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Post by Lena Marr on Mar 2, 2016 13:20:59 GMT
 Lena Marr found herself armed with a Votan blast rifle behind one of three green concrete barriers. As she carefully looked around the corner, she saw row upon row of strange albino alien invaders, first marching to the right, and then to the left, but getting ever closer. She immediately starting blasting them, disintegrating one with every shot. "Now here's a game I can get into," Yelled Lena joyfully to no one in particular, "Killing things for no apparent reason!"  As her tears dried up, Teagan Allyn was feeling anything but joy at that moment, as she stuttered with dismay, "I... I... don't know what you are talking about! I've never even held a gun let alone shot somebody with one. They scare the hell out of me. As for assaulting anyone, why would I do that, unless they were attacking me? And I'd be much more apt to run away - unless I was wearing heels, which I am most workdays - and then I'd be much more apt to just hide!" Teagan suddenly grew silent as she finally noticed Chase's mechanical metal right arm through his torn shirt and her blue diamond eyes grew wide with fear as she jumped to conclusions, wailing loudly, "Oh... my... GOD! You're a cyborg! And you said you are out of San Francisco. You're one of those - oh, God, what were they called? I just read about those in the Daily Tattler the other day! SIXTY-NINERS! Oh my God, I'm captured by sixty-niners! I've read what you guys do! You capture innocent civilians and make them into cyborgs like YOU! I DON'T WANT TO BE A SIXTY-NINER!!!!" With that, Teagan Allyn struggled frantically against her bonds to no avail, as the tears flowed down her pale cheeks like rainfall down a storm gutter, and she screamed her lungs out making Chase Lonehart's headache grow in leaps and bounds. |
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Post by Volodja Uljanov on Mar 2, 2016 14:12:59 GMT
"I know and I love you too," whispered Volodja back and added to his delirious and feverish beloved even she could not hear him. "Save your strength to struggle with the wound ( "What Sophie? I see. I see. Thank Sarge for me. Oh. Already did that? Good. Good.") and that illness of yours." He sighed from the bottom of his heart (somehow lungs are secondary when it comes to emotional sighing) and sat by Sandy's side, holding her tanned and feverishly glowing hand so it almost burned his. His pale face became even paler than usual, but at least he was able to feel again. The numbness, he felt earlier, was gone and that meant that he started to recover from the shock. And during his recovery he could watch his beloved girl asleep. Marcel Lestrange was sullen as a kid who just lost his favourite toy when his attempts to bring Volodja back by slapping him weren't appreciated and he had to stop them. He settled himself into a corner and pulled another dose of nicotine and tar and other chemical components through the filter of his smelling cigarette, while observing Volodja's back. "Do you mind of smoking somewhere else?" asked Volodja politely, without bothering to turn around. "I can feel the smell and let me remind you that Sandy is wounded. It's almost a hospital here, so NO SMOKING, unless you want me to discuss about those slaps you gave me earlier. Sophie told me about them. And she informed me how Taffer made you to stop by quoting Albert Einstein. But I have also something to say about that matter, since I was the slapped one. Among nobles, slapping someone was considered as insult, because if you hit a man, you treated him as equal. But slapping was for weak, so every noble considered it to be form of humiliation, punishable by duel. So you want one? After all - duels were fought not so much to kill the opponent as to gain "satisfaction" by restoring one's honour by demonstrating willingness to risk one's life for it, and as such the tradition of duelling was originally reserved for the male members of nobility. I am willing to have one with you if you don't remove your cigarette from this room. I bet that you wouldn't smoke if Lena was here."  "No, thank you. I am not a noble and I do not take unnecessary risks," replied Marcel while crushing his cigarette under his heel, leaving a butt to the floor. "You are killing me with your lecture already, so no need to get...practical here, to prove your point." "Good thinking, Marcel," replied Volodja and continued his silent watch over Sandy. "Can't agree more," added Moira, Marcel's EGO psyche. "No need to pick a fight with Volodja, who probably would beat...Never mind that. Spare your strength and your health, because I want to see Lena again. So no fighting with your allies!""You are almost as annoying as only Volodja can be. He FINALLY closes his mouth and now YOU begin to lecture me. But you are right about Lena. I want her. And I do not touch Volodja...yet, because I need his help to get Lena back.""Reasonable." |
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Post by Taffer on Mar 2, 2016 22:15:39 GMT
As Sandy was safely brought onboard, Volodja immediately sat by her side. Upon seeing him returning back to action, Taffer felt relieved again as he was afraid he would have to care for both of them otherwise. Now he had more time to check up on other team members.
"If there's something else we can do to help Sandy, please don't hesitate to ask," Taffer said to Volodja and then he walked through the ship to see how the crew was doing. He met Atika right away as she was helping in Sandy's treatment. He thanked her for her efforts both in battle and after and then he went to the pilot cabin. Lu was still sitting there as she turned to him with a worried look.
"She'll be okay," Taffer answered the question he seen in her cyan eyes, "Her EGO is doing a good job and Volodya is there by her side. And there's some good piloting I saw here. The hillside is a rather unforgiving terrain, you know."
Then he went to the tactical station where Frankie stirred water that was heated chemically into a field ration pouch of pure calories. It'd come from her pack. Rather than using a spoon as a spoon she tipped up, pushed 'food' into her mouth & swallowed. This wasn't food, or a meal, or even eating. This was only to refuel the body. Frankie licked her spoon clean & stowed it. Glances at her station kept her aware of the developing situation.
"On duty as always? Great," Taffer remarked, "We've fended off those mooks just fine and you've played your part perfectly in it. It seems quiet for a moment, but things tend to change rapidly so it's good to see someone is keeping tabs on the situation. And having some food for the team is a nice idea too. We have a coffee maker and some MREs in stock, so you can join us if you want. I have my EGO connected to the Riot's radar so she'll give me a warning if something moves around."
He took his time to unpack the MRE packs for the team and brew some coffee and tea for them, and then he went out of the ship's door, nibbling on one of the MREs and watching the surroundings As if he could see Vo and Chase returning before the Riot's radar would detect them. It was then Sargent Maas came up close to him on her way from the Collective's helicopter. With a grim look on her beautiful Irathient face, she handed him the handkerchief, bullet and all, asking in a matter of fact tone, "Another bullet for your collection - this time from Commander Kima - same as the other one from Captain Bell. Now, Commander Taffer, would you like to tell me what this is all about?"
"I will tell you and my team when we all enter this door and close it behind us," he nodded towards the Riot's door, "We all includes my team members who went after the sniper who killed your Commander. This will be one more piece of the puzzle which will either fit in my current theory or not. I think it will be not a long wait till they arrive. By the way, we're having a snack, care to join?"
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Post by Chase Lonehart on Mar 3, 2016 1:40:17 GMT
He had tuned out her comments, trying to shake the shake off the headache that he was getting. It was at that moment she woman in the back seat began to panic and scream, making his headache even worse.
"Please, shut up," he asked amongst her screaming.
But his words were drowned out by the screams of the woman. He tried to ignore it, try to ignore the headache and the screams of panic. But the woman was riding on a nerve, though she didn't know she was. Chase slammed hard the jammer's brakes, sending her forward and hitting her head on the front seat in front of her. Her screams went silent at that moment. Chase turned around, using his left hand to check her pulse and to see if her neck was broken. Her pulse was strong, her neck was okay. He shoved her back, her falling slump against her seat, her mouth hanging ajar as she continued to breathe as she was out cold. He turned back around, putting his head on the steering wheel. He took a moment to breathe, trying to push the pain back and to try to regain his wits about him.
It was at that moment, there was a knock on the driver side door. Chase reached up and opened the door, finding Vo, still on the bike, looking at him.
"Why'd you stop?" he asked.
"The woman began screaming at me. And made the headache I had from her attack even worse," Chase told him. "I had to knock her out. I just had to."
There was a silence between that came. Chase continued to keep his head on the steering wheel.
"Chase, are you okay?" Vo asked.
Chase wouldn't figure out how to answer that question. He didn't want to tell him that he believed he was losing his mind since he saw both his mother and his father, all within a matter of minutes, though both had long since been dead. Chase was afraid that he was losing his mind again, the last time he lost it was at the moment he thought he lost Iri. He was afraid that he was walking down the same path as before, and he didn't want anyone's blood on his hands.
"Please tell me we've got something for headaches on the ship," he said. "I could really use something."
"I think we do. Are you still okay to drive?"
"Yeah," was the only thing Chase could say, reaching up and pulling the door closed.
Before he threw the vehicle into drive, Chase felt around underneath the seats, holding to find something to use as a gag on the woman. He found a roll of duct tape, him pulling off a strip and them placing it over her mouth.
Duct tape is silver, but silence is golden, he recalled the old joke as he slid back into the seat, putting the vehicle into drive and following Vo's lead once again.
Eventually, they arrived at the location, glad that the woman hadn't awoken so soon from being knocked out. He hoped that maybe she could give them answers, and maybe he wouldn't have much of a headache the next time he saw her.
----------------------
Iri examined the missile's side of the problem first. She noticed that someone had drilled a hole into the panel big enough to thread the cable through as she carefully removed it from the housing. Looking at the inside, from what she could see, it looked as if the warhead wasn't wired to explode, but to serve as a power source.
Interesting. I suppose the electrical system of this place wasn't enough to sustain the equipment and the system for the sleep pod. Rather ingenious. But I'll have to wait and see of Yewll can confirm this suspicion.
She continued to examine the missile, she saw that under another panel, the booster system for it was disabled. This made her feel less uncomfortable, but she decided it was best to find some way to secure the rocket to the arm just in case and to allow for later and proper disposal of it. Iri went back into the main room, looking around until she found a heavy chain and an old padlock with key. She did a figure eight around the rocket and the holding portion of the arm, threading it through every opening in both the missile and the arm. The arm was pretty thick by itself, indicating to her it could have easily held something much larger than the missile that it was currently holding and for a longer time than from how everything else in the room was. With the padlock closed, she pulled the key free, placing it into her pocket until she could give it to the Lawkeeper.
"Well, you don't see one of those every day," she heard Yewll's familiar voice, Iri turning to find her looking at her.
"Let's get to work in figuring out how to free the woman inside the pod," Iri replied.
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Post by Atika Constantine on Mar 3, 2016 3:19:13 GMT
As soon as Sandy had been brought onto the Riot, Atika was glad that Kaj had her take some fully stocked first-aid kits from the Vigilant and put them in all the vehicles that they were to bring with them to Lima, before they left Defiance, for those kits were now badly needed. So she grabbed the big one that she had placed on the Riot in case of a big medical emergency and quickly met her brother and the others where they had put Sandy.
When Taffer came in, he met Atika right away as she was helping in Sandy's treatment. He thanked her for her efforts both in battle and after and then he went to the pilot cabin. After Taffer left Atika, she continued treating Sandy. She cleaned and bandaged the wounds with Taffer's pure alcohol and some other items, including a couple of herbal remedies. While Volodja continued to sit by Sandy's side, Atika looked at her brother and said, "Til, I need a mug or glass of boiled water, and think I smell coffee. So go ask Commander Taffer if we also have some boiled water and bring me some." Attila nodded and headed to the pilots cabin to ask Taffer about getting some. Upon entering, he saw Taffer making the coffee and tea. so he told Taffer, "Atika says she needs a cup or glass of boiled water for her patient's treatment."
Taffer handed him one, then Attila took it back to his sister. "Here you go Tiky. It's nice and hot."
Atika thanked him with a quick hug and cheek kiss, then pulled a tin out of her personal pack. She opened it and revealed two well wrapped bundles. Next she opened one bundle and revealed some homemade tea bags. Next she opened the other bundle and revealed some dried herbs, with a small spoon. She gently removed a bag from it's bundle and filled it with herbs from the other bundle and sealed the bag with some string, then she put the tea bag into the water. Afterwards she gently refolded her bundles and put them back in the tin, which she returned to her pack.
She steeped the tea, then handed it to Volo. He looked at her curiously and she said, "A Mongolian herbal tea. It will relieve some of her pain and help her body relax so it can fight any infections better and help her recover. I know she is unconscious and you may not like my suggestion but she really should drink it. So please hold her head up and gently feed it to her, while I redress her wounds."
She then went back to tending to Sandy's wounds hoping that Volodja would follow her advice about giving Sandy the tea.
While all of that was happening, Kaj went out to check on the Garilu. After he had parked it much closer to the Riot so they could re-dock it as quickly as needed, he stepped back outside. Taffer was having a conversation with the Irathiant woman, when Kaj joined him to report that the Garilu was fine and ready to be re-docked to the Riot at his order.
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Post by Sandy Bell on Mar 3, 2016 4:13:58 GMT
On her stretcher in the Riot, Sandy Bell smelled the pungent odor of the herbal tea, and it brought back memories of her younger days as a college student in California where she would end her long nights of studying mechanical engineering with a cup of tea at the local Starbucks, so she mumbled deliriously with her eyes still closed, "Mmmm, must be a new flavor of the month! I'll take one of those barista, if you please!" Outside the Riot, Sargent Maas rose a delicate hand palms up to Taffer's offer to go inside to partake in food, saying, "The day's events have soured my appetite I fear, but many thanks for your kind offer. However, I will wait here with you for your comrades return." Just then Vo Kshaa rode up on his cycle followed by Chase in the jammer truck with the captive in the backseat, who Sargent Maas couldn't see clearly from her angle. The hackles on the back of her neck rose however, as she caught a glimpse of Vo's cyan eyes. Irathiants with such eyes were considered a pariah by the elders of her tribe, but she always considered herself a modern woman of the Votan Collective and therefore more civilized and above such primitive superstitions. Still, Sarae Maas had never met such an Irathient before, so she had to stop herself from staring at him and to suppress the growing anxiety within her as she looked at the lanky Irathient with the purple Mohawk.  Maas mentally chastised herself and forced herself to approach Vo Kshaa with an outstretched clay red hand, shaking his firmly, then saying with the impassive face of a sleeping beauty, except for the darting golden eyes that seemed to be weighing his worth with a measured glance, "Esenezirii. You must be Vo Kshaa. I've read your file. I am Sargent Sarae Maas of the Votan Collective's Elite Guard, and with Commander Kima's death, the ranking representative of the Votan Collective in Cuzco. Although it turned out that the person you were chasing was not the sniper who killed the Commander, but merely a distraction so that the sniper could strike again at your Captain Bell. Still I am very curious as to who the decoy is." Before anyone could even think to object, Maas padded like a jungle panther over to the truck's passenger door and opened it, revealing the bruised, bound and unconscious form of Teagan Allyn laying on the back seat, whereupon seeing her she remarked wryly, "I stand corrected for I am clearly outranked in authority here. This woman is Teagan Allyn, the Votan Collective's Minister of Human Relations, of Chancellor Cael's own handpicked Cabinet and answerable only to him. I have certainly seen her dressed much more elegantly and her face in much better shape; still I would recognize her anywhere. She is the poster child for Chancellor Cael's friendship policy with humans, and perhaps more importantly, one of his personal... favorites. I can also assure you that this woman is no warrior, but is at best, a bureaucrat and at worst, a courtesan, although I may have those two roles reversed in importance. I surely hope you have a reason for treating her in such a cavalier manner, and really do look forward to your explanation. Somehow, I think whatever the reason, my appetite will remain sour this day." |
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Post by Marcel Lestrange on Mar 3, 2016 7:20:29 GMT
Marcel could see from his corner seat how Volodja rose his glance from sleeping Sandy this time, turned his head and looked at Atika, observing her with his intelligent and worried brown eyes. His glance became more interested when he opened his mouth to speak:
"Thank you, kind stranger! I do believe that this time are contents of the tea and their effect on injured body that matters. Not the fancy label. These kind of remedies are actually tested in cultures during long time periods and by people who are seeking for a real cure, because their survival depended on it. And as for Sandy....I see another important factor - her subconscious will to take it and perhaps even some faith into the cure, because mental factors are equally important when taking medicine...Placebo effect allows to cure some symptoms even by giving patient a sugar-water for example, and as long as patient believes that it's the real medicine, it might work. And you are offering real medicine, so.... I am sorry, but I haven't introduced myself properly. My name is..."
"This somewhat pathetic excuse for a human being is Volodja Uljanov," announced Marcel. "Bon Jour, Mademoiselle Constantine. We meet again. I and Volodja go long way back, so I know him quite good to tell that he is one smart ass bookworm who seeks and treasures useless knowledge. And does not hesitate to share it with you even if you do not want that. He is infamous for that and normal and reasonable people usually want to run away when he is coming, because he keeps talking and talking...and bothers you to death."
"Thank you, Marcel," said Volodja. "Actually it is true. I am a smart bottomed lecturing bookworm a capite ad calcem. In English it means from head to heel. And it's also true that I seek for knowledge. Possessing mental values instead of material ones, allows me to travel light because almost everything, I own, I can carry with me everywhere. And then put that knowledge into a good use when I find materials and measures, suitable for that."
"True," admitted Marcel. "Sometimes this idiot savant manages actually find a way make his silly ideas to work. Today was the day actually, but I would not wait anything useful from that source if I was you. At least for awhile not. This ungrateful cochon does not even appreciate all the trouble I have seen to arrange him a vacation in South America, so I would not expect anything good from him any more..."
"Marcel...I have a way to thank you for everything, you put us through during our "vacation". Just wait and see. But Sandy comes first and foremost," replied Volodja, smiling gratefully to Atika before looking his beloved Sandy again.
"I am so scared already...." muttered Marcel and was about to take out another cigarette, but his hand hesitated on it's way to his pocket, then completely stopped and was pulled back from halfway. Marcel muttered: "Merde!" but grinned and sent another remark at Volodja: "I believe that this miser could use some of that tea too. He has been so nervous lately. Probably he finally lost his last remains of his already weak common sense..."
"You now exactly why I feel down, Marcel. And I believe that I know the reason why YOU are keep insulting me. It makes you feel a bit better and less nervous, because as surprising as it sounds, your reasons to feel nervous are similar than mine."
"Silence, Volodja!"
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Post by Lena Marr on Mar 3, 2016 16:04:49 GMT
Lena Marr fell out of the sleep pod onto the hard concrete floor, then looked around from her prone position with cold sky blue eyes. She looked up to see the two Indogenes, one of which she recognized from her time in Defiance. "Iri... Iri... Something-or-other," Thought Lena to herself. "Iri Seuwel," Corrected Hope, Lena's current EGO psyche. "Whatever. Does it really matter, all things considered?," Admonished Lena sardonically through the telepathic link she and Hope shared. "I mean, I just fell out of an Omec sleep pod which I may have been asleep in for hundreds of years. I think I can be forgiven if I don't remember her whole name." "No, I guess not..." Answered Hope sheepishly.  Indogenes live for very long lifespans, so Lena was rightfully concerned with how long she had been asleep when she queried with a pretty pout on her chalk white face, "Hey Iri Something-or-other, I have a couple of questions for you and your friend. First, How long have I been on ice? And second, and more importantly, do either of you have a working hailer so I can call my Pooh Bear and tell him that his Honey Pot is back. I KNOW he has to be worrying - that is, if he didn't die of old age, which would REALLY be a bummer!" Lena stood up unsteadily, looking down and noticing she was still nude as she was when she was abducted, then asked with unblinking blue eyes, "Oh, yeah, one other question: Either of you two have an extra set of clothes I can borrow? The way my nipples are puckering, somebody really turned up the air conditioner in here!" Yewll glanced around the room, finding a stack of neatly folded blue vault jumpsuits with gold trim, picking up one and handing it to Lena which she donned as Yewll remarked sarcastically, "Yes, we wouldn't want you scaring the good folk of Defiance."  "So... I'm still in Defiance, I guess that's good," Remarked Lena as she put one shapely alabaster leg into the jumpsuit, then the other, wiggling the tight uniform on in a seductive manner. "Just my size - which means it's one size too small!" Iri watched fascinated as Lena dressed, finding herself being turned on by the performance despite herself as she said, "You haven't been gone long from what I understand to answer your first question. As to your second, no regular hailer could reach the surface through all the gulanite in this area, so you'll have to wait until we return to Defiance for that. " "What is, is," Remarked Lena nonchalantly as she sauntered over to the table with the vault suits, seeing boxes of black boots there as well, then looking for a pair that world fit her feet. In fact, Lena was more disappointed than she would ever let on, for there was a gap in her heart that only Marcel Lestrange could fill. She might give the appearance of a heartless killer, and a devil-may-care lady of questionable morals, of which she undoubtedly was both, but Marcel had brought out aspects in her that she never would have thought in a thousand years existed: Lena loved Marcel with all her black heart, and truly felt incomplete when he wasn't around. Lena however, didn't like to ponder that point, for she habitually lived in the moment, not the past or the future, so upon noticing the absence of another's significant other, she had to ask, "Hey Iri, where's the hunk! You know, Chase Loneguy! Marcel and I went to all that trouble to find and rescue him; don't tell me you lost him already!" |
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Post by Marcel Lestrange on Mar 3, 2016 20:27:09 GMT
Since smoking was not allowed, Marcel had to find something else to do. Cleaning his fingernails with a knife? That was not suitable for a man of his position, even when he only used the best, well balanced and most elegant (not to mention expensive) knives money could buy, for his job. Unlike that dreamer Volodja Uljanov, Marcel was a professional from head to heel. Professional businessman who's merchandise was death and since he liked personal approach, he was also cold and professional killer.
But in his usually icy heart became suddenly cracked when he first met Lena Marr and soon Marcel realized that she used that crack to slip through his usually impenetrable barriers and settled herself into his heart. Marcel's fortress was conquered. His heart melted. He fell in love with Lena. Head over heels kind of love. He loved her as much as he loved himself - enormously. He became a lover AND a fighter, but when Lena was kidnapped, Marcel's heart was torn apart. He did everything he could to find her traces, selling his skills to anyone who could provide him with information, leading to her. At he seemed to lost her tracks, though, so his consolation was playing tricks to his old rival - Volodja.
But now Volodja actually hit Marcel's weak spot. He probably knew about his feelings for Lena and pointed them out. And how he was going to "thank" Marcel? Better not think about it before the time. There were much more pleasant things to think about. Like Lena, Lena and Lena. Marcel closed his emotionless eyes and imagined her...Thinking of Lena was his other consolation and a way to spend his idle time, when he was not busy with finding her...
Even his EGO psyche Moira who usually disagreed with him about everything he said or did, was not picking on him, as she used to do most of time. She also missed...not only Lena, but she missed Hope, who was the most reasonable voice in Lena's pretty head and befriended with Moira, becoming closest thing to the family Moira ever had. That is why she kept quiet and played yet another weird music video for Marcel, so he could dream about his woman while his strong hand squeezed Marcel's greatest treasure - his wallet which had nude picture of Lena Marr, posing on red carpet, treasured inside...And large amount of scrip as well, but the most valuable thing was the picture...
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Post by Vo Kshaa on Mar 3, 2016 21:25:18 GMT
Vo shook the beautiful Iratient woman's hand with a fugitive thought if her impassive face meant to hide the disgust she feels when looking at his eyes or just she's busy with her investigation, but quickly dismissing it as he was still too much focused on finding their missing family members.
"I can also assure you that this woman is no warrior, but is at best, a bureaucrat and at worst, a courtesan, although I may have those two roles reversed in importance. I surely hope you have a reason for treating her in such a cavalier manner, and really do look forward to your explanation. Somehow, I think whatever the reason, my appetite will remain sour this day." Sargent Maas said, shifting her glance between Teagan and Vo and evidently waiting for a reply from him.
"This no-warrior woman," he said with a sigh, "Was skillfully riding away from us on a motorcycle with a sniper rifle behind her back, then she sneaked up on my friend and tried to knock him out, and when she failed, she tried to choke him with the barrel of the rifle. Both our EGO units can testify that, and you can see their recordings on a projector in our ship if Taffer allows."
He walked up to Teagan and examined the piece of duct tape covering her mouth. "Jek, this will hurt," he muttered, thinking how painful it will be to remove.
"Nanites, Vo", he heard Taffer's voice and saw him standing right behind his back, "If they can care for somebody's open wound, they definitely can remove some glue from the skin without any damage or pain. But I'm afraid I'm of no help to you with this as my reserve was severely drained when I was helping with Sandy's wound."
"You said no one was hit!" Vo exclaimed, turning to his friend, "Now you tell me Sandy's wounded!"
"She wasn't when I was telling you that," Taffer answered calmly. "She got hit later. Her EGO says she'll be okay in several hours."
Vo sighed again, knowing there's nothing he could do about that. "Can you help Chase please? He's got a terrible headache and all these events had just made it worse. And you can take her rifle and see for yourself she wasn't the one who made the shot."
Taffer just shrugged and waved to Chase to follow him, knowing with all the medkits on the ship here definitely should be some suitable painkillers for his friend. He merely glanced over the Custom Bolter as he took it in his hand, planning to examine it later.
Meanwhile, Vo had to suppress that uneasy feeling he had when he touched Teagan again as he put a finger on her face and followed the edge of the piece of duct tape, sending nanites between it and her skin so that they could soften the glue so that it could be easily removed.
"I took a sample," Shirra whispered in his head, "So we can help her with that swollen eye after I make some calculations if you want."
"If she wants to in the first place," Vo mentally replied, "Let's bring her to the ship and wait until she comes back to consciousness first."
Vo untied Teagan's hands and took her still unconscious body in his arms, feeling sad again it was not Belle he was holding and worried again of her fate as he always was whenever something reminded him of her.
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Post by Sandy Bell on Mar 3, 2016 23:27:46 GMT
"Whoa!" Exclaimed Shirra, Vo Kshaa's EGO psyche, to him as he carried Teagan Allyn's unconscious body to the Riot. "There something else here you should know about. Her face is riddled with nanites, and they aren't mine! I'm directing some of mine to pursue them... fast little buggers... okay, cornered one... whoops he got away, but I did get a reading on it before it disappeared out of my nanite's sensory range. It seems to be loaded with spy equipment, both for keeping tabs on what's going on internally and externally, as well as sophisticated stealth technology. If I hadn't been this close, I sure wouldn't have detected them through their cloaks. And, guess what? I recognize similarities to the nanites used by... wait for it... the Mistress of Judgement when she was keeping tabs on Lady Christianna, although these are smaller, harder to detect, and way more efficient. Couple of generations past those that we found in Lady, I think." "Great, just great," Mumbled Vo under his breath as he followed Taffer and Chase into the airship. "You are going to love this even more," Shirra added, "I did a quick scan of her DNA structure, and I can conclusively say that Miss Allyn IS related to our Belle, although probably as a second or third cousin." Vo didn't reply, but was relieved Ms. Allyn wasn't Belle or a clone, but just a distant relative that shared some genetic markers such as the facial resemblance and the proclivity to blush the same way as Belle did. It explained why Ms. Allyn seemed so like Belle but also so unlike her. Still it disturbed him to no end that it meant that the Mistress of Judgement must have gone out of her way to not only find one of Belle's distant relatives, but one that so resembled Belle in so many ways, and then recruit her for whatever nefarious plot she had planned this time. Vo knew that if it was the Mistress of Judgement that took Belle and the others, the Protectors' mission to get them back just got ten times harder. Sargent Maas was not privy to Vo's thoughts as he walked carrying Minister Allyn's unconscious body into the Riot, but followed several steps behind him. As she followed, she texted on her hailer the remaining members of her Elite Guard commando squad on the Votan Collective helicopter parked next to the Riot. Using code words known only by her squad members, she told them to equip themselves for possible imminent combat, as there may be a hostage situation concerning a high ranking official in of the Votanis Collective's government. Furthermore, if she pressed the panic button on her hailer, they should come running to her signal, and be ready to fight. Maas herself knew that the quickblaster holstered at her side had no weapon's charge left, but knew she still had her combat knife in her boot and had confidence in her own hand-to-hand combat skills. Sarae hoped it would not come to that, for she had respect for these Paradise Protectors and their own fighting skills, particularly their Commander Taffer, who she, reluctantly admitting to herself, found handsome in a human sort of way and whose boots she wouldn't mind finding under her bed one night. Still, Maas remembered the human story of Daniel who willingly walked into the lion's den, and at that moment felt akin to that man and his plight.  As the group entered the Riot, Sandy Bell was sitting up on her stretcher sipping at her herbal tea, bolstered by pillows gathered to her by her attentive lover, Volodja Uljanov. Sandy's color was back to normal and there was a grin on her tanned face, although she would visibly wince if she made any sudden movement. The sweats and delirium were also gone, and she felt rather good, considering the fact that she had just been shot an hour ago, due to her friends' collective efforts. "Thanks Atika, this tea is yummy! Good tasting and good for you too! I might even say this tea is TEA-RIFFIC!" Sandy cheerfully remarked with a laugh at her own joke, which first made her wince even more in pain and then have a coughing fit. Sandy held up a tan calloused hand palm forward as Volodja hurried to her aid, and as the coughing receded, said as her EGO psyche administered more pain killers to her, "Wish I could say it only hurts when I laugh. Say, those MRE's look delicious and I'm famished. Think I can have some Volodja?" As Sandy looked at Volodj's handsome albeit concerned face, she wished, not for the first time since they were rescued and surely not for the last, that they were back in the jungle alone with no concerns other than their love for each other. |
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Post by Volodja Uljanov on Mar 4, 2016 7:46:16 GMT
"I do have an idea," said Volodja. "These pre-made meals look delicious for sure, but there is always a chance that they taste like carton. We could add some local flavour to them..." he continued, searching his bag which contained samples of local herbs and spices, their Indian friends provided them among other things. "Where I did put these now?...Aji (hot peppers) is here but it's too spicy at moment...Makes you more cough. I'd suggest some Paico, which is believed to have several medicinal properties - it is supposed to help with digestive problems, gastritis, colds and asthma, which you don't have, except those cold symptoms...Paico would be appropriate addition, because I see black beans on that plate and Paico is used for seasoning bean dishes and lot of other meals...I will give you some as soon as I can find it...WOW!" "Does that "wow" means that you found it?" asked Sandy a bit impatiently with a pretty pout on her pretty face and Volodja remembered that she got a bit cranky when she was tired or hungry or both. "Not yet, but I found something else," replied Volodja, pulling Deathclaw's severed claw out of his bag. "With all the rush I almost forgot it's existence. I left the other one to Quando and his people as a memento, but kept the other one with military code. Our lab crew will be probably delighted when they see it. And now I found us some Paico too. Do you want to try it?"   |
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Post by Sandy Bell on Mar 5, 2016 6:34:30 GMT
Sandy Bell lay on her stretcher as she munched on the Paico laced MRE watching the parade of people come into the Riot. She looked with great curiosity as Vo Kshaa carried in the unconscious and still battered Teagan Allyn and laid her down on the bench seat next to Sandy. Vo left Teagan's hands bound behind her back, but carefully removed the now softened duct tape from her mouth. Suddenly Teagan's eyes shot open, surprising Vo so much that he took a frantic step backward, knocking his sunglasses to the floor. However, it wasn't the fact that Teagan woke up so quickly that gave him a sudden shock, but the fact that one of her eyes was now dark brown while the other remained diamond blue. Teagan too was unpleasantly surprised to find the tall lanky Irathiant with the cyan eyes standing over her, and in her effort to get away from him, fell off the bench. Her frightened eyes looked like those of a doe caught in the headlights of an oncoming car, but with her hands tied she could not stand or even sit up, so she used her flailing legs to propel herself away from him by kicking at the floor, until she was stopped by first the wall, and then the corner of the compartment. She righted herself to a sitting position in the corner, first staring with wide eyes at Vo, but noticed Chase there as well which further fueled her panic, then Volodja holding a giant clawed hand and then her eyes grew as large as saucers as she saw Kaj the big purple bioman, so she began to cry a river and scream a high pitched wail of despair.  The uniformed Sargent Maas hurried to the frantic woman's side and knelt down next to her grabbing Teagan's shoulders with her strong red lay colored hands to get her attention, "Minister Allyn, I am Sargent Sarae Maas of the Votan Collective's Elite Guard. You are safe now and among friends," then whispered sternly, "Quit crying and screaming Minister, if not for you own dignity than for the dignity of your office and the Votanis Collective." Maas' words and the presence of an individual she recognized in the military uniform of the Votanis Collective was better than any slap to the face to shake Teagan our of her panic attack, as she considered herself a professional and she really treasured her position in Chancellor Cael's cabinet. It was the best job that she had ever had in her short career. In the nine years since Teagan had joined the steno pool of a small E-Rep corporation at eighteen and with only a high school education, she had worked her way up from secretary to personal assistant to a CEO to just last month Minister of Human Relations for the Votan Collective, a fact she was very proud of. With her personal motto of "With good looks and a good attitude, you can do anything you set your mind to," Teagan prided herself at remaining calm in the face of adversity and her ability to make lemons out of lemonade. Still, Teagan never figured that being captured by cyborgs and monsters would be on her day agenda. Teagan immediately stopped crying and screaming as her eyes focused on Sargant Maas' golden orbs, saying slowly as she forced herself to become more calm, "I recognize you Sargent Maas. You're in Commander Kima's squad, which rotates as part of Chancellor Cael's private bodyguard. I always thought that with a little make-up you could be a model if you wanted to be." "Thank you Minister, but let's stay on the matter at hand," Maas forced a smile, remembering that she had always considered Teagan to be a bit flighty and way beneath the stature of the office Teagan held, but also reminded herself that her duty was to that very office, and not the woman that held it. Maas looked to Taffer as she pulled the combat knife from her boot, asking, "May I cut the Minister's bonds, Commander Taffer? We promise that neither of us will make a move to endanger you or your people, don't we Minister Allyn?" Teagan vigorously nodded her head in assent, and once Taffer gave a curt nod as well, Maas cut Teagan loose, putting the knife back in it's boot sheath, and then asking Teagan from her kneeling position, "Please Minister tell me what you remember as to how you got here?" As Teagan rubbed her bruised wrists from where she sat on the floor of the Riot, she began speaking with a cascade of words, only pausing to take an occasional breath when demanded, "This morning, I had just sat down at my desk in my office, doing my daily ritual of drinking a cup of coffee and reading the Daily Tattler on my vid-pad, and the phone range and I answered, all bright and cheery like I always do, keeping it positive but professional like I always do, saying 'Teagan Allyn, Minister of Human Relations' then POW!" Teagan gestured pointing at Chase with a pale forefinger, "That Sixty-Niner was all over me, beating me up, hurting my eye, and twisting my arm, I don't know, I guess trying to assimilate me like they say the Sixty-Niners try to do to innocent miners in San Francisco - at least that's what the Daily Tattler says - and then he accuses me of attacking him, imagine that, and shooting someone and you know me I wouldn't even know how to load a gun much less shoot it then that Irathiant shows up," Teagan's accusing finger moved to point to Vo, "Who had sunglasses on so I didn't see that he was a monster too, or I would have been even more scared - Yeah, you buddy, I read in the Tattler about how the Irathiants feel about your kind with your funny colored eyes and your powers to cause bad luck, which partially explains what happened to me today - anyway, they tied me up and threw me in the back of a truck and won't listen as I try to explain I'm not who they think I am and I guess I had a panic attack because I started crying and screaming which must have irritated the sixty-niner because he slammed on the brakes and I go flying into the seat and its a miracle I'm not dead because my hands were tied behind my back but I hit hard and that's probably why my neck hurts - I bet I got whiplash, so somebody's going to be hearing from my lawyer - but I go unconscious then wake up a second ago, and then see him," Teagan's pale finger pointed at Volodja, "Holding that giant clawed hand, and I think, 'Oh no, here comes the torture,' and then I see him," Her accusing finger moved to Kaj, as she continued, "And I had read in the Tattler too about biomen from the Pale Wars and how many of them have gone bonkers hanging out with mutants and killing people and eating them although I never met one and I thought they were blue and not purple, and that confirmed it, I thought, 'I'm dead meat,' so I guess that triggered another panic attack and you showed up and now that we are up-to-date Sargent Mass, can we please go home?" "Well," Remarked Sandy with narrowed blue eyes between bites of her MRE, "Despite the resemblance, that is NOT Belle, although she does have the Bell family's gift of gab!" |
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Post by Volodja Uljanov on Mar 5, 2016 8:20:22 GMT
"It's all about how someone's mind works in stressful situation," said Volodja with calm voice, putting the claw down. He was not addressing to nobody particular, but it didn't seem to be a matter to him. "I believe that first impression is important indeed, but one should sometimes take a step back and try to analyse the received information. I know that creating hundred versions are considered to be suitable for a schoolboy, while gentleman sticks with one and only version he created, but sometimes it does not work that way. Allow me to demonstrate with the help of wonderful world of movie magic" He took out his hailer, tapped it and turned the screen towards the rest of people.
"As you can see, that young man in this video clip demonstrated another way to interpret given facts. He was thinking a bit outside of box, using information which comes from the box. Let me tell few words about our scary and blood thirsty looking crew, using some totally arbitrary samples...
Chase, if it's not mentally too painful for you, then can you show your prosthetic hand in work once again? Rest of him is flesh and bone and pontificated humanity, except that wonderful work, created by a maker of artificial limbs.
Of course Vo Kshaa wears sunglasses because
a) he looks damn cool with them and
b) he doesn't want to irritate folk around him, who had no experience with him and doesn't now how good man he is.
Kaj is the most gentle Bioman in the world. Probably the last one from Lincoln series. A real rarity, because of his unselfish kind- and tenderness, not to mention his sense of duty. I haven't noticed any violent bone crushing urges in his case. He just does his job.
I believe that someone totally ignored this...Monsieur, in the corner, because he sits there without disturbing anyone. His name is Marcel Lestrange. He is actually only one among us who doesn't see any problems or guilt when it's about torturing someone if it's necessary. And he doesn't need any impressive looking claws for that. He can use piece of rope, for example, to rub and scratch sensitive places of human body to make someone to talk. Am I correct, Marcel?"
"Mais naturellement," replied Marcel with devilish grin on his handsome face.
"But since he is sitting peacefully, it also means that torturing is out of the question. Of course we should introduced ourselves first, but he battle situation...(he winched MENTALLY because of Sandy's wound and fallen Commander Kima, but he kept talking)...didn't gave an opportunity to formal introduction ceremonies. Plus, allow me to remind, that if we wanted to kill or torture someone, we would got over with it as a first thing, so we could continue with our daily routine. Sergeant Maas and her men walk among us freely, even if we had a conflict of interests with them earlier. That should also convince one that we are not going to cause any harm to one, except when they attack us. But I noticed that I got carried away with my lecture. Again. My bad. I apologize for that."
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Post by Taffer on Mar 5, 2016 9:55:26 GMT
Taffer remained silent since they entered the ship as he was processing what Shirra, Vo's EGO Psyche, was sending him. Things was getting more and more complicated but their team needed his decisions and at least some kind of plan on how to get their family members back and now, he was afraid it was the case, to prevent another attempt on starting another extermination war. He nodded to Sargent Maas when she asked to cut Teagan's bonds and carefully listened to what she was saying, adding her story to the picture in his mind. He noded again, approving Volodja's lecture as it led to what he was about to say to the team perfectly well.
"I guess you both forgot to mention a short sneaky thief, hacker and information dealer who tries to play as a leader of this rag-tag bunch and who is now about to lock us all in a Faraday's cage," he said smiling with corners of his mouth as Em Dash, his EGO psyche, was accessing the controls of the Riot's shield, making it pulse at a high frequency and adjusting the parameters of the protective field until the noise generated by the jammer outside could not be heard on the ship's receiver.
"Or, alternatively, to make this place secure enough to discuss the confidential information which may affect the state security of the Votanis Collective."
"First," he said facing the team after he was satisfied with the screening the shield provided, "Vo, I'd like you to play the recording your EGO has about the situation when Miss Allyn was captured."
A holographic screen appeared behind his back and they saw the events of the last hour through Vo's eyes. They saw the fugitive with the sniper rifle on her back professionally maneuvering through the city as Vo struggled to pursuit on their heavy vehicle. They saw her disappearing in the woods. They saw how Vo tried to follow Chase who was quicker at pursuit and then they saw the same sniper trying to choke Chase and Chase gaining the upper hand before Vo could reach them. They saw Vo's hand ripping the mask off the sniper's face which appeared to be Teagan's. Then they saw a close shot of the rifle as Vo was examining it, showing no signs of any usage other than a scratch on its buttstock where it hit Chase's armor.
"I examined the rifle and it indeed is brand new and it has never made a single shot," Taffer said, "But the place Teagan was first noticed and the way she was dressed leads to an obvious conclusion she was consciously used as a decoy by someone else. At first I thought she was just fooled into thinking she was shooting a video or something like that, but now as she says the last thing she remembers was the phone call, it makes me think of a much more severe danger we're facing."
The screen changed to displaying some raw data scrolling fast.
"These are measurements Vo's EGO took to search and identify the nanites on Teagan's body. And that's where the confidential information begins. With these nanites found and identified I tend to think Teagan was mind-controlled during this entire episode. I would have thought it to be a nice fiction if we hadn't met with technology before face to face."
The screen changed again and now it was showing an old woman with a face hid behind the mask.
"The Mistress of Judgment, you might have heard of her as she tends to have many supporters in the Collective. Her usual means of achieving her goals are manipulation, mind-control and capturing people to hold them hostage and force them to act as she orders. The nanites found on Teagan's body resemble those the Mistress used before, although greatly improved. Guess she doesn't let the grass grow under her feet. Sargent, the insignia you have found on those bullets is the mark of Kabule, the master assassin of the Pale Wars who was killed at the Battle of Defiance. Mistress had resurrected his personality somehow and injected it into the mind of Cael to make him follow her orders, way before he became the Chancellor of the Votanis Collective. We, including his mother Erika Widowmaker, had a hard time making him restore his own consciousness, and either he became fully in control of himself, Erika was still afraid this second personality could surface up and take control yet again. You probably heard about his ability to evade multiple assassination attempts so it made me think he put the skills of Kabule's personality to a good use. But now given his reluctance to communicate with us and these latest findings I tend to think he's manipulated again. I also admit the possibility that Mistress had injected Kabule's personality in someone else yet again, but the Teagan's involvement points at Cael again.
Now back to the recent events. Commander Kima was killed right after he commanded to join our forces. Sandy was shot when she was about to tell us what happened when she and Erika were captured on their way to Defiance. Cael was adamant on demanding us to not get involved in Sandy's search. I think all of this pursued the same goal — he wanted to make Sandy silent on those events so that no one could know the details. If it is his own will or if it is due to Mistress' manipulation is yet to be determined. The way he shot Sandy right in the same spot he did before could hold the exact meaning the real Kabule had when he shot her the first time: "I'm ordered to kill her but I don't want to," and he wants us to know just that. So please Sandy, could you finally tell us what happened the last time you saw Erika that they do not want us to hear?"
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