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Post by Wolfram von Eschen on Aug 7, 2017 8:23:10 GMT
"You asked me here to watch Lena and Marcel making out?" asked Wolfram von Eschen threateningly. "After everything I had to go through, all I have is THIS!"
Wolfram von Eschen was as irritated as only a disturbed wasp could be. Volodja asked his help earlier so naturally he left the bridge to join him. As a first thing "Vigilant" begun to dive again, making Wolfram lose his balance again. And then he was thrown into an escape pod with an excuse that only able bodied crewmen could stay on board. Since when good old Wolfram wasn't able bodied, Meine Herren!? After the evacuation alert ended, Wolfram fought his way out of the pod to continue fulfilling his abruptly delayed task which lead him next to the closet, Marcel was in, and now he stood there watching how Lena kissed Marcel. Continuously.
"The situation was somewhat different when I called you," said Volodja apologetically and only then he saw how Wolfram is shaking from withhold laughter. "Khe khe khe,"the old psychiatrist chuckled. "I am sure that you didn't ask me to come here without serious reason. I see couple of swords near by. I see a sword gouge on closet door and I know that Lena's mood changes more often and faster more unpredictably than weather. I guess you had a quite sharp discussion, according to signs."
Suddenly Marcel Lestrange begun to growl and posed a question: "Who am I?" Then he added thoughtfully: "I am...I am..." His eyes turned towards the ceiling as he was looking for answer to that question from skies above...
Dramatic pause which everyone is free to fill whatever one wants with. But we decided to fill it with this:
After the small eternity was over, Marcel grinned devilishly and announced: "Got you! I know exactly who I am. I am Marcel Lestrange who fell into the closet only to wake up and see these two schmucks - The Nerd and the Boche - staring at him in disbelief. Now the charades are over and I - Marcel Lestrange - must ask from the Nerd: "How come he did not asked one of his longest friends to witness his wedding?" I am not going to tell you what I am going to do about it but you can be sure that I have a suitable plan in my mind and one point we return to the topic. Until then we do not do absolutely anything about it. Especially when we all are invited to Engineering room. Right?"
Marcel kissed Lena now. Not only once or twice but much much more before leaving the closet...
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Post by Lena Marr on Aug 7, 2017 14:39:19 GMT
Lena Marr hated to end the kissing with her lover Marcel Lestrange but one of her inner voices, Greed, was bugging her that this incident with the the pretty white haired Synth Sister Whitney was an opportunity for profit that could not be missed, so she whispered into his ear after one last passionate kiss and only a slightly painful nibble of his ear to get his attention, "Much more of this fun stuff later Master - I mean Pooh Bear - I promise but there's something going on in Engineering I don't think we can afford to miss. Follow me as soon as you can," Then exclaimed as she stood up looking askance at Volodja Uljanov with a devilish grin, "Don't be too hard on Ulja-nerd Pooh Bear! I'm sure our not being invited to the wedding is his wifee-poo's fault! After all, Sandy is definitely the one wearing the fatigues in the family and Volod-ja-chump always looked pretty pussy-whipped to me, no offense meant... wait, Pride is telling me I did mean offense so... oh well, not sorry!" Not waiting for Volodja to retort or even respond, Lena sashayed over to the elderly psychiatrist Wolfram Von Eschen and coyly played with the lapel of his suit coat while saying in a low voice, "My, don't you look dapper! Say, if you do group therapy do you give group rates? Anywho, time to make an out-of-office visit Doctor Who! Get it? I said 'anywho' and then called you 'Dr. Who' instead of Dr. Von Eschen... Never mind, nobody gets my jokes but me and besides... that's all who matters," Lena chuckled to herself, then grabbed Wolfram into her armored arms picking him up, cradling him and blurring to the Vigilant's Engineering. When Lena got there she stopped in front of where Whitney was sitting with her Synth Sister Ruby sitting on one side of her and Atika Constantine on the other side. Lena put Wolfram down carefully giving him one arm to steady himself in case he was dizzy then smiled sweetly at Whitney as she studied her before offering her her free hand so Whitney could stand up. "Come with me if you want to live," Stated Lena in a terrible German accent before laughing and adding in her normal voice, "HA! I got to use two movie lines I always wanted to use in one day! Who would of thought? Anyway, this is the esteemed Dr. Von Eschen, resident headshrinker for the Protectors and we are about to have the first ever meeting of the support group for those poor-gals-seduced-by-Governor-Skar's-silver-tongue-then-used-and-abused-by-him, or 'Pigs' for short!" Lena gestured and said dramatically to the girls on either side of Whitney with an exaggerated scowl before rolling her unblinking sky blue eyes heavenward and refocusing her efforts on the sad girl sitting between them, "And you two aren't invited because you aren't pigs! Hmmm, I may need to rethink that name but that's for later. Point is, Skarr seduced me when he took me off the the streets of Lima as a teenage guttersnipe and trained me to use my natural skills to be his personal assassin and spy extraordinaire. Hmmm... as I remember Skarr really knew how to use that silver tongue of his in more ways than one but that's not the point! He even convinced me that it was a good idea to kill Atticus' young wife and better half Lady Christianna when she was still pregnant! Now Lady is my BFF but that's not the point either! Skarr is one of those bad boys that collect young girls, uses them like nose tissues, then casually throws them aside like... well, like used nose tissues! I've been there! You, Whitney, have been there! Lets go talk to the good doctor here so he can tell us it's not us but Skarr so we can then go find Skarr and ventilate him! What you say, Hon?" Lena didn't mention to Whitney that she was also offered by Skarr an insane amount of scrip to kill Lady but Lena had long ago rationalized that decision as merely one step created by Destiny so that she could be captured and put in the jail cell right next to her true love Marcel Lestrange! Although Lena hated when she failed, she was glad for that particular failure for she felt she never would have met Marcel otherwise or her BFF Lady either if she had succeeded. It was fate's fault - as well as Skarr's, of course - but never her's. Whitney blinked her ice blue eyes once as she looked up at the blue armored pretty Castithan woman before reaching up tentatively grabbing Lena's hand and allowing herself to be pulled up into a standing position as she replied, "I... I guess so. I still love Skarr but... I've checked Atticus' evidence and cross checked it with other sources and it appears that Skarr has acted... badly... before. I just don't want to betray him... but I don't want to be a dupe either..." "Welcome to the club Toots!" Muttered Lena then added with exorbitance, "That's why it will help to talk to a mind-shrinking expert and a gal that's been where you are - which is me, natch!" Lena was now the center of attention in the Engineering room so she took advantage of that fact to ask those around her in a loud voice, "Hey, is there a room around here where the three of us can get some privacy? Not for a menage a trois or anything like but for a group therapy thingee?" Lena glanced at old Dr. Von Eschen and put a chalk white forefinger on her tongue to show that any thought of a menage a trois that included him was beyond her imagination and just plain disgusting.  |
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Post by Atticus Batman on Aug 8, 2017 12:51:15 GMT
"I've already sent a security detail to get our people in the escape pod. Lexy is not sure about the location of the two missing Synth Sisters, but we know they can make themselves virtually invisible to our sensors whether they intend to or not," Reported Sandy Bell then nervously bit her lower lip before stating the bad news about my wife, "There was one other person who vanished from the Vigilant: Lady is missing sir!"
I snapped, "What the dak do you mean Lady is missing?! I left her strapped into the daking Captain's chair! What the hell happened..."
Just then my EGO psyche Dinara decided I needed some straightening out and correcting, so she mentally said to me, "Atty! Knock it off! You know Sandy had her hands full up there and you know Lady would not have just left! So think before anger for once!....Like you, her powers are tied to her emotions! However while yours are tied to your anger and rage, hers seem to be tied to her fears!___So perhaps when she thought we were going to crash, she panicked and instinctively 'ghosted' through the floor or something!....As Atika would say: 'Ugh! MEN!' and I darn well agree with that! So knock it off for once!"
I mentally responded to Dinara with, "Fine, I get your daking point!"
Then I said to Sandy, "...I know it's not your fault if Lady panicked and accidently slipped through the ship or something like that. I also know you were busy with escape plans and trying to keep us from crashing so.....I am sorry for directing my anger at you as it's not your fault! Now we both know, this is where I REALLY want to say, 'Dak it all. I am going after her right now and I will not be stopped!'
Of course we already know how my current First officer would respond to that, and yes I also realize she would be right, as I am currently needed where I am. So just daking put together a search team with our best trackers and fighters to go find her, and I will send Atika to join them, unless you need her for something!....However as soon as I have things under control down here, I AM going after Lady as well, and anybody in my way WILL get ALL my anger directed at them!"
After Sandy and I ended our conversation, I turned and gave orders to all the engineers. Then as the highest ranking engineer now on duty, filled me in on what needed done, Lena came blurring in carrying Wolfram. When Lena got there she stopped in front of where Whitney was sitting with her Synth Sister Ruby sitting on one side of her and Atika Constantine on the other side. Lena put Wolfram down carefully giving him one arm to steady himself in case he was dizzy then smiled sweetly at Whitney as she studied her before offering her, her free hand so Whitney could stand up.
As she talked, I ignored her as I continued discussing the engines with the chief engineer. However as I finished my conversation, I heard Lena ask in a loud voice, "Hey, is there a room around here where the three of us can get some privacy? Not for a ménage a trois or anything like but for a group therapy thingee?"
I glared at her as I said gruffly, "The Engineer's break room is right over there. Use it if you must."
Then I snapped at Atika, "Atika, get your gear! Then get your ass to the main exit and join the search and rescue team! NOW! ___ Ruby if you want to go with them to help find your sisters, then go with her!"
Atika gave Whitney and Ruby a quick hug, then quickly jumped to her feet and glanced at Ruby to see if she was coming, before Atika quickly ran off to get her gear and join the team as angrily ordered.
Shortly afterwards, I noticed Marcel walk in to see what Lena was up to, So I walked over to him and said gruffly, "Marcel I am almost done here. Then I AM joining the rescue team to look for our missing crew members. I know that doesn't concern you, but I also know that money does. So rather than have the usual arguments and negotiations, I will just save us a couple of steps and skip right to the bottom line! Even though it's obvious that Lena has found something to keep her busy here, if you accompany me to back up our search party while Lena is busy here, then I will double the payment you already agreed on!" |
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Post by Sandy Bell on Aug 8, 2017 20:55:10 GMT
Sandy Bell's side of the conversation with Commander Batman were mostly a series of "Yes" sirs and "Of course" sirs punctuated with a lot of silent listening. When it appeared his diatribe was over, she informed him that his sister Erika Widowmaker has assembled several search teams in the starboard cargo bay who were already armed for a hostile environment and would be mounted on the ATVs stored there. Once Atticus Batman's attention was off Sandy and back to the Engineering crew, Atika Constantine called informing Sandy that her and the Synth Envoy Ruby would be joining the search parties so Sandy gave them instructions where to meet the others. Once there, Erika broke those assembled into four three man teams with herself teamed with Atika and Ruby. As they left the safety of the Vigilant's cargo bay, the teams each followed a grid after going to the far points of the compass going first to where the ships's AI Lexy estimated would be as far as they possibly could have strayed and then working inwards. Erika, Atika and Ruby sped on their ATVs to the furthermost southern point before working inwards. Also to the south of the Vigilant, the Synth Sister Yvette flew into action literally going through the rearing giant centipede yelling with a big grin on her beautiful face, "Not as sneaky as you thought bug! But - YUCCCK!!!! It's going to take a week to wash this gunk out of my golden locks!" As the giant centipede angrily turned its attention to Yvette who was now behind it, Brooke grinned wryly showing her sharp feline teeth as she continued to swab Lady Christianna's chalk white forehead with water from a canteen she held then saying, "Don't worry, Yvette can handle such creatures in her sleep. Back in Synth City we would consider that one as a small inconvenience." Lady glanced to the right seeing other giant centipedes exiting from the surrounding jungle warning Brooke, "Ready for lots of small inconveniences?" Brooke looked to where Lady was now pointing one small alabaster forefinger then popped her claws as she exclaimed, "Shatko!"  |
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Post by Wolfram von Eschen on Aug 9, 2017 8:04:56 GMT
Wolfram von Eschen looked at the mess which Mechanists's Mess was turned into after the near-aerial-catastrophe-situation. Everything that wasn't fixed was on the floor now. One of the dishes closets opened up when "Vigilant" fell and now it's contents were in the pile like some kind of installation sculpture in the abstract art exhibition. Wolfram wasn't very huge fan of installation art, but a fan of order (even in his boat house, no matter how tilted it was and no matter how drunk Wolfram himself was, every object had it's place), so he announced:
"We begin our group therapy with the group...not the group hug, although they are nice, but with the group assignment. United we stand...until this room looks neat enough to have a therapy session here. Besides - shared working experience can do wonders with groups. Common cause, shared tasks and efforts unite people. If you think that Wolfram is going to sand and watch how you work, then you are wrong! Uncle Wolfram joins you and while we are cleaning here, we can discuss about Governor Skarr who, by the way, wouldn't lift a finger to help others, because he is self obsessed, self serving narcissist, as long as I understand. And I am afraid that Synths, no matter how attractive they are, are not exactly his choice of a mate. His first choice for marriage would be Governor Skarr, but since he knows that it's impossible, he would chose only a high caste Castithan to be his mate. Influential high caste Castithan, because I am quite sure that if Skarr loves only himself and ultimate power, he prefers relationships with benefits and ends them when they are not benefiting him any more. Your motivation, Whitney, is love. His motivation is hunger for power, so you don't have much common ground and Skarr might not even be worthy your efforts and affection...Well, my Snowhites, I am about to begin. Up to you if you join me or not!"
And Wolfram pulled his sleeves up and begun to create order from the chaos, whistling while working...
__________
Somewhat earlier Marcel Lestrange muttered something about not being a fucking police dog to sniff traces of missing persons, but the money talk somewhat calmed him down. And since re also remembered that Lady Christianna happened to be Lena's best friend and if he stumbles upon her during the search, it might make Lena happy, he accepted Atticus's proposal and now he was truly looking for signs, left by those who went missing...He was sure that he is the one who will reach them first because he is probably the best fucking police dog in vicinity. Matter of professional pride, you know...
Actually there was another reason why Marcel was so sure. When he picked members for his trio, he made sure that one of them was Volodja Uljanov. Despite calling him variety of names, Marcel usually avoided calling him dumb or stupid, because he was fucking sure that Volodja could easily prove that those name tags were false...plus, Volodja had another irritating feature besides his lecturing habits - he had a tendency to play tricks on Marcel and ruin his schemes, so it was better to keep him under Marcel's sharp eye and let Volodja dedicate his efforts to solve some intellectual mysteries and help Marcel to make profit...
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Post by Lena Marr on Aug 9, 2017 16:31:54 GMT
Lena Marr up-righted a chair then sat back in it so that it leaned against the wall while she perused her data pad as the old psychiatrist Wolfram Von Eschen began to clean up the wreckage in the break room in Engineering. There was foodstuff everywhere that had fallen out of cabinets and the full size refrigerator located there all of which Lena seemed oblivious to until she happened to look up and see Wolfram glaring at her. While staring back at Wolfram, she looked around with unblinking sky blue eyes before pointing a chalk white forefinger to herself as if to say, "Did you mean me?" The part of Lena that was still brainwashed to think of her self as a lowborn Castithan maid urged Lena to help Wolfram with the cleanup but Lena resisted the urge and kept the staring war going with Wolfram waiting for him to blink first until the Synth Sister Whitney drew both their attentions by clearing her voice in a nervous way before saying, "Ummm... Old One, you don't expect me to clean this mess up, do you? I mean... I just got my nails the way I want them..." Lena narrowed her long lashed eyes at Whitney wondering if she was for real then began to laugh hysterically as she saw the earnest look on Whitney's beautiful pale face. One of the seven deadly sins that spoke to Lena in her mind was "Pride" so she knew that motivation well; but Lena's pride was one in accomplishments more so than in looks which seemed to motivate the young Synth girl. Lena had to admit that the immaculately dressed Whitney was beautiful with her striking aristocratic good looks, flowing white hair in a classic pony tail, and intense ice blue eyes. Lena also had to admit that in another place in another time, more specifically before she met her true love Marcel Lestrange, Lena herself would have made a play for Whitney's sensual attentions. Lena wasn't a Lesbian, but she had been known to go sexually both ways on occasions in the past and Whitney the type of exotic beauty that would have caught Lena's erotic attention back then. Lena was thinking such thoughts daydreaming about the fun they could have had when she happened to spot a cream pie that had fallen upright out of the overturned refrigerator. A wicked grin crossed her pretty Castithan face as she stood up picking up the pie and tossing it in one smooth move square into Whitney's surprised face. As pie remnants and the shocked look both fell from Whitney's face replaced with a slight smile, Whitney picked up a sack of flour hitting it over Lena's white tousled head covering Lena's blue armor and head with a fine white dusting when it broke. What followed was a full scale food fight that lasted only minutes but which covered both women in various foods and liquids until all was left untouched was an open industrial sized tub of chocolate pudding which both girls grabbed at the same time from opposite sides. At the same time both Lena and Whitney spotted Wolfram who had remained miraculously untouched during their food war. Their blue eyes met over the tub between them and with smiles and an almost imperceptible simultaneous nod, they upturned the tub dumping it on top of old Wolfram's head. The now empty tub cast away, the two girls collapsed onto the messy food covered floor laughing uncontrollably at Wolfram as the chocolate pudding traveled slowly down from his head to his face and below.  Meanwhile Erika Widowmaker led her team on their ATVs south of the downed Vigilant when the Synth Empire Envoy Ruby suddenly said pointing, "I can feel my Synth Sisters' presence nearby! Yvette and Brooke are that way!" Erika and Atika Constantine followed Ruby on their ATVs until Ruby stopped before an empty clearing in the jungle, whereupon Ruby turned to them exclaiming before spurring her ATV forward, "I don't get it! My sensors says they should be right there in the middle of the clearing." Once all three vehicles were in the center of the clearing, the three women dismounted. Once they did, all sorts of rusty robots cobbled together like patchwork quilts erupted from around the clearing shooting pellets into the clearing that exploded into a green gas. Erika pulled her magnum and began shooting but soon the gas overcame her and she collapsed unconscious into the dirt. Atika soon followed falling face first onto the dusty ground. The Synth Envoy Ruby was the last to remain upright but was teetering as well having a hard time keeping her balance. "This can't be happening! Why didn't my sensors or the others' EGOs detect these robots? Where are Yvette and Brooke?" Gasped Ruby her cherubic face twisted in consternation as she protested, "And I don't even have to breathe..." One of the larger robots had a view-screen in it's metal head which lit up showing Skarr's chalk white monocled face leering down at Ruby before saying, "First, the robots didn't turn on until you entered the middle of the clearing and dismounted your vehicles so there was nothing but inert elements to sense. Second, a false signal indicating your sisters' presence baited the trap. Third, never heard of contact poison have you my dear - one effective even against sensitive Synthoids such as yourself! Let me teach you a lesson: The more complicated and advanced the technology, the easier it is to fuck it up!" Ruby grimaced at being called "technology" for she considered herself a person, but she didn't have long to resent the name-calling as she then fell senseless joining her two companions in the dirt.  |
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Post by Atticus Batman on Aug 10, 2017 12:15:29 GMT
Somewhat earlier Marcel Lestrange muttered something about not being a fucking police dog to sniff traces of missing persons, but the money talk somewhat calmed him down. Hearing that, I had responded with, "More like we will be the attack dogs if needed, while acting as trackers until then. Best to stick to our strengths after all. However three of us doing the tracking will be more useful."
Marcel suggested Volodja, so I had responded with, "Good idea. We will get Volodja to join us..." Then I sarcastically added, "...since the two of you always get along so well."
After Marcel, Volodja and I had finally left the Vigilant together, we started tracking based on what we could find on the ground. However I soon realized that it would be better if we tried the search from two different angles. So I had Marcel and Volodja give me a boost, so I could get a hold of a sturdy tree limb and pull myself up into the tree. Then while Marcel and Volodja continued the ground search, I took to the trees and scanned from up there, while I had my EGO track my teammates so I could move through the dense jungle trees and keep near my group. Eventually I noticed two possible disturbances. Quite a ways ahead of us in the direction we were headed, I saw several VERY large turkey Vultures flying circles over a particular area. Obviously they were expecting a dinner soon.
However to the east of that site, I suddenly saw a huge cloud of what could only be described from my distance from it, despite my high vantage point, as a dark green fog or smoke. So using our group EGO channel, I notified Volodja and Marcel of what I could see. Of course as I was currently above the jungle canopy, I couldn't see any vehicle tracks or possible signs of our missing people below me and the jungle canopy. So it was ultimately up to Marcel and Volodja to decide which disturbance we should go investigate first, or if I should go investigate one (most likely the foggy one as my helmeted armor would give me more protection from whatever it may be, than their armors would), with the two of them going to investigate the other one.
_-in_flight.jpg)
Meanwhile at that 'fog' location that Atticus spotted, Erika and Atika Constantine followed Ruby on their ATVs until Ruby stopped before an empty clearing in the jungle, whereupon Ruby turned to them exclaiming before spurring her ATV forward, "I don't get it! My sensors says they should be right there in the middle of the clearing."
Once all three vehicles were in the center of the clearing, the three women dismounted. Once they did, all sorts of rusty robots cobbled together like patchwork quilts erupted from around the clearing shooting pellets into the clearing that exploded into a green gas. Erika pulled her magnum and began shooting but soon the gas overcame her and she collapsed unconscious into the dirt. Atika quickly pulled a re-breather from her jacket pocket and used it. Despite that she could still feel the effects of the poison, although not as strongly as without the re-breather, so she soon followed falling face first onto the dusty ground. The Synth Envoy Ruby was the last to remain upright but was teetering as well having a hard time keeping her balance.
Atika did indeed fall to the ground, feeling weak from the affects of the obvious poison, but was still conscious enough to hear what was happening around her.
"This can't be happening! Why didn't my sensors or the others' EGOs detect these robots? Where are Yvette and Brooke?" Gasped Ruby her cherubic face twisted in consternation as she protested, "And I don't even have to breathe..."
One of the larger robots had a view-screen in it's metal head which lit up showing Skarr's chalk white monocled face leering down at Ruby before saying, "First, the robots didn't turn on until you entered the middle of the clearing and dismounted your vehicles so there was nothing but inert elements to sense. Second, a false signal indicating your sisters' presence baited the trap. Third, never heard of contact poison have you my dear - one effective even against sensitive Synthoids such as yourself! Let me teach you a lesson:
The more complicated and advanced the technology, the easier it is to fuck it up!"
Hearing that, Atika thought, "Dak, contact poison! No wonder this re-breather is barely helping."
She could feel the effects of the poison getting to her and knew she would soon be unconscious like Erika. So she had to do something, but in her weakened state, she couldn't get up and was having a very hard time thinking straight, and therefor it didn't even don on her to try to send an S.O.S. on the EGO channels. Instead she did what most would do in a situation like this....She stuck her arms in front of herself and pulled herself forward, panicking and trying to get away from the gas and the bots. She kept crawling like this for several feet, until she suddenly felt herself falling. In her almost unconscious and panicked state she had managed to crawl over and fall into what turned out to be some hunter's long-forgotten trapping pit. However some luck was with her because, unlike the ones she had learned to build back in Mongolia, this one did NOT have any spikes in it. That was the last thought that came to her mind before the poison finally rendered her completely unconscious. So there Atika would lay even after the bots had left the clearing; leaving her unconscious, poisoned, and now obviously lost and forgotten as well, not sure she would ever be found.
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Post by Wolfram von Eschen on Aug 10, 2017 12:41:13 GMT
Wolfram von Eschen usually considered himself a man who is above all situations he gets into. At least recently he had developed such a faith and since he didn't wanted to lose that faith, he just lifted his pointing finger, slid it over his brown cheek and put now smeared finger into his mouth, saying after testing a taste of chocolate pudding: "Mmmmm. Tasty indeed. Probably does some good to my skin as well. And a shared food fight can also act like a decent ice breaker between group members, so we are fine. But..." He rose his pointing finger in pedagogic manner... "But that doesn't mean that we can leave this room into it's present state. If they discover what happened here, we all are in trouble. And they will discover it as soon we leave this room, because we entered here after the crash landing and can't explain our present look to them convincingly. Having food remains all over us literally yells -"They did it!" But there is a way out -if we clean this place then it would only be natural having food all over us during the clean up. I believe that your precious nails became victims of this food fight, Whitney, so there is no need to worry about them at moment. And Lena...Mmmmmm...we need your practical expertise with cleaning up crime scenes to avoid unnecessary hassle. Come on, girls. Help Wolfram out here. By helping me, you'll help yourselves as well."  |
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Post by Volodja Uljanov on Aug 13, 2017 6:34:42 GMT
"Should we toss a coin?" proposed Marcel. His voice was sweet as syrup and almost as viscous. "Just in case you want to demonstrate your infamous slowness on deciding, because you probably want to look at the problem from every possible angle, consider all aspects which may occur in your mind and so on. We do not have time for meticulous thinking, analysis or supporting decision with valid arguments. We..." "We are wasting precious time," said Volodja. "Especially you with your lectur "Mon Dieu!" moaned Marcel. "Does that mean that I have become...you!?" "Deciding from the accent and use of French épiphonème, you are still Marcel Lestrange who is about to go to the nearest source of noise to see what's going on there. I'll go and check the other." "King Solomon has spoken," grinned Marcel devilishly. "You obviously are trying to get yourself into the trouble and killed and thus avoid my actions towards you for not inviting me in your wedding. I will go ahead but I do warn you to stay alive there and not rob me from opportunity to pay you back. And avoid giving an explanation to your wife. I do not want to end up as pussy whipped as you are." "Go already!" said Volodja and turned decisively towards the other source of noise. On a jungle clearing was a parade of animated junk pile. The parade of robots was led by Governor Skarr - not physically present but presented on a screen - who was just talking how superior he was when someone threw a pie to his virtual face. The pie landed with a perfect  Of course it wasn't a real pie because getting one in middle of the jungle would have been illogical. It was a most ordinary cool schloopy-sloshy mudpie, because Volodja who sneaked to the opposite side of the clearing thought about getting Skarr's and his robots undivided attention and provided himself with tools from a nearest mud pond he could find. Further hiding was pointless so Volodja got up to his feet and begun to move through the jungle, making as much noise he could, luring robots after him. There is usually few simple ways to get rid of murderous robots. One could try to destroy them physically with the help of ballistic weaponry. Or throw at them a pulse grenade, which emits an intense electromagnetic pulse upon explosion and basically fries robot's circuit boards. One can also try to reprogram them all at once if they have a central management system or one by one if one is lucky enough and doesn't get killed during the lure-them-behind-the-corner-and-tapper act. Volodja lacked gunpower so destroying them wasn't the best option. He also didn't had any pulse grenades. And trying to reprogram them didn't seem to be a good idea either. But Volodja was sure that he manages to turn the jungle his ally because robots aren't exactly known by having a hobby of exploring rain forests and thus they lacked necessary jungle experience. Governor Skarr who was used to navigate in corridors of power gracefully and orientate in asphalt jungles hadn't much experience with real ones either, so Volodja decided to risk and arrange an improvised jungle tour for robots...and give others a chance to save themselves. |
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Post by Lena Marr on Aug 14, 2017 4:45:06 GMT
Wolfram Von Eschen said, "I believe that your precious nails became victims of this food fight, Whitney, so there is no need to worry about them at moment. And Lena...Mmmmmm...we need your practical expertise with cleaning up crime scenes to avoid unnecessary hassle. Come on, girls. Help Wolfram out here. By helping me, you'll help yourselves as well." Lena Marr stubbornly folded her arms against her armored chest and shook her snow white tresses adamantly in the negative sitting cross legged on the food strewn floor replying "Un-uh, I don't do floors or windows - unless for Master Marcel!" Lena watched as the beautiful Synth girl Whitney looking miserable wiped her pale hands on her food stained once immaculate white dress then picked up a mop that had fallen out of a closet when the Vigilant crash landed. Lena watched first with a wicked grin on her pretty chalk white face then through clenched teeth as she watched the hapless girl move the messy trash from one side of the room to the other. It was obvious that Whitney had never used a mop before and Lena had many times both as an orphan child prostitute in real life Lima as well as the typical working caste Castithan servant girl she had been reeducated into believing she was. Finally she couldn't take Whitney's ineptitude with a mop any longer and got a bucket filling it with soapy water then showing Whitney patiently how to use the mop while getting a large sponge herself before getting on her knees and scrubbing the floor. Soon all three had the room squeaky clean and Lena put three folding chairs in a circle before collapsing in one then saying to Wolfram, "Okay, what's up Doc?"  In the South American jungle not far from where the Vigilant had crash landed, Whitney's Synth Sisters Yvette and Brooke fought for their lives against a huge enraged nest of giant centipedes that attacked in mass. They lost track of the groggy Lady Christianna as they were overrun by the angry multi-legged insects as Yvette smashed bug after bug with her power gloves and Brooke dissected the attacking arthropods with her claws but it looked like it was a losing battle because there were so many of the giant creatures. "Well, it's been fun," Growled Brooke with another slime covered slash. "It's not over till it's over," Answered Yvette with a grim grin and an earth shaking blow.  Meanwhile on the other side of the jungle just before the junkyard robot with Skarr's face on a TV tube was hit by a mud pie, Skarr said through that robot's voice box, "Take the Ms. Widowmaker and the Synth Empire's envoy through the Black Matter portal then destroy it from the other side! I'll take care of any would-be rescuers!" Erika Widowmaker was dragged away no longer unconscious from the contact poison but still paralyzed as she was carried by two skeletal rusting robots through the underbrush. She only saw the limp form of Ruby the last of the four Synth Sisters being dragged by a large patchwork robot in front of her towards the Black Matter gate and not the attack on the robots left behind. Soon Erika felt the familiar tingle on her skin as she went through the Black Matter teleport gate appearing in a large room full of armed first generation Synthoids and the spidery robot form of the real Governor Skarr. As Erika and Ruby's bodies were dropped unceremoniously in front of him, Governor Skarr ordered, "Strip them and make sure they have no weapons or implements of escape hidden anywhere on them then toss them in the dungeon!" Erika attempted to yell Irathiant curses at Skarr but her mouth's muscles refused to cooperate and the best she could do was a low groan as she was brutally strip-searched by two Synth soldiers before they began to drag her to the dungeons under the Votan Collective's dungeons under the Chancellor's Palace in Capital City. |
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Post by Atticus Batman on Aug 14, 2017 11:43:01 GMT
As Volodja ran off toward the 'green fog' covered clearing, and Marcel went to investigate the Vultures, I climbed as high as I could to try to get a better view. When I did, I was finally able to sense Lady's unique bio-electrical signature. It was feint but definitely hers and it was coming from the direction that Marcel had just headed. So I activated blur and started running and jumping to the thick forest canopy in that direction.
As I caught up to Marcel, I sent him an EGO message saying, "Marcel, Lady's signature is in this direction. So it looks like I am your eye in the sky for a while longer."
When we got closer to the area the vultures were circling, my EGO finally detected the signals of Brooke and Yvette, as well as picking up Lady's EGO signature, and my blur ran out.
As I got a little closer, I stopped on a tree branch that could hold my weight for as long as needed. Then I shouldered my Calling Bird (sniper rifle) and looked through it's scope. What I saw were some huge centipede type creatures moving around in a small clearing and fighting a couple figures. I zoomed in with my scope and sure enough it was the two Synth sisters that were fighting the creatures. However I could not see Lady through my scope. Of course that didn't surprise me as she was always quite adept at hiding when she felt it necessary, even before getting her powers. Now with them, she could easily just 'ghost' to avoid being seen or detected. So it was possible that she was either safely hiding nearby, or trying to figure out how she could help the Synth girls with some of the skills I taught her or that she may have picked up from her years of hidden observations.
So I notified Marcel of what I saw; The Synth girls and the trouble that they were currently in. So we better hurry and keep a watch out for Lady as we went to help. Just then I saw one of the huge bugs rear up behind Yvette. Fortunately from where I was in the tree, I had a clear view of the bug's squishy and currently unprotected underbelly. So I quickly aimed my shot, activated Overcharge (as my EGO powers were now ready again), and fired. The well-placed shot went into the centipede's open mouth, through it's brain and out the back of it's head killing it instantly. Then from my high vantage point in the tree canopy, I quickly chambered another bullet, took aim and shot another giant centipede. Meanwhile Marcel (on the ground) was quickly moving closer to their location as I continued my sniping to help even the odds.
 
Meanwhile back on the Vigilant, Attila Constantine was very busy working on the Bridge's Engineering console while trying to fix it's diagnostics systems. However he suddenly had a very bad feeling deep in his soul and dropped the wrench he had been so deftly using up to that point. Little Lexy, who was watching him work while guiding him to where she was detecting some of the electrical issues in the consoles, saw the wrench fall and then saw the look of terror in his face and quickly asked, "What's wrong 'Ttila?! You looks like somethin very bad just happened...like somebody just died, or is 'bout to!"
Attila weakly picked the wrench back up as he sorrowfully said, "I...I...I think...no...I KNOW Atika is in big trouble!"
Then he turned and looked towards where Sandy was at on the Bridge and said very loudly, "Sandy! We need to do something! My EGO just picked up a very feint distress signal from Atika's! She IS in trouble! We need to get one of the other teams to go to her team's last known location, NOW! We just have to!"
Then without thinking about what he was saying, he blurted out, "How do you think you would feel if it was YOUR wife...husband, out there alone and helpless?! I don't know what's wrong, but I know she needs help and feels alone....and if YOU don't do something, then I WILL go find her even if I have to go myself! She means EVERYTHING to me!"
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Post by Lady Christianna on Aug 14, 2017 14:19:12 GMT
Lady Christianna was free - really free - for the first time in a long time! She had instinctively misted through the Vigilant when it was in a crash dive and had floated safely to the ground below but it left her drained and groggy. She thought she saw the concerned faces of the two Synth Sisters standing above her as she lay on the ground a few seconds ago but now wasn't sure. She also thought she briefly saw them fighting giant multi-legged insects but now that memory too was a blur. Instinctively once again she phased further and was no more than a misty form floating above the ground and traveling away from the noise of violence. Lady was headed deeper into the jungle stopping only long enough to study a rare flower before duplicating it many times leaving a trail as she moved on. Her fog shadowed face smiled enigmatically as she heard a familiar gunshot but forgot it immediately as she floated forward. Something in the jungle was beckoning her but she didn't know what or why, only that its call was powerful and continuous. Lady was so intent on her destination that she was totally unaware of a shadowy figure following her in the jungle canopy above her. Meanwhile the Synth Sisters fought on against the giant centipedes swarming around them unknowingly helped by Atticus Batman's expertly placed rifle shots. The feline Brooke bounced around from tree limb to tree limb agilely dodging the insects' attacks while dealing death blows of her own with her sharp claws. Her sister Yvette was a more straightforward fighter landing hay-maker after hay-maker with her power gloves while flying headfirst through the crawling throng of enemies. Finally Yvette landed muttering loudly in frustration at what appeared to her to be the creatures' ever increasing numbers, "Enough of this!" before simultaneously striking the ground forcefully with both power gloves generating a titanic force wave that decimated the bugs' mass before smiling and remarking, "And THAT is how its done!"  On the bridge of the Vigilant, Atilla said in anguish, "How do you think you would feel if it was YOUR wife...husband, out there alone and helpless?! I don't know what's wrong, but I know she needs help and feels alone....and if YOU don't do something, then I WILL go find her even if I have to go myself! She means EVERYTHING to me!" "My husband is out there in one of the search parties as is Commander Batman," Replied Sandy Bell calmly from the command chair as she checked the Vigilant's radar adding, "If Atika is in trouble they will find your sister wherever she is and bring her back. However, the faster we get this bird in the air the faster we can recon from the skies for the search parties so do your job Atilla and help Lexy so we'll be up there faster to help them," Then she ordered ordered communications, "Even though its before their scheduled check-ins, have all search parties hail us immediately with their map co-ordinates. Either the crash or something in the area is making the Vigilant's radar act erratically." All the three-person search parties reported in but Erika Widowmaker's and Commander Batman's which worried Sandy to no end since her new husband Volodja Uljanov was part of the latter's party, so she put out a general alert to the others to keep their eyes out for anything amiss and to investigate carefully. Sandy understood Atilla's desire to charge out rashly to find their missing loved ones and at one time she would have been right next to him as he did so but Atticus had entrusted her with the command chair and that meant the lives of everyone on the Vigilant. She could not and would not abandon them for her own whims no matter how much she longed to feel herself in Volodja's loving arms and to know personally that he was safe and sound. So instead of charging out of the Vigilant with Atilla on her heels, Sandy merely listened to the reports of the search teams coordinating their efforts as she directed damage control all over the Vigilant letting the experts do their repairs and often merely replying to their recommendations, "Make it so." |
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Post by Wolfram von Eschen on Aug 15, 2017 8:09:53 GMT
"Now, dear Lena," said Wolfram von Eschen. "Now we are going to sit down, I'll have a drink, unless you want me to pass the bottle around so everyone can have a gulp, and we are going to analyse our first part of our group session. We all gained something from that, beside having a clean session room at our disposal. Lena, for example, wasn't just cleaning as a maid but she was also a...cleaning instructor, teaching Whitney and passing on her personal knowledge. A new facet of her colourful personality is discovered, so she has every right to be proud of herself. Whitney learned a new skill which may become useful when least expected, like....mmm....like...Let's assume that Whitney has to pretend to be a maid at some stage of her life and I am quite sure that maid who knows how to use a mop is more believable than one who doesn't. Or she might meet someone much nicer than Skarr and impress him with her diligence. Or something completely different but still as impressive than my assumptions. And I got few blisters and a knowledge that these old bones and joints are still flexible enough to make some order so if I fail as a psychiatrist, I may still find a job as an elderly janitor. Heh, heh heh."
"Now when we had our spoonful of sugar which helped a medicine go down and we managed to avoid irritating our fellow crew members by not tossing this cleaning task to their shoulders, we can continue with the group therapy. I'd like to know more about our Whitney. What are your likes and possible dislikes, dear girl? Besides reading romantic literature and arranging food fights?"
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Post by Lena Marr on Aug 15, 2017 19:53:55 GMT
"I don't do things for the response or the controversy. I just live my life." Rihanna ***** Dr. Wolfram Von Eschen said, ""Now when we had our spoonful of sugar which helped a medicine go down and we managed to avoid irritating our fellow crew members by not tossing this cleaning task to their shoulders, we can continue with the group therapy. I'd like to know more about our Whitney. What are your likes and possible dislikes, dear girl? Besides reading romantic literature and arranging food fights?" Whitney's ice blue eyes were downcast as she fidgeted in her seat continually smoothing her white battle skirt over her thin but shapely pale legs before replying nervously, "I... I like my sisters... and... music... singing ... oh and dancing," She looked up with a troubled expression on her beautiful face as she swiped back her white bangs from in front of her eyes, "Um... is that what you meant? As to dislikes, I don't understand what you mean." Sitting across from Whitney Lena Marr rolled her long lashed sky blue eyes before saying curtly, "Give the gal a break Wolfie. She was born like - yesterday! Whitney probably hasn't had time to develop any dislikes," Lena looked heavenward, placing a chalk white forefinger to the corner of her lush lips before staring at him with a piercing gaze and remarking sharply, "I on the other hand have been around the block a time or two and I like sunsets, long walks on the beach, and the song "Afternoon Delight." I also like sex in the afternoon - but also in the morning - and night too or whenever or wherever Pooh Bear wants to! I dislike pointless ice breaker exercises and headshrinkers who don't get to the point with their questions." Lena folded her arms tight against her amble bosom and crossed her armored legs away from the doctor, starring daggers at him until she began to hum lowly the song "Afternoon Delight" as her eyes became unfocused seeming to forget all about the other people in the room. ***** Lady Christianna continued to float across the jungle underbrush in her misty ghost like form heedless of her surroundings but leaving a trail of pink exotic flowers behind her. She definitely was following a distant drummer - and one that others did not seem to hear. However, a shadowy figure in the jungle canopy continued to follow her silently and stealthily.  ***** As the rescue teams and the various departments of the Vigilant reported, Sandy Bell glanced at Atilla Constantine who was looking miserable and worried over his missing sister. Sandy was worried herself over her missing new husband of little more than an hour, Voldja Uljanov, but she had to stay brave because Commander Batman had put her in command of the Vigilant after it had crashed. "Hell of a honeymoon" She thought to herself. Still... Sandy realized she didn't have to stay that brave! Sandy got up from her command chair and walked over to the young Irathiant throwing her arms around him hugging him hard, then whispering in his ear, "We'll find them both, I promise." ***** The attendant Synths dressed Erika Widowmaker and the Synth Empire envoy Ruby in prison orange coveralls in front of Governor Skarr and his robot troops. Skarr smirked at their humiliation of being stripped naked in front of him and then dressed in clothes only criminals wore. As the Synth servants were about to drag the two of them to dungeons below the Votan Collective's Chancellor Palace, Skarr stopped them with one upraised hand. "On second thought," Began Skarr in an arrogant tone, "Take the little Synth girl to my bedroom chambers. After all, even a ruler needs some fun once in a while." As a robot carried Ruby's limp body to Skarr's personal quarters, Erika shook off the grips of her Synth guards like she shook of the paralysis then through sheer force of will she walked step by agonizing step towards Skarr. When she got close to him, she used the last of her strength to leap at him planning to wrap her strong hands around his scrawny neck. However Skarr batted her out of the air with one metal leg and into a wall as he laughed evilly. As Erika's unconscious body slid down the wall to the floor, Skarr ordered while he turned to head to his quarters, "Take the Irathiant skank to the dungeon. I'll be in my quarters... relaxing. Contact me only for an emergency." Skarr then left the teleport room on his eight metal spider-like legs with the door of the room slamming shut with a loud bang as Erika was dragged out a door on the opposite end of the room.  |
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Post by Volodja Uljanov on Aug 16, 2017 10:29:07 GMT
"What the hell you are doing here?" asked Volodja from Marcel through the EGO link while escaping Skarr's robots. "You were supposed to..."
"I did but then I decided to do everything my own way," Marcel snapped. "I compared couple of wives and decided that Monsieur Batman is perfectly fine surviving alone and helping his wife while you...I already imagine what might happen when I let you get into the trouble. Your wife is going to kill me for sure. She almost pussy whipped you down your feet despite loving you, as Lena said. For some unimaginable reason she considers me a bad guy, so if I let something happen to you, she will definitely bury my ass. Lady will not do such thing if I am not helping her husband."
(aggressive bleep)
Volodja jumped aside and more felt than saw chasing junkbot disappearing into the thick foliage of a jungle tree. Only confused bleep and sound of crushing metal told him that robot had hit a tree trunk. Two more robots stormed towards him with blasting lasers. Volodja felt slight heatwave on his cheek and smelt burned hair which meant that bot was really close of making a precise hit. landscape was on his side though, so robots had to avoid trees and bushes and ground plants and such but yet he had to admit that despite of difficulties those robots knew how to shoot. One of bots leaped forward and Volodja could see a twirling bunch of blades not very far from his nose tip. Bot moved forward, making Volodja to retread. Volodja grabbed his sapper shovel (When he was picked into the rescue team by Marcel, he equipped himself with that multi purpose tool just in case) and shoved it into the metal face of attacking robot.
(dying bleep)
Robot fell to the ground, rolled couple of times and stood still. Volodja's shovel which hit the tiny crack in robot's faceplate cut itself through it's schematics and caused a short circuit which took out that attacker. But the other one took the place of his fallen comrade and twirled his blades now, trying to cut Volodja's face into bloody strips while bot's other metal limb with fork like pincher attached to it tried to snap Volodja. He had to retreat again, protecting himself with the shovel he pulled out from fallen robot's face.
One can't retreat endlessly. Sooner or later one meets an obstacle - a wall, a tree, a ditch, a pitch. So did Volodja who didn't knew that he was moving towards the Dark Matter portal Skarr's minions had used to deliver their captives away."Watch out for that..." warned Marcel but it was too late. Volodja pulled himself abruptly backwards to avoid getting sliced and...fell directly into the quickly closing Dark Matter portal. Maybe it even saved him because now he was away from twirling blades, but it also meant that now he was suddenly behind the enemy lines and seriously outnumbered.
"Typical of Volodja," said Marcel. "Getting himself into the trouble and leaving all explaining to me! What the fuck I am going to tell his wife now?"
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