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[EinhanderZwei]

===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/ 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!

[RubyC42]

===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===

[EinhanderZwei]

===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==

[RubyC42]

===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 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.

[EinhanderZwei]

===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==

[RubyC42]

===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 ===

[UserK]

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.

[EinhanderZwei]

===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==

[RubyC42]

===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 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.

[UserK]

Post 25
Unsuspectable trouble.

Naju surface, undisclosed location.

The 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.

Here 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.

Flying 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.

[EinhanderZwei]

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==

[RubyC42]

===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===

[UserK]

Post 28
One in

Naju 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.

South 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.

Fk 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.

Time 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.

[EinhanderZwei]

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===

[RubyC42]

===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===