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Post by Lady Christianna on Feb 2, 2016 22:48:52 GMT
Lady Christianna was smiling enigmatically when the crew of the Vigilant entered the makeshift War Room in the Defiance compound, but when Lu Kshaa smiled at her and addressed her directly, she positively beamed back. Lady shifted impatiently as she sat in Atticus' lap, waiting for Taffer to finish his say; but when he had, she fairly leaped out of Atticus lap and ran to embrace Lu like a long lost friend. Unfortunately in her excitement, Lady lost concentration so that by the time she reached Lu, Lady became insubstantial and her arms went through Lu rather than hugging her.
Lady's pink eyes grew big and she threw both her small chalk white hands over her mouth that now made a perfect "o" as she floated a foot off the ground in front of Lu, exclaiming, "Hela, was so glad to see you - lost concentration. "Ummmm... not quite got my corporeal form full time, but working on it. Anyway, thanks to you I'm still alive and kicking."
Smiling and giggling, Lady kicked her feet a few times in mid air to emphasize her point and then knitted her alabaster brow and narrowed her pink eyes in concentration, albeit it a bit too much, for her mass and weight increased so much that she quickly slammed down onto the floor, the floor underneath her cracking with a loud noise, causing her to quickly apologize, "Oh, man! I'm sorry! Stephanie is going to be mad! Guess I'm a work in progress - change of topic! My favorite power was decoy, but I liked cloak too, but can't do either while MOM is offline. I like Crimefighter shotguns because they are so much FUN to shoot, with the bouncing balls of death and all." Lady suddenly quickened the pace of her speech, hoping to admit her transgressions so fast that maybe her new friends might not remember, "And - oh - yeah - I - was - the - Mistress - of - Sorrow - and - kidnapped - all- the - Indogenes - in - the - Bay - Area - so - that - they - would - terraform - North - America - to - what - it - was - before - the - Pale - wars."
Lady's smile slowly turned into a frown as tears welled up in her pink eyes as she sheepishly turned and returned to Atticus' lap. Lady reminded those around her of a puppy that had been chewing her master's shoe and got caught, or of a small child with her hand caught in the cookie jar, rather than the criminal mastermind she blamed herself for being. All Lady could think of in that moment was that Chase and Iri would be arriving soon, that she had wronged them most of all with those escapades, and that she must somehow make recompense with them.
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Post by Atika Constantine on Feb 3, 2016 12:51:14 GMT
Smiling and giggling, Lady kicked her feet a few times in mid air to emphasize her point and then knitted her alabaster brow and narrowed her pink eyes in concentration, albeit it a bit too much, for her mass and weight increased so much that she quickly slammed down onto the floor, the floor underneath her cracking with a loud noise, causing her to quickly apologize, "Oh, man! I'm sorry! Stephanie is going to be mad! Guess I'm a work in progress - change of topic! My favorite power was decoy, but I liked cloak too, but can't do either while MOM is offline. I like Crimefighter shotguns because they are so much FUN to shoot, with the bouncing balls of death and all." Lady suddenly quickened the pace of her speech, hoping to admit her transgressions so fast that maybe her new friends might not remember, "And - oh - yeah - I - was - the - Mistress - of - Sorrow - and - kidnapped - all- the - Indogenes - in - the - Bay - Area - so - that - they - would - terraform - North - America - to - what - it - was - before - the - Pale - wars." Atika giggled when she heard Lady giggle but stopped shortly after as she was afraid it would upset the embarrassed, and odd but so far nice and pleasant, Castithan girl. After Lady was done talking, Atika said, "Sorry sir, but I can not say what my favorite EGO power is as we just got our EGOs from Slipknot right before he took us to your Fortress K'shaa and they didn't fully come online until we were in Russia. So I haven't really tried my powers much yet, but Overcharge sounds very useful, as extra weapon damage and faster reload can both be very handy. Of course blur also sounds fun because I already love running, so running FASTER would be great! As for weapons, I don't have a lot of experience with many different kinds. We were raised by a nomadic tribe in the Mongolian plains that were hunter/gatherers. So there weren't a lot of weapons to choose from really. So I mainly learned to use a hunting rifle, a standard Scattergun and some other pump and combat shotguns, my bowie knife, a charge knife, and an axe. So my favorite guns so far are the FRC Particle Scattergun, and my trusty old Frontier Repeater. I can't really explain it but I have always been able to learn languages fairly quickly and as such seem to have a natural talent with communications and linguistics. I guess we don't really have anything that can be used to blackmail us.........other than each other and if they even consider touching my pesky brother, I WILL make them wish they were NEVER born!" Atika then smiled broadly and said, "Of course, one hour alone with him and they may pay us to take him back. He can be quite the handful, if you aren't used to him, after all. Just ask Lu about his big flirtatious mouth, if you don't believe me!"
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Post by Attila Constantine on Feb 3, 2016 13:51:02 GMT
Attila chuckled slightly at his sister and said, "You know you would miss me, and it is not my fault that we are meeting so many hot young women lately! If they don't want hit on, then perhaps they should wear a wedding ring or sit on a scary bounty hunter's lap, or both like Lady is doing. I may take risks but no way would, even, I be that stupid!" When Atticus glared at him, Attila nervously cleared his throat, then smartly turned back to Taffer and began to answer him.
"As my sister said, we just got our EGOs from Slipknot right before he took us to your Fortress K'shaa and they didn't fully come online until we were in Russia. So we haven't really tried my powers much yet, and we were raised by a nomadic tribe in the Mongolian plains that were hunter/gatherers. So there weren't a lot of weapons to choose from really. So same as her, I mainly learned to use a hunting rifle, a standard Scattergun and some other pump and combat shotguns, my bowie knife, a charge knife, and an axe. However while hunting back in Mongolia, I was lucky enough to discover an old cave with the body of a long dead soldier in it. He was clutching an EMC service rifle and a rare antiqued, Hydra Launcher. As the long dead soldier no longer had a use for either weapon, I took them both. I got them working, learned to use them and still do. So I suppose my favorite weapon is my Hydra and my most versatile would be my EMC service rifle. Although as I love explosives I would love to be able to use other explosive weapons!
As for EGO powers, I would love to try them all. However I did love seeing Lu's use of decoy and the idea of using cloak to better sneak up on my prey sounds great! I have a natural talent for engineering of sorts, and love pulling things apart to see how they work. So I hope I will be able to tinker with something on this next mission. We have nothing and are just nomads from Mongolia so I doubt we are worth blackmailing, even if your enemies did find something to use against us."
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Post by Wolfram von Eschen on Feb 3, 2016 17:08:21 GMT
"ARE you telling me that our team has not moved YET?" asked Wolfram von Eschen from Remy Lebeau who replaced Chloe and him in War Room. "Donnerwetter! Himmelherrgott! And those other words!"
"Whacha wan me ta sey to ya?" Lebeau asked instead of answering. "We ar sans signe abut dem. Part of dem ar still in de Cité de Oklahoma."
"Would you be so kind and have some rest, Remy," asked Wolfram politely. "As an officer and a gentleman, I feel that it is my duty to shake them up from their butts, because we are getting pretty fucking nervous about them already. They couldn't pick a worse time to start in life! It ain't too early and get's too late! If they aren't going to move, I will make sure that Oklahoma is the place where they begin a new life as farmers! Shall we go, Liebchen? And by calling someone "Liebchen", I mean Chloe, not you, Remy. You can have a drink while I am talking to them."
There was peace and quiet in the War Room of Fortress K'Shaa until Wolfram's entrance. Even Chloe had to keep up with an elderly gentleman while he moved through corridors, worrying about their team mates - both lost and found - because there was no place like home for them than Fortress K'Shaa and yet everybody were scattered around the whole wide world and Wolfram wanted at least some of them to return as soon as possible.
"Look who's back!" he announced. "Get me our runaway team on line if you are so kind. Vielen Dank!" He grabbed microphone to his hand and begun his speech:
"This is Wolfram von Eschen speaking! Time to quit sightseeing! Pack your damn things and return to us. I feel much much easier about your safety when you are under my nose. And I want to see at least some of you before I am going to die from old age. And I am already too damn old and let me remind that I am not getting younger! Verstehen! I expect to see you damn YESTERDAY, so get moving!"
"Well, you old liar," said Chloe, putting her hand to Wolfram's shoulder. "You are truly sparky for an old man, as you already proved to be and may I add that several occasions already, so I bet that you are going to live for a long time, just to irritate us. While they are thinking what to say or do after your motivational speech, why don't we practice my possible stage act for a talent show? Maybe a song? "Why don't you do right" seems to be a good one. Want to see and hear?"
Without waiting for an answer, Chloe started to sing. What else they could do while they were waiting? Actually a lot, but this time it was about singing indeed.
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Post by Vo Kshaa on Feb 3, 2016 21:58:04 GMT
"… Verstehen! I expect to see you damn YESTERDAY, so get moving!"
"You see? I REALLY need to get going or this old man will slap my ass VERY hard!" Vo said to the big crowd of kids surrounding the rover vehicle after the holographic image of Wolfram Von Eschen faded and disappeared. "I do understand you've never seen the Dark Matter vehicles so close and would like to ride it, but do you really want old Vo's ass to get hurt for that?"
"Yeeeees!" the crowd answered almost in unison and the kids kept running around, climbing the vehicle and jumping on it.
"I guess I'm screwed," Vo muttered, but quickly regained his composure as an idea came to his mind.
"Okay kids," he said aloud, "Tulsa is an intermediate travel point for many people, right? So there are many kids coming and going through this square, right? How about… I'll show you something none of other kids ever seen and you'll be able to show it to them and make them really envious! But I need your help. First, I need four cans of paint, and each one better be of a different color. Can you arrange that? I'll give you some scrip."
He pulled four bills of scrip out of his pocket and some of the kids rushed to the nearest marketplace. They returned very quickly with four cans of paint as he requested. Vo used pieces of wire to attach each can to the rover's transmission in a way that once it started moving the paint would pour at its wheels.
"Now, I need you to divide into eight groups and stand in the corners of this square. Once I roll into its center, raise your hands in the air so I could clearly see all of you while I work my magic. But don't move into the square until I finish or it will never look good! Ye got only one try and we should make it perfect! Got it? now let's begin!"
He watched the kids forming groups at the corners as he requested, making sure no one was left in the middle of the square.
"Shirra, set all sensors to full sensitivity and fast read," He commanded to his EGO, "Having anyone injured during this performance is absolutely unacceptable."
He rolled the rover slowly into the center of the square and then suddenly floored it, making it drift in circles around the center of the square, shifting slightly closer to one of the group of kids in each turn. The paint was pouring on its wheels, leaving the rainbow colored traces as he kept drifting in circles.
Once he finished the eighth turn, he made the rover slowly roll away to the street and stopped it there, looking back and glancing over what he had done. A drawing of an eight-petal rainbow colored flower was now occupying almost the entire square. Vo waved to kids as they started to gather around the rover again.
Vo jumped into the crowd giving a high-five to all kids who extended their hands to him.
"Thanks everyone, we made it!" Vo exclaimed and suddenly a sly smile appeared on his face.
"Now kids," he almost whispered but made sure all of them heard him, "Have I told you this thing had very good sensors? I've detected that someone there, there, there and there were capturing the entire performance on their cameras. So right now you have a chance to fetch a copy of the recording for yourselves. If you ask those people politely of course."
It was just a split second before the kids split into groups again and scurried to those houses Vo pointed at. Fetching the moment, Vo jumped into his rover and raced it out of the city where the rest of the team was waiting for him.
"Move! Move!" Vo commanded and the convoy continued its race back to Defiance.
"Now, don't you tell me you're trying to smuggle a Dark Matter combat vehicle into the city of Defiance?" Berlin asked upon seeing the group stopping by the stasis net. "Okay, I know I'd better let you pass or something will crash into the marketplace again, so please don't load me with lame excuses, just pass quickly and make sure this beast won't fall into wrong hands. The sooner you'll get all your things fixed, the sooner this place returns to the quiet and peaceful place it never was before."
Vo nodded to the lawkeeper with gratitude, and then said to the team, "Let's report to the compound first, and then I'll finally start to work on the final stage of repairs of our spaceship, unless our command has something more important for me to do."
With that said he led the convoy around the town and further down the road to where the compound was standing.
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Post by Lady Christianna on Feb 4, 2016 0:13:29 GMT
The moment Lady Christianna had waited for with both anticipation and dread had arrived. Lady saw through the security monitors set up in the makeshift War Room the Protector's convoy from Oklahoma City arrive in the compound's courtyard. Before anyone could stop her, she turned into a blue beam of light shooting out of the room. through the hallways, and out the front door, not stopping until she saw Iri and Chase exiting from one of the vehicles. Lady materialized in front of them, dropping to her pale knobby knees, casting her pink eyes downward and outstretching her thin chalk white arms in the traditional Castithan gesture of supplication, as she asked earnestly, "Please forgive this unworthy one for her transgressions against the two of you. I know I can never make up for the harm I did to you, but I am willing to suffer any punishment you deem right, even death," Then Lady quickly looked up to one of the compound courtyard's security cameras and mouthed to it, "Atticus, don't you dare interfere - or take revenge. Let there be justice." Lady quickly cast her eyes downward again, but then a sudden thought that had dwelled in the back of her mind for some time made her look up at Iri with wide pink eyes as she asked a last request, "However, if you are going to kill me - and I don't blame you if you do - please answer me one question first: Why don't you Indogenes make this world a better place? I mean, you Indogenes are the smartest race on the planet! You made it possible for all the Votan races to travel across space to come to this planet. You kept the Omec from following us - mostly! Daddy said that if the Pale Wars hadn't ended peacefully, you would have made it possible for the Votans to win with your science developing superior weapons and subterfuge techniques. Yet... yet... since the Pale Wars ended, all you Indogenes seem to do is... tinker! Iri, you were tinkering in Freedom fixing video games and tape players. Eren tinkers with Rosa fixing engines in Paradise! Doc Yewll tinkers with sick people in Defiance! A whole city of Indogene in Red Deer tinker with all kinds of little stuff, when if you would just work together you could make this world as wonderful as it was before the Pale Wars! That's all I wanted you to do! Hela, you guys are the most intelligent, most skilled, most talented, most... perfect of all of us races on Earth, but you only try to fix the small stuff when you could do so much more. Don't you want a better world for everybody's babies?" Pink tears began to flow down Lady's alabaster cheeks as she thought about her own infant children and the teenager's lower lip began to quiver as she continued, "I'm not worried about my babies - they have Atticus and a whole passel of armed guards with EGOs to protect them in their bunker home at Fortress Kshaa after I'm gone - but what about all the others? Votans and humans together screwed up this planet during the Pale Wars, and now most babies don't stand a chance of living even a year with what remains, yet you Indogenes - our best chance to make a better world - tinker with the small stuff while the Earth today is a giant death trap! I was wrong in what I did, trying to force you Indogenes to do something against your will, but you Indogenes aren't right either in doing nothing!" Lady downcast her eyes again, as her tears fell to the dirt in the courtyard, making a disturbing sizzling sound as they did. Exhausted from her outpouring of emotions, she waited on her knees for whatever fate Chase and Iri had in store for her.
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Post by Chase Lonehart on Feb 4, 2016 3:40:11 GMT
Iri had a long time to think in the trip back since Chase had remained silent to her during the trip. She understood that he was the way he was and she may have been in the wrong on her actions of sharing something that he considered so private. She wished she could read his mind, understand what he was thinking at that moment. But she only shared in hopes of improving things between them. She wanted him to be happy, but not limited to a singular belief. She wanted him to be more, and hoped that he would be open to possibilities. She understood that maybe she should have talked with him before she began to talk with Eren about everything. And she couldn't even be sure if Eren had told her the truth about Rosa knowing that she discussed about behind closed doors. But Iri never took Eren to be someone to provide falsehoods to those who knew her.
Maybe if I invited Chase into the conversations with Eren, and have Eren bring Rosa in, this could resolve some of his feelings, she thought to herself. Maybe if both could see how such a conversation went, they would understand its nothing more than analytical. Maybe they'd see that by Eren and I discussing this topic, they'd both realize that there was nothing to fear or be embarrassed about.
But she knew she was probably in the wrong. She wasn't sure if she was in the wrong, but she did concede within her mindscape that she could possbiliy she could be wrong. However, the thought came to rest when they had finally arrived at Defiance. Chase wouldn't even make eye contact with her as they headed to their destination. Just shortly stepping out of the vehicle, she was face to face with a familiar face. Even as Lady had dropped to her knees, begging for forgiveness, Iri wanted nothing more than to kick her right in the skull. She wanted so much wanted to break her pretty face for what she had put her and her human through. But it was her question that made Iri realized that the truth would only be more useful at that moment. She got down on one knee, turning the Castithan's head towards her, pinching her jaw tight in her hand so she couldn't turn away from her as she stared her in the eye.
"If you had bothered to ask before, I would have told you this," she began. "Due to the lack of information in the terraforming equipment, the changes made to Earth as it is are permanent. There is no information anywhere that can be used to change the planet to how it was. It doesn't matter how many of my kind you have, that can never be resolved. Not only that, with your plan, it would have completely destroyed the planet. Terraforming the surface, like what happened in New York, won't affect much. But using one, or in your case, five terraspires to alter anything the size of a continent? That would have caused the tectonic plates in the Pacific and Carribean to come apart, causing a chain reaction that would have caused the Earth's core to disintegrate, and the Earth's crust would collapse in on itself. So, you see, if you had succeeded, you would have killed everyone. Including your husband, and your babies... And everyone's babies. It wouldn't have mattered how many of us got together for your misguided attempt at trying to create your ill-gotten concept of utopia. YOU would have killed all of life on this planet. No one can change the Earth to how it was. No one. And everyone that has attempted it either were dumbasses like yourself, or they were evil and didn't care. The world is as it is because it's all of what remains. It is broken and cannot be repaired. The only way it will ever be better is not through technology. It's through people. PEOPLE is how we make this world better, NOT terraforming, NOT kidnapping and NOT destroying everything. And if you don't understand that, then maybe you should leave the decision making to us adults, because you aren't ready to handle the world right now."
Iri let the Castithan go, watching her as her head lowered and her crying gotten harder. Iri knew it was rough what she said, but the truth had to be said. She knew that if she hadn't told Lady the truth, sometime down the road, the Castithan teen would have more than likely attempted to do something like that again, and Iri wasn't going to have it again.
"You know what's sad?" Iri told her. "I would have taken you up on your offer of punishment. And I would have strapped you down to a table and slowly dissect you into pieces, keeping you alive the whole time, just like how Doctor Yewll and Lev did when they experimented on human beings. Do you have any idea how many times I sat working, hearing those humans screaming in pain and horror for hours? THAT is what I would have done to you. And even admitting that scares the shit out of me. But you know why I won't do that to you? Because if it hadn't been for you, Chase wouldn't have ended up back here in Defiance. And I wouldn't have found the missing piece I needed to allow him to have his memories back. He pointed that out to me, you know? If it hadn't been for you, he wouldn't be the man he was before. So, for that, I won't lay a finger on you. But if you do anything like that again, I swear, I will make you suffer for days to the point where you'd be begging me to kill you."
Iri bit back on her anger, trying hard to resist the urge to at least pistol whip the pale bitch who almost costed her and Chase their lives. She turned and walked away, leaving the scene behind her. The moment she could find a private spot to herself, she took a seat on the floor, taking in deep breaths and blowing them out slowly to subdue the anger that had come up. She began to concentrate on Pi, focusing on getting to the thousandth placement.
Chase, however, was confused by Iri's response to the whole situation. He was surprised by her comments, as he had never seen Iri so angered or as dark. But after she left, all Chase could do was look down at the teen for a moment as she cried. He bent down, tilting her chin up to look at him. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her as she cried into his shoulder. It was at that moment, Chase saw Atticus, who looked relieved. He waved for him to come over, Atticus carefully taking Chase's place. Chase felt sorry for the kid, realizing that all she wanted was a better life for her children. It sort of reminded him of his parents, about how they struggled as the world they knew was ripped apart by war and terraforming, and how they tried their best to raise him in hopes that he would be able to handle whatever the world threw at him. Chase looked down at both Lady and Atticus for a moment. There was only one thing he could say to both of them.
"I'm sorry," was that one thing, knowing that nothing else he could say could ever help or ease any suffering that they all went through.
He proceeded to walk over to the truck with the supplies, helping Vo and Archer with removing the parts they needed.
"I'm surprised you didn't cause some sort of harm to her," Vo told him.
"'Because no battle is ever won he said. They are not even fought,'" Chase told him, quoting from a book he once read. "'The field only reveals to man his own folly and despair, and victory is an illusion of philosophers and fools.'"
Chase looked over at the Irathiant, who just looked confused at him. It took him a moment to realized that not many people read William Faulkner's work. He just went silent from that point, helping with getting the parts to their destination and installed.
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Post by Atticus Batman on Feb 4, 2016 13:35:10 GMT
When the Constantines had started answering Taffer's questions, the BOY had said a smart remark about women and more importantly mentioned Lady by name in it, to which I gave him a harsh warning glare. Then after a couple more minutes of hearing their conversation with Taffer, I had Lady stand up then I said, "I am going to go look at the damages to the Vigilant!" As I walked out, Lady had of course caught up to me and took my hand and went with me to the Vigilant. After spending some time looking over the damages, we went to our quarters. Once in there, I took off the scavenged armor that I was currently wearing, and took one of my Trion armor sets out of my closet and put it on. I kissed Lady then put my helm back on, and we went back to the War room inside the compound.
Upon entering the War room, I was informed by Taffer that Wolfram had sent us a message that he had already listened to. So I had them play it for me, as well.
It was: "This is Wolfram von Eschen speaking! Time to quit sightseeing! Pack your damn things and return to us. I feel much much easier about your safety when you are under my nose. And I want to see at least some of you before I am going to die from old age. And I am already too damn old and let me remind that I am not getting younger! Verstehen! I expect to see you damn YESTERDAY, so get moving!"
I snapped at Geronimo and said, "You tell that stubborn old goat that... You know what, I'll do it myself! Give me the comms!"
I took the comms and contacted Fortress K'shaa only for Remmy Lebeau to answer. He said, "Dis be Fortress k'chaa. Security Chief Lebeau speakin. How can I be elpin ya, Commander?"
I responded with, "Lebeau?! You are supposed to be guarding my children! So where are they and why the hell aren't you with them?!"
He replied in his usual Cajun confidence with, "I know what I spose ta be doin, Sir. I was appointed protector of de twin chil'ren so I spose to be protectin dem. So I took dem to deir Papa Bocar as ordered, and stayed dere til we eard de bugout had ended. However I be Security Chief ere so I sposed ta be ere too. So Bocar an me, we talked, and came to an agreement fer now. He came back wit me and de twins. We both be stayin in yer Home's guest room, using it's bunks, and de twins git de comfort of deir nursery. Bocar be watchin dem, while I be doin my Security work, and I be watchin dem de rest of de time. So dey be safe, and de base and your home be safe. However he be snoring louder dan a banshee weildin a chainsaw. I dunno how people can sleep wit all dat noise.
Den dere be Doctor Wolfram, who be mighty agitated at not knowin much about what be happenin wit all of ya. Chloe be doin all she kin ta keep him from pacin a hole in de floor, while dey be in charge. It was she who contacted me and said I be needed back ere so I could 'elp andle some of de burdens of Command. So danks to, Ole' banshee nose Bocar, and I comin up wit de agreement on care of de babies, we got settled in to de guest room of yer home, and I am back to handlin base Security and elpin Wolfram an Chloe wit command issues."
I said, "Fine I get it. All of you need a member of Command back. Don't worry, you will get it soon. There has been a lead on Sandy's whereabouts so most of the team will be going to investigate under Taffer's command. However Lady and I will be bringing the Vigilant and the rest of it's crew and the remainder of our rescue team back home soon. We will leave Defiance and head home just as soon as Vo has gotten their ship running, and Taffer's team has headed off on their new mission. So see you soon and do NOT let that old goat of a doctor give himself a heart attack from worrying about us so much, or wear a hole into MY base's floors!"
After I ended the call, I then sat back in my chair and Lady once again returned to her place on my lap.
Some time later our convoy from Oklahoma City arrive in the compound's courtyard. Upon Lady seeing their arrival in the security cameras, she turned into a blue beam of light shooting out of the room. through the hallways, and out the front door, not stopping until she saw Iri and Chase exiting from one of the vehicles. She did it so fast that I couldn't even stop her. I had a good idea of what she was planning, though I didn't agree with it. However out of love and respect for Lady, I stayed in the War room and watched carefully from the security monitors. I hated myself for ignoring my instincts and staying in the War room, instead of following Lady, but I knew she would hate it and possibly me if I did follow her and interfere, so I stayed where I was for the time being.
I heard and saw everything Lady said, including her mouthed message to me and the harsh truths Iri Sewel had said in regards to Lady's question. However when Iri let Lady go and she started crying harder, I saw the look in Iri's eyes and knew that not only was she not done yet, but that whatever she said or did next, was going to be much worse. So I quickly went down stairs and watched what happened next from the dark shadows just inside the main building's entryway. I had also pulled out my sidearm and aimed it with safeties off, that way if it looked like Iri was indeed going to kill Lady, then Iri would end up with a hole in her head whether she finished the job or not. However that fortunately didn't happen, for after Iri said her piece and made her 'promise' of what would happen if Lady tried her misguided terraforming attempt again, She turned and walked away, leaving the scene behind her and showed no sign that she was going to come back and harm Lady physically.
After she left I saw that Chase Lonehart looked confused at her responses to Lady, but all Chase could do was look down at Lady for a moment as she cried. He then bent down, tilting her chin up to look at him. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her as she cried into his shoulder. It was at that moment that I emerged from the shadows with my pistol holstered by my side as if I had just come down, and Chase saw me, with a relieved look slightly showing on my face. He waved for me to come over, so I did carefully taking Chase's place by Lady's side. Chase felt sorry for the kid, realizing that all she wanted was a better life for her children. Chase looked down at both Lady and Atticus for a moment. There was only one thing he could say to both of them.
"I'm sorry," was that one thing, knowing that nothing else he could say could ever help or ease any suffering that they all went through. As he started to walk away, I gently but firmly grabbed his arm and said calmly, "We all are, no matter what your girlfriend thinks. However what is done, is done, and there is nothing that we can do to change that no matter how much we may want to. ________ Now if work will help Miss Sewell clear her mind, I do know that a certain purple giant of a Bio-man is having trouble with some of his implants due to what happened to them in Russia, and Taffer speaks very highly of her work with implants. So perhaps she would be interested in diagnosing and repairing Kaj's implants, both to be helpful and as a way to help her clear her head." However for once, I bit my tongue and kept my anger inside to keep from adding, "BEFORE SHE LOSES IT PERMANENTLY!!!" After all, I knew that Lady would definitely not want to hear me making that promise, nor would it help the already tense situation.
I then let Chase's arm go and he proceeded to walk over to the truck with the supplies, helping Vo and Archer with removing the parts they needed.
After Chase walked over to Vo and archer, I held Lady tighter to my chest and said, "Let us go to our quarters in the Vigilant." I gently wiped away her tears and then picked her up and held her tight to my chest as I walked towards the Vigilant. As I did so, I contacted Taffer and said, "I am taking Lady to our quarters on the Vigilant so she can get some rest. However we will keep the Vigilant in Defiance until your team leaves for Lima, as I had already promised so you can restock from it's stores as needed or borrow any of it's equipment that you may need to repair your ship. So if you need me for anything before your team departs, then you know where to find me."
After we got to our ship quarters, I shut and locked the door. Then I removed my helmet and mask. Next I stripped us both and laid down on our bed and pulled Lady gently into me. I gently kissed away the rest of her tears, knowing more would probably follow soon, before gently kissing her lips and then forehead. Then I just held her to my chest, knowing that there was nothing else that I could say or do to help her, even though I hated that she was hurting so much and I could do nothing about it no matter how much I wanted to.
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Post by Archer, Frankie J. on Feb 4, 2016 20:53:53 GMT
“I own two books in my personal library: Rolak Vosh’s Casti translation of Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” and the Latin Vulgate Holy Bible. Call me a foolish philosopher, Mister Lonehart,” Archer conversed as her big arms tightened while she lifted the next heavy mechanical part, “Got our parts and lives. We are victorious this day.”
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Post by Lady Christianna on Feb 4, 2016 23:47:22 GMT
Lady Christianna lay nude on top of Atticus, her white tresses hiding her tear stained face as she nestled it into his broad chest. She had stopped crying, and now merely sniffled from time to time as she took comfort from his warmth. Although she lay immobile, her mind was a whirl with what Iri told her. After thinking on it for some time, she had come to one inevitable conclusion.
"Iri's right. Am a dumbass," Muttered Lady just loud enough for Atticus to hear, "I thought I was being like Belle - going to change the world - but even though I listened to my mentor I didn't hear what she said. Realize now Belle said the same thing Iri did: Only people can change the world for the better, and we can't go back to what we had, only try to make the most of what we got! What a dumbass!"
Lady lifted her small head and crawled up so she was eye to eye with Atticus, kissing him hard before he might object to her self assessment - or worse, agree with it - then said in a low tone, "Hela, definitely want to go home now. Gots lot to think on. Gots lot to learn. Gots lot to plan."
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Post by Atticus Batman on Feb 5, 2016 10:50:33 GMT
Lady lifted her small head and crawled up so she was eye to eye with me, kissing me hard before I might object to her self assessment - or worse, agree with it - then said in a low tone, "Hela, definitely want to go home now. Gots lot to think on. Gots lot to learn. Gots lot to plan."
I kissed her back hard and said, "You may have a hot ass, but you are NOT dumb. You just made a very bad judgment call, by acting on emotion in a confused and vulnerable state without thinking first, thanks to the help of plenty of manipulation from an outside force. Now you have also faced the consequences of it, including discovering how it affected some people and how they feel about it and you because of those actions. Now you must learn from it. However the lesson that you learn from it is up to you to decide. That is one of the things about being an adult that can be frustrating. In real life nobody tells us what lesson to learn, however we still learn them. So we must decide what to take away from it. However your family will always be here for you if you need us. Dak, some would say that in the past, I always learned the wrong lessons from the life challenges that I have faced.
For example, I never learned what it was like to love or be loved, previously. You have taught me that. All of you have taught me the importance of friendship and family. Another example is that I had nobody growing up and thought I was better off that way. However I now know that I was wrong and want us to be the loving parents to our children, that I was certain that I never had...that is until Erika and I discovered that we are siblings and I started to learn what it is like to have and be a part of a family." I saw a slight look of shock on Lady's face when I very openly admitted out loud to both her and myself that I was not only actually wrong about something but that I may have been wrong at least twice. I kissed the tip of her cute little nose, then I continued with, "Yes my Snow Angel, even I can be and am sometimes wrong but I will still normally deny that to the others. Nobody ever needs to know that but you.
There is also the fact that several people have even called me a Ronin, a samurai without a master. They said I was destined to live forever, with no reason to live."
Lady said, "Were the people who called you a ronin right?"
I simply said, "Yes."
To which Lady hesitantly replied, "Still?"
I kissed her deeply for what feels like a long time but was really only a minute or two.
Then I finally answered her somewhat quietly for me with, "Do you really have to ask that? You know that I would NEVER lie to you. So relax because the answer is; No it is NOT still that way. I believe that I have finally found a new sense of purpose..."
I then pull her into a deep loving embrace and vehemently continue with, "I now have love and family and know what it is like to take a stand and help those that need it. So I will continue to do so. Besides, I also know that the best choices that I ever made were loving you unconditionally, marrying you and being with you for as long as you want me, as well as wanting us to raise our children together. So I hope your new plans include continuing to be with me and the twins...preferably with us still calling Fortress K'shaa our home, as it just feels right to be there. I can't explain why it does but it does, especially when you and the others are around. Do you think that perhaps that feeling is what makes it our home, and not just our base of operations?"
(Author's note: the conversation about ronins was borrowed from the movie; "The Wolverine", as I thought it was fitting here. The following link is to the quote that I modified slightly to fit in this post. *Original quote* )
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Post by Taffer on Feb 5, 2016 19:42:17 GMT
Taffer took some time to have a talk with Kaj, Lu and Constantines and hear in details of their adventures in Russia and told them of the events that happened in Defiance in return. When Vo's team finally arrived, he kept talking but glanced several times out of the window, keeping an eye on what was happening between Iri and Lady. Once Iri left, He quickly ended the talk and said, "You did very well in that what appeared to be a pretty much chaotic mission. I'm honored to have you all in my team and hopefully among my friends. My first task for you will be somewhat trivial but nevertheless important. I need Lu, Attila and Atika to join Vo Kshaa on his task of repairing our smaller spaceship. Our next mission will be held in Lima and the sooner we get there the better. Lu, please lead the way and introduce the Constantines to your brother. Kaj, please stay here for a while. I hope I'll have Iri diagnose your implants." He looked out of the window again, where Iri was before she entered the compound, and added, "I'm afraid convincing her will be not an easy task." He asked EM Dash to scan the environment in search for Iri's hailer signal, and once she pinpointed her location he went to the designated point. He found Iri sitting alone on the floor in a small room with seemingly impassive face, although he always had troubles determining Indogene's mood through their face. He approached quietly, but not hiding from her view, and sat next to her. He didn't tell anything to her at first as he didn't want to break her meditation and also there was something he wanted to think of in silence too. The words Atticus said was still ringing in his head, "What used to be a small group of individuals trying to make their little corner of the world better has since evolved into a full organization of people fighting to make the whole world a better place, not just the Bay area." This whole concept was new to him. Since his childhood, he always thought in terms of his group, his "gang", his "pack", a member of which he considered himself to be a member or a leader of at the moment. For him, it was always as simple as that. If someone of his group needed something, he acquired it, and if that included stealing from someone not from his group, he didn't have any reservations about it. Whoever tried to attack him or his group was going to die. Even when he said something about how another Pale Wars would be bad for any human and votan on Earth, he said it because each time he instantly remembered how hard it was for his gang to survive during the war time and he never wanted to go back to those days. Even with that space mission, he led it mostly to avoid the hidden Ark to unleash whatever power it had inside, and out of curiosity of course. Even the mission he took by himself, secretly traveling to Russia to destroy the remains of the Perimeter system, he was doing it to avoid a sudden nuclear warhead falling on his head. Making the whole world a better place? Fighting for it? He always thought fighting for the well-being of his group, his family and the place they lived was hard enough already. But now, when a seasoned bounty hunter, a Harbinger of Death was talking about it and actually acting on it, he felt he was definitely missing out on something. He tried to find a gist of how the one who really cares about the whole world would be thinking but couldn't. Any thought in that direction returned like an empty fish-hook from the water or a static wave returning to the transmitter when the antenna was disconnected from the other side. It was like his brain was not designed to think this way. He remembered of Belle's inspirational speeches he usually listened to with ironic smile on his face and thought he'd like to hear one now. But alas, Belle wasn't there and her whereabouts were still unknown. "Thinking of making a world a better place before you could even find your missing people. How… optimistic," he thought to himself, but seeing Iri raising her eyes on him, he realized he had just said it aloud. He merely shrugged, thinking he wouldn't be able to explain something he could not understand himself. "I don't know if you heard about it or not," he finally said to Iri, "But the team who were tasked to find Lady and prevent her from activating the terraformig reaction, had found out that Lady was poisoned with some substance that diminished her critical thinking. I don't imply she's not responsible for all those kidnappings and violence you and other Indogenes suffered as it was still her decision, but share the information that she was in the state when she couldn't predict the consequences of her actions clearly. It was her mother, so-called Mistress of Judgment, who tricked her to take that poison and supplied her with filtered information through her henchmen, nudging her to take actions we all had seen her doing. The point is, even while Lady had realized what she had done as she surely did, that woman is still around, plotting something and trying to manipulate people who still may fall for her tricks. No one is safe until she's caught and her organization destroyed. But first, we need the whole team gathered and our missing people need to be found. We still don't know who we are facing this time so each team member has to be in their best shape. That's where I need your help. Kaj Oenfer, the Bioman, says his implants started malfunctioning during his previous mission. You happen to be the best specialist on implants in our team so I ask you to perform the diagnostics and see if they could be repaired or replaced and what exactly needs to be obtained to make them running properly again. I'd like it to be done before we depart to Lima, but if you need more time to meditate, then take your time and then contact me or Kaj when you're ready. I guess I better disappear now." With that said, he engaged Cloak and his fading silhouette stood up and turned towards the door.
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Post by Chase Lonehart on Feb 6, 2016 5:49:20 GMT
“I own two books in my personal library: Rolak Vosh’s Casti translation of Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” and the Latin Vulgate Holy Bible. Call me a foolish philosopher, Mister Lonehart,” Archer conversed as her big arms tightened while she lifted the next heavy mechanical part, “Got our parts and lives. We are victorious this day.”
"Serves me right for quoting Faulkner," he said to himself.
Chase finished with the loading of the necessary parts, the thought of what Atticus said to him on his mind. Chase knew that everyone in one way or another were broken in this world, and struggling to make it better wasn't as easy as many wanted. He knew for himself, he suffered many levels of chaos and self-destruction over the years, and only it was recently that he had begun to climb back up a long slope from an steep arch of descent with a hard crash at the end. Something within him told him that the only way to start to a path for a better life was to forgive those that have done wrong, and hoped that they were willing to forgive him as well. Of course, he still had some work with Iri before he could forgive her about sharing private information. He headed off to find Iri, who had found a small nook out of the way of the main hold. She had noticed him standing there after a few minutes. He wanted to apologize to her for all he had put her through, but still couldn't find the right words.
"Kaj needs some help with his implants," he told her.
“I know. Taffer just told me.”
Chase began to head off, turning away from her. He figured that Vo may need a hand getting the parts installed, but then he wasn't sure if they were going to head off soon or later. But he knew there had to be something he needed to do. He turned back to her.
"I think you should stay in the Bay,” he told her. "This mission that's coming up is going to be very dangerous. And you’ve still got a ways to go before you can handle real combat. And there’s a good chance what we’ll encounter pretty big opposition. And it’s likely to be something way above your head.”
“But shouldn’t I come with you? I mean, in case someone gets hurt or needs some tech to comprehend?”
“I don’t want you to go,” he admitted. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if you got hurt again or killed. I don’t want to put you in that level of danger again, not until you’re ready. And right now, you’ve still got a ways to go before being able to see any battie. Just stay in the Bay when we get there. Anywhere between a few days to a couple of weeks, I’ll come back, we’ll iron out some of the recent wrinkles that have come to be and we can figure out which of the group who can train you at being an Arkhunter. Or, if you want, you can take the Overland back to the Bay and wait there.”
Chase could see in her eyes that his admittance to this seemed to cause her to look at him with disbelief. It was the kind of disbelief that only a loved one would have, not believing that someone they’d care about would make that kind of choice to alienate the person they love. It wasn’t an easy decision for Chase to make, but he knew that she needed to sit this one out and avoid whatever it was they were going to have to face. She didn’t say anything to him. She just nodded and then proceeded to the medical bay in order to help out Kaj with his implants.
“You are Chase’s girlfriend, right?” the Bioman asked. “It is nice to meet you.”
“I appreciate the sentiment,” she replied. “It’s nice to meet you too. I’m going to need you to be still and quiet for this, so I can be able to work. I do not say this as a means of being rude, I assure you. But, I’m sure you understand that with where these implants are placed, I rather not cause some harm to you.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Iri was careful to go through each implant, managing to isolate the problems and having to replace the ones that couldn’t be repaired easily. She pushed out any thoughts of difficulty she had with Chase at the moment, as well as being informed about Lady’s drug-induced insanity, as she focused on making the repairs and replacements. The last thing she wanted was to inflict any pain on the Bioman, as she remembered Odysseus from Freedom and how he was a valued member of society. Kaj seemed like he was an important part of the group in the same way, and Iri didn’t want to risk harming one of the group.
Just focus, she told herself. Complete this task.
Before she knew it, the job was complete and all implants were either repaired or replaced without any incident. Kaj was good as new and she sent him on his way. Now she couldn’t help but think about what Taffer said about how Lady’s actions were manipulated by her mother. It didn’t make what happen to her or Chase easier. It’s hard not to look at Lady and her actions and not blame her for what happened. Taffer himself said that the kidnappings and harm done was her decision. Chase may have been so easy to forgive her because of her actions lead to him becoming the man he once was, but not without stripping him of everything and putting her into a coma as a result. She had never wanted to hurt someone so much before. Not even when she had to pick and choose the humans to take to Yewll and Lev for their experiments, did she ever wanted any harm to come to anyone.
Everything building up. Between Lady’s actions and Chase trying to cut her out, in addition to his insecurities about his sex life being shared with someone outside of the two of them, it was like now the world was trying to punish her for things she didn’t do.
To be fair, I did share Chase’s private information, she agreed. I probably deserve a little bit of pressure, but not this much.
It was at that moment, she decided that maybe she needed a moment to herself. She decided to head out, go for a walk. Iri found herself strolling the market place, seeing as venders are working to finish up for the day. She noticed one vender, a Castithan man who appeared to be discussing with a Castithan woman about a rug he was trying to sell her. Something seemed odd, especially how out of the three children that surrounded their mother, the vender patted the head of the youngest one like a father would their child. She ignored it as she continued on, wondering if maybe she just misinterpreted what she saw. But it got her thinking about Lady’s question. The fact was that Iri was right, the world could only be fixed by the people who were willing to try to do so. It wasn’t going to be easy, and there was no such thing as a short cut. She knew that for certain. She knew that what’s happened with Chase doesn’t have a shortcut either, and she’ll have to figure it out in time.
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Post by Lady Christianna on Feb 6, 2016 11:56:50 GMT
Lady Christianna smiled her Mona Lisa smile at Atticus as she lay naked on top of him, answering his question with true sincerity, "MY home is where you are! Nuff talk, more action!" Then Lady held his scarred jaw with her right hand as she kissed him passionately, reaching down with her left hand and massaged his manhood until it was rigid with anticipation, where upon she remarked in a mischievous tone, "Haven't had a shower together in ages!" Lady crawled off Atticus and the bed, still holding him with her left hand and leading him to the shower. As he adjusted the shower's temperature for what had been their daily morning ritual until they were separated by mission circumstances, Lady turned her chalk white back to him, bending over at the waist and bracing herself against the shower's far wall, taking the position that she knew he favored. Soon she was feeling his strong hands taking the soap and lathering her back, breasts, and buttocks from behind, then directing the warm water to wash off the soap before kissing the back of her neck. Suddenly, Lady felt the pain and the pleasure of his penetration and she began an involuntary series of gasps as he grabbed her hips and began a steady rhythm of sexual motion from behind her. "Too long... way too long..." Lady muttered between gasps, as all thoughts of future escapades to help mankind disappeared in the sensual mist of the shower and the immediate but understandably selfish act of helping her man and herself.
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Post by Archer, Frankie J. on Feb 7, 2016 0:04:13 GMT
Frankie wasn’t worth much when it came to things technical. She was more of a people-person. At most she could hold something or help retrieve a tool as an extra hand of set of hands was appreciated: ‘Scalpel? Scalpel.’ As work on the smaller craft went on, Frankie stood by handing tools as they were needed. When she didn’t have to do anything there was a tune being blown through a harmonica. The music was a comforting sound to her. Even though it might’ve sounded like someone crying after their dog died and wife left them and fired from their job and diagnosed with a cancer and thrown in jail and any other poor man’s troubles, there was an uplifting sounding undertone in it...
one of hope.
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