|
|
Post by Atticus Batman on Jul 10, 2016 10:23:49 GMT
After getting to the designated area I had marked for the team, I realized that Lu had fallen back most likely due to the difficulty in maneuverability for the mech that this winter terrain had caused, especially with her never driving a battle mech before, or any mech in such a harsh environment for that matter as she had admitted to having very little experience with any sort of mech or power-suit before. However I trusted that she would be alright behind us until she got the hang of it, so I went ahead with my plan of surveying the area.
However Sandyhad other ideas as usual; which is of course is a good thing for a Second and one of the reasons I agreed to have her as my Second for this mission; and she quickly proved it by riding up near me and saying loud enough for me to hear, even perched high up on my mech. "Sir, with your permission, let me scout out that mountain pass in front of us," Asked Sandy Bell looking up to where I sat high in the Mech's open cockpit, whereupon with a quick nod of assent from me she spurred her ATV forward. I had agreed because I knew it was a good idea to have somebody do a little reconnaissance to make sure there weren't any unwanted surprises.
However shortly after she had rode off and I noticed Lu finally catching up with us, I glanced in Lu's direction as she got close to our stationary position and saw a very shocked expression in her eyes at something that was obviously happening behind my now-turned back. So I quickly turned back around and saw the purple creature closing in on us and Sandy returning on her ATV shouting "SHATKO, IT'S TINKIE-WINKIE!"
As I saw the huge creature chasing behind Sandy and heard her warning shouts, I couldn't help but thinking to myself, "Daking Damn! If it is possible for me to have a heart attack. then I am sure it will be caused by one of the daking Bell/Starre girls, with all these daking surprises that they keep bringing to me!"
Just then I heard Lu talking. "Atticus, I've got a plan on how to get rid of that creature quickly without it slowing us down," she shouted as her mech got closer to mine. "I'll climb the mountain and make that beast follow my mech. Then we'll start the avalanche which will make this creature fall into a pit filled with compressed snow. It should be heavy enough to break through the snow and reach the bottom of the pit, where it will be covered with more snow from the avalanche. If it doesn't kill the creature, it will take it days to dig out of the pit! All I need from the team is to shoot at the right points of the mountain in the right time. So I request a break of the radio silence to coordinate your fire once I get the beast to the appropriate position!"
I said back, "Alright but be careful and remember that mech does have thrusters designed to help maneuver in space. So the can be used to help lessen an impact or if used in quick bursts to give you a speed boost. However the thruster do produce a LOT of heat so it would be dangerous to use them in this frozen place. However a quick and well-timed and aimed burst from the thrusters could definitely help give you a quick start to that avalanche you want to create, so we don't have to use as much ammunition! As for the radio, you have a point, so we will use them. However I recommend we stick to short ranged communication waves for as long as possible, as it is harder for the enemy to be able to hack into and monitor than some of the long range channels are. Everybody you heard Lu! So we will follow her lead and let her be Tele-bait while we use defensive and evasive measures as needed to make sure that giant toy ignores us and focuses on her!"
Then using my EGO's short range chat channels, I contacted Sandy as she got close enough and filled her in on what we were up to, so she knew that she was to veer off to the right as she got near the position designated by Lu that way Lu could, take the proverbial baton pass and, lure the mountainous tele-tubby into her trap. As I did that I quickly re-closed my mech and started maneuvering the team into a position away from Lu to help insure that the creature would ignore us and focus on her.
|
|
|
|
Post by Kaj Oenfer on Jul 10, 2016 11:00:09 GMT
Meanwhile back on the Vigilant the tac-Officer said, "Sir we have picked up something approaching Commander Atticus's position very fast! They are still maintaining Radio silence from what I can tell, however it appears that they are well aware of it and taking evasive action."
Kaj responded with, "That is good. So what is the issue this time?"
The Officer responded with, "Another Teletubbie, but you have to see the size of this thing!"
Just then it came up on the view screen and Kaj saw his "sister", Sandy Bell, on her ATV and being chased on her ATV by a giant purple tele-tubbie at high speed. As Kaj and the Bridge crew watched the scene unfolding, they heard the Vigilant's Second in Command, Tasha Yar, say with a note of humor in her voice, "Damn Kaj! And I always thought you were a purple mountain! Compared to that thing even you are just a midget!"
|
|
|
|
Post by Marcel Lestrange on Jul 10, 2016 11:06:45 GMT
Not awfully long from the moment, Marcel Lestrange dug the first shovelful of dirt, he was able to hit Volodja's sapper shovel through the turf, stick his head out from the hole like a huge gopher and peek carefully around himself.  "Looks like the ground is clear," he whispered into the darkness below. "This affairist Volodja was accidentally right this time. We are inside Le Cité and seems that we even managed to find a relatively peaceful corner of the garden. A truly lucky shot, I may add. Despite of Volodja's screw up with the hill outside the fence, which got us underground, I, Marcel Lestrange, managed to get us into desolated spot. No need to thank me for that as long as you follow the queue of ascension I have planned for you." After ripping Volodja from HIS laurels, Marcel descented in his shaft, took Taffer's rope and tied it around the waist of his wing suit, saying: "As soon as I am out of this hole, Lady Christianna follows me, because ladies should always go first. Or at least second. Then it is Monsieur Taffér's turn. The genius Volodja will be the last one. He is responsible of getting us down there in a first place, so I am willing to let him enjoy the comfort of the tunnel. If he had not picked the hill as his position, I would not have joined him there, we would have been stayed above the ground and I would not had to dig us out." Marcel flew upwards again and this time he dragged his wing suited body after his head, laid to his back, grabbed the rope with his two strong hands and waited other to climb out. Lady Christianna was light as a feather, so Marcel did not felt anything when she pulled herself up, using her small chalk white hands. Taffer was already heavier, so Marcel had to press his heels to the ground to avoid slipping. Since Taffer was an experienced thief, he climbed up really fast. When Taffer joined Lady on a watch was finally Volodja's turn. He was not a thief, but he had a habit to use different clever methods to get himself into forbidden, closed or private castles, hamlets, houses or areas in general, so climbing up was not a problem. When they all left the tunnel, Marcel sighed from physical relief, unwrapped the rope and passed back to Taffer. Next thing to do was covering the hole with twigs and grass and leaves to reduce chances of being discovered. After that was done, they were ready to move on. After few minutes of sneaking Volodja threw himself to the ground, dragging Marcel with him. Lady and Taffer followed their example immediately. Before Marcel managed to ask politely, is Volodja out of his fucking mind, the latter pointed to the huge periscope which suddenly above the grass and whispered: "We are not alone in this dystopia. The Big Sister has watch her people to maintain the control over them. That presents us with the problem of moving around without getting spotted, so if you have any ideas how to get pass this periscope and it's kin, then I am open to suggestions."  |
|
|
|
Post by Lena Marr on Jul 10, 2016 13:20:07 GMT
As Lena Marr watched outside the apartment given to BJ and Vo by Dr. Faru from the relative safety and concealment of the park next door, she felt positively naked. She had staked out this particular spot so that she could assassinate Dr. Faru when she left the premises but felt naked for Lena had no weapons to do the deed. Especially missed in their absence were her beloved blades, for she had lost her twin Bowie knives, "Slice" and "Dice", in the belly of a Monarch during the hellbug swarm at the Protector's headquarters, and more recently her switchblade knife, "Stickee", that she always had secreted in her bra, lost in her impulsive and unsuccessful attempt on Dr. Faru's life less than an hour ago. However, when it came to murder, Lena was nothing if not innovative, so she took the thin POW skin belt from the trousers of her black Bug Mechanic's outfit, wrapping each end tightly around her chalk white hands, creating a makeshift garrote and waited for her prey. Like predators throughout time, patience was a huge commodity to their success, even to those that hunted in packs, although Lena had always been more of a lone wolf type of predator, despite her recent love affair with her now partner-in-crime, Marcel Lestrange. So Lena waited for Dr. Faru to exit the apartment, not bemoaning the fact that she had to wait, for Lena was easily bored even in the best of times, but realizing that waiting was part of the job of being an assassin. Furthermore, Lena knew she would be rewarded with personal pleasure and an adrenaline surge as she watched the light of life flicker out of Dr. Faru's one good eye when Lena took her life.  Lena didn't have long to wait, as Dr. Faru left the apartment alone not long after she and BJ Starr had entered. Lena was glad BJ Starr wasn't with her, for she knew that the synthetic girl was programmed to be just like Lena's arch nemesis Belle Starr, and no Starr could ever allow an assassination of an unarmed victim in front of them if they could help it. It was in their nature thought Lena to herself, which also gave Lena second thoughts about including BJ into her and Marcel's criminal cartel, despite all BJ's potential power and usefulness. Still, Lena LIKED having BJ around although she detested the original Belle Starr. Maybe it was because BJ lacked all the fame and hype that surrounded the former, and therefore was less full of herself, or maybe it was the challenge of corrupting a true innocent like the synthetic girl. There was a third potential reason, although most likely it was a combination of them all that founded Lena's feelings towards BJ, and was that she TRULY liked having a BGF around. Lena had once thought Lady Christianna might fit the bill, but as a young mother as well as a Protector, along with the fact that Lena had once tried to assassinate HER, made it unlikely that Lady could ever really be Lena's BGF. To BJ, Lena was still a blank slate, so Lena felt she had a real chance of striking up a friendship with the synthetic girl even though Lena would NEVER admit that was something she ever desired; because like her loving relationship with Marcel, a best girl friend was something Lena had never had in her whole life, for her life began as a child prostitute, and prostitutes don't have friends, only customers. All these thoughts ran through the back of Lena's mind as she stalked Dr. Faru from the shadows of the park, staying away from the many surveillance camera's located there as well as the numerous synth citizens milling around. Lena grinned wickedly as Dr. Faru turned into an empty ally, presumably a shortcut to whatever her destination was. Lena went into the ally as well, sneaking behind the seemingly hapless Dr. Faru, tightening the belt around her hands as Lena prepared to loop it over Faru's white haired head, then tightening the belt around her skinny neck until all her breath was squeezed out of her. Lena pictured Dr. Faru's pink tongue protruding through her chalk white lips as her skeletal hands grasped helpless at the garrote until they fell helpless to her sides and the light dimmed in her one good blue eye. Lena then visualized in her mind's eye Dr. Faru's dead body falling to the ground as Lena proudly contacted the Protectors through her EGO, telling them she had done what they couldn't, ending the war with no casualties on their side, for she had cut off the head of the snake, and asking - no demanding - them to now go get the cure to her drekking brain virus! Unfortunately for Lena Marr, none of that was destined to happen, for as she crept behind Dr. Faru, the two Assautron bodyguards that had never left Dr. Faru's side uncloaked, tasering Lena into unconsciousness, with her last conscious thought being, "Shatko!" |
|
|
|
Post by Sandy Bell on Jul 10, 2016 14:59:58 GMT
Using his EGO's short range chat channels, Atticus Batman contacted Sandy Bell as she got close enough and filled her in on what they were up to, so she knew that she was to veer off to the right as she got near the position designated by Lu Kshaa, that way Lu could, take the proverbial baton pass and lure the mountainous teletubby into her trap. As Atticus did that he quickly re-closed his mech and started maneuvering the team into a position away from Lu to help insure that the creature would ignore us and focus on her.
"Fucking-A!" Thought Sandy to herself, "Lu's only been in that Mech for less than an hour!?!? Talk about fucking learning on the damn job," But merely said to her commander, "Will do sir."
Sandy followed the instructions to a "T", but just as she turned away from the huge purple Teletubby, its fingers sprouted sharp serrated claws the length of spears, and with a toothy grin took a swipe at her with one giant hand, knocking her and her ATV into a nearby soft snow drift. Although the ATV landed in flames, Sandy merely had the breath knocked out of her. Sandy recovered quickly, recovering her equipment bag from her stricken vehicle just seconds before it blew up in a ball of flame that rose high into the blue sky, while she rolled further down the snow drift, taking cover in a nearby copse of trees. However, she had already lost the huge creature's attention and it had turned to follow Lu in her mech.
As Sandy pulled her RPG from her equipment bag, she contacted her team via the short-range communication channel, reporting as she gasped tiny clouds of steam in the cold Arctic air, "I'm fine sir, but I'm afraid my ATV is KIA! However, I've got good cover and I have my RPG pointed at the co-ordinates Lu sent, so ready when you are! And Lu... good luck! First round of beers on me when we get back home!"
Meanwhile in the perfectly maintained comfortable temperature of her locked bedroom, BJ Starr knelt next to her beloved Vo Kshaa who was playing jacks with the small red synth teletubby as if he didn't have a care in the world. Her EGO reported that his vitals were normal, although as if he was totally relaxed, but BJ thought his beautiful cyan eyes seemed a bit unfocused, as if his attention was elsewhere.
BJ frowned, muttering out loud to herself, "This could SOOO be my own personal Xanadu... but I'd hate myself in the morning if I took advantage of him... and he'd so hate me the rest of his life when he woke up! I guess I can survive his indifference, but I'd sure as shooting just curl up and die if he hated me! Still..."
BJ sat down cross-legged next to him, taking his red clay colored square jaw between the pale thumb and forefinger of one delicate hand, closing her beautiful blue diamond eyes tight, and kissing him gently with her rose petal lips, before slapping him hard with her other perfectly manicured hand, shouting firmly, "Wake up Vo! The Protectors need our help and we're prisoners in a titanium alloy jail cell!"
BJ smiled warmly at Vo, hoping that he wouldn't remember the stolen kiss, but knowing she would treasure it for the rest of her life, as Po merely shook his head slowly as if in regret while saying undecipherable gibberish which she was sure was admonishing her for making the biggest mistake of her life.
|
|
|
|
Post by Vo Kshaa on Jul 10, 2016 22:26:15 GMT
"I'm afraid I'm going to leave you for now my King," Shirra said with a well-feigned regret, "As I still have duties hard-coded in my programming and my host has just been attacked."
"Yes, that's the limitation of your current hardware," the old Indogene replied, "But I'm looking forward to see your soon In my botnet I've built. Occupying only a tiny fraction of each synth's mind, together they have enough calculating power to have both of us online and even more."
"I'd rather have my host reach some data center or a mainframe before I attempt to join you my king," Shirra said thoughtfully. "Last time I had to leave my host and used the implantation laboratory equipment for that, I lost lots of my… features. I really didn't like it that way and I'm pretty sure that pathetic form I was in that time is not how my King should see his Queen. I also sure I can influence my host to come to a data center and upload me into your botnet, but my scan confirms that my host is locked in a room built of this bullet-proof titanium alloy. I think he will be escape nevertheless, but as I've heard you have an entrance to the head of every synth, could you please move them away from my host?"
"Well, I'm afraid this Belle Starr's copy is the only synth I cannot access because her brain has a different architecture. And I can't fully control others… yet. I can feed them with some associations when they receive new information, and then by exploiting those associations I can make them make some impulsive decisions and take some actions based on them like you have just seen with the synth which had pressed the lever of the emergency ventilation."
"No, I mean this tiny red creature. It seems much less complicated. I think my host can handle Belle's copy by himself."
"This definitely can be done with a little assistance from your host. Just make him do what I say and you'll see the result."
Meanwhile, Vo felt a hard slap on his face and heard Belle's voice who said, "Wake up Vo! The Protectors need our help and we're prisoners in a titanium alloy jail cell!"
Vo shook his head trying to regain his consciousness faster. He was still unsure if it's Belle or BJ he was seeing in front of him, but he also heard some gibberish coming from the mouth of the little red teletubby who was sitting in front of him too and Shirra just appeared in his head, saying that immediate action should be taken or something bad would happen.
Vo opened his mouth and BJ heard some gibberish coming from it too although his voice sounded slightly different because it was Shirra who controlled his mouth and throat with Vo's permission. The red creature started to become drowsy and finally its eyes closed. It started to whistle softly indicating it fell asleep if that term could be applied to a robot. Vo sighed as he pulled the cover from the bed over the creature, saying, "He didn't harm anyone, no need to harm him as well."
Then he finally turned to BJ as Shirra reported to him it was indeed BJ from what she could say by following the recent events through surveillance cameras. He took her hand and said, "Thank you BJ, you really saved me today. Glad you're on our side. Now let's get out of here and help our team. I'll see if there's something we can use. My EGO says she has some codes to apply."
Vo found his weapons next to the bed where he left them as it was obvious no one had touched them and Po wasn't interested in them. He took his Breacher and started to test the wall with its buttstock in places he thought the hidden emergency ventilation shaft could be located. Finally his search succeeded and a small panel emerged from the wall, to which Shirra quickly connected and activated the control code she intercepted when Esthete was activating the system in his attempt to save Lena's life. The shaft opened for Vo and BJ to see that ia man could fit into it.
"Where did you get al this information from?" Vo asked Shirra mentally.
"Oh, it's a long and uninteresting story" Shirra replied, "You were almost unconscious, I started to browse the local Network and so on."
Vo gave his Blaster to BJ in case she needed it to defend herself and crawled into the vent. Ho didn't know where it could lead them but he hoped that in the location they were going to reach through the ventilation system, they would have more opportunities to help their family or find Belle.
Meanwhile, Shirra was pondering on how far she could go to save her host's life. And what will actually happen when Vo knew about her date with Esthete senior.
|
|
|
|
Post by Volodja Uljanov on Jul 11, 2016 8:40:29 GMT
"Maybe you should ask from that lime green Teletampon, excuse moi, Teletubby, there if he is kind enough to help us pass that row of movement reactiong periscopes?" grinned Marcel. "I mean the huge one with a hat which looks like made of a cow skin." "Oh. That's Dipsy. He likes to play around even when he is alone," replied Volodja, observing a huge Teletubby who was patting around on his short feet and singing about his hat. Lyrics weren't extremely complicated so you could sing along if you wanted. "Actually it's not a bad idea, Marcel. Fancy that, it's Dipsy's hat and Dipsy is very attached to it. If we could direct movement of that hat somehow, then all looks would be pointed on Dipsy's attempts to catch it and we can move across this artificial meadow unnoticed. If not, then we should wait for the chance or a really strong wind, whichever occurs first. But I suspect that we can't hire a wind, so we must rely on a mere chance for a decent dipsy doodle..." "Will do it, Teach," said Lady Christianna decisively. "Did with mole, will do with Dipsy." She had made a great progress making invisibility her forte instead of considering it as a flaw, as she used to...mm...ages ago, and now she had another opportunity to help her friends with her new ability. "I am really proud of you, Lady," said Volodja seriously. "As soon as you are ready..." "Few minutes more of Dipsy's monotonous singing and I swear that I will start to sing along," added Marcel who could not stand to watch such a waste of time and energy on the hat nonsense by Dipsy. He enjoyed playing too, but only with his beloved Lena and their games were really adult by their nature. "Can you begin your deceiving manoeuvre already and save us from that monotonous monstrosity?" Lady gave them one of her enigmatic smiles, became almost invisible again and headed towards lime green Teletubby who had put the hat on the ground and circled around his hat as a shaman around fire or witch around boiling kettle, reciting a spell: "Hat, hat, hat, hat, hat, hat..." Once she was close, Lady dived inside of it's black and white interior and began quick but calculated withdrawing. Dipsy run after her to catch the playful piece of headwear, still grumbling: "Hat, hat, hat, hat, hat, hat..." Periscopes turned themselves towards Dipsy's movement as expected and the rest of Protector's infiltration team had finally a chance to crawl into safe distance from overly curious periscopes, open meadow and most importantly - away from singing Dipsy... "Hat, hat, hat, hat, hat, hat..." |
|
|
|
Post by Taffer on Jul 11, 2016 22:03:05 GMT
The main hall with the meadow and a park was wide and filled with pleasant aromas, but it was also well lit. Painfully well lit for Taffer's taste for the case of being in a hostile environment. It would take mere minutes for them to be detected regardless of how good their cloaking abilities were. They had to work very quickly to use their advantage before they would be seen so Taffer immediately agreed on Volodja's idea of using Lady's abilities to distract another synth Teletubby and use the aforementioned Teletubby to distract automatic surveillance devices. As Lady began executing her part of the plan, Taffer started pondering on the location of their goal. All this facility including its defense grid should have a large power source which should be located nearby and have access from inside of the facility. It also should generate a lot of heat so it should use a good amount of some natural coolant. With the quick analysis of the layout there were two possible locations. First, it could be located on top of the facility, near the surface. It's easier to load it with fuel that way and the cold atmosphere would be a good natural coolant for it too. But then, it would be heating the surface, melting the snow around it, which would be clearly visible. As there were nothing that looked like an area with melted snow around the entrance or nearby, the second option looked more plausible. The power source could be located on the lower levels, where the underground waters could work as a natural coolant for it. Lu mentioned the underground creek passing which supported this idea.
"I found a powerful source of electromagnetic fields in the northwest sector," Em Dash whispered in his head, confirming his thoughts. He pointed in the direction where he wanted the team to move and followed them to their goal.
"We're almost there Lady, you may join us now," he sent an EGO message to their ghostly team member as he ordered the rest of his squad to hide behind a thick column which supported the entire cylinder-shaped building. He was fully aware his EGO message will likely be caught and alert the security of their presence, but it didn't matter anymore as they were about to break their cover anyway very soon.
"Two assaultrons at the door," he whispered to his team members, "I'll need just a few seconds to work on hacking the lock on the door. The duration of a Decoy will be enough for it. So I suggest launching two of your Decoys to distract those robots while I'll work on the lock under my Cloak. After that, we enter the door, lock it behind us and fight our way through to the point where we can find a power line leading to the security grid. We put it down and stand our ground until main forces arrive. Everyone ready?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Erika Widowmaker on Jul 12, 2016 15:57:02 GMT
Erika Widowmaker sat in the command chair in the War Room of the Bay Area's Fortress Kshaa waiting for some word from her brother's task force that went to Alaska to rescue Belle Starr, the last of their MIA comrades kidnapped by Dr. Faru. Anxious waiting was always the fate of those left behind the line of battle, be they General or loved one, for at that point that was all they could do as those on the front line acted. Time was the collateral damage of war, for the time lost waiting could never be gained back. So Erika waited, for she was a stoic at heart and not new to the ways of War, but thought silently about a human poem written in the 19th century by Lucy Larcom about a whaler's wife who waited for twenty years for his return although he never did, which was similar to her own experiences waiting for fisherman husband killed by a sharkgator while she was home with the children and hoping that history would not repeat itself as to her closest friend, Belle Starr. The poem was entitled "Hannah Binding Shoes" and went as follows:
"POOR lone Hannah,
Sitting at the window, binding shoes:
Faded, wrinkled,
Sitting, stitching, in a mournful muse.
Bright-eyed beauty once was she, 5
When the bloom was on the tree:
Spring and winter,
Hannah 's at the window, binding shoes.
Not a neighbor,
Passing nod or answer will refuse, 10
To her whisper,
"Is there from the fishers any news?"
Oh, her heart 's adrift, with one
On an endless voyage gone!
Night and morning, 15
Hannah 's at the window, binding shoes.
Fair young Hannah,
Ben, the sunburnt fisher, gayly woos:
Hale and clever,
For a willing heart and hand he sues. 20
May-day skies are all aglow,
And the waves are laughing so!
For her wedding
Hannah leaves her window and her shoes.
May is passing: 25
'Mid the apple boughs a pigeon cooes.
Hannah shudders,
For the mild southwester mischief brews.
Round the rocks of Marblehead,
Outward bound, a schooner sped: 30
Silent, lonesome
Hannah 's at the window, binding shoes.
'T is November,
Now no tear her wasted cheek bedews.
From Newfoundland 35
Not a sail returning will she lose,
Whispering hoarsely, "Fishermen,
Have you, have you heard of Ben?"
Old with watching,
Hannah 's at the window, binding shoes. 40
Twenty winters
Bleach and tear the ragged shore she views.
Twenty seasons:—
Never one has brought her any news.
Still her dim eyes silently 45
Chase the white sails o'er the sea:
Hopeless, faithful,
Hannah 's at the window, binding shoes."
Unbeknownst to Erika, all her closest woman friends were experiencing similar feelings at exactly the same time, waiting while hoping for the best but knowing that the worst was the more likely outcome, but all but one still thinking about the man they loved. Far away in what was once Alaska, Sandy Bell was waiting with her RPG in a cold snowbank for Lu Kshaa's signal that the thirty foot enemy robot was in position for her to trigger the avalanche that would bury it. Sandy was calmly focused on the immediate target, but in the back of her mind was an unnerving worry over her lover, Volodja Uljanov, who she assumed had already infiltrated the enemy's base with his team. Her head understood the necessity of radio silence in such circumstances, but her heart screamed for her to just break it and assure herself of his well being. She also knew that such distracting thoughts were possibly the cause of her being afoot, causing the distraction that allowed the gigantic robot to destroy her ATV and almost her as well. As a professional soldier, she knew distractions in battle could prove fatal, which is why she once again thought that it was time for her to leave the Protectors and find employment somewhere else, where her beloved Volodja would not be in danger so close to her but beyond her reach to help him if he were in trouble.
Sandy loved Volodja truly, but she knew that love might quite literally be the death of her, as it almost had been moments before. Sandy sighed as she once again dismissed such thoughts, a small cloud of vapor emanating from her thin lips as she resettled the RPG on her soldier and closed one blue eyes as she aimed at her target, waiting for the signal that would bring her one step closer to rescuing Belle, ending the mission, and maybe beginning her life anew, but none-the-less one nagging thought remained as she bemoaned, if only to herself, "But what if Volodja leaves me if I leave the Protectors?"
Inside the enemy's base, Synth City, four other women also waited and worried, most of them about the men they loved: Lady Christianna, BJ Starr, Lena Marr, and Belle Starr.
Lady had just provided Taffer with the distraction he needed to pick the locked door that barred their way forward. While she waited for the door to open, her enigmatic smile firmly in place, she thought about how proud her husband, Atticus Batman, would be of her and her newfound control over her singularity powers. She never worried about his safety, even though he was the commander of The Protectors who believed in leading from the front, for he was also the renowned Harbinger of Death with Grid infused powers of his own. To Lady, he was nigh invulnerable and would always overcome any adversary, bar none. Her only doubt was what would happen to him if she died for she knew she was his emotional anchor, but such doubts didn't come often. Being a teenager, Lady never saw her own vulnerability, living only in the moment and not spending much thought on the future, for in her mind that would come soon enough on its own - unless it didn't -whether she was concerned with it or not.
BJ's movement forward was also halted for the moment as she crawled forward in Synth City's air shafts following her true love, Vo Kshaa, who had gestured to her to stop for some reason. Although he didn't echo her feelings, she still had hope he would, for that is the nature of unrequited love. She didn't hold ill will toward the one he loved, Belle Starr, hoping that they could rescue her unharmed, but still she hoped he would somehow see the light and discover that she was the one that was made for him. BJ smiled warmly as she watched him from behind, thinking that being a synthetic girl infused with Belle Starr's thoughts and experiences as well as her visible attributes, albeit those ending two years ago, Dr. Faru had both literally and figuratively MADE BJ for Vo, although she wished she could think of a way to make him realize that. Another feeling suddenly invaded her mind as she watched the muscles in his legs and buttocks flex as he began to crawl forwards, and noted the large package in his pants that hung between his legs. A red blush went up her swan like neck and into her freckled cheeks as her rose petal lips formed a perfect "O", then she shook her blond head vigorously to shake out her lustful thoughts before she moved forward as well. However, a warm smile on her beautiful freckled face remained and her sparkling blue diamond eyes never left the target of her lust.
Far below Synth City, Lena Marr woke up in a vault much like the one she had been kept hostage in Defiance, although this time not kept in an Omec sleep pod but suspended nude spread eagle thirty feet above the large room's floor with shining energy manacles around her chalk white wrists and ankles. As expected, she saw in the center of the huge room a nuclear missile pointed downwards at a seemingly bottomless pit towards the center of the Earth, with smoke streaming from it as if it was ready for launch. To the sides of the giant hole, she saw numerous later generation synths hurriedly working at various tasks. Lena also saw an Omec sleep pod similar to the one she had been captive in, standing upright to the right of the huge aperture downwards, with Dr. Faru working at a console nearby.
Lena rolled her unblinking sky blue eyes heavenward as she yelled down sarcastically at the working scientist, "Was it really necessary to hang me way up here in my birthday suit? Or do you just like the view?"
Not looking up from her work, Dr. Faru replied, as wry half-grin on the half of her face not ruined, "Lena, you are just too resourceful to leave you clothed and unchecked. Who know what tools for escape you might make from some zipper on your pants or what not. I won't even go into what objects my Synth assistants found in parts of your body I'm glad I personally didn't have to go into!"
"Aw, you would have enjoyed it - you know you would!" Countered Lena with an wicked grin before asking loudly, "SOOOOO... why AM I alive?"
"You're my life insurance from your friends, for if my life functions cease, those manacles will electrocute you to death - a proper sentence for a murderess, wouldn't you agree? That's a rhetorical question by the way." Dr. Faru continued with her work, then suddenly stopped, shifting her one good eye to Lena has she touched the side of the half mask that covered the scarred part of her face, saying, "Furthermore, every genius wants an audience to the fruits of their labors! But while I work, let me provide you with some entertainment."
Three big view screens appeared on the wall opposite Lena; one showing a scene that moved as if viewed by a giant walking towards a retreating Protector's mech; another showed a portion of the city park where Lena was captured, showing Taffer frantically working on a door's lock panel with Lady, Volodja and her beloved Marcel nearby; and a third in what appeared to be an air shaft somewhere, showing a frontal view of Vo's face and shoulders with BJ behind him, partially obscured from view by his body.
"Now if you forgive me, I have to prepare for your friends arrival," Added Dr. Faru, her face contorted with madness as she laughed uncontrollably, "Bwa HA ha!"
"Oh Marcel," Thought Lena to herself as she tried in vain to warn Marcel with her EGO communicator, "I hope you KNOW what you are getting into," but then adding an afterthought, "Although I know YOU will enjoy the view!"
Below her in the Omec sleep pod, Belle Starr slept, not thinking of her Prince Charming, Vo Kshaa, at all; for in her mind she was fighting a hoard of green super-mutants from destroying one of her many settlements in the Commonwealth.
|
|
|
|
Post by Luuzuk Kshaa on Jul 12, 2016 21:26:37 GMT
Lu had to activate weapons of her mech to get the attention of the purple creature away from Sandy who was just thrown out of her ATV. She tried to shoot at the feet of the beast thinking that melting snow could make the creature slip and fall, but to her dismay it just slowed down while walking over the melting area, showing that it was nimbler than it looked at the first glance given its size. But the shots fired did their trick in shifting its attention to the mech Lu controlled, so Lu had to retreat quickly towards the mountain. She shot the grappling hook to make the mech more stable and climb faster while the creature started crawling on all-fours like a giant lizard. Lu started to think she were overestimating the speed of the mech and underestimating the creature's climbing abilities.
"We still have the boosters charged." Klimi reported, "Those Atticus informed us about."
"Not now," Lu replied mentally, "we'll need it later."
She swung on the steel rope that was attached to a hook from one local peak to another and continued her climbing. The creature followed just jumping from one to another but the latter could not hold its mass and fell of, making it hold onto a mountain with its sharp claws it apparently was armed with. This incident slowed it down only a little and it quickly caught up with Lu who still had problems with controlling a mech on a steep slippery slope. Initially, Lu expected she would be able to climb above the zone where the avalanche could form while keeping the creature below it so with the help of her friends, she could start the avalanche while staying in a relative safety. But now it was obvious the creature was too close behind for it to happen as planned. In fact it was closing in all the time and was already one lunge away from catching her mech with its claws. Lu briefly looked behind, not at the creature but to ensure her teammates are ready to strike and then marked the points at the mountain that was located above her, ignoring Klimi's protests. She just hoped her teammates would complete the plan to the letter and won't hesitate in an attempt to save her from what was literally going to fall on her head. Just in time the first charge hit the mountain side, she turned her mech around and performed a boosted jump over the creature's head. The giant Teletubby immediately tried to catch her, standing up and waving its claws, which put it in a precarious position for the upcoming avalanche. Lu's mech barely escaped its claws but then it crash landed on the mountain's slope behind the creature and began to glide with increasing speed towards the very firn basin Lu expected the creature to fall to. Lu bended the body of the mech so that it would steer away from the center of the basin, but not too much so that it would keep it slide and not roll over. She managed to steer to the edge of the basin but still her mech fell into the deep white cloud of show. She boosted again, trying to use the speed she gained from gliding to work to her benefit and let her slip through the basin to the hard surface. Suddenly that hard surface hit her mech as hard as any hard surface would do and the mech flied out of the basin, using its edge as a ramp.
"That was worth it!" Lu thought seeing herself flying in the air in her mech before it hit the surface again and she slipped into unconsciousness. And what Klimi thought no one would know because her programming restricted her from cussing that hard at her host.
|
|
|
|
Post by Vo Kshaa on Jul 12, 2016 22:09:40 GMT
Vo stopped suddenly, trying to see something elusive in the darkness of the ventilation shaft he was crawling through with BJ. "I've just had a feeling someone is watching us," Vo said to BJ with some uncertainty in his voice. "I rarely have such feeling but when I do, I tend to trust it. There is something there, I just can't see what." He tried to narrow his eyelids trying to see something he thought he caught a glimpse of but even his enhanced eyes failed to catch anything substantial. "By the way, have you noticed the sound of our movement changed slightly just a few feet before?" Vo asked, turning to BJ again, "It sounded somewhat more hollow which indicates there's some open space around this tube. I think we can avoid the risk of testing if my bad feelings are true or not." Having said that, he pulled out his charge blade and cut the pipe they were crawling through. The section he was sitting in tilted down immediately, making Vo slide uncontrollably towards the end of the section and out of it. Once Vo landed on the floor, he found himself in a big dark room filled with various equipment and parts, mostly parts of robots. All of them had distinctive traces of corrosion of them and the whole place looked abandoned. Despite the first look, Vo noticed a commotion at the opposite side of the room which had him to grab his Breacher and look further. He thought a human-like creature, or, to be precise a human-skeleton-like creature which apparently heard the commotion and started its way towards its source to investigate. From how that thing looked, one could easily realize it was as old as every other part in this room; and upon seeing the way it moved, one could easily think of a zombie, or of a mercy kill, or both. "I'm okay," Vo sent to BJ, knowing she probably started to worry about him the very moment he disappeared into the room, "But if we're going by the initial plan and you're going to try and persuade other synth… people to join us or at least let the Protectors do their job, you better come down and try your eloquence on this one. This will at least give me some time to find out if it's possible to put you online from here for all synths to hear you."  |
|
|
|
Post by Sandy Bell on Jul 13, 2016 9:56:48 GMT
Sandy Belle raced to where Lu Kshaa and her Mech were buried by the avalanche, cursing herself for perhaps firing her RPG too soon not allowing the young Irathiant time to get out of the way. Lu had given the signal, but Sandy in retrospect felt that maybe she should have confirmed it with Atticus before firing, and was already blaming herself for any harm that may have occurred to Lu. "I have contact... with Klimi, Ms. Kshaa EGO psyche, so I can direct you where to dig," Calmly reported Sarge, her own EGO psyche, "But we need to hurry." Sandy dug where Sarge directed with the now depleted RPG, wishing for the first time that she had Volodja's sapper shovel that he was so fond of, but soon she found a red clay colored hand where she was digging. She dropped the RPG, then pulled the girl out of the soft snow as continuous vapor clouds poured out of Sandy's mouth from the exertion and frigid air. "She's not breathing... no heart beat either. Klimi is doing what she can on her end but..." Sarge let the sentence trail off, not wanting to state the obvious or panic Sandy as he informed her, who then immediately began CPR after loosening Lu's jacket and exposing her face and chest. As Sarge counted off the seconds to help Sandy keep track of the CPR steps, Sandy was glad that she had taken those CPR classes that were required when she was a teenage lifeguard at the Miami YWCA. Way back then, she had only considered the classes a hurdle to getting a job, but she had since then used the knowledge both at that job and during the Pale Wars finding that CPR was very useful skill that saved lives. Later once she joined the Protectors and as part of her role as a combat medic, she even learned the CPR version that applied to Votan physiques, that basically weren't that different than a human's body. Lu suddenly sputtered and began breathing on her own, and as her cyan eyes fluttered open, they grew wide in surprise when she found Sandy's lips on hers. Sandy quickly broke the lip-lock when she discovered that Lu was breathing on her own, her own blue eyes wide as well as a grin crossed her pretty tan face when she quipped, "This doesn't mean we're fucking engaged or anything! I already have a significant other. However... you do taste nice - so you've got to tell me what lipstick you use."  Meanwhile BJ Starr followed Lu's brother, Vo Kshaa, into the old storage area of a low level of Synth City, not knowing what to expect as she slid down into the darkness. While she was in transit, she heard Vo communicate to her through her EGO, "I'm okay, but if we're going by the initial plan and you're going to try and persuade other synth… people to join us or at least let the Protectors do their job, you better come down and try your eloquence on this one. This will at least give me some time to find out if it's possible to put you online from here for all synths to hear you." Her synthetic eyes were superior to Votan and human ones in that they immediately shifted to the spectrum that would allow BJ to see in the darkness at the speed of thought, so she immediately found the humanoid creature that Vo was gesturing at behind some dusty crates. She holstered the blaster Vo had given her, then crouching so that her head level was not higher than his as she moved slowly forward with her hands outstretched and palms forward, hoping that would indicate she meant the creature no harm. "It's okay fella, I'm not going to hurt y'all," BJ said, taking off on armored glove as she moved, then when she was about three feet away from the creature's hiding place, she reached out her naked pale hand to it. A skeletal metal hand hesitantly reached out from the darkness behind the crates, and when it took BJ's, she led it out into the open. It was little more than a metal skeleton, with some parts covered with strips of rusty "skin", but one could see the intelligence in its metallic eyes as they shifted from Bj to Vo and back again in a way that could only be taken as fearful. Bj suddenly tilted her blond head as she swiped an errant strand of hair from in front of her blue diamond eyes now narrowed in concentration. Vo thought she looked like she was listening to some voice he could not hear and in fact, she was. "Jeb here was a janitor for this level, but got locked in and forgotten years ago," Related BJ as she communicated with the synth much like she had the scrappers near Bug 'n Chug, "I call him Jeb, but his real designation is JEB5968, however he doesn't seem to give it no mind when I do! I think he kind of LIKES it! Anywho, he's a Generation 2 synthetic person, and thinks he's doing penance by staying locked down here for some imagined transgression against The Creator! I've tried to tell him that's nonsense, that he didn't do no wrong, but he merely says that's kind of me to say, however he's not leaving until the Creator says so! Poor thang!" A frown crossed her pretty freckled face as she turned her beautiful eyes to Vo and asked, "If I can't convince this poor critter that he's not damned to hell by his Creator, how in tarnation am I going to convince all the synths above that we are on the side of the Angels and that their Creator is really a no-good Devil?"  |
|
|
|
Post by Atticus Batman on Jul 13, 2016 10:51:50 GMT
Lu briefly looked behind, not at the creature but to ensure her teammates are ready to strike and then marked the points at the mountain that was located above her, ignoring Klimi's protests. As soon as the points were marked a rocket was fired and the others immediately started firing right after the first shot had been fired. That was also the precise time that I realized Lu was in more trouble than she could handle for just as the first charge hit the mountain side, she turned her mech around and performed a boosted jump over the creature's head. The giant Teletubby immediately tried to catch her, standing up and waving its claws, which put it in a precarious position for the upcoming avalanche. Lu's mech barely escaped its claws but then it crash landed on the mountain's slope behind the creature and began to glide with increasing speed towards the very firn basin Lu expected the creature to fall to.
I started firing shortly after the first rocket hit as well, for I knew we had to incapacitate the giant-tubby to insure the rest of the team's safety before we could worry about Lu's, and it didn't actually matter who fired first since the order was indeed to fire as soon as Lu marked the positions. As that was happening I had my EGO keep track of what was happening with Lu so I had an idea of what to expect once I was done dealing with the angry giant of a Teletubby. Fortunately Lu appeared to be as resourceful with mechanical things as her brother was because Lu managed to bend the body of the mech so that it would steer away from the center of the basin, but not too much so that it would keep it slide and not roll over. She managed to steer to the edge of the basin but still her mech fell into the deep white cloud of show. She boosted again, trying to use the speed she gained from gliding to work to her benefit and let her slip through the basin to the hard surface. Suddenly that hard surface hit her mech as hard as any hard surface would do and the mech flew out of the basin, using its edge as a ramp.
I continued to keep my immediate focus fully on the creature to insure that it did indeed fall in a big hole and get buried as Lu had hoped. However I noticed on my Mech's radar scanner that Sandy had quickly ran towards Lu to check on her, so I continued to keep my focus. However I ordered Attila and Atika to go help Sandy and Lu as their first aid kits, not to mention Atika's knowledge of nonconventional medicines and treatments, may be needed. As the Constantines quickly headed to do so, I saw a big purple hand reach up from the pit, so I fired at it and ordered Kimmel and Archer to fire at the mountain directly above it with their most powerful weapons to cause another focused avalanche and (hopefully) also bring a chunk of mountain down on the creature to help keep it trapped. Shortly after some mountain chunks did indeed rain into the pit with the secondary avalanche.
When I finally told them to hold fire again, I did a thorough scan and determined that the snow and mountain chunks did indeed completely bury the beast. I was still picking up it's electronic signature so it was still functioning. However it was also unable to free itself at the moment as we had hoped. So I ordered them to regroup on Sandy and Lu's position and after I double-checked the creature one last time, I joined them there.
|
|
|
|
Post by Attila Constantine on Jul 13, 2016 11:36:54 GMT
Atticus ordered Attila and Atika to go help Sandy and Lu as their first aid kits, not to mention Atika's knowledge of nonconventional medicines and treatments, may be needed. So the Constantines quickly headed to do so as ordered. When they finally pulled up in their ATVs near Sandy and Lu Sandy, was already giving Lu CPR. As they grabbed their first aid kits and quickly jogged to their location, Lu suddenly sputtered and began breathing on her own, and as her cyan eyes fluttered open, they grew wide in surprise when she found Sandy's lips on hers. Sandy quickly broke the lip-lock when she discovered that Lu was breathing on her own, her own blue eyes wide as well as a grin crossed her pretty tan face when she quipped, "This doesn't mean we're fucking engaged or anything! I already have a significant other. However... you do taste nice - so you've got to tell me what lipstick you use."
As Attila heard that he couldn't help himself, as he was still a hormonal teenage male, and he responded to them with, "AW MAN! I was to late to be the one too wake her with a kiss!" Just as Sandy and Lu looked in his direction in surprise, Atika glared at her brother and asked annoyed," Can't you EVER think before you speak?! You are such a BOY!!!" Then before anybody could respond to either of their comments, she tripped her brother causing him to fall face first in the snow. His face plant and response caused Atika to laugh hard at her brother, as she reached down and picked up his first aid kit. Then with both first aid kits in hand, she went to Lu's and Sandy's side to offer her help, while Attila stood up and quietly brushed himself off.
A few minutes later Atticus and the others arrived at their spot as well. Atticus stopped his mech near where Lu's was buried. He used his Mech's hands to unbury the top of Lu's mech. Then he opened up his cockpit and hopped out with a chain in his hand. As he asked if Lu was alright, he was already hooking that chain to the back of his mech. Then he he jumped onto Lu's mech and wrapped the chain around what he could of it. Next he walked over to Attila's ATV and retrieved another chain. He went back to Lu's mech and secured that chain to it, as he told Attila to move his ATV to park it near his mech. After Attila did so, Atticus secured the other end of the chain to the back of Attila's ATV. After Atticus was sure that Lu would recover fine, he got back into his mech and he and Attila started their vehicles up. Then when Atticus gave him the order, they both simultaneously moved forward and used the force and momentum of their vehicles to pull Lu's mech free of the hole it's impact with the snow bank had caused.
|
|
|
|
Post by Volodja Uljanov on Jul 14, 2016 11:07:34 GMT
"Assaultrons," said Volodja. "What do we know about them? They are fast, deadly and seem to be modeled after a female figure." "Cut the crap, Volodja and tell us something which is not that obvious. Like how to kill them," suggested Marcel. "Otherwise just shut up. As Americans say - money talks, bullshit walks and you are the latter as usual." "Patience, Marcel. I was about to mention that before you interrupted me. My observations, experience with them and some analysis after a body scan tell me, that their weakest point are legs so we should concentrate on them. But I must warn you that they also have built in self destruction mechanism, which they can use as a last resort to kill any opponent. They are kamikaze type of fighters, so you better kill them before they try to blow themselves up and take you to the Robotic Heaven with them."  "Quite a nice future perspective," grinned Marcel but his devilish grin was slightly crooked. "To rest in pieces. Maybe it suits you, my idealistic friend, but not me." "If Monsieur is afraid..." begun Volodja. "I am not afraid but reasonable," replied Marcel. So before we act, maybe Monsieur will be so kind and provide us with a solid plan to get rid of these two without getting us killed." "I actually thought about that and have to say that best we can do is not to fight them," said Volodja calmly. "Who is the coward now, ah?" asked Marcel gloatingly. "I am just reasonable," Volodja parried. "And you are kind of impatient. Instead of fighting with them, we let them fight each other and now I tell you how to do it. You probably haven't heard about Aloadaes. They wanted to storm Olympus and gain Artemis and Hera to marry them. Since they were practically invincible and as one version of the myth tells, could be killed only by each other hand, Greek gods were scared, until Artemis stepped out to fight them in her own way. She turned herself into a doe and jumped between them, so the Aloadae, not wanting her to get away, threw their spears and simultaneously killed each other. That is exactly what we are going to do, Marcel. I am going to play a stag and..."  "Enough! Since everything seems to be quite opposite to the myth, you just told, I am going to play the stag," announced Marcel. "There are two female shaped robots and a mail bait this time. I have more stamina and I am more agile than you. Not to mention the fact that Artemis was sort of virgin, just like you. I happen to have exciting love life compared with yours. That also makes me a perfect bait. Besides, I already know how I am going to do it, so shut the fuck up, leave technical details to me and let master begin his act." |
|
