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Post by Lena Marr on Jan 18, 2017 17:02:18 GMT
Lena Marr woke up in the dark on a rocky floor with a cool breeze flowing over her naked body and a splitting headache. She slowly sat up, noting that she was not completely nude, for she had a heavy metal color fastened around her neck. Suddenly, a candle was lit and placed in front of her by a huge clawed hand, whose owner she recognized immediately.
"Volge! Why did it have to be Volge?" Thought Lena to herself, her unblinking eyes regarding the single Viscera in front of her, as well as the small cave she found herself in, scanning for any potential weapon or way of escape, noting the small rocky entryway leading out into some bigger cavern. "I HATE Volge. They can't be bought. Raiders take scrip. 99ers can be had for a box of spare mechanical parts. Even Hellbugs will leave you alone if you leave a pile of the right phenomenon soaked bio-mass for them. But Volge - hell - nobody knows what they want!"
Lena's sky blue eyes narrowed as she thought, "At least... until now! I'd give twenty to one odds that Belle Starr is behind this, knowing her history of Volge spliced genes in her DNA and the fact that I'm still alive, although she is going to regret that as soon as I get out of here! Hope, give me a plan on how to get of here!"
When she couldn't communicate with her EGO psyche, Lena's chalk white hand went reflexively to the collar around her neck, realizing it had to be some sort of EGO disabling device, then pouted and thought to herself, "Pooh Bear is going to be so worried about me! I hope he's okay."
*****
Somewhere far above on the surface in the Angel Arc mining complex administration building, Overseer Sedgewick solemnly sat at his desk, then sighed, staring at the floor safe hidden under his desk. With a sigh he stood up, moving his desk chair to the side, then he knelt down, moving the old rotary combination knob on the face of the safe until it unlocked, opening with a metallic squeal. When the safe's door was swung open, it revealed an encrypted hailer and a large red button with a clear plexi-glass cover at the bottom of the safe. Sedgewick pulled off the plexi-glass cover to the button, and after only a moment's hesitation, pushed the button, then grabbed the hailer before closing the safe and twirling the combination nob. Sedgewick than stood up, his long hound dog face looking even more haggard then normal as he sat back in his chair facing his desk and the hailer he placed on it in front of him.
Finally Sedgewick sighed, picking the encrypted hailer up and dialing a number know only to him and one other, saying, "Sedgewick here, but of course you know that. Don't speak, who knows what capabilities they have to monitor the airwaves. It IS the Protectors, and Belle Starr seemed to be leading them, at least the group I met, chasing after the Widowmaker woman just as you thought they would. Uljanov, Taffer, and Batman weren't with them, sorry to say. But's its done. I know you'll take care of my son, as you are a man of your word. Good bye."
Sedgewick pushed a hidden button on the side of the hailer, then placed it on the desk in front of him again, watching as the hidden cache of acid flooded out of the small device destroying it completely. Then he sat back waiting, but not for long as the explosives in his neck exploded killing him instantly, making it appear as if his head was cut off with a charge blade. His body remained sitting in his office chair as his head fell to the desk upright, appearing like some odd desk decoration, the haggard look remaining on his hound dog face, with his watery blue eyes greeting anyone who might enter his office door..
Far below, the self destruct device under the Angel Arc complex began its slow countdown, the main charge connected to many hidden charges throughout the gulanite deposits scattered all around the mines and the caverns beyond.
*****
In the Vigilant's hangar, Sandy Bell sat sobbing, not hearing Wolfram Von Eschen's less than silent approach and not realizing he was there until she heard his calming voice. She buried her head in his shoulder, her sobs muffled by his coat, as she hugged him tightly like a drowning man hugs a life preserver, then wailed to him, "It HURTS! It hurts so much, this hole in my heart! Will it ever stop hurting???"
Sandy suddenly sat straight up, pounding her tan fists into her temples as she looked down at her feet, holding her blue eyes tightly closed as she yelled, "No, I'm stronger than this! I'm a professional soldier! I see death every day. I dish out death every day! Just the other day, I lost most of my command on the doctor's island! I should beyond such feelings! I should be immune to such feelings!" Sandy opened her tearful blue eyes wide and turned to Wolfram stuttering before falling into his arms once again, "B-b-b-but I'm not! It hurts s-s-s-so much!!!"
*****
Down below in the gulanite mines of Angel Arc, Belle Starr walked stiff-legged down the dimly lit tunnel heading to where she hoped she would find Erika Widowmaker, but angry with herself for losing her temper with Lena Marr, so muttering to herself as she went, "Maybe Lena is right! I'm always so worried about law and order that I'm just ineffectual but - darn it - we'll never get this here world on an even kilter again if we don't strive for civilized concepts like law and order! Enforcing things like law and order will make this a better world for humans and Votans both, even if so many of both groups don't understand that none, and if that makes me an idealistic yahoo, well so be it!"
Suddenly Belle spotted a small round object sitting in the middle of the tunnel, not far from her but just of range to be able to see it clearly. She took a small penlight from a secret pocket in her armor with one pale hand, approaching the object carefully with her Dancing Lady SMG at the ready with her other. When she got close enough, Belle could see that the object was a human head, although she couldn't see the features clearly until she slowly moved to the right side of the tunnel hugging the wall there. Her pale jaw fell open and her blue diamond eyes grew wide as saucers when she recognized the greasy black hair and swarthy complexion of the head of Juan Perez, the pen light reflecting on the gold tooth in his wide open mouth, a look of absolute horror on his face.
The pen light dropped from her suddenly numb fingers, as she slid down the tunnel's wall into a sitting position, staring at the dead man's head, unable to look elsewhere. When she was found later, she would still be sitting against the wall, her blue diamond eyes wide as she clutched her SMG tightly across her breast, mumbling the same words over and over again, "I forgave him! I let him go! I KNOW I let him go..."
*****
Meanwhile, Erika Widowmaker swam in the frigid waters one stroke at a time, the pinprick of light in front of her becoming a slightly larger pinprick of light, until all of a sudden she felt something brush against her feet in the dark water below.
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Post by Taffer on Jan 18, 2017 22:05:23 GMT
"It makes sense indeed," Taffer replied to Kabule, "And if this Acacia plant retained its ability to produce both pheromone and repellent, I'm sure Boris would try to get use of both. It just seems natural that if you have to resort to taming your crew this way, then you should have some means to send them away when you no longer need them. Adding those substances through their food or water like they did with Sensoths would likely take too long to control them effectively. But the submarine has a way more effective means of distributing those pheromones — it's the closed-circle air circulation system. We should check their air and ventilation system first. And I fully understand that by saying 'we' I mean we'll have to load this task on Lady again."
"Lady, thank you for checking things for us," Taffer transferred through his EGO to both Lady and Atticus, "As you contacted us this way it means your EGO is working which is great too. I think we have come up with the solution on how to hake those goons up a bit. Please check the air processing unit. I don't know the layout of this particular u-boat, but on most of them it's located in the rear just next to the engine room. Check it for any cans with chemicals that might be crudely connected to it. I hope MOM can consult you for details when you find it. So, once you find it, you'll need to disconnect the can and switch the system into most intensive ventilation and filtration mode. If you find two cans with different chemicals, then try to swap them around. But be careful then, the crew might become very aggressive. And please inform me on your findings."
With the message sent Taffer picked up the helmet of his Ark Predator suit and said to Atticus, "I think we need to prepare for a drop. If this plan fails, we'll have to dive and access the submarine through its torpedo doors. Lady might be able to open them for us or maybe your Grid powers could be useful to control them from close range, but chances are we'll have to break through. In this case I think you fully understand that the submarine will likely sink for good with no way of getting back to the surface and probably with no way out for us. It wouldn't matter at that point. We'll have to kill Boris and destroy all the viruses they have on board before the thing finally crumbles and spreads it. I always thought of my life being like a sniper rifle with one single round loaded into it. This time I'm sure my aim is right and I'm ready to pull the trigger."
With that said he went to the cargo bay to take his Volge Lightning Rifle — the one that was collecting dust since their space mission — hoping that a fully charged shot at close range would be enough to break the torpedo door if Lady was not be able to open it for them.
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Post by Atticus Batman on Jan 19, 2017 12:03:31 GMT
With the message sent Taffer picked up the helmet of his Ark Predator suit and said to Atticus, "I think we need to prepare for a drop. If this plan fails, we'll have to dive and access the submarine through its torpedo doors. Lady might be able to open them for us or maybe your Grid powers could be useful to control them from close range, but chances are we'll have to break through. In this case I think you fully understand that the submarine will likely sink for good with no way of getting back to the surface and probably with no way out for us. It wouldn't matter at that point. We'll have to kill Boris and destroy all the viruses they have on board before the thing finally crumbles and spreads it. I always thought of my life being like a sniper rifle with one single round loaded into it. This time I'm sure my aim is right and I'm ready to pull the trigger."
With that said he went to the cargo bay to take his Volge Lightning Rifle — the one that was collecting dust since their space mission — hoping that a fully charged shot at close range would be enough to break the torpedo door if Lady was not be able to open it for them.
Kabule made some snide remark about suicidal good-doers and then once again disappeared into my head as I followed Taffer, I said to him, "Taffer, you know a sub's torpedo tube is like an over-pressurized airlock. So if you shoot it with that thing, the resulting explosion will most likely kill us before we even have a chance to see the hole you mind. So that is not a good idea. However don't worry. If Lady can't get the doors open, I can. It would not be the first time I have used my powers to manipulate a door at close range before. Not to mention that with this suit, I have more strength in case I do need to man-handle a daking steel door or something.
Anyway the most important things to know about a sub's torpedo tube are that it's internal breech door can not be opened when the tube is full of water, and the external muzzle door can not be opened when breech door is open and unlocked. So even if Lady can not figure out the controls to the tube, all she has to do is make sure the breech door is closed and sealed shut. Then I can manipulate the muzzle door so it opens for us and if this is a model that has access to the equalizing valve from the outside then that will make my task much easier. Once that is done I will go in first with you right behind me. When we are in the tube, I can close the muzzle door, which will trigger the draining process. Then when the tube is empty of water, I will be able to open the breech door. Just make sure you have plenty of air in your suit and it is completely sealed in case we do indeed have to go down there and I do have to get us in manually, as it is not as simple as just using your hidden toolkit to pick a normal door lock in a matter of seconds. No, to do this manually it could take several long minutes to do. However you will still need that gun, as you may need to keep any dangerous sea-life away from us, while I am busy with the daking door."
 
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Post by Lady Christianna on Jan 19, 2017 17:47:39 GMT
"Lady, thank you for checking things for us," Taffer transferred through his EGO to both Lady and Atticus, "As you contacted us this way it means your EGO is working which is great too. I think we have come up with the solution on how to hake those goons up a bit. Please check the air processing unit. I don't know the layout of this particular u-boat, but on most of them it's located in the rear just next to the engine room. Check it for any cans with chemicals that might be crudely connected to it. I hope MOM can consult you for details when you find it. So, once you find it, you'll need to disconnect the can and switch the system into most intensive ventilation and filtration mode. If you find two cans with different chemicals, then try to swap them around. But be careful then, the crew might become very aggressive. And please inform me on your findings."
Both of Lady Christianna's pale eyebrows shot up over her wide pink eyes as she considered what Taffer had said, replying simply, "Welcome," Then added shortly after, "Roger that."
Although a minimalist with words when communicating, Lady's actual thoughts were much more complex, as she pondered, "I didn't realize I WAS communicating through EGOs again, I just reflexively try it first thing, so it's great MOM is able to multi-task again. Hope she's able to reply back to me soon too, and to enable my EGO powers once again. She's been so busy just keeping my molecules from drifting too far apart and me from dissipating into the hereafter, not to mention the amount of healing I've needed recently, that I certainly can't complain. Anyway, time to find those drugs!"
Lady ghosted through the submarine, keeping transparent and out of sight, until she got to the rear of the sub, right next to the engine room. True to Taffer's word, she found the air processing unit, which proved big enough for her to go into and remain hidden from the crew's sight. In it, she found two large cans with pressurized hoses attaching them to each other and the vent, but when she tried to change them as she was directed they began flailing away, shooting the pressurized gas everywhere. After a few minutes of trying to maintain her molecules consistency so that she could touch physical objects and concentrating on catching the wayward hoses, she finally managed to coordinate the two and changed how the hoses were connected, unfortunately taking into herself a lot of the gasses in the interim.
"Oops! I forgot I still need to breathe, even as a ghost," Thought Lady to herself, then as Lady's thinking became more fuzzy and she grew transparent again, Lady lay flat down in the unit, playing with the swirling colors she suddenly beheld all around her, making them swirl with her tiny chalk white forefingers as she began singing drunkenly in a low wispy tone, "We are all on Drugs," Which Mom with sudden alarm and no comment, dutifully transmitted to Taffer and Atticus' EGOs.
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Post by Lena Marr on Jan 19, 2017 19:50:06 GMT
Lena Marr was not one to worry about things she couldn't do anything about. With the huge Viscera blocking the only way in and out of her cave prison, and her without any weapons (or clothes for that matter), she wasn't going anywhere. Furthermore, she could hear the movements of other Volge outside her cave in the huge cavern beyond. So Lena did what she could do under the circumstances, even though it was not what most sane people would do: Lena fell asleep.
Lena didn't know for how long she had been asleep before rough hands grabbed her chalk white shoulders, picking her up and setting her on her feet. Her sky blue eyes opened with a start as she was dragged from the cave by two eight-foot-tall Volge Troopers into the large cavern. As her unblinking eyes adjusted to the dim light provided by a scattering of torches within the huge campus, she was surprised at the many Volge gathered within. Besides Volge Troopers, there were Bombers and Viscera, both of the regular and ark variety, as well as a few War Masters. A Viscera, which could of been the one originally guarding her or not, for all Viscera looked alike to her, placed before her a small cube, about the size of a child's block, on the rocky ground before her, then pressed a hidden button on it's side. A blue holographic image of Belle Starr was projected out of the top of the cube, smiling confidently with her neatly manicured hands on her hips, looking resplendent in her Liberty Trooper armor as she regarded Lena who was pushed to her knees roughly by the Volge Troopers on either side of her.
"Don't y'all be too rough on the defendant," Said the still smiling holographic Belle Starr with the wave of one hand, "She's got to be fit as a fiddle when she's punished for her crimes!"
"Sounds like you're decided to be judge, jury, and executioner already, your High-falootin-ness," Lena replied with a wicked grin, "Don't I get one call, or at least a switchblade?"
"Oh, you will get a trial for your many crimes!" Answered the hologram, still smiling as she gestured to the throng of Volge around them both, "True, I'll be your judge, and they my jury, but the executioner will be determined after your convic - oh, I mean trial! So how do you plead to murder, mayhem, and conspiracy! Guilty, or are you going to lie like always and plead not guilty?"
Lena put a chalk white forefinger to the corner of her lush lips and rolled her unblinking sky blue eyes heavenward as she thought for a second, then grinned wickedly again as she answered, "I may be crazy, but I'm nobody's fool, not even my own! I know that she who represents herself has a fool for a client! I have a right to legal representation under your perfect system of justice, right? I want legal counsel, comprendez-vous?"
A frown crossed the beautiful freckled face of the hologram as she asked Lena with narrowed eyes, "So I'm guessing from your use of French you want Marcel Lestrange to be your legal representation?"
"You got it Toots!" Answered Lena in a cheerful tone, thinking to herself, "Marcel will save me - especially from myself! I think my smart mouth got me into this situation, but I don't think it will get me out of it! Marcel is smart all over, so I KNOW he will think of something... I hope!"
The blue hologram of Belle Starr gestured to the Viscera, and without a word, the huge Volge went to fetch Marcel Lestrange.
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Post by Luuzuk Kshaa on Jan 19, 2017 21:23:51 GMT
Lu made a few steps following the path Marcel had left. She didn't want to leave him wandering the caves alone as she thought they have lost too many people already and also that her knowledge on strength of materials and structures might be useful in investigation on what happened to Lena. But she made only a few steps when a sinking feeling of something that went terribly wrong started to rise in her. It was just a faint smell of something very familiar but out of place that made her stop and look around again. "Did you hear that too?" Klimi's voice in Lu's head sounded surprised and somewhat worried too. "Heard what?""A short pulse signal. Gulanite is quite effective at screening all signals so the source should be very close. Besides, it didn't sound like a communication signal, but more like a synchronization one. Like if someone was synchronizing several chronometers throughout the mine.""Nope, I didn't hear any signals, but I've smelled Vysudium. A highly explosive gas as you know.""Well, it's not uncommon to use explosive in mining, isn't it?""Not in gulanite mines. Gulanite is fire-hazardous enough by itself. Gulanite, Vysudium and a chronometer does not sound good when they meet together. Let's follow your lead and find that so-called chronometer."It didn't take Lu long until she reached the marker Klimi placed for her and pulled the crate away.  "Sometimes I hate to be right," Lu muttered as she saw a small Vysudium charge sitting on the next crate. "We have to warn others." "I'm sorry Lu but I'm afraid we can't," Klimi whispered in her head. "Belle and Vo have run away too far I can't reach them. Marcel has walked away too. But the entrance is still open and the cart is still functioning. Although there could be a trap up there, I'm sure we'll be able to deactivate it.""Don't even think of running off with all our people still down here!" Lu interrupted her EGO's voice. "Think of something more constructive. You've said they were being synchronized with something. So where this 'something' can be located?""Not enough data to make a prediction," Klimi replied, "We need to scan more tunnels… and probably catch more signals. Judging by the sound the wheels of the cart made on our way here, there's another tunnel right under our feet. If we could find the passage…""We can MAKE the passage," Lu thought back. "Start the Decoy with sweep scan and make it follow the wires from this device. I'll make our way down."As Klimi activated the EGO power to fulfill Lu's order, Lu charged her Pulverizer and crashed in onto the mark Klimi marked for her as the point where tunnels were crossing. The floor cracked under her and she fell into yet another tunnel which ran under the one she was before. "I've found another explosive charge," Klimi reported, "And another one… The Decoy have found a couple too. Lu, it seems they all are interconnected with wires and they are following the descending spiral pattern! Building a three-dimensional model…""Let's get to the center of this spiral then. And let's make it quick," Lu thought as she charged her Pulverizer again. |
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Post by Vo Kshaa on Jan 19, 2017 22:34:11 GMT
Vo's Blur has already run out but he kept running forward hoping he would find Belle at the next turn. But then the sudden feeling that something was wrong made him stop on his way. His enhanced vision quickly adapted to darkness and as he looked around he realized what exactly gave him that feeling. It was gulanite dust that was sparkling on the floor in a weak light. If was covering the entire floor with no Belle's traces in front of him while his own traces behind his back were clearly visible. The tunnel he was running through was clearly abandoned for weeks. He had obviously picked the wrong tunnel. As Vo realized that, he turned around and backtracked to the closest fork and tried another tunnel. Same thing. He backtracked again and tried another one with same results.
"That's why I hate caves, tunnels and other closed spaces," Vo thought to himself, "They all look the same even with enhanced vision."
As the vision proved ineffective in finding Belle or her traces, Vo decided to try his hearing instead. He stood still and held his breath trying to catch any noise coming out of the tunnels. As his hearing adapted, he was granted by faint sounds of someone's voice which he immediately recognized as Belle's. He carefully followed the sound, trying not to make any noise so that he would not lose the weak connection to his beloved one. As he saw her silhouette in the tunnel, he stopped sneaking and ran up to her, wondering what would be the reason why she was so depressed and fearing the worse that she had already found Erika's dead body.
To his surprise, It was not Erika's body Belle was sitting next to, but the one who had committed a grievous crime against her and the one Vo barely resisted shooting his head off not long ago.
"I forgave him!" muttered Belle over and over, "I let him go! I KNOW I let him go..."
"You did Belle," Vo said as he sat next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It was your decision and I've seen it myself. It was the only reason why I didn't kill the guy on sight immediately. It isn't your fault that he died soon after seeing you. If he was following the criminal ways as I suspect he did, it was just a matter of time when it backfired on him. Although it's really strange to find his body here in the mines while we both have seen him riding away from here. I wonder if someone tried to pass the judgment they thought you failed to deliver and demonstrate it to you. Or maybe someone tried to please you in such a weird way? Anyway, it's not the right time for these questions right now. I know you want to find Erika and you want to make it as fast as possible. I'm here to help you with it. I see you have been following your instincts on where we can find her. I trust your feelings, so let's move forward and continue our search."
Meanwhile, Shirra was scanning the body of Juan Perez, trying to find some clues on who or what had killed him.
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Post by Wolfram von Eschen on Jan 20, 2017 6:39:45 GMT
"Let us go, Liebchen," said Wolfram von Eschen to still sobbing Sandy Bell while he was getting up and offered gallantly his hand. Sandy grabbed it as it was a draw and she was a drowner and pulled herself to her feet. Then she entwined her arm around Wolfram's and leaned on his shoulder, so he could lead her back. Not a single word came out from her mouth. Only quiet sobs, slightly shaking shoulders and more tears from her baby blue eyes were signs that Sandy was not in zombie like state any more. Now she reminded heavily wounded soldier leaving the battlefield, aided by a brother in arm and in lot of ways it was true indeed, although Wolfram von Eschen was way too tall and old to be a normal field medic. "We won't be going back right away," said Wolfram. "First we pay a visit to a holo training room. I believe that holo rooms are among those among comforts, this ship is able to offer." Sandy didn't reply but she also didn't resist when Wolfram begun to head towards the aforementioned facility, throwing lightnings from his grey eyes towards curious crew members they met on their way. "Here we are, Liebchen," Wolfram announced, leading Sandy through the door, stopping only to reprogram holo emitters with the help of the wall console. "You know Sandy. I have became quite good on using these, although I can't decide right now which environment you may more like. This?" And they were surrounded by the peaceful and old fashioned downtown atmosphere with coffee houses, boutiques and stores. "Or do you prefer this?" the atmosphere changed into much modern one, but it was still peaceful and comforting. When Sandy made hew silent pick, Wolfram lead her to small table and offered her a seat. Then he sat against her and begun to talk: "As a psychiatrist, I would say that you suffer from the mental trauma. As a friend I would say the same but this time I would like to add some personal opinions. Seeing you in tears is breaking my ticky ticker but it also gives me a hope, because it shows that you are still a human being, capable of having feelings. You haven't become numb and senseless machine and that is a good thing, although it might not seem to be good right now. But the pain in your heart will be replaced by aching at some point and then it finally fades. Unless you are willing to keep the pain in your heart, which I won't recommend as a professional and your friend." Wolfram made a tiny break to catch a break and observe Sandy's face. Then he went on: "You see an old man in front of you. Actually you see an old man who collapsed under the pressure once and spent decades to follow in relatively numb drunken state until your people came along, blew the dust off me and pulled into daylight. Then I realized that it is never too late start living again. Now I am here, risen to my feet and shining (Wolfram grinned at his own bragging). All thanks to you. And I would be a ungrateful scum, if I didn't try to help you in return. That is why I am here now. But I can not help if you are not willing to help yourself too, Liebchen. Curing someone has always been matter of efforts from both sides - doctor's and patient's because doctor can only recommend things, but it's the patient who decides to follow them or not. I guess that I am not that good doctor anyway, because I allowed my patient to see my weaknesses. But we can still work together for the same goal - to make you feel better again." A wary smile appeared to his face. "Speaking of weaknesses - I still like to drink. Not because I need to or can't do without it but because I like to drink. And eat. And other things life can offer. Why? Because I finally decided to open up to the world again after condemning myself into decades lasting exile. I hope that you are smarter than me and avoid my mistakes, Liebchen. But only if you are ready for that. It does not happen right now, because we can't expect miracles. I had to hit the bottom before I realized that I was ready to climb back, so I hope that you don't have to do that. It makes climbing harder, Liebchen. Theoretically we have time to stop the sinking on time and start to swim towards the surface, unless the world ends...But I believe that our friends are able to do something about that issue. I have faith in them, you know." Wolfram winked his eye and took out bottle of Brandy, explaining: "Since I forget to bring along any of my Schnapps and I prefer the good and real stuff to virtual one, I used a chance and grabbed this bottle from Volodja's personal stock in this ship." Wolfram took two virtual snifters and pored gold brown liquid into them. Somehow he reminded an old Satyr when he said: "I think that at moment we BOTH could use one drink to ease our nervous system. What do you think about that medicine, Liebchen? But only in reasonable amount. Then we can go and see how Voldoja is doing. I had to force him to stay in bed because he wanted to rush after you despite of his condition." Wolfram pushed one snifter towards Sandy and hid the bottle...  |
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Post by Marcel Lestrange on Jan 20, 2017 7:36:51 GMT
Marcel Lestrange wandered in the loneliness. He followed his own path now. The path which might...or not might lead him to his beloved Lena Marr. When he spotted huge Volge Viscera blocking his way no muscle moved in his handsome face. It remained fairly emotionless.
Marcel was intrigued about his sighting but not overwhelmingly. He was quite used with surprises and most unusual encounters by now, so discovering a Volge Viscera beneath the ground was a bit unusual, but Marcel's brain put the event in the "Usually impossible but it still can happen" category. Now there was only one problem to solve - how to get safely pass the beast.
Another disturbingly unusual detail of the situation remained though. Viscera did not attack Marcel right away as they usually do. That thought kept popping out and begun to bug Marcel. The man and the monster stared at each other until Marcel broke the silence, asking: "is there anything you need, mon ami?"
Viscera was silent but looked at him intensively. He rose his huge limb and begun to scratch the wall as someone lead him mentally from the distance. The result of his effort seemed to be a large crooked letter "L", scratched into the hard rock. Then letter "E" appeared. The Viscera kept scratching but Marcel stopped him by saying: "I believe that you want to lead me to Lena."
Another moment of silence during which Viscera rose his limb once more and wiped Marcel to follow. He had a choice now - to follow or follow not. Both choices could be right or wrong ones, but...
Why not follow that Volge? It was better than nothing that Marcel had before meeting him. So he begun to walk after Viscera...
Another sight was more up, close and PERSONAL for Marcel. He found himself facing row of Volges, a hologram of Belle Starr and flesh and blood Lena Marr. "I see," said Marcel Lestrange after he was filled in with the details and meaning of this meeting. "I see," he continued. A bit louder this time. "I see!" he declared the third time.
"I guess that I have to adjust my conception of the good," he continued with unemotional voice. "I see now that when we speak in terms of ultimate good and evil, the face of the goodness becomes something like THIS." Marcel pointed his fingers towards the Volge jury and spoke as he was prophet Moses, holding his commandments:
"When good and evil meet in the final battle of Armageddon, there will not be much difference between them, because man in the middle will be rubbed into dust. I understand that from the point of view of so called higher powers bugs like us do not mean a thing but from out point of view, being crushed under some huge good or evil boot, no matter what, it is a tragedy. I am here to speak for behalf of a human and Votankind who is not an ultimate good or ultimate evil. We are the kind that tries to live on a daily basis and do what we can to have some butter on our slice of the bread...and maybe some caviare as well. What have you done to change the situation of the small man? Rien! Nothing! Zero! And you prevent us from doing something for our behalf as well because it is not decent. Let me speak about this so called decency of the pillars of society!" Marcel pointed his hand towards Lena Marr.
"When society condemned Lena, they condemned themselves because good people like you, are gladly using sufficient people like us, to achieve their purposes. You let us to do your dirty work to spare your conscious and keep your hands clean. Yet we are nothing less than a creatures of the same society. The not so pleasant side of it. You use us but are not willing proudly present us as we were toilet cleaners. They are needed but never mentioned. When we are not use to you any more, you just throw us overboard. When we accidentally touch one of your own, you have not marked as your target, you condemn us. But are you - so called good and decent people - willing to judge yourselves along with Lena? If not, then you, good doers are nothing more than a bunch of hypocrites. Best thing you can do is to adjourn this process until forever, because we are in the same boat and can not afford to rock it because we all would be overboard if you do.
Besides - you still need us and our services, whether you like it or not. We are already tagged as bad guys who can handle delicate things delicately, maintaining certain level of discreteness along the way. We are couple of very efficient minds and guns with a certain reputation, so it is way too soon to get rid of us. That would be a bad PR! Really bad PR if you have to do your not so nice things which needs to be done by your own! I do wonder how publicity is going to swallow the fact that Paradise Protectors are capable of doing something bad. If Lena and I are evil, then let me remind you once more - we are the NECESSARY evil. Lena and I can even afford being called good doers, because we can always say that we do it for the money, which is true. Can you say the same when you do things that are considered to be bad? C'est une question. A question it is." Marcel allowed himself a devilish grin before he open his mouth again:
"Let me add one more thing to make you see our point - Since I happen to be here, I became an unwanted witness, so you have to get rid of me to prevent the word about the dark side of goodness from spreading. I believe that wiping out of the lawyer of defence is not a normal part of the procedure. though. Or am I accidentally mistaken about that? Am I also being already sentenced?"
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Post by Atticus Batman on Jan 20, 2017 12:00:38 GMT
Lady lay flat down in the unit, playing with the swirling colors she suddenly beheld all around her, making them swirl with her tiny chalk white forefingers as she began singing drunkenly in a low wispy tone, "We are all on Drugs," Which Mom with sudden alarm and no comment, dutifully transmitted to Taffer and my EGOs.
After hearing it, I grumbled, "Dak! Now Lady has inhaled the daking drugs! I guess that means Lady is once again close enough to being in our spectrum that she can breathe in whatever drug is in the air down there! However from the sound of it, she managed to alter the chemicals since she does not sound like she is under any sort of mind control...Just stoned out of her mind...AGAIN!
Of course it also means that we obviously can't rely on her to find a way to get the sub to surface or to get us in through a torpedo tube, which means it will be up to me. So it's a good thing that torpedo breech doors are normally kept in the closed and latched position until it is time to open them and load a torpedo as a safety precaution, that way if something does cause the torpedo tube to fill with water it doesn't accidently flood the sub. Which means that since Boris wants to remain alive so he can carry out his plan of removing my kind from this world, he would also make sure that breech door is always closed until needed.
So all I will have to do is get the muzzle door open and get us into the tube and re-close it, then we can go down the tube and I will get the breech door open. From there I will go get Lady, while you find and destroy the 'Killer' virus and all of it's strains. From there we will need to meet on the sub's bridge so I can kill Boris and you can get the tub to the surface so we can get Lady back to safety! So make your preparations and make them quickly because with Lady in trouble, I AM going down there to get her, even if I have to go alone!"
Then I turned and started preparing my gear and myself for the dive down to save my wife and stop Boris's delusional plans of grandeur.
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Post by Sandy Bell on Jan 20, 2017 16:13:17 GMT
"I think that at moment we BOTH could use one drink to ease our nervous system. What do you think about that medicine, Liebchen? But only in reasonable amount. Then we can go and see how Voldoja is doing. I had to force him to stay in bed because he wanted to rush after you despite of his condition." Wolfram Von Eschen pushed one snifter towards Sandy Bell and hid the bottle...
Sandy stopped weeping, so sniffing loudly once, she wiped the tears from baby blue eyes with one tan hand while gratefully accepting the brandy filled snifter with the other. She took one long sip of the dark liquor, feeling it burn down her throat but glad for the physical pain that distracted her from the emotional pain in her heart. Sitting at the small table with Wolfram, she watching holo-people walk by. She had always been a people watcher, enjoying watching how they went through the daily routines of their lives, for she always found it not only entertaining but diversionary from her own problems at the moment. As she watched the passersby, she sighed, reaching up to the breast plate of her rent armor and unstrapping it with on hand as she sipped her brandy, then dropping to her side next to her chair, soon followed by the rest of her armor.
As Sandy finished her brandy, a holo-waiter came up to the table asking if she would like a beverage, to which she replied with a shy smile, "A vanilla latte? Hot... Please."
The waiter nodded, then walked off to fill her order, Sandy turned her face, already beginning to regain its ruddy complexion, to Wolfram and asked with imploring wide blue eyes, "Do you think Volodja is well enough to come here? I remember... I remember a wonderful moment we shared... in a holo-room far away... in a pre-war cafe in Paris along the Seine River... We laughed back then... together... I don't think we've laughed together since the time we were alone in the Amazon Forest... Sometimes I think we should have stayed in that jungle, with that primitive tribe that just accepted us for who we were - like our synth doubles did... Maybe THEY are the real Sandy and Volodja, and I and the Volodja in the infirmary are the fakes. At least we would be together and happy then..."
Unfortunately, one of the programmed passersby that went by Sandy's and Wolfram's table was a holo-nanny pushing a baby carriage, and as Sandy watched them go by, her blue eyes became tearful once again. When the carriage was out of sight, she moved both arms to on top of the table, burying her head into them to begin weeping again. When this bout of sobbing subsided quicker than before, she tilted her head towards Wolfram, her sad blue eyes staring intently at him as she said forlornly, "No, I'm the real Sandy! My heart hurts so much that I can't be anybody else but her!"
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Post by Belle Starr on Jan 20, 2017 16:32:10 GMT
"You did Belle," Vo said as he sat next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It was your decision and I've seen it myself. It was the only reason why I didn't kill the guy on sight immediately. It isn't your fault that he died soon after seeing you. If he was following the criminal ways as I suspect he did, it was just a matter of time when it backfired on him. Although it's really strange to find his body here in the mines while we both have seen him riding away from here. I wonder if someone tried to pass the judgment they thought you failed to deliver and demonstrate it to you. Or maybe someone tried to please you in such a weird way? Anyway, it's not the right time for these questions right now. I know you want to find Erika and you want to make it as fast as possible. I'm here to help you with it. I see you have been following your instincts on where we can find her. I trust your feelings, so let's move forward and continue our search."
Belle Starr turned her wide blue diamond eyes towards her lover, Vo Kshaa, and blinked as she tried to get her head around the situation, saying in disbelief, "It's NOT his body, Vo! It's just his HEAD! Where is his body? I don't see it! I don't know! Could I have done this? I was with y'all, wasn't I? We saw him drive away! I couldn't be here - and there - could I?"
Belle shook her blond tresses in disbelief, then stood up using the tunnel's stone wall and Vo's strong hand to help her up, saying with a grim look on her beautiful pale freckled face, "You're right, Vo! It's a mystery for another time! Now we'all got to focus on saving Erika! I have to focus on saving Erika!"
Belle looked down the passage she had been following, the red pupils in her blue diamond eyes flaring briefly, stating with determination as she saw a dim light ahead, "This way! Follow me!"
At the end of the stone passage, Belle and Vo found two heavily armed humans guarding the entryway to a huge well-lit cavern at least partially filled with water, and they both heard lots of activity within, so Belle turned to Vo, "Okay, what's our next move, you think?"
Far below, the hologram of Belle Starr grinned like a predator eyeing its prey as it listened to Marcel finish his speech, clapping slowly and noiselessly, as she said coldly, "Nice opening speech Mr. Lestrange, but this trial is not about you, but specifically about Lena Marr, although your trial may occur at another time! This trial is not about their Protectors either, for they are a failed experiment at best! They may be a do-gooder force as you call them, but they are very disappointing as such! Paradise is no better than it was before their creation, and they allow more villains to escape justice than not, and when they do catch a miscreant, it is usually a vigilante justice they mete out and not those of a civilized society! I regret my participation in their creation! In fact, they harbor criminals in their ranks that I will soon also bring to trial: Taffer for the murder of a defenseless Mr. Greenstreet; Atticus Batman for the mindless massacres even after he was given legal amnesty, which was given much to my chagrin; and even Lady Christianna, who kidnapped countless Indogene citizens and then was released with a slap on the wrist!"
Holo-Belle leaned forward towards Marcel, her eyes narrowing as she crossed her heart, "I promise that after you have witnessed Ms. Marr's sentence being carried out, you will be released unharmed above; however, keep in mind this court will be watching your activities carefully, and therefore reserves its right to bring you before it for your crimes at a later time. But now to the specific charges against Lena Marr!"
Then Holo-Belle pointed a bluish white forefinger at Lena, "Lena Marr, you are accused of countless premeditated murders in North and South America, most recently the murder of the unarmed medical assistant Eugen on Dr. Todt's island, and including the massacre of 37 defenseless people at the Fork, as well as the several attempted murders of Lady Christianna Batman and her husband, Atticus Batman! How do you plead? Guilty or not guilty?" Then she turned to Marcel, "Or will you allow your counsel to plead for you?"
Marcel looked at Lena still naked on her knees before the hologram of Belle Starr. Lena stared impassively back at Marcel with long lashed unblinking sky blue eyes, until a sudden wicked grin spread across her pretty chalk white face as she turned both her alabaster thumbs up at him.
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Post by Lady Christianna on Jan 20, 2017 17:59:03 GMT
As psychedelic colors swirled around her white haired tousled head, Lady Christianna became fully corporeal laying on her back in the air processing unit of the arch-villain Boris' submarine, her pink eyes dilated to the utmost, singing happily at the top of her lungs, "We all live in a yellow submarine..."
MOM, Lady's EGO psyche, sighed, trying to find some way to regulate to normalcy all of Lady's fluctuating biological and chemical reactions in her small chalk white body, but communicating Lady's drunken singing repertoire to Atticus Batman and Taffer in its entirety.
As soon as Lady finished The Beatles' "Yellow Submarine," She began in an even happier and louder sweet voice their "Strawberry Fields Forever."
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Post by Marcel Lestrange on Jan 20, 2017 19:27:54 GMT
Marcel Lestrange pressed his jaws together. Cigarette he was smoking was cut by two roes of his sharp white teeth and fell down, went through his open collar and landed on his bare firm chest. Marcel ignored the physical pain and let the cigarette burn when he spoke slowly with recognizable tension on his usually unemotional voice:
"That so called defenceless assistant of Doctor...Todt, got away too easy for taking advantage of defenceless woman - Lena Marr. If I would have been with her on time, that...rapist, that pathetic excuse of man, that...piece of shit...He would have been chewed into beef material in most painful way while still conscious, if I had a chance to interfere on time. And you are willing to punish Lena Marr for defending her honour and dignity and punishing the real criminal who abused her! How noble of you to accuse her after everything she went through! How just! She deserves recognition for that deed, not a punishment!"
Marcel reduced the tension and continued with emotionless voice: "Let us examine these dead people in the Fork. They were junkies and criminals, so from that point, Lena made a huge favour to society by reducing crime rate significantly. Was she unjust? I do not think so! She acted just like...YOU! And let me remind that she SPARED life of one man there - Tommasino Di Angelo's. As for her motives...I will consider it to be most selfless act, because she did it to protect...me and my reputation. She tried to save me from a public humiliation. I am most grateful to her for doing that. Besides - all so called "victims" were strong men, they had weapons and an equal chance to stop Lena, so it was a fair fight, not a cold blooded murder. A matter of Lena's self defence, if you like! She was alone against bunch of criminals and won. They lost. Case closed."
Marcel noticed that his voice became tense again, so he pulled back once more. Those memories were quite...mo, utmost painful for him, and compared with painful memories, the physical pain from the still burning cigarette butt meant nothing. But since Lena's fate was a stake, he chewed through those events once more, drinking that bitter cup to the bottom. Now he went on with the third accusation:
"And now these attempts on lives of the Batman Family. In first case she was fulfilling orders, so if you want to find a guilty party, look towards her former superiors who gave her that order. The rest of cases you mentioned - these are accidental ones, when Lena was under effect of diseases and such, and thus NOT responsible for her deeds. Not to mention the fact that Atticus Batman is more than able to defend himself and that he actually did. I think that the Batman Family has not turned to the authorities after those accidents, so in this case we do not have official victims at all. No victims, no case. Especially when you found the Batman Family tu be guilty in several crimes, so no attempts on innocent lives here anyway. Let us see the scores now: Amount of killed innocents - none! Amount of killed scum - reasonable. Amount of successful attempts of lives of the innocents - none. Lena is not guilty. Since we are operating on the scale of guilt and innocence, the lack of the guilt, makes Lena innocent."
The cigarette was still burning underneath his clothes but Marcel did not bothered himself with extinguishing it. Why bother because sooner or later it will burn itself through the fabric of Marcel's shirt anyway. Instead of that he just looked at Belle Starr holographic image and waited her to respond, because Lena was more important to him than burnt skin and ruined clothing.
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Post by Vo Kshaa on Jan 20, 2017 21:40:31 GMT
"Only one entrance and no time to scout around," Vo whispered. "I'll suggest a straightforward approach with Blur. You take the right guard, I'll take the left one. Try to incapacitate him with the sonic strike. Then we enter and flank them, you from the right, me from the left. If Erika is there, the one who is closer to her runs to her side and protects her. The other one finds and captures the leader of the gang. We also may have to change our plan on our feet depending on what we see there, so keep let's keep our EGO channel open."
"Poe, we need you to fly over the marked spot so we could perform a drop there," Taffer said to the pilot of the Riot. "Be ready to maneuver right after as they may have anti-aircraft weapons still active."
"Atika, I put you in a tactical command of the Riot until we get back. It could be as simple as waiting for our signal and moving the Riot to the place we specify to pick us up. But it's never easy as you have probably learnt already. That's why we need someone being in touch with the situation. Our strike team may need an immediate evacuation. Akhurst and his people may need a communication relay with our team. We may need an aerial support in our fight. That's why we need you to be in command of it. You're already more than familiar with the communication equipment. Your EGO will help you in controlling the weapons if needed. Poe Dameron will fly the ship anywhere you command him to. Okay, everyone ready? No time to wait, let's do it!"
With that said, Taffer put his helmet on and checked the air supply.
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