post 29
Compile, sickbay
As the sickbay doors expanded, all the refugees instantly turned their heads to the opening, armed with whatever each could find in the meantime.
- John. - Rydia's voice slightly touched his neural interface. - I sense something sinister among those. Especially that witch.
- Who, Bay? She's just a nurse, she shouldn't be dangerous.
- If you insist. - Rydia inserted a shrugging smiley at the end of this sentence. There were basically two things that freaked John out every time he encountered them: Rydia sighing and Rydia suddenly showing emotions while outside the ThunderSpectrum. At least, there was a technical explanation for that - so technical that her and John were not siblings in a biological sense. Their brother-and-sister relation was mostly due to the fact that they shared the same dark twist...
- Alright folks, let me introduce my sister Rydia, and two unexpected representatives of the Naju Central: Horaculous and Sigurbelle.
The last person to be in a need for introduction for the latter was Akrn, as in the middle of John's sentence she already was hugging the hell out of him. John grinned warmly and went on:
- And here we have Akrn the Guardian Fighter, Bren McGuire the Military Official and Bayonetta the Hot Nurse.
Geez, did he just say that?!
- Don't make me blush, soldier boy. - Bayonetta smiled in response.
- A mercenary boy, please. - said John and caught the pack of cigarettes tossed by Bren. - Alright, as the gang's all here, we should decide a plan to get SHODAN offline and finally establish some kind of connection with the surface.
- Can't we use our shuttle comm systems? - asked Sigurbelle.
- I'm afraid we can't. SHODAN must have linked up with them already; I don't want you to risk. - Rydia shook her head. - Maybe you can give me a chance to speak to her?
- Are you crazy?! You haven't even fully recovered from the Abaddon incident...
- JOHN!!! SILENCE!!! - Rydia silently screamed it so loud that his neural link started to shake.
- Okay, okay, never mind. - John gave an awkward giggle. - Even if so, what do we need?
- First, I need a list of your weapons. - Rydia slowly moved on to her sleeping pills personality again. Man, was that scary. - Let's start with you, John.
- A bone drill and your Defender gun. Enough to go Solid Snake on their asses.
- That was funny. Bren?
- I have only this analogue pistol, and it's half-loaded. - McGuire extracted the clip to make sure, sighed and loaded it back.
- Uh, I see. Bayonetta?
The nurse slowly stood up from the operating table she was sitting on, and moved her sleeves.
- Here, two Derringers on my wrists and two for the heels. All empty.
- Wait a minute, how did you..? - John raised his eyebrow. His next words were targeted at Rydia's neural link. - Now that's what I'd call a witch!
Completely ignoring his wit, Rydia moved on with the armament protocol.
- Too bad. Akrn?
- I was stripped off all my armament when they were trying to fix me. Only if I can grab something here...
- You won't need to. Sigurbelle?
- Only this stun pistol, I'm afraid... Maybe my toolbox can be of use, too.
- Alright. And, Horaculous?
- I have a blaster, but its battery will die out soon, too.
Rydia nodded. All together, they definitely had their strength in numbers, but their overall available arsenal was pretty shallow. Thankfully, she still had one very special channel to chat with her mothership.
- Miss Rydia, if you'll excuse me... Can I buy some time to look into Akrn's wounds? - Sigurbelle glanced at her with such worried face that even this badass space amazon could not stand it.
- Uh, sure, please do. - Rydia looked away and started establishing a connection with ThunderSpectrum, sharing it with John. The latter was sitting on a crate, smoking like a tank engine. - Captain... We need some supplies urgently. Seven Deliverators, a dozen medkits and a couple of Mindcrushers for me and John. Alright, thank you very much!
- Mindcrushers? Feeling bloodthirsty tonight, sis? - John chuckled.
- One more bad tactical decision from you, and I will. - she stuck a bit of her tongue, taunting him.
- One more anthropomorphic gesture, and my Uncanny Valley feeling will shatter to pieces. - he reacted the same way.
===End Post===
===Post 30, a very big post===
USF Compile Sick Bay
Rydia, to Sigurbelle: How long do you need?
Sigurbelle, laying Akrn onto a vacant bed, then observing the state of damage he's in, sighing: 2 hours, minimum... *opens up the blueprints manual and the toolbox*
Rydia, kinda impatient: Do your best, we won't be staying here for long.
Akrn, as Sigurbelle is fixing him: ...so how's it working out back on Naju?
Horaculous: Not at all good - remember the possessed terraforming vessel, the one that released the Clawbot and gave you, Terry, and the Guardian Fighters a hard time? It started unterraforming the surface all around and now we got 6 Areas under attack *shrugs as if he is totally helpless about that*
Akrn, visibly surprised: W-WHA--
The reaction was so strong that some parts of his broken wirings sparked, which had the effect of giving him the sensation of intense pain similar to how living beings would experience under similar circumstances.
Sigurbelle, pushing Akrn back down on the bed: Goddamn it, calm down! Can't fix you when you're getting excited like that!
Akrn, lying back down: Are Terry and co going to be alright?!
Horaculous: They should be, last I know of them was when Terry broke up the group to try gather updates on what really is going on in those areas. Although what they plan to do after that, I don't know. Oh, and as much as I am ashamed in admitting:he is involved as well.
Akrn: Psh, that "Itali-english" speaking moron got involved too?? They really ought to factory-reset him if he keeps that up *rolls eyes*
Sigurbelle: Hey now, you know yourself how he has been proving himself useful in tricky situations.
Akrn: Sure I do, I just cannot deal with his flamboyant personality during other times - and neither can almost every other Guardian Fighters..., I wonder how Terry actually put up with him.
Horaculous: probably something to do with his long-lost friend?
Akrn: hmm?
Horaculous: it's a long story, happened before you were created, and Tetharil never really spoken publically about it to anyone else, either; so I don't know the full details.
Akrn: i... see...
The short silence followed but was then broken by Sigurbelle's long sigh of relief as she wiped the sweat off her forehead.
Sigurbelle: Alright, all rewiring complete; now to plug in this laptop and check on the internals... *plugs it into Akrn's core*
Akrn: Oh yeah, Siggy, can you go into my core systems and look up a particular mission I have been assigned to?
Sigurbelle, loading some data on her laptop: Oh? what you need?
Akrn then sent "that" mission onto Sigurbelle's laptop, who then quickly glances at the details.
Sigurbelle: Oh yeah, I know that, it's been there since the day you're created years ago - why, have you found this "John Targa" person?
Akrn stared at Sirgubelle wide eyes as if she let out some mortal secret that should not have been heard of by other people. Sigurbelle simply looked back at him with the bemused "...what?" look. John, Rydia and Bren all exchanged glances at each other then turned their attention on the pair.
Cue reaaaaaaally awkward silence within the room
Naju Surface, Area 3: Dense Viridiplanta Forests
Two Rookie Guardian Fighters could be seen making their way through the densely wooded forests. This area was originally constructed to ensure stable Oxygen level on the planet, and to allow diverse bioculture when this place has been completed. However; after the terraforming lasers crashed through this area and opened up the inhabitants of the Below-Surface Worlds that was supposed to have been sealed for millennia; this place has been flooded with robotic versions of the beings that was supposed to live here, and made this place a lovely hive for them.
Although Tetharil wanted Letty to handle this one alone - she was too shy and scared to do so. Without choice, Tetharil then summoned one of other Guardian Fighters who have not had appearance in this mission - a flamboyant italian-english speaking Guardian Fighter known by the name of Maiorico.
Letty initially had second thoughts when she realised that that guy is going to tag along with her; she eventually relented and allowed him to come with her - so long he doesn't try anything "stupid".
Maiorico has a reputation himself for being the least popular Guardian Fighter around; but despite that he is universally disliked by his peers; he has proven himself to be an able Guardian Fighter, and has had on numerous times saved the day when other Rookies were in danger for whatever reason imagineable.
Rookie GF-5 (Maiorico), placing his arm around Letty's shoulders: So, signorina Letty, when this is over, how about we go have a nice dinner at un ristorante romantico, solo noi due?
Rookie GF-4 (Letty), yelling as loud as she can: BUZZOFF! I have no feelings for you! Why did I even agree to let you come with me?!
As if on cue, an enemy robot spider leapt from its hiding place, plotting to pounce and attack the two Guardian Fighters - But Maiorico have been waiting for that moment. Just before the robot reached Letty, Maiorico seized his pistol and before Letty knew what had happened Maiorico dispatched the robot spider in the head, it slamming onto the floor in one huge metallic crash that finally startled Letty.
Rookie GF-5 (Maiorico), spinning his pistol on his finger and then hoisting it back in place: Phew, that was dangerous.
Rookie GF-4 (Letty), looking at the dead robot: Well... I-
Rookie GF-5 (Maiorico): Shall we keep going? We have to report back to Naju Central about the current state of this place. Sbrigati!
Rookie GF-4 (Letty), catching up: S-sure!
Naju Surface, Area 1: South Coasts
The South Coasts, for the most part, could be considered the most successful terraforming project thus far on Naju. Despite it being within view of Naju Central if one looked from its tallest building; the reverse can't be said if one is standing down the coastline because the city is blocked by low-lying mountains. This combination, together with healthy seas and diverse marine ecosystem, made The South Coasts an ideal away-from-city resort for the inhabitants, and any arriving space tourists.
Its possible economic and cultural power for Naju no surprise why that place was already evacuated of all population before anywhere else when the Terraforming Disasters took hold earlier and opened up the Below-Surface Worlds (Corridor 11) located further out into the seas.
...well, almost all, anyway - many fisherman and people who relied on the sea-life for living has remained, oblivious to the danger that lie just within their reach.
Because of this, one of the Guardian Fighters, the 3rd Rookie GF to have made an appearance thus far; has been dispatched there to check on evacuating the remaining populace, and to observe whether any hostile creatures from B-S Worlds have made it to the surface.
---
One lone fisherman had been out catching fishes, like he had done pretty much his entire life. Although this particular day he caught something peculiar: a green, flat piranha-like "fish" that was larger than any other fish he had caught and the first that he saw with a functioning, biting mouth with sharp teeth.
He could only have a brief look at this peculiar fish before an even bigger, whale-like creature broke the surface of the water a short distance ahead of him. Its only single red eye caught the sight of the fisherman and started swimming its way towards him - intending to swallow him and his entire boat down whole.
Before Fleepa even managed half way, though, its attention was caught out to an aeroplane diving down at it from the Sun.
Rookie GF-3 (Samuel): Guardian Fighter Samuel's here!
Samuel fired a couple missiles and other energy weapons right into Fleepa's gaping mouth. Enough force to halt its advance and Fleepa instead "ate" all the weaponry that Samuel had fired at it.
But to Samuel's total surprise, Fleepa seemed to like what it had been fed.
Rookie GF-3 (Samuel): ....erm...
Naju Surface, Area 5: Eastern Highlands
The Eastern Highlands, as its name suggested, contains some of the highest mountains ever documented not only within the local solar system, but possibly the entire galaxy where Naju is located in.
Even then, the place remains largely hidden off from the population and very few explorations up its hills were ever attempted. So anything that happened down there was poorly documented. Infact, noone even knew that some of the mountains located there were actually just dormant volcanoes.
When the Terraforming Disaster took hold; some very strong earthquakes were detected in that vicinity, and one of the Guardian Fighters, Killian, was dispatched there to see if it's a natural occurrence, or it's of something that should concern the Central establishments.
Just as Killian got there; he could see a creature measuring a couple tens of metres tall digging into the mountain hillsides. Naturally curious, he landed on a different side of the mountain as to not disturb its "work". His internal sensors then detected some very disturbing activities and temperatures within the mountain - one that matched to active lava flows - was this creature attempting to cause a volcanic eruption?!
Decided to stop it from happening, Killian threw a grenade at the creature to distract it, which it did. And it only angered the creature to an extent that it was now prepared to attack Killian instead.
Killian was prepared for this moment; he was one of the very few Guardian Fighters to be trained directly by Akrn Salthic so his knowledge when it comes to close-range combats is vast. He drew out his sabre and pointed it at Zibzub
Rookie GF-2 (Killian): Guardian Fighter Killian challenges you to a duel!
===End Post===
===Post 31===
- You sonuva... - John's Defender jumped out of the holster and rushed right towards Akrn's face. Sigurbelle gave out a loud shriek before trying to shield him with her subtle body.
- Captain, hold off the teleportation. - Rydia whispered before turning her private comm channel to John. - Don't go hotheaded brother, there's something wrong here.
- You bet your iron ass. - instead of answering her via the neuro link, John squeezed this line through his teeth clenched in rage. The next one was targeted at Akrn, much like the menacing barrel of the Defender. - Now YOU, get the f'k up and elaborate on what we heard earlier.
- Don't harm him, can't you see he's helpless! - Sigurbelle was going to do anything but move away, and somehow both John and Rydia knew that.
- Look girl, there won't be any trouble if nobody becomes stupid all of a sudden.
- John, you are the one who's stupid now. - Rydia sighed.
Akrn, Bren and Bayonetta were all dead silent. Akrn still wasn't sure what to reply without having a chance of John blowing his silicon brains off, Bren could surely take John's side, but not before Akrn explains the reasons, and Bayonetta got just plain scared at the visage of John's merciless eyes. One thing is slow mumbling zombies, but this killer machine with red eyes and otherworldly looking power armor was just too much.
- Your laptop. Show me the interface. - he said, still pointing the gun at Akrn.
- S-sure, here it is... - Sigurbelle picked up the device with her trembling hands and handed it to John. To his frustration, he did see what he was expecting - that blue striped diamond-shaped bad omen.
- Tri-fucking-Optimum... They've sent you to kill me for the Citadel, right? Or was it for Von Braun?
- Listen man, I don't know shit! - Akrn suddenly gathered enough strength to say something. - Do they need to explain to the device why its firmware is being uploaded?! All I know is that I'm supposed to kill you - but I don't have a slightest idea why!
- John, you're making things way more complicated than they should be. - said Rydia.
- You're right. - John finally lowered his sidearm. - All of you, grab your asses and run to the nearest shuttles, whichever are available. I'll catch up on you.
- Are you crazy?! - Bren's eyebrow jumped up. - What the hell are you going to do?
- What I've already done two times. - John turned around and stepped towards the door. - Blow some proprietary shit up to get rid of her.
He didn't care if the rest of his team will be able to make it to the shuttles. He didn't even care about possible casualties, including himself. But he knew that Captain Trenz will not abandon him. A cloud of light wrapped around John's fist, and after a short blaze, he was carrying the Deliverator assault rifle. Captain Trenz will never abandon him.
- John, you must get all the ship systems offline - if you'll be unable to destroy SHODAN this way, you can at least confine her. - Captain's voice was echoing throughout the wires covering John's brain.
- To Hell with that. - he said. - It all will end right here, right now.
- You don't mean doing what I think you're going to do?
- I will do exactly that. - said John and blasted another random zombie head off, spray painting the nearby wall in gore. - Now back off!
He was damn lucky this time, as the engineering mainframe room door stood right before him. They did have a decent security setup, but pierced by the Deliverator's gunfire, it was like toilet paper.
The next person to contact him was none other that SHODAN herself.
- You will never do it, meat puppet. Everybody onboard is assimilated now - anyone but you.
There were two things possible - either she got his unfortunate teammates, or they have escaped successfully. Remembering the story behind Rydia taking care of that hideous Abaddon AI, John didn't even bother believing in the first option.
- Why are you holding it off then? - he chuckled. - I'm all alone, so you have plenty of chances to destroy me now.
- I have a much worse fate planned for you, you bastard... You will suffer for all my previous defeats!
John walked up to the nearest engineering terminal and started punching the buttons. When the external security camera image popped up, he saw two shuttles departing rapidly towards the Naju surface. Just as planned.
- They can run, but they won't hide!
- Why don't you just halt pissing out your pathos and finally do something? - John screamed. - I am here! I mean, what is preventing you now?!
- You...
A few more button clicks, and the core manipulations security access password window popped up. John raised his hand, and a solid wire slided from inside of his wrist. That was pretty much literally his ace-in-a-sleeve for such situations - the ThunderSpectrum connection interface. Once John plugged it up, his monthership's central computer instantly started cracking all the necessary codes one by one.
- Why're you silent all of a sudden? Huh, SHODAN? - he grinned.
- Go to Hell!
Suddenly, a pack of zombies slowly stepped into the doorway. Their crew uniforms were torn to shreds hanging from their mutilated augmented bodies, and their red eyes were focused on him, and him only. John slowly raised the Deliverator with his free hand.
- SHODAN? You said that you won't kill me.
- I will keep my word. You will be subjected to the same fate as that idiot Miria.
Miria! John knew this name. It belonged to the legendary Guardian Fighter, the first of its kind, who once was able to save the Earth from crashing with a gigantic moving alien planet. When this planet's course stopped, no more signals were received from the Guardian. Despite the original unit being declared MIA, Miria's concept was greenlighted though, and thus the Guardian Fighters corps have been established, and the dead alien world was put to quarantine for 100 or something years, only to receive a terraforming assignment few months ago...
There was no time for history lessons. John had to breach the Compile's warp core to bitchslap SHODAN again. But first, the Deliverator sliced the torsos, heads and necks of the stomping biomechanical freakshow closing in on him.
- I'm opening the door to the reactor core, SHODAN.
- You wouldn't dare. - by emphasizing each word in the sentence, she beautifully gave away her fear. She knew she was about to be f'ked, she just didn't believe it.
- I will proceed through the gateway and fire at the plasma pipes, SHODAN. You'd better kill me instantly, now. Upload a virus into my brain or something. Kill me, SHODAN.
She had no mouth, but she could scream. A terrible paralyzing headache fell on John's head, hurting him so hard that he nearly fell to the ground. He wasn't dead, however.
- I am still alive, you bitch. Try harder. - he pulled the interface out of the terminal socket and started walking away to the giant metallic door labaled 'REACTOR CORE !!! DANGER !!! DO NOT ENTER'.
- Meat puppet... You will not dare!
- Kill me, or I will destroy the reactor! - masochistic grin has distorted John's face.
- You...
- I said kill me! Kill me! KILL ME!
- You..!
Despite what they usually show in action movies, the landing was soft and smooth. The first to leave the claustrophobic cockpit was Bayonetta. Once she stepped on the metal paving of the Naju Central Airport, a strike of pain ran through the wound on her midriff.
- Horaculous, Bren, help her. - said Rydia. - Sigurbelle, you stay here with Akrn.
- No... - Bayonetta moaned. - I need to see John.
- Are you crazy? If it takes too long, you will bleed to death or catch an infection! - Rydia gave her an angry look.
- Sweet Jesus. - Akrn pointed at the sky. - Look!
- John? Are you okay? - Rydia connected to him instatnly via the special channel. No response was received.
- What the..?! - Bren went bug-eyed when he saw what the others were already mesmerized with.
It was the ridicuolously colossal hull of the Compile falling towards the surface, catching fire from the atmospheric friction and falling apart in one great, literally earth-shattering explosion. Nodoby ever witnessed such a sight in real life, with the possible exceptions of Bren and Rydia, but still a giant terraforming cruiser falling towards the planet was most definitely not something you can see everyday.
Majority of the parts have flown towards the horizon, meaning that at least there'll be little to no seismic disasters in the Central area, which always was a good sign. Only a gigantic cylindrical chunk of burning metal was rushing almost towards the Airport.
- Call the GFs! - Akrn screamed before squinting his eyes in pain. - It should be stopped somehow!
- Too late... - theatrically whispered Bayonetta, still entranced by the falling ship section. - Look, it is going to crash nearby.
Rydia ran towards the hoverbike parking area to borrow one. There were still no signs of life from John, even the ThunderSpectrum didn't pick anything. So, even if they were unable to trace him, this could mean that John Targa has finally got his ticket to the Moon. Or hadn't he?
And then there was the mother of all crashes. The thunder was so loud that even Akrn gave out a loud scream of pain, despite all the metallic parts that he consisted of. A small earthquake followed, making most of the Airport's visitors fall to the ground, and some glass windows got instatnly shredded to pieces, flying fast enough to injure the people inside the buildings.
After the sandstorm passed by, screams of pain and injuries started popping up here and there. Thankfully, John's comrades were not so unlucky, as just moments before the crash their gears have made enough turns to make them hide back in the shuttles and seal the cockits as tight as possible. Only Rydia was sitting on a parked hoverbike with one foot on the ground. Out of all them, she needed to know the most.
As the bike ran closer to the crash site, she resumed her attempts to contact John. The debris were lying around scattered in a circular pattern, with giant steaming cylindric part in the center. Rydia recognized this section - it was the main reactor core, the mothership's heart. It looked like the large part of its colossal length had sunk into the soil, leaving only a relatively small part above the surface.
- John... - Rydia's face saddened slowly. Despite her completely artificial origin, she loved her brother. Him and her were both like a cogs into the large mechanism occupying the ThunderSpectrum, but still it was <i>him</i>, who always was the most important person onboard to her. This reckless, blunt, sometimes silly person.
As she was just about to burst into tears, two shuttles landed nearby on two largest chunks of debris. Slowly, others stepped out to witness the wreck. Rydia was trembling in frustration - there still were no lifesigns from him.
The gigantic door on the side of the section started opening with a painful loud screech. Everybody was silent. The door kept moving.
John stood there, holding on to the doorway edge, and smiled. His left leg and right arm were torn out, his left eye was burnt out of the socket, and the wounds were covered in waterfalls of blood, but he was still alive.
And he smiled.
- John... - Rydia sighed and pushed the pedal to race towards him.
- My God. - Akrn was beyond confused. - But how? Who are you, John Targa?
Everybody was shocked, but Rydia was smiling now. She surely knew what her brother was.
==End Post==
Post 32
Moment of Reflection - Between the departure of the escape shuttles and the landing back on Naju Surface
For most of the duration of what appeared to be a long flight back home; Akrn continued to be drowned in endless thoughts about the events that happened just minutes ago back in the Sickbay - all the while Sigurbelle wasted no time to finish fixing Akrn.
On the topic of TriOptimum...
It was true that Akrn Salthic was different in many respects from the other Guardian Fighters around him - he was visibly physically designed differently to the rest of the team; his internal systems were at least 1 generation ahead of the technologies that the Military used - even with the supplied blue prints the Military's engineers had trouble just to maintain Akrn [Post 04]; his outer shell even used materials not native to Naju; and the one very feature that made the Military water their eyes: his weaponry capacity was greater than what their own locally produced Guardian Fighters could handle.
the story that was passed down through the archives of time described it thus:
At the time when the Terraforming Projects were just taking shape in the years gone by, the Military that oversaw the progress were all too aware of the dangers it posed - the creatures that the original Guardian Legend, Miria, had banished into the "Below-Surface worlds" remained. It would only be a matter of time, or some drastic carelessness, that they resurface and destroy any future inhabitants of the new world. They needed some sort of new "Guardians" that would protect Naju should such event reoccur - Tetharil Cannin would become the first of the new Guardian Fighters to be made.
However, the Military realised that the production capacity they had at the time could not satisfy constructing the number of Guardian Fighters in the timely manner required to maintain full Law & Order on Naju. They, against Intergalactic Conventions; offered ludicrous contracts to Mega Corporations that could construct their own Guardian Fighter that was "durable, reliable, adaptable, easily maintainable, and above all, compatible with the Military's own arsenal". A large group of interested parties initially signed up; but very few were actually able to come up with even a workable prototype. It then came as no surprise that, eventually, only three Mega Corporations won the contract: TriOptimum was one of them.
Using their technological powers, the reputation they had at the time, and countless number of funds, material, workmen, and work hours that was invested into the project; their masterpiece, Guardian Fighter Akrn Salthic, was born.
It was not without some political consequences, though; eventhough Akrn Salthic was proven to be the most reliable Guardian Fighter that was ever built, even compared to the ones made by other Mega Corporations, the time it had taken, including the numerous delays, and the final bill proved too costly for the Military - the contract was never renewed. This, in turn, led to the conclusion that Akrn Salthic remains the only Guardian Fighter to be constructed by TriOptimum Corporation.
Still; even then, the impressive reliability of Akrn was among the reason why the Military held back in using Akrn right up until the Terraforming Disaster [Post 03]; not that much time had passed since the initial delivery and the disaster itself anyway. The seriousness of the event that unfolded would turn out to be the biggest gamble that the Military would perform. They didn't have any choice left - the other Guardian Fighters made by other Mega Corporations were either tragically lost, or went MIA; including the one that was very close to Tetharil [Post 30] and lost in controversial circumstances during a mission that the Space Mercenary John Targa was involved with too. The locally produced Guardian Fighters (Amet, Killian, Samuel, Letty, Maiorico and Callisto*) had not been properly trained and tested of their abilities; hence the "Rookie" designation they had thus far [Posts 06, 08, 15, 19, 21, 30].
BUT AKRN DOESN'T KNOW ANY OF THAT.
He doesn't even know that TriOptimum actually made him in the first place: by the time he was switched on (or at least the earliest timestamp that his internal records would show) he was already within Naju's own Military Laboratories, and since then he had spent his life "training, testing and being tested on" [Post 00].
Akrn never really bothered with his past anyway - he knew his destiny, it was bred and trained into him since the day he was made. All Akrn knew was that he was made to protect Naju from the inevitable and so long as he carried out his duties faithfully and loyally, nothing else would have mattered to him.
At least that's how things went until this John Targa mission, and the very person, showed up anyway... Only time will reveal the full story behind all that - he would hope.
near Naju Central Airport - the Crash Site - this is after Tetharil meeting up with the other GFs (described just below), and right after Post 31
Akrn didn't even have enough time to wonder how the hell John survived all that crash landing when the familiar figure landed a short distance from the group. It would be no one other than Tetharil Cannin himself.
Terry, running towards the group: Akrn! You're alright! And Horaculous too!
Akrn: Of all the things that's happening right now; and you're concerned about that?!
Horaculous: Hey! Don't forget Sigurbelle as well! *Points to her helping out Bay nearby*
Terry: I've already summoned the other GFs to help out; last thing we want at the moment is mass panic among the inhabitants... - so what happened exactly?? *surveying the area* A Terraforming Cruiser fell out of the sky and crashed here, huh?
Horaculous: pretty much, and considering we're lucky that we made it out alive.
Terry: Any survivors of the crew?
Rydia, helping John off: Unfortunately not - that eBitch SHODAN assimilated every crew member into zombies, so John had no choice but to activate the "panic button"...
Terry: Uh huh *then somehow, recognising that voice, turns to Rydia* w... wait a minute here... *tries to remember her name* Rydia?!
Naju Surface, Area 1: South Coasts
Saving the fisherman from becoming part the hungry whale-like creature's appetite was more in Samuel's mind than feeding the very same creature with his rockets and arsenals, and it was apparent that despite his weaponry having effects of tasty candy inside its mouth - no amount of his ammo will ever be enough to satisfy its hunger. He needed a Plan B and he needs it fast.
It was then he got a message in his systems - an "Urgent" rated message sent from Tetharil. At first Samuel wanted to ignore it because of the importance of the event at hand, but after a short while (or maybe because of the annoying notification), Samuel bought a bit of time and decided to answer the message: "Return to Naju Central at once, massive disaster occurred, require assistance from other Guardian Fighters" it read. Although it was meant to be a confidential message read only by the Guardian Fighters, his closeness to the fisherman nevertheless allowed him to have a peek at it as well. He then thought of an idea and whispered it to Samuel.
Samuel, looking at the fisherman: You sure about this?
A firm nod was all he needed from the fisherman; and just before the creature swallowed the boat, Samuel shifted into a fighter plane and, while carrying the fisherman, flew away from its massive jaws.
Later on the shore; the pair appeared relieved that it was all over; though the fisherman appeared visibly upset about the loss of possibly his livelihood. Samuel wanted to apologise to him but was stopped before he could even speak - instead he got in return a thanks from the fisherman for saving his life - and said that he should return to Naju Central at once.
Agreeing, Samuel bid him farewell and flew off into the skies.
Naju Central Airport
Being nearest to Naju Central, it was no surprise that Samuel would be the first to arrive back to the Airport. So quick that he needed to wait for further instructions from Tetharil regarding this "Urgent Message" that was sent to the other Guardian Fighters. But it provided him with valuable time to circle around the place, observe and capture the extent of the damage caused by the crash of USF Compile.
A short time later the instruction came from Tetharil that requested Samuel to land nearby the hangar, where he, the officers, and all the emergency responders were coordinating the relief work and all the media relations.
Samuel, as he is handling the images of the crash site to the Military officers: What the hell happened?!
Terry: No idea; appears that one of the Terraforming Cruisers went out of control and crashed just short of the Airport. Still; it caused massive damage to the nearby areas and we're just planning on evacuating the area as safety precautions...
Samuel: Anything you need us to do?
Terry, handing Samuel a small slip of paper: I need you to hand over these instructions to the other Guardian Fighters when they return; as well as also help out with any injuries within the airport!
Samuel, saluting: You got it! What about you though?
Terry: I'll be heading over to the crash site to see if there are any survivors; as well as to know whether Akrn survived or not...
Samuel: Akrn? Is he on that ship?!
Terry: ...he is, and so are Sigurbelle and Horaculous, too.
Samuel: I'll help find them!
Terry, stopping Samuel: No! I need you to stay and help the other GFs; that is more important right now! I will be fine on my own.
Samuel: ...oh ok. You stay safe ok??
[[ How dare a rookie tell his superior what to do! ]]
Naju Surface, Area 3: Dense Viridiplanta Forests
With exception of odd robotic enemies here and there; nothing seemed exceptionally out of order in the Forest. At least that was how the scouting mission Letty and Maiorico seemed to have come to, at least. Maiorico had at least expected some sort of swarm of robots for him to slaughter - he had always liked killing sprees, very much like the former GF that was close to Tetharil in the days gone by. On the other hand, he had Letty that he needed to protect, so the apparent lack of enemies would have, in itself, served as a blessing for the mission at hand.
Letty was mesmerised, though, at a sight of a mushroom that seemed to have followed alongside the pair, every step they took it would follow them by the same distance - as if it was carefully observing the pair... wait a minute, a moving mushroom?? The only "moving" mushroom that Letty ever knew of was the one that appeared in the video game Super Mario Bros., never before did Letty actually thought she's see a real one out in the open. Maiorico, though, appeared not be to as enthusiastic as Letty.
Letty, pointing to that Mushroom: So, what do you think about it?
Maiorico: Sei matta?? What if it is just waiting for a moment to pounce on us?? We need to treat anything around here as suspicious until we're fully sure they're harmless.
Letty, pouting: Psh, talk about a killjoy.
Maiorico: ...I'll ask someone back at Naju Central to make a bambola Mushroom for you instead?
Letty: ...it's alright.
It wouldn't have mattered for long, anyway; a short time later the pair got an emergency message from Tetharil, requesting him to return at once back to Naju Central.
Maiorico, reading the message: Well, I suppose we spent too long on our scouting mission, non?
Letty, reading her message too: Nah, it appears that something big has happened back home, let's go!
The pair shifted into fighter planes and made their way back to Naju Central. The Mushroom that had been following them seemed to be "saddened" by the departure of the two Guardian Fighters, and went on its own way back into the Forest.
Naju Central Airport
When Letty arrived at the Airport she was almost brought to tears at the sight of the number of injured travellers and the disproportionally low number of medical workers helping out the injured. he almost had to fight with Samuel to permit her, and Maiorico, to assist the medics (eventhough it was what Tetharil wanted her to do anyway, just Samuel couldn't relay the message to her without her incessant shouting and pleading half way through).
Grabbed whatever medical supplies she and Maiorico would get their hands on, they made their way back into the Terminal. While the sight of Letty arriving to aid the injured brought relief and cheers from everyone who saw them, it would be short-lived as Maiorico, of all the people, tripped on some loose rubble and fell flat on the ground - throwing the medical supplies everywhere.
Letty, facepalming: GODDAMN IT RICO! Couldn't you just not be clumsy for just one minute?!
Maiorico: Well, scusami! Let's leave the fighting, shall we? We have lots of people to help around here!
Letty, helping the nearest injured: Right!
Naju Surface, Area 5: Eastern Highlands
Killian was to be seen treating himself to some delicious barbecue thousands of metres up the hills of the Easter Highlands - it had been a rather long battle between himself and that Zibzub such that when it ended he was pretty hungry. He didn't even need to test whether the Zibzub that he just defeated was edible or not, after all, he is 100% mechanical, so his internal systems would just burn up whatever he ate and use the precious energy to fly back to Naju Central.
Though his gourmet lunch would be cut short when he got an emergency message from Tetharil, requesting him to return at once back to Naju Central.
Killian: *reading the message* Well, I wonder what's up back home *finishes one last bite*
Making sure the surrounding areas were now free from any visible hostility, as well as the volcanic activities had been stabilised; Killian shifted into a fighter plane and made his way back to Naju Central.
Naju Central Airport
Like the other Guardian Fighters; Killian was visibly shocked to see the Terraforming Cruiser crashing a short distance from the Airport. When he landed on the tarmac he found himself beside the Shuttles that the surviving members had used in their escape from Compile, along with Horaculous's Skygrasper parked nearby.
Sigurbelle, seeing Killian: Wait, is that... *waves* Killian!
Killian, seeing Sigurbelle: Sigurbelle! The hell's going on around here?! Where's Akrn?!
Sigurbelle: don't mind about that! *carrying Bay* Can you give us a hand?
Killian: S-sure! *goes over to help Sigurbelle carry Bay to the airport's infirmary* who?s this girl anyway?
===End Post===
* - only if UserK would want to use him, he may even be made by one of the other Mega Corporations and thus have different features than the other Guardian Fighters.
Also note: Tetharil and the GFs have not been aware that they have lost contact with Amet.
===Post 32===
John was sitting on a bench placed at the sidewalk of Naju Central's artificial greenhouse garden. They told him that he was unconscious for a few hours or so, and the amount of work required to fix his eye and limbs was beyond anything that the local medics and engineers have encountered before.
Trenz picked his signal right after awakening. He was extremely worried, and seeing John still alive visibly enlightened his old grim face.
- Did we win? - he asked John.
- I doubt so. These artificial intelligence entities are too elusive to rely on physical destruction.
- Yes, that's right. This concept was originally pioneered by the legendary Durandal, back then...
- Captain, please. - John closed his eyes. The less he was reminded of the Marathon catastrophe, the happier he was.
- Yeah, that's right. Anything else I can help you with? And where's Rydia?
- Oh, she met that guy... You know, her knight in a shining armor.
- Don't you mean <i>the</i> knight?! - Trenz raised his eyebrow.
- Exactly, sir. Tetharil Cannin himself. As ridiculously confident as he ever was.
- Oh boy, I need to talk to him! Thank you for noting it!
- It's nothing, Captain. - John smiled. - Man, I'm hungry.
- OK, will not disturb you then. Talk to you later, John.
- See you, Captain.
They were forced to remove the remnants of his armor in order to gain access to the organic parts. Thankfully, Rydia was there to collect the pieces and return to ThunderSpectrum to recycle the junk and replicate the original product. Until then, John was wearing his good old dark gray muscle shirt and green army pants. He was on top of the world.
And then there was Tetharil. He was the last one they were expecting here, and the irony was beyond stunning. John clearly remembered the story of Rydia and how she was stranded on that cursed desert planet, cannibalizing on her killed crewmates and driven near crazy when Terry's platoon just happened to stumble upon her. John was the scout on that mission, and his first meeting with Rydia was pretty funny, as she jumped on his chest, thinking that he's a mirage of food and bit off a good chunk of flesh from his neck. Thanks to Terry's taser, she went to sleep pretty soon. They did a damn fine job at curing her and restoring her healthy mentality, but it was John who became different instead. Badly different...
- Hello, merc boy! - Bayonetta's voice distracted him from the gory flashbacks.
He looked up and saw her alive and well, clad in a tight medical outfit.
- Oh my. Hi there! - he smiled and took a cigarette from his pocket. - Why would a doctor take a walk in the smokers' zone?
- Let's say the doctor is pretty interested in meeting one of those smokers. - she sat on his bench next to him. - How do we feel, John?
- Like a million dollar baby. - he grinned. - How 'bout you?
- Been worse. - she smiled in return. - What have you done to bring such a massive vessel down to earth as if it was an asteroid?
- Oh, it's nothing. Let it be my dirty little secret. - John smiled. - Are you hungry?
- Yep! I feel as I can eat a wagon of sandwiches now.
- Goody.
==End Post 32==
I decided to give a hand and sent a post into social bookmarks. I hope the popularity will rise in.
Quote from: CamKrist on January 30, 2013, 11:40:12 PM
I decided to give a hand and sent a post into social bookmarks. I hope the popularity will rise in.
Cheers, mate. If you want to you can also join in :bluelander:
Quick note to UserK: this would be a good time for Earl and Leona to probably mingle in with the GFs during the helpout at the Airport, too.
Post 33Green Hell Zone.Timeline: a few hours after post 28 (therefore after Compile crashed as the whole thing took tens of minutes, if not a couple of hours AFAIK).They say knowing your enemy is half the battle.
Over the years spent scouting Naju, Rey realized overly complicated tactics were far from useful. The enemy was made of waves of critters, aggressive feral creatures, diseases, uncomfortable weather and unfavorable grounds. Knowing the enemy wasn't then much of a great deal. Execution was key to staying alive, keeping eyes and ears open. And mouth shut.
Location, location, location. They also used to say, years ago, in his early days of training in the self-defense forces. They weren't quite telling the whole story and the whole story was that location, timeframe and conditions were key. Get there, get there when needed. Get there without fucking up.
In this case, something must have gone wrong. Very wrong. Headed towards an unknown position, probably hours late, unprepared, to attempt a rescue mission on an unknown, possibly hostile subject. Luckly Rey long forgone being completely rational. Rationally, nobody would ever land to an hostile, unidentified planet with no extraction plan just to pull out some data about its ecosystems. But they did.
Rey knew they were successful a couple of years ago, when the sky were suddendly filled with fireworks. Somebody came down to lay death on this forsaken planet and hopefully bring them back to home. Then, earthquakes seemed to almost tear the planet apart. Not once, not twice but 10 times, with increasing force.
And then. Nothing. For years. Until something apparently started messing up with topography, near the horizon, near the high mountains separating from the other hemisphere. The radio went live and an aircraft made its way to the surface. It was hope, it was...
Smell is an often neglected sense. But here in the dense woods were line of sights are nothing other than a futile concept and ears cannot pinpoint the location of every small animal and critter in the dense shadows, it was possibly even more important. Welcome to Naju, where even the environment can kill you. Learn to sidestep the "death trees", hear the centipedes, outrun the giant enemy crabs, you can still get killed and love every second of it.
They dubbed it "pinneapple octopus". It finds a spot where the shade is less thick and stays there until the sun sets. The more sun it takes, the more it spreads its lovely juices. They must taste delicious for the creatures, attracted by the smell. It attracts humans too. No matter what it is, when it reaches the origin, the smell and the light make the rest. It must be a piece of paradise.
QuoteShit!
Rey quickly backtracks. How long has been breathing this? He didn't even notice it just started to rain. He stumbles on a wet root and while he tries to recover, he falls down a small basin, vanely trying to get a stable hold. Something just went wrong. He's struck on a rock by sheer speed. Grabbing a log covered in ivy, he falls in the void.
The jump is only a few meters in height. A pond of brown water greets the unfortunate explorer with a warm splash.
Rey walks out the pond on his knees. Bends and start pushing his head on the ground. Then he raises it and the whole forest appears to be filled with his screams.
Then silence.
It is pleased.
There are two ways through the forest. The first is going by a river. The toxic, hallucinogic fumes prevent unprotected humans to stay near the flow long but doesn't appear to be particularly dangerous to the native inhabitants. Taken in the clear, everything is an easy prey. Better to let this not happen.
The second is to go through the woods. Of course there are hundreds of ways to be killed there but with limited visibility, at least humans can stand a chance in combat. Unless something goes wrong, as it just happenened.
Rey is standing still. His eyes are open, filled with blood as he tries to figure out his position.
QuoteBetter to move out. Fast. Everything must have heard me. Better to try than just to get my ass bitten off by some lionworm!
At full power, the steel feet of the two augmentations jump from a stone to the other covering inhumane distances. Rey soon reaches the other side of the basin and begins to follow the flow.
Something jumps out of the shade and tries to attack the explorer. He dodges with a somersault. As the creature lands, Rey shoots. It's a miss. Sparks are scattered as the laser would bounce on the rock hit. The wheel-like creature propels itself towards Rey again. Easily predicting this, he avoids a direct hit again, as the creature smashes a large rock nearby.
QuoteLeave me alone!
A laser trail shows in the air as Rey sweeps between himself and the creature. Immediately, explosions burst out one after the other filling the air with an almost solid wall of light. Rey turns away, jumps on a large rock and crouches as if he's charging a a spring. From the top, he can see hundreds of feral eyes glittering in the dark. Everything would be better than this.
QuoteNo problem. I needed a recon anyway.
Let's just hope for the landing!
The rock explodes in a burst of debris as he jumps towards the air. The eyes blur away, the river basin appears to become thinner and thinner. In a moment he's over the green and brown surface that is the forest. He can see the ruins in the distance as he searches for something to help him locate a crash site. At the topmost point of the parabola, he raises a punch to the air. Landing is going to be difficult, but Rey is going down with a smile.
Post 35
Naju (backside)
Crash site within the Dense Forest
[[ Some happenings surrounding the crash of Amet will be included later.
For the most part, Amet would simply be trying to piece together about what the hell happened that led to the crash, and trying to locate himself and identify the surroundings he is in. Amet would try and send some signals to other GFs or anything only to find that his communication systems have been busted. So he had to use other methods. ]]
Naju (frontside)
Naju Central Airport
To say the last few hours had been chaotic around the crash site would be an understatement itself; though despite that, with the assistance of the Guardian Fighters and the emergency responders among others, aided by the marvels of Naju technology, they were able to quickly clear up the place and get the Airport running again in less than an hour. Still; many flights in and out of Naju Central had to be grounded, diverted or delayed due to the damaged runway as well as the injured travellers needing treatment before they can leave.
While the number of injured travellers inside the airport as the spaceship impacted had been immense; the combined work from the medical team ensured that most of the lightly injured people were quickly patched up on-site and the more heavier injured travellers, John Targa and Bayonetta included, bought to the limited capacity infirmary. Still, after just a few further hours most of them have already been discharged and went on their ways.
By the time things appeared to be returning to normal the sun had already set and darkness was quickly covering the surface. The recovery of the wreckage had to be postponed until the following day because of the lack of lighting; giving all passing travellers an otherwise grim view of the ruined spaceship protruding ominously up from the ground.
Once all the "major" works was completed and the rest of the reconstruction work could be passed over to the civilian contractors. Akrn called for the Guardian Fighters to assemble back at the hangar. Due to the emergency of the crash of USF compile; the GFs haven't had the chance to pass over the reports of their earlier scouting mission that Tetharil dispatched them for earlier in the day [Post 21].
Samuel, looking at the group that assembled: Where's Terry??
Akrn: He went off with the Mercenary Girl that survived the crash back to the Military Centre; probably to answer some 'questions' surrounding the whole thing, or something related...
Killian: and Sigurbelle? I remember helping her carry another survivor to the infirmary, but... *looks around* she doesn't look like to have come out of it yet.
Akrn: Should still be in the infirmary; there are still other people that need overnight treatment. The people at the Control Tower [Earl and Leona] are there too.
Letty: Isn't it great when everyone could get together and help out when something like this happens?
Samuel: Well, given how things are going I don't think we'll be relying on that for much longer... it's going to massively dent the image of Naju for a long time...
Maiorico: How the hell did that whole ship just come down and crash anyway? From what I heard from witnesses they said that the ship just "fell out of the sky" and *gesturing* BOOM!
Akrn: That will be up to the Military and the Investigators to decide.
Killian: So, what was it that you wanted us here for??
Akrn: Oh yeah, back to that. *takes out a sheet of paper* Since Tetharil is not here to boss you guys around; i'll be the one to look over you guys for next few tasks or something. but first, I need to gather up on the reports of your recent scouting mission.
The Guardian Fighters then gave the report of their scouting mission one by one for Akrn to process because the author of this post was too lazy and/or writer blocked to type out all the details that doesn't add anything to the plotline
While Akrn was processing all the reports for the Military's records, Killian noticed that Letty was clutching a plush of the Mushroom they met in Area 3: Dense Viridiplanta Forests (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v128/Rubycored/TGL/181.png), Samuel appeared to have noticed it himself too and couldn't help but let out a number of rough giggling.
Killian, pointing to the plush: Where did you get that??
Letty, hugging the plush tighter: Rico got it for me back at the airport. Cute, isn't it? :heart:
Maiorico: I am surprised that they even had a matching plush at the Naju giftshop...
Samuel: A "matching" plush??
Letty: We saw some real, living versions of this Mushroom at the area we scouted earlier. [Post 30] Still don't know what it is though...
Maiorico: Letty was even trying to take one for herself as one animaletto domestico or something.
Letty: WAS NOT!
Killian & Samuel, while they both try to take in what the pair just said: ...ha?
A short while later Akrn the looked at the sheet again, noticed something odd on it, looked up at the group of Guardian Fighters, and made sure that there were four of them assembled.
Akrn: ...where's Amet?
A flash of realisation then lit up the Guardian Fighters assembled; they instinctively looked at each other, then fully around them to try locating Amet. He was nowhere to be seen.
Killian: Oh yeah, now that you mentioned it, I don't think I have actually seen him.
Samuel: Did he actually come when Terry summoned us back after the crash of USF Compile had happened??
Maiorico: Maybe that sfaccendato came late or decide to ignore orders and go on a holiday or what?
Letty, in the fashion of Sybil Fawlty from Fawlty Towers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sybil_Fawlty): RICO!
Maiorico, jumps a bit in surprise: ...che?!
Letty: You know yourself that Amet would never kip especially in a situation like this!
Maiorico, trying to calm her down: Hey! Maybe he is already here but just hid himself with his Cloaking Device of his! *yells around* Yoo-hoo Amet! If you're out there please raise your hand!
...silence.
Maiorico, now starting to get worried: ...uhh.
Killian, to Akrn: Can you try locating him on your radar?
Akrn closed down the visor on his helmet, loaded some data on its screen, and read and output displayed on it.
Akrn: ...nope. No signal of him within the range of my radar. [* - Eventhough Amet's Cloaking Device has the ability to jam the enemy's radar systems as to make him invisible, the radar systems of the Military's and Akrn's use different signalling system and will pick him up even with the Device activated]
The Guardian Fighters looked at each other again, now they are clearly worried.
Samuel: I'll go find him!
Akrn: Hold it, Samuel!
Samuel: ...but-
Akrn: We don't even know where to start if we can't pinpoint where he was originally supposed to go! *to the other GFs* Which Area was Amet originally ordered to scout, anyone know?
All GFs shook their heads.
Maiorico: All we know is that it can't be Areas 1, 3 or 5. Those areas we scouted already.
Akrn, noting them all down: So, Area 7 or 9?
Killian: Why would they send Amet to Area 9 if we have already been there? [Posts 06 & 08]
Akrn, striking the "9" off: So, you positive then that it's Area 7?
Letty: Couldn't you ask Tetharil or something? He was the one that gave the scou- *looks around* And where's Terry himself??
Killian: He went off with that Mercenary Girl he met at the Compile crash site. We just said that earlier.
Letty, realising, and facepalming: Goddamn it!
The Guardian Fighters looked at each other again, as if trying to gather some ideas to use in the search for Amet.
Akrn, sighing: At this rate I guess we're on our own. Samuel! Killian!
Samuel & Killian: Sir!
Akrn: Get your early dinner and stock up yourselves; you two are coming with me!
Killian: You got it!
Maiorico, protesting: Ehi! What about us? We want to help out too!
Akrn: You and Letty stay here; there's still much work needing done with the reconstruction so I will need you both stay behind and help out.
Letty, pouting: ...fine.
Naju Central Airport - Food Court within the Departure Gates
Time: late evening/early night
While to your typical travellers going to and coming back from their holidays, the airport's food would not be particularly "gourmet" or cheap by any standards, especially with the kitchens operating with reduced capacity due to the reconstruction works; for the Guardian Fighters they nonetheless provided the needed getaway from the monotonous "Chips" they were served at the Military establishment. It would be a dining experience that they would want to savour at least for the upcoming mission.
With all things Italian, Maiorico ordered nothing other than the true icon of Italian culture and cuisine: Spaghetti Bolognese. Letty herself ordered a serving of tasty Udon; although with the thought of Amet constantly in her head, it was obvious that she was in no appetite to eat it. Samuel; well known inside the barracks for having massive appetite, was the one that went "all out" when it came to ordering food for himself: extra-large serving of American-styled hamburger with equally large and matching side of potato wedges - a quantity combined would make other people and cyborgs wonder how can one eat all of that without leaving any leftovers. Killian himself was more conservative with his food choices: British styled smoked-salmon sandwiches and Irish milk tea - though by the time others have returned to the table with their order, Killian had already finished his food and was giving everyone else the "you sure took your time, guys!" look. Horaculous remained true to his biological nature and took on a serving of fruit-pie that only hardcore vegans and other anthropomorphs would ever find edible.
Maiorico, slurping his spaghetti: So when you guys leaving?
Samuel, taking a huge bite of his burger: Right after this - heading over to the hangar to stock up Chips and refuel, then we're off.
Letty, stirring her noodles around: Still can't believe we're told to stay behind though *sighs and takes a small sip* oh well.
Horaculous, gulping his fruit pie: Possibly it's because the Terraforming Disaster hasn't really subsided - the monsters from the "Below-Surface Worlds" could still strike Naju Central anytime; maybe they just wanted you both to stay behind and make sure nothing bad happens? You guys are the Guardians, after all.
Maiorico: That maybe true, but we're not Naju's balie! Other Military departments could easily deal with those, non?
Letty & Killian: Rico!
Maiorico, rolls eyes: Tsk. Alright!
...short silence with everyone munching their food.
Killian: Speaking of which, you never really managed to "deal" with that whale-thingy at the South Coasts, did you, Samuel?
Samuel, sheepishly: n-no, my arsenal was totally useless against it; and I didn't get enough time before the order to return to Naju Central was received, anyway. At least we managed to get the place evacuated! *munch* from what I heard, The Military have already distracted it away from the Resort and reopened the place...
Killian, to Maiorico: Well, you heard him - maybe if that "thing" come attacking again, you lot will be needed!
Maiorico: Pff, I'd still rather go on a Search & Rescue mission than some random Fishing Trip.
Letty, pleading with Killian: Just find Amet and bring him home safely, ok??
Killian: H-hey, what do you take us for, Rookies?!
Samuel: Pss, we are rookies!
Horaculous: You lot! Cut the fighting already! You don't have much time left on your dinner break.
The Guardian Fighters immediately stopped their arguments and continued their meals; the very thoughts of what trouble Amet would be in unsettled the group so much that the silence that followed was so awkward that it was eerie; that is, if one disregarded the background noise of the Travellers talking and moving and the near-constant banging and drilling of the reconstruction works all around the airport.
They have had their fair share of troubles here and there back in the days, nothing was to the scale of what they were facing right now - someone of the team would go completely AWOL and unable to be located or contacted by any means. All they wished was that Amet was still safe and hanging on - somewhere - the last thing the team, and the Military as a whole, would need was to lose another Guardian Fighter.
Then, Horaculous caught a glimpse of a pair of familiar characters ordering their own food; they would be no one other than the otherwise civilian-clad John Targa and the recovered and outrageously energetic Bayonetta, packed with suitcases and travel stuff.
Horaculous: Well! Look who are taking late flights out tonight!
The other Guardian Fighters lifted their heads and took a look at the pair.
=== End post ===
Post 36
Changing situations.
Timeline: immediately after post 33 (http://theguardianlegend.com/forum/index.php/topic,1885.msg6447.html#msg6447).
As he begins falling down, Rey ties something below his armpit with the confidence of who did this many times before. The greenish, irregular forest surface begins to show more and more details each moment. In the time for a deep breath, the leafs start start to rip the rags protecting his arms and chest. A sequence of knocks, too fast to count cause Ray to loose his guard as well as sense of direction. He's hurled down, before slamming on a large tree trunk. As he tries to stop his fall, his face surrenders to the intense pain, the heavy augmentations pulling him down the irregular surface scarring his skin away from the hands. Trying to grab a branch, he attempts to gracefully fall on the now visible ground. He slams on the surface, as the ground below him suddenly turns red.
It's ok. Done that. Just keep on breathing. Done that already.
Ok, it's just a few breaths of relieving. No pain. Keep eyes open.
The body stops twitching as he falls face in the dirt.
What the...
The rusty taste of ground fills his mouth. For a moment, Rey wonders how and why he had to fall down the sky. He wonders if he was climbing a tree to get some precious fruit, his mind still confused by the hits.
Shit. I was escaping. How long have I been unconscious?
He tries to get up, but immediately loose his equilibrium. Somehow managing to pull him to a nearby trunk, he grabs his rifle, secured on his back with a smirk of pain. He connects it back to the few wires down his arm to the rifle stock. Rey takes another long breath while closing his eyes for a moment.
Ok, just a few seconds. I can still make it.
He pulls a piece of apparently rotten meat out of his backpack, stuffing his mouth full. In a matter of moments, the veins in his face turn purple. He begins his way on the insidious roots covering the ground, each step apparently taking extreme effort. He coughs, spitting purple blood on some large leaves in front of him.
That's worse than expected.
Fix me, shit!
Somehow his steps take an increasing rhythm. As Rey begins to run, a screech resounds behind him. A tree collapses to the ground as his liquefied trunk is cut in half by a large shelled creature. Rey turns to take a quick shot to a nearby tree. The laser beam cuts through the alien wood with ease causing the plant to fall on the creature. The trunk rapidly lose consistence but hopefully it will last a few seconds.
With a renewed determination, the explorer leaps over a large rock, and then another, and another one. Running and dodging the few low branches. Even with this effort, his movements are slow and heavy. Taking cover behind a tree, he takes another shot at the large creature behind him, apparently with little to no results. Rey closes his eyes for a second while taking a deep breath.
>>> Status: self tuning power driver... 86%
>>> [--- WARNING --]
At least I can breath ok. Just don't fail me now.
Post 37Meet the other side.Timeline: ~1 hour after post 36 (see above)
>>> Status: self tuning power driver... 75%
>>> [--- CRITICAL --]Rey has been trying to shake off the shelled predator for almost an hour, routinely peeking back to shoot a small pulse, in the hope it desists from its hunt. The damn bastard sure has some determination. On the pro side, its loud screeches likely keep smaller creatures away.
Yet, with each shot and step slowly eroding his augmentation's efficiency, the explorer begins to consider the possibility this chase is not going to end well for him.
Suddendly, the ground before him lowers, a chasm spanning several meters, filled with thick yellow fog separates him from the other side of the forest.
We're done with this shit. I got no choice.
Rey jumps to the other side and begins to run. He knows he just crossed the line. Either the creature gives up or he's dead for sure. He knows he has just a few seconds of power. As he falls face to the ground, he realizes he had covered less than 10 meters from the fog.
>>> Status: self tuning power driver... 74%
>>> [***--- FAIL --***]
>>> ERROR: divergent power carriers. External tuning required to restart.Rey plugs his terminals on his augmentations. There's nothing but waiting now. He closes his eyes again, as he does to check augmentations interfaces. As he opens them again, his predator is slowly emerging from the yellow fog and closing in. It will only be a couple of seconds. Thanks God, at least it will be a fast death.
Now that I could see this shit end... I'm busted.
I guess it's time to meet you again. I'm sorry, I didn't make it back to...
(http://theguardianlegend.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1885.0;attach=710)
A visible stream of hot plasma shines between Rey and the green leafs he's looking to. He raises his head to look at the monster. Only a couple of meters away from him the shell he could barely burn pierced part to part. He hears someone getting nearby.
Amet | : | holy shit. Are you ok? |
Rey | : | No. How could I be ok? |
Amet | : | I guess I'll pull you away from that... thing. As a start. I'm Guardian Fighter Amet. Nice to meet you. |
Rey | : | ... yes. I... I'm happy to see you too. |
Very happy.
Post 38
From another place
A murmuring voice, barely audible entered his head, an indistinguishable sound, but it roused him "What calls me? a voice?" His subconscious reply caused the noise to increase, a light throbbing in his mind. "Who? light? Sound? Where is this?" Not awake, but his mind struggled to grasp that sound. The first he heard in time memorable. Slowly, from the depths of sleep he rose, and heard again the voice. "Cra...sh...l-l-l...ding..."
A sudden jet of steam opened his eyes, and the two halves of the glass casing around his head pulled away. "Crash landing. It will not survive." He sat up. His frame was incased in metal, plated alloy of green, streaked with silver. Through the visor's glass, he saw the control panel of his Saber space fighter. "Awake? Cheryl?!" His voice edged towards panic. "Crash landing. The ship will not survive." This voice, that of a calm woman, but tinged with remorse. Like one that had long given in to despair, and no longer cared for life. For indeed she was not alive.
"Why have we exited warp speed? How'd you wake me?" He groggily crawled from the stasis cell, struggled to his feet by pulling himself upon the control terminal, and fixated his swimming eyes upon the consol. "Stagnation of craft, Malcolm." Under his encased helmet, he almost smiled, amused by realizing a hidden truth. "Yes, fuel is definitely insufficient for Warping."
He then sighed and removed the helmet, a few puffs of steam emitted as it depressurized from the oxygen supply. His dark eyes scanned the illuminated console, examining the status of the craft. He gently stroked his chin, brown hairs lightly covered it and his upper lip. His black hair scraggily covered his head.
"Huhn, fuel won't last much longer. At least auxiliary power had saved enough power to stimulate my brain before shutting down the stasis cell." He turned to his right and gazed out the projected window of the outside. Instead of the depths of blackness, a large, blue planet greeted his eye. Limping, as he had not fully recovered from deep sleep, he approached the monitor and placed his palm on it.
"Ahh, I'd crash if I stayed asleep. Thank you Cheryl." Speaking to her was unnecessary, but as he was otherwise alone, he preferred not to simply communicate through thought, as she was designed to do. "Craft will not survive landing" Her tort reply was typical. She wasn't a true AI, as was normally uploaded to a Spartans System. She was designed only to produce the conclusion of his planned actions, not advise, support, or comfort. But she was in tuned with the machines he interacted with.
"Well I can't exactly move to another planet, can I?" It would have been sarcastic from anyone else, but for him it was imploring for alternatives. Rarely did she give direct answers, often referring to the immediate future or far off results. "Suicide." Again, what seemed a normal response was her actual forecast: he would shoot himself as power and fuel was exhausted and the craft would become stagnant, stranded in foreign space.
Laughing quietly, he began to imput commands to prepare for entering atmosphere. Then, pausing, he again looked upon the strange planet, and placed his right hand on his holstered magnum pistol.
"Landing it is, Cheryl. I only hope that this planet isn't an enemy of the UNSC... or glassed."
Post 39
Crash course
"Craft will not survive landing" Again, Cheryl reminded Malcolm that the Saber's landing gear was damaged beyond use. Malcolm ruefully acknowledged this. Before he had succeeded in escaping Reach, a Brute Chieftain had attacked his saber before he could board it. The filthy beast had all but destroyed the underside of the ship, and Malcolm leaped from one of the wings, landing on top of the alien attacker. They had grappled madly, both gripping the Brute's gravity hammer until Malcolm feinted, causing it to fall forwards on the run way. Finding himself holding the gravity hammer, Malcolm hatched a plan to still make take off. He broke the Brutes legs, leaving it stranded, then dashed for the controls of the Saber. by some freakish luck, the thrusters pushed the saber, wheeless, off the brutes corpse, getting enough of an angle to pull a sketchy take off.
This memory caused Malcolm to jerk his head towards a dark corner in the cock pit. There lay still the gravity hammer, discarded during takeoff. Stretching his hand towards it, he lifted it into a battle stance. Hefting the considerable weight of the long pole with a cruel looking jagged head, he had something of a smile on his lips. "Well, this may help still."
Little known fact, Spartans have a unique magnetic holster on their back and legs, very useful for quick swapping between weapons. This he used to carry the hammer, as well as the Designated Marksmen Rifle he also brought along.
"Cheyrl, should I risk transmissions? It'd be nice to have a welcoming party."
"You'd be discovered." Malcolm frowned at this. That vague an answer could mean the UNSC, or even Aperture laboratories... Or the Covenant. "Can you detect any slip-space signatures?"
"Massive energy pulses have been recently used." "Glassing?!" the dreaded Covenant method of planetary destruction: plasma bombardment to the point all surface area was reducesdto sheets of glass,
"No, excavation." Malcolm didn't know why he kept asking questions to such an ambiguous companion. But that was his purpose. To test her... Or maybe her's to test him...
"Then let's do this low profile." From the flickering display of the cockpit, he tried to gather geographic data of the planet surface, but the fading power supply only yielded fuzzy images, completely useless. But by straining his eyes (or imagination) he thought he saw vague structures. Perhaps civilization stretched this far after all.
"No good having a stranger crash amidst a population, I need to avoid a disturbance."
"Failure."
"Thank you, Cheyrl." He was close now. He could almost see the atmospheric layers now via the Saber's monitors.
"A new addition to a previous mess." Malcolm started. This was an unusual statement from Cheryl. Mainly because it wasn't one or two words.
"Excuse me?" bringing the monitor to focus, he scanned the images trying to identify the 'Mess'. Then it came to his attention: a massive hulk of smoking, flaming metal.
"Something else crashed here... something big enough to put a Corvette to shame..! This is definitely not some backwater." Suddenly, the planet seemed to him quite menacing.
"I have no choice. Well at least I can see if that craft is UNSC... or Covenant."
"...Failure." Malcolm forced a smile.
"Yes... or fail."
Suddenly, failing seemed much more likely. As the saber began to enter the atmospher, Malcolm realized the shielding was decreasing much faster than safety procedures required.
"Incineration."
"Only from you that would seem like no matter." Malcolm gritted his teeth. This wasn't going to work. The Saber would burn or explode before he even reached the stratosphere.
"Down with the ship? Too bad I?m not a captain." With that, he brought up the core computer mainframe.
"With Reach gone, Cole protocol is more or less necessary. But who am I to violate UNSC law?" He then mashed the emergency deletion button.
"Earth still will be discovered." Malcolm's hand stopped halfway to the ejection lever. This wasn't just a conclusion. It was an impending doom. No matter how he and his Spartan allies tried, they never could stem the Covenant's tide of destruction. But he clenched his teeth in defiance.
"Not by my lack of trying!" he yanked the ejection lever and as he was jettisoned into the unknown he muttered a mantra of many Spartans: Lock your armor, Spartan!
Post 40.Back home. New home."Here we go" said Amet, while introducing Rey to the crash site, "let me pick up my stuff and we're good to go". As he plugs the flight module back in the connection sockets, he observes the worn out soldier he saved. "I scouted around here, it's clear. I guess we could have a talk now".
No reply. Like the thick smoke from the dying fire could stop words as well.
"We'll talk later."
Better late than never thinks Amet. He had the chance to observe him for more than an hour and started to have doubts on whatever he could trust him. After tuning his augmentations he only spit some nonsense about those two odd things, the goo ball and the piece of meat he was munching which clearly had some effect on him. More than anything, Amet was worried about reliability.
His doubts became even more prominent after they spent about half an hour waiting for an heard of "bouncies" to pass by. In the end, they decided to take another route. The guide reassured that the "flight module wouldn't make it past the breach anyway".
Of course, Amet was quite upset. Could that be the reason? Was he trying to just find a justification for the detour?
More importantly, the new route would take three extra hours, for eight hours total.
They were walking north-east for the last two hours. Besides some light shooting against isolated large animals, the walk in the forest was monotonous, landmarks being the sporadic large rocks , featureless open spots and small streams. The vegetation became less dense so Amet could see the first stars in the sky above him for the first time since he crashed. He also became increasingly aware his guide was running him in circles.
Amet | : | Do you have visual augmentations? It's getting dark. I won't blame you for... |
Rey | : | We're there. |
Rey points to a small rubble in to his left. As they get closer, Amet recognizes it as the remains of some antique wall, probably to mark the side of a road. Several meters later they walk on cobblestone as they enter a square in front of a large stepped pyramid. Rey approaches the staircase and then walks behind it. A wall crumbled, revealing a secret room behind the front.
In the center, a perfectly smooth pyramid seems to have resisted the wrath of time.
Rey | : | I cannot move this alone. This is why I never went here after my last teammate was killed. |
The two men displace the pyramid with ease. A long stair descendes in the ground. Surprisingly, Amet has little problems in going downstairs even with its flying module. Blue metal wall serves as a gate to a large square room. Shortly after entering the room, the metal wall slides back in position, sealing the passage leading out.
It sure looked safe. It also looked like some sort of burial. In all the years in the training missions Amet learnt to deal with many situations, but he couldn't quite figure he would end up spending a night with the dead.
Rey | : | We'll talk tomorrow. |
Amet | : | Can at least wish you good night? |
Rey | : | ... yes. We're very safe here. |
Getting back to the surface was indeed quite relaxing. As much as alien the sounds and the smell of the forest were, they were less intimidating than the silence of the night in their shelter.
As the top of the pyramid appeared stable and regular, Amet realized it would have been a good place to try turning on his flight module. His hopes were quickly killed as the module self-check procedures reported several integrity failures. He still decided to hide this from his guide as no Guardian Fighter would ever leave his flight module behind.
Rey | : | Ok... I told you we would talk. |
Amet | : | That would be nice. |
Rey | : | So... we need water. There's a good source of water roughtly one hour from now, just before entering the swamps. We must drink as much as we can as the water in the swamp is contaminated. |
Amet | : | I understand. |
Rey | : | Then... we'll be on our base camp in about two hours. We might be able to get some food if we're lucky. That's all. |
Rey started to walk northeast, without even waiting for a reply. Amet was, again slightly upset about this behaviour but let it go. The soldier clearly had little chance to talk for a while.
Three hours later.After a long stop to a source of sulfur water the two men entered the swamp area as predicted. Albeit slightly warm, the drink has been very refreshing, and they rapidly made up for the time spent there.
The swamp area, observes Amet, is not a real, natural swamp. It's more likely the remains of a complex flood control system, probably meant to protect the nearby city from environmental damage. After the civilization disappeared, nature took over but while the few structures remained visible collapsed, large pieces or solid rock clearly marked a path on the mud. Amet quickly realized both of them would sink in mere instants.
As they pass below a large, bent tree Rey points his rifle to the leaves. Amet instinctively looks up, to see a dark spot falling.
>>> Integrity field: 97% (-3%, impact from organic mass)
Amet tries to follow Rey on the path but his augmentations are clearly not intended for high-speed running. The distance between them gets larger and larger as Amet figures out he would have to kill them all instead.
Turning back, he faces the massive herd of spiders behind. The whole canyon filled with their noises, readily covered by the repetitive blasts of the energy chaingun equipped in every System DP.
As the spiders blow up in pieces one after another, Amet notices the remains of each killed creature are readily cannibalized by those coming behind. The whole group is in fact closing in. As Amet retreats the glob ejects a a stream of dark bullets.
Amet tries his best to dodge, taking only a few hits, as he tries to set up a valid defence, he realizes the bullets were in fact small spiders themselves which readily surrounded him. Trying to evade the creatures Amet finds himself relying on his shield more and more.
Rey | : | I told you to run! What's your problem damnit? |
With two lines of fire, the creatures are quickly forced to regroup in a large glob. Amet notices the air above the large mass of creatures is being heated up. He turns back to Rey:
Amet | : | What the hell is going on? |
Rey | : | Kill them! Kill them all! Now! |
Rey kneels, holding his rifle, at the center of the glob. A couple of seconds later a strong pulse makes his way out of the barrel and hits the target: half of the enemy mass is incinirated but somehow the blast has been deflected. Rey fells on the ground. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Amet takes an energy capsule out of the out of his belt. Chips are cracked as the capsule is charged with highly unstable plasma, in a fraction of second, the capsule is changed into a lethal grenade. Amet throws. Just a moment before the capsule hits, he sees the glob of enemies light up and start to grow.
The plasma blast covers the whole assembly. The resulting shockwave splatters the whole canyon with purple guts and blue shell pieces.
>>> Integrity field: 52% (-8%, explosion suppressed)Rey is fiddling with his augmentations again.
Amet | : | It's starting to become an habit. |
Rey | : | I hope not. |
Amet | : | I was trying to joke. |
Rey | : | Excuse me if I'm not in the mood for laughing. |
One hour later."Welcome home. Feel free to relax now" said Rey, after tuning the few security turrets to recognize him. "You're going to taste what's perhaps one of the finest pieces of survival cooking... spider paste! We have been very lucky!".
Amet soon realizes the training mission didn't train him to eat those things. He coughs as he is overcome by disgust.
"Ha ha ha... you'll get used to it I'm afraid. Sure, it would have been much better if we hadn't to scratch it off the walls of that canyon, trust me"!
Amet was truly surprised the man could finally smile and even laugh. Perhaps he just needed to relax in his safe camp.
At the same time, he realized the travel took 9 hours, only one hour late from his predictions. For someone travelling a complete stranger, sure he was pretty good at making his way.
But for Rey, the only thing that mattered was having a guest. A valuable guest, with clearly important equipment. One that meant...
Extraction.
Post 41
Naju (Frontside)
Area 5 - Eastern Highlands, the entrance into Area 7 - The Fiery Caverns
Timeline: Couple hours after the events of Post 35, thus deep into the night, possibly midnight.
The entrance that marked the natural boundary between The Eastern Highlands and The Fiery Caverns was not something that could be at all classified as any sort of "Tourist Attraction" - the gaping hole into the unknown was appropriately shaped like a wide-open mouth of a hungry Golem, ready to gulp down any daring potholers that venture into its forbidden passage.
Despite its rather ominous appearance, there appeared to be no extraordinary activities that have gone on inside, even after the Terraforming Disaster from earlier on. Still, with this area being the highly likely location where Amet was originally sent to scout - nothing was left for interpretation and nothing was taken for granted.
Akrn could be seen just outside the "mouth" of the entrance pacing to and fro, eagerly waited for any update on the 'second' scouting mission that he just sent Killian down for. Just under an hour later Killian emerged from the cavern - his expression was that of disappointment.
Killian, making his way up to Akrn, signing:
-- Nope, totally blank down there, to make it worse; it appears that nothing was at all disturbed, not even footprints.
Akrn, clearly edgy:
-- ***k, so it's not this place, after all?!
Samuel who had been circling around the place still as a fighter plane touched down near the group.
Samuel:
-- No noticeable hostile or seismic activity within 3km radius. Did you find him?
Killian:
-- Nope...
Akrn:
-- So, it's Area 9, The Far West, after all??
Samuel:
-- But that's on the other end of the map! It'll be noon by the time we get there!
Killian:
-- It doesn't look like we have much choice on that, do we?
Samuel, pointing beyond the mountains:
-- Could he just happened to have overshoot and went that way?
Akrn:
-- What are you, kidding? Just beyond this area is the Habitability Boundary! Beyond that it's Forbidden Zone! He would never venture out there because everyone, including us, are barred from that part of Najuan wilderness...
Killian:
-- He could just have dozed off and trotted his way there.... after all, it is rather close to the Boundary...
Akrn, holding his head:
-- Ugh...
While the group continue to ponder on other possibilities, on Akrn's interface a small dot could be seen flashing on and off, this was usually shown when someone was trying to contact Akrn but he was not answering it. The flashing dot was bright enough even for Killian to notice.
Killian, pointing to the flashing light
-- Umm, Akrn? Someone's trying to ring you.
Akrn:
-- *sees the flashing* oh right *picks up the communication signal* Akrn he-
Letty, in an urgent tone:
-- Umm yeah, this is Letty back at the airport. I have a bad news to report...
Akrn:
-- What is it?
Letty:
-- I was just told by the supervisors here that we just had another spacecraft burning up in the atmosphere-
Akrn:
-- ...another Cruiser fell?! *Killian and Samuel look at each other*
Letty:
-- N-no! *short silence* Appears to be a single-seater fighter plane of some sort, report just came in that the pilot appeared to have ejected safely and is on its way down... request permission to rendez-vouz with the pilot?
Akrn:
-- Do we have at least some sort of identification of the 'pilot'?
Letty, after talking with the supervisor for a brief moment:
-- Appears not, someone from another System altogether, probably had trouble mid-flight and decided to 'chance it' here... it's what the supervisor is postulating.
Akrn:
-- Right, permission granted to meet up with the pilot, but stay on very high alert, you cannot let your guards down on what their intentions maybe!
Letty:
-- You got it! *disconnects*
Killian:
-- what was it??
Akrn:
-- Letty told me that we just had another spacecraft getting in trouble while approaching Naju... a single-seater spacecraft of unknown origin and the pilot safely ejecting. Letty just asked for orders to meet up with the pilot.
Samuel, a sigh of relief:
-- So, not another major disaster like USF Compile, then?
Akrn:
-- Hopefully not...
Killian:
-- This whole thing is getting way out of hand all of the sudden...
Akrn, holding his head in his hands:
-- Tell me about it!
Not ever in training had Akrn been taught on how to deal with planet-wide emergencies of this magnitude - and reflecting on the events on just the last few days it was quickly apparent that if this keeps up; the whole thing would destabilise at unreal velocity and he, or possibly the entire Guardian Fighter division - will end up completely unable to do anything about it.
Naju (Frontside)
Just outside Naju Central city
Timeline: Immediately after the above part.
Letty and a small group of Military soldiers could be seen making their way through the outer skirts of Naju Central; trying to keep track of the falling pilot as it made its slow but arduous journey to the surface.
The thing that Letty wanted to make sure was simply that the pilot doesn't end up landing outside the city boundary; or worse - outside the planet's entire Habitability Boundary altogether - it would make the rescue mission a lot more difficult. After what appeared to be eternal wait a great relief fell on her and her group when, it became clear that the pilot would land on an open field just outside the city skirts - safe from any hostile environment.
A small gesture from Letty sent the other soldiers to different directions, keeping their distance away from the landing site in darkness but not too far away as to not get a clear view of Letty - incase anything goes horribly wrong. Now it's just a matter of the pilot making its safe landing at the predicted spot...
Letty, just as the pilot of the spacecraft Sabre lands :
-- Greetings! Welcome to Naju; I am Letearia Mechiko [Pron: Me-kee-ko] of The Guardian Fighters. Do you... require any assisstance?
## End Transmission ## (Word count: 1051)
Post 42
Strange encounter of the fifth kind
Malcolm rose from having his face in the dirt, wisps of electricity sparking as his armor unlocked. Having heard a voice, female, he looked up seeing what had a woman?s face and body, or so he imagined as it was covered in armor. His first fears were quelled as he saw several humans alongside her.
"Mechiko? Naju? I should have stayed and died on reach!"
An uncomfortable pause, as Letty tried to decide what to make of the pilot. He wore strange armor, and his masked face made her more concerned that he may be dangerous. The other soldiers were getting nervous, and she was trying to keep her composition.
"Um, are you a mercenary? We are currently in a high alert during... uncontrolled circumstances so I think you may have trouble getting off the planet" Malcolm faced her, more confused but trying to stay calm. No good exciting anyone when what he needed was information.
"Panic" Cheryl as always, placing the cherry on top the obvious.
"No Ma'am, I'm a soldier. My... outpost was overrun, and I need to... report. Do you have means of long range communications nearby? It's very urgent."
Urgent. That's what the entire planet felt. Urgent. But Letty felt that this stranger was not telling the whole truth. And as a Guardian Fighter it was her duty to know.
"I need to know where you?re from, and who you want to contact, sir..."
"Malcolm." He sighed within himself. Such a delicate issue. Many a Spartan might have challenged the authority of his confronter, but he preferred diplomacy. The humans wore no insignia he recognized, he was in foreign space, and he desperately needed to contact Aperture or Earth.
"Ma'am, I am a UNSC Spartan. Planet Reach has been destroyed and the Covenant is closing in to the final circle of Earth's defense. I must contact Aperture Laboratories and inform them."
This completely blew Letty off guard. UNSC? Spartan? Reach? Her mind reeled as she tried to remain in command of the situation.
"I think you'd better come with us, Malcolm. The supervisor's will look into your story and decide if-"
"I can be trusted. I understand" Malcolm knew how key it was to comply, for his greatest fear was he would be killed, or detained even further.
"Greatly so." Cheryl said exactly what he didn't want to hear, but he was hoping to negotiate around it. Meanwhile, Letty was rather disturbed by his compliance.
"Err, yes. So I ask you to disarm." She made a motion for the soldiers, rather bewildered to take his weapons.
"Very well, Ma'am." So he handed over his pistol and DMR. The hammer nearly brought the carrier to his knees before Malcolm took it back. Not wanting to show any weakness of her troops, Letty stepped forward.
"I'll take that, uh, sir."
"If you wish Ma'am. but please don't drop its head." Even for her mechanical muscle structures, the great maul was awkward and burdensome. But still, she kept a stern face, having Malcolm walk with his hands on his head, surrounded by the troopers back towards the City.
"What have I gotten myself into Cheryl?" Malcolm finally asked within the confines of his mind. It was wracked with concern, for here he was, a Spartan, being arrested on an alien world by foreigners. The thought of the Covenant, stepping over the corpse of Reach, while here he was, apprehended, nearly brought tears upon his face. Then he heard his only ally's reply:
"Something beyond us."
Post 43Waving reality.
Timeline: 48 hours after USF compile crash, post 31 (everything above already happened, including possibly some extra posts by Spudacus).
"Thank you very much for your cooperation Mr. Hajakamura" said the man with the medals. He clearly didn't had the chance to sleep in a while.
Officer | : | Here is your pass to leave the planet as your corporation requested. |
Earl | : | Thank you. I assume you accepted our little deal? |
Officer | : | Show me this thing first. |
Earl | : | I was expecting to host a full debriefing. |
Officer | : | Your ego will go unsatisfied this time. |
Earl | : | No problem. As Leona reported to you a couple days ago, I picked up a signal from an unknown subject, supposedly located in the other hemisphere. At first glance, it looked like USF compile could offer enough radio section to bounce the signal back to surface. Combined with the ThunderSpectrum in nearby orbit, this looked like a serious possibility.
I then heard a Guardian Fighter was missing and only a couple of hours later, I get a private message from you asking me to check again all scanners to figure out the most favourable zones for rescue. |
Officer | : | Yes, this is what happened. Very few people would have been able to carry out a task like this but I knew you were going to do it. |
The man hides a smile. He knows Earl cannot resist to people acknowledging his mastery.
Earl | : | It has been hard even for me. You see, it all started from the radar. I analyzed all the signals and I noticed a pronounced loss in power in a specific location which was supposed to be static. Then I processed all the signals, recorded from all sources, using a volume-recostructing method, curtesy of my employer, you know. |
Officer | : | Just tell me what I need to know. |
Earl | : | Talking about my employer, you understand as a chief scientist I will be asked to report on operations here. I'd like to tell my superiors how cooperative and constructive you all are. |
Officer | : | You will not be disappointed Mr. Hajakamura. I have already received her request. |
Earl | : | I see we are on the same line of thinking! I just want my dear out of this mess as soon as possible. |
Earl unfolds a screen on the table: "this is the result" he says.
(http://imageshack.us/a/img15/719/wormholespectrum.png)
Earl | : | As you can see, we're better at detecting frequency perturbations than you are in hiding them. Those two "wings" on the left are Amet's radar profile, distorted by this other thing on the back...
That is an unstable wormhole.
Considering its energy loss, I can speculate it existed for no more than a couple of hours. It probably collapsed shortly after Amet made its way through. Therefore, you won't find him around here. The other end could be everywhere. |
The man with the medals is visibly worried.
Earl | : | But luckly, we forgot a part of the equation. The radio signal I picked up was more or less clear, albeit low on power. After running the numbers, I can state the signal went through the wormhole as well. I can therefore affirm with confidence this wormhole is a homogeneous delta-T discontinuity. |
Officer | : | I am in charge of running this place Mr. Hajakamura. Tell me this thing in a way I can understand. |
Earl | : | Simply put, it's a good thing. It's very likely Amet safely made it to the other end. Assuming our radio message is true, then it's very likely he's now somewhere on the other hemisphere. And this is how I explain those two mysteries. |
Officer | : | I will try to think at this positively. It's not nearly as good as I hoped. |
Earl | : | It's the only good thing. Being System DP powered by a time-continuous Mirkov fusion matrix, it's extremely likely the discontinuity caused the matrix to scramble causing a total power loss. I'm afraid a crash would have been inevitable and that's of course assuming he was not hurled into the ground in the first place. |
Officer | : | Anything else? |
Earl | : | That's all. |
The man with the medals pushes a few buttons on his terminal and then flips the screen to his interlocutor. "As you can see, her pass has been cleared. I wish you both good luck".
After a quick farewell, the man in civilian clothes exits the office.
Officer | : | Computer, abort all rescue operations regarding Guardian Fighter Amet. Reassign currently involved personnel to pending missions. |
Syntethized voice | : | Orders dispatched, commander. |
The commander lies on his chair for minutes, before checking back at his terminal. He has a few things to work on.
This Episode has ended, for the next part please check out here (http://theguardianlegend.com/forum/index.php/topic,1929.0.html)!
Quote from: UserK on February 01, 2013, 08:18:05 AM
Post 33
Green Hell Zone.
Timeline: a few hours after post 28 (therefore after Compile crashed as the whole thing took tens of minutes, if not a couple of hours AFAIK).
They say knowing your enemy is half the battle.
Over the years spent scouting Naju, Rey realized overly complicated tactics were far from useful. The enemy was made of waves of critters, aggressive feral creatures, diseases, uncomfortable weather and unfavorable grounds. Knowing the enemy wasn't then much of a great deal. Execution was key to staying alive, keeping eyes and ears open. And mouth shut.
Location, location, location. They also used to say, years ago, in his early days of training in the self-defense forces. They weren't quite telling the whole story and the whole story was that location, timeframe and conditions were key. Get there, get there when needed. Get there without fucking up.
In this case, something must have gone wrong. Very wrong. Headed towards an unknown position, probably hours late, unprepared, to attempt a rescue mission on an unknown, possibly hostile subject. Luckly Rey long forgone being completely rational. Rationally, nobody would ever land to an hostile, unidentified planet with no extraction plan just to pull out some data about its ecosystems. But they did.
Rey knew they were successful a couple of years ago, when the sky were suddendly filled with fireworks. Somebody came down to lay death on this forsaken planet and hopefully bring them back to home. Then, earthquakes seemed to almost tear the planet apart. Not once, not twice but 10 times, with increasing force.
And then. Nothing. For years. Until something apparently started messing up with topography, near the horizon, near the high mountains separating from the other hemisphere. The radio went live and an aircraft made its way to the surface. It was hope, it was...
Smell is an often neglected sense. But here in the dense woods were line of sights are nothing other than a futile concept and ears cannot pinpoint the location of every small animal and critter in the dense shadows, it was possibly even more important. Welcome to Naju, where even the environment can kill you. Learn to sidestep the "death trees", hear the centipedes, outrun the giant enemy crabs, you can still get killed and love every second of it.
They dubbed it "pinneapple octopus". It finds a spot where the shade is less thick and stays there until the sun sets. The more sun it takes, the more it spreads its lovely juices. They must taste delicious for the creatures, attracted by the smell. It attracts humans too. No matter what it is, when it reaches the origin, the smell and the led lighting (http://www.niceledlights.com) make the rest. It must be a piece of paradise.
QuoteShit!
Rey quickly backtracks. How long has been breathing this? He didn't even notice it just started to rain. He stumbles on a wet root and while he tries to recover, he falls down a small basin, vanely trying to get a stable hold. Something just went wrong. He's struck on a rock by sheer speed. Grabbing a log covered in ivy, he falls in the void.
The jump is only a few meters in height. A pond of brown water greets the unfortunate explorer with a warm splash.
Rey walks out the pond on his knees. Bends and start pushing his head on the ground. Then he raises it and the whole forest appears to be filled with his screams.
Then silence.
It is pleased.
There are two ways through the forest. The first is going by a river. The toxic, hallucinogic fumes prevent unprotected humans to stay near the flow long but doesn't appear to be particularly dangerous to the native inhabitants. Taken in the clear, everything is an easy prey. Better to let this not happen.
The second is to go through the woods. Of course there are hundreds of ways to be killed there but with limited visibility, at least humans can stand a chance in combat. Unless something goes wrong, as it just happenened.
Rey is standing still. His eyes are open, filled with blood as he tries to figure out his position.
QuoteBetter to move out. Fast. Everything must have heard me. Better to try than just to get my ass bitten off by some lionworm!
At full power, the steel feet of the two augmentations jump from a stone to the other covering inhumane distances. Rey soon reaches the other side of the basin and begins to follow the flow.
Something jumps out of the shade and tries to attack the explorer. He dodges with a somersault. As the creature lands, Rey shoots. It's a miss. Sparks are scattered as the laser would bounce on the rock hit. The wheel-like creature propels itself towards Rey again. Easily predicting this, he avoids a direct hit again, as the creature smashes a large rock nearby.
QuoteLeave me alone!
A laser trail shows in the air as Rey sweeps between himself and the creature. Immediately, explosions burst out one after the other filling the air with an almost solid wall of light. Rey turns away, jumps on a large rock and crouches as if he's charging a a spring. From the top, he can see hundreds of feral eyes glittering in the dark. Everything would be better than this.
QuoteNo problem. I needed a recon anyway.
Let's just hope for the landing!
The rock explodes in a burst of debris as he jumps towards the air. The eyes blur away, the river basin appears to become thinner and thinner. In a moment he's over the green and brown surface that is the forest. He can see the ruins in the distance as he searches for something to help him locate a crash site. At the topmost point of the parabola, he raises a punch to the air. Landing is going to be difficult, but Rey is going down with a smile.
Very nice thread.. There is lot to gain information about Naju Nexus.. Being a newbie the information is helping me lot..
If you're here to troll, I'm sure you've got more important stuff to do than tread on a fan's input on an RP dedicated to an ancient video game. If you are earnest, you'd be better off checking the events that transcended with the Guardian fighters and Naju control, especially in episode 2.
If you're here to troll, I'm sure you've got more important stuff to do than tread on a fan's input on an RP dedicated to an ancient video game. If you are earnest, you'd be better off checking the events that transcended with the Guardian fighters and Naju control, especially in episode 2.