The Catatonian spat blood and growled something that sunded extremely unflattering. Byte arched an eyebrow, her lip curling partly in a sneer and partly in a smirk.
"Language," she said.
Geiser had been in the mostly amicable but vaguely threatening talking phase before the girls had walked in and he was quite happy to settle into the role of good cop, leaning against a nearby table with various pain inflicting devices on it. Byte settled next to him to watch the show.
"Kill me and you get nothing," the Catatonian hissed.
(ooc - Catatonian is dual control if you get any brilliant ideas, improv is fine)
ooo
Cypher nodded but without any of the good humour Chip would have injected, and closed the cockpit. His mech detached and he fell into the line of the big heavy mechs marching out of the mech bay. Hunter formed two defensive lines along the door, and the young Last Ditch pilots led by the two veteran trainers mounted up but stayed attached to the central computer.
The techies scrambled around to working on the damaged mechs, working on getting them operational first and fixed if they had time.
A young boy of about 10, with mouse brown fur (sorry, couldn't help it :P) and barely shoulder length mane swept back in an adorably short ponytail, appeared beside Derek and started passing him tools as required.
ooo
(ooc- haha oh good we're both broken, should make for some fun and games...in the Tir Strike was lieutenant commander under Zenith until Zenih wore a missile battery, then he got promoted, no idea what rank he would have been in the armed forces but lower than that :)
Strike put a hand on Starzone's shoulder. She weighed all of 50kg but when she had her will in place she was about as moveable as a mountain. Strike stepped around her, stepping into Daemun's lne of fire, and standing between the kids to appease them. One hand he kept on Starzone's shoulder, the other he reached out and took hold of Trajectory's hand that was balancing the rifle, pinning him to the butt of the rifle and turning ther younger mouse toward him so he could maintain the lock. Not that he stood muchg of a chance of restraining them if they chose to act n their own directive but hopefully they would follow his lead and take his orders for now. He fervently wished for his lieutenant commander's presence and hated the feeling like he was dealing with dangerously unpredictable wild animals with two kids he had watched grow up.
"I would have tried a long time ago given a chance," Strike said. "This time I've got people that have a clue. We should be able to work somethin' out." He smiled, the positive can do attitude that endeared him to most and drove others mad starting to come through again. "You wanna come back with us?" He hoped the genuine offer to help wasn't going to lead to a big mistake.
"I think she means business, mate," Geiser drawled lazily from where he was perched beside Byte, casually playing "she's also outta my jurisdiction so maybe you better spill, eh?"
"Get fucked," the prisoner spat, although he was slowly starting to look less certain. He squirmed uncomfortably, Geiser had lashed his wrists and ankles quite firmly to the legs of the chair he was sitting on, affording almost no give at all.
ooo
"Tycho," the boy replied, glancing at the bolt Derek was tackling, looking through the tools, selecting one, then discarding it and selecting a more appropriate sized one.
"Hey Ty," a gun metal gray mouse with no mane popped into view, tugging on the kid's ponytail affectionately. He was a familiar sight, being almost constantly working on the Kodiak when it was in. He looked down at Derek. "Derek, right?"
ooo
Starzone and Trajectory were both watching as Daemun looked like he was going to pull the trigger. The three of them let Daemun talk himself out. Trajectory looked exasperated at Daemun's threat/promise of a boot up the arse if they backstabbed him and turned his back, walking a little way away from the group and whistling shrilly. In the near distance a bike revved and Wired shot out from one of the many hidey holes in the surrounding cliffs, zooming over to Trajectory and puttering around him. Trajectory placed a hand on the bike's tank as it faced Daemun, watching what was going on.
"Got a ride or need one?" Strike asked Daemun. He was still a little wary but he was starting to sound more like someone who had found an old friend he hadn't seen for ages. Strike himself fervently hoped Daemun was looking for help, that he would be able to help, and he wasn't bringing danger home. Trajectory had mounted up, Starzone remained near Strike, in the line of fire but not making a point of staying between them this time.
Rav'una stared so seriously at the Catatonian it was any wonder how she managed to hold back from killing him right then and there. "You just never learn, do you?..." Rav'una continue after an awkwardly long pause, yanking the dagger out with one swift pull causing the Catatonian a little more pain in the process.
"But ones as stubborn as yourself often do speak with the right level of...encouragement"
Walking over to the table with all the tools splayed out accross it Rav'una scanned over all the tools, apparently making a decision on the right kind of instrument to use as she continued "And what it fortunate for me, and unfortunate for you, is that you in particular have one weakness that never seems to fail. Do you know what that is?"
"Why don't you go fuck yourself?" The Catatonian hissed between breaths, which was about the same time that Rav'una selected a particularly menacing looking tool that was jagged and nasty to behold as she replied "Well you have one part of that right..." as she turned and walked up the Catation, pressing the tool right between his legs and leaning forward with a glare and a growl to her tone as she added "Although if you do not tell me what it is I want to know you won't be doing any fucking..."
The Catatonian began to sweat and then finally snapped. "Alright! Alright! I'll tell you!"
"Then make it quick or you can say farewell to your fatherhood!"
Works a charm every time. (OOC: See thing about men is that you can beat, break them, tear them apart but the moment you threaten their balls they'll fall apart like melted butter! XD!)
And meanwhile...
"Well nice to meet you Tyco" Derek had began with a friendly smile as he took the offered tool with a nod and a "Thanks again buddy! Sure are a great little helper, aren't ya?" No sooner had he began to tighten the bolt and start working on a few other things did he hear the voice of another, perking a curious brow as he was address before sliding out from under the mech and looking up at this gun metal gray mouse with a blink or two.
"Yes sir, that'd be me" Derek grinned, his expression then turning more curious again as he asked "But uh...how did you know?"
Meanwhile elsewhere...
Seeing Wired brought back some fond memories to Daemun from way back which actually helped the situation a lot more. It seemed all along all that needed to be done was to break down the defensive barrier that Daemun constantly seemed to carry and reach out the small yet still barely present nicer side to him that Daemun felt had been completely ignored. Strike's tone also helped in easing the tension and Daemun was slowly, but surely, starting to show in his tone some good signs of willingness to let all that revenge crap go. And it actually felt...good.
"You know me Strike" Daemun began with a smirk, his tone firm yet a little 'friendlier' one could say "I'm always prepared." With that Daemun whisteled through his fingers and from within a near by structure a roaring of an engine could be heard, moments later an awesome sight of a black back tore through the entry point and zipped over to Daemun, sliding to a stop beside him. It was almost entirely black save for the well polished silver coloured rims and exhaust pipes that curved along the chasis, its design very suiting for one as Daemun with that dark touch to it with its curves and pointed finishes to its tail, long and slim in its design yet a little bigger than your average motorbike with a hellish looking silvery skull design to its front, the headlights beaming from the eyes and all in all it sure was a heck of a fancy and dark looking bike (think Ghost Rider but even cooler! XD!). Not to mention it purred like a dream!
"Didn't think I still had it, did ya?" Daemun smirked at Strike as he patted the leathery padding of the seat.
(ooc - oh good I'm not the only groin technician around ;)
Byte chuckled, Geiser smirked although he held some vague sympathy for the Catatonian just at that point in time.
(ooxc again - I'm still coming up empty for now though I would like other things to move along a little)
ooo
Tycho beamed, getting another pat on the head from the gray mouse. "I'm Spark," the gray mouse intrduced himself. "I usually work on Captain Epoch's Kodiak, and I kinda coordinate the mech bay. Woulda said hi earlier but looks like Cavalry's been keepin' ya busy." He smirked. "Tycho's one of our apprentices and looks like he'd like you to show 'im the ropes. If you don't mind."
ooo
Trajectory's ears perked as Daemun's bike rumbled into view. Starzone completely dropped the guise and grinned with the obvious enthusiasm of one who appreciated bikes, tough a touch of sadness tinged her countenance. Minus the skull and trim the bike looked very similar to Majestic, who was parked in the vehicle bay pining for its rider. Strike also grinned.
"It'd be a cold day in hell before you got rid of that," he commented. "How ya doin'?" he called in greeting to the bike. Switching back to Daemun he added, "Love the mods."
Wired moved closer with Trajectory on board, rumbling in cautious greeting.
(OOC: XD! Nope, I figured Rav'una would do exactly that if all else fails. A bit of a low blow but hey, gotta get the info somehow ;P.)
While everyone else seemed to find amusement in Rav'una latest threat toward the Catatonian she in the meantime remained firm as ever, the Catatonian by now starting to cringe and sweat at the thought of his manlihood being completely destroyed.
"Y-you wouldn't!" He practically pleaded only to recieve a very cold response in the form of a glaring Rav'una who made her point very clear, intimidatingly seriously.
"Oh that would only be the start of your worries..."
"Fine! Fine! I'll speak!"
"Then be quick about it!" Rav'una snapped, tightening the tension and pressing the tool up a little more which made the Catatonian squirm in his chair a little. "Do not make me ask again!"
"W-we where planning an attack on the Tir!" The Catatonian finally began to stutter "D-Daemon was behind it all, he told us it was all part of his plan and he wanted to destroy as much of the Tir as possible while in the meantime going after Strike. He realized it was more than just a big task and decided to instead send in forces to try and weaken it down but-"
"He failed." Rav'una bluntly interupted. "Misserably I might add."
(OOC: No prob. I'm pretty much squeezing my brain for ideas myself.)
Meanwhile...
"So you're the mysterious coordinator I keep hearing about" Derek smirked back with a small chuckle, deciding to give the repairs a small break while he had a talk with Spark, standing from his slider pad and straightening himself and his attire out a little before then holding his hand out in greeting with a grin. "Well nice to meet you Spark!" Derek continued enthusiastically, looking at Tycho and then Spark again when he mentioned he was the new aprentice. At first Derek wasn't sure how to react to the request. It certainly caught him by surprise and it was obvious in his reaction, his ears perked and stumbling over his words to begin with.
"M-me? Well I...uh...er...sure!" Derek grinned, a little uncertain like at first but his confidence began to bloom in no time at all as he gave a small salute and continued with that enthusiasm playing its role once more "You've come to the right Lupronian! I'll have the little guy building mechs from scratch in no time!"
Meanwhile elsewhere...
The reaction of everyone actually was uplifting to see and Daemun felt his already big enough ego and pride boost up a few more notches, making him chuckle even more so being particularly pleased at how his bike was recieved. Most looked at it as a little too dark for their liking but it was good to see a change of mood his bike carried over with it.
"You bet it would" Daemun responded to Strike with a smirk, typically to his style but at least it was a little more welcoming than it was before. With his bike, who we'll call Apocalypse (seems fitting enough, lol), now being addressed Apocalypse communicated back not in blips and beeps as some of the other bikes would but in actual words. Robotic but even its voice was something cool and to be admired. And apparently was just right for one like Daemun. "In all honesty? I feel like crap. Otherwise I can't complain and thank you for asking." Daemun sighed with a roll of his eyes. "Great, she's going through her mood mode again..."
Turning his attention back to Strike now with a smirk and a nod Daemun replied "Thanks. Been upgrading her for a while. She still needs a few more updates and-"
"And an oil change, and a fuel check, and-"
"Yeah. All that too..."
"And-"
"I get it!" Daemun snapped at Apocalypse with an irritated grunt to follow.
With Wired greeting Apocalypse she seemed a little more cheerful as she let out a "Ouuu!", which made Daemun perk a brow at how cheerfully Apocalypse suddenly sounded, and moving a little closer to Wired if bikes could smile Apocalypse would have done just that "Hey there! Name's Apocalypse, love your paint work!"
"I...never see her that cheerful..." Daemun blinked some.
As the plan spilled Geiser darkened. He got up and paced around behind the Catatonian, coming around but standing just out of normal line of sight so the Catatonian would have to twist quite uncomfortably to see him. "Lemme guess. You picked up our pilots and thought you could use 'em as leverage."
"You're smarter than you look," the Catatonian sneered, and nearly choked in his tongue when Rav'una reminded him she was about to castrate him.
"Tell me," Geiser said, looking somewhat like he was restraining himself a little, "how did you pick up our pilots anyway?"
(ooc - did Daemun find them? Did undercover operative expert type Flak just get unlucky? Find out in the next exciting instlament of... XD)
ooo
Spark took Derek's hand and gave it a firm shake, grinning. "Lupronian eh, well they did say you were similar but not the same to the Lupes we know." He glanced down at Tycho. "Tycho here's just started. You probably noticed a few other kids flitting around with some of the other techies. Wasn't sure how things run where you come from but over here prety much everything is done by apprenticeship starting from ten, and they pick who they wanna learn off, assuming of course the woul-be mentor will have 'em." He clapped Tycho companionably on the shoulder. "Looks like your lucky day, punk."
"We really gonna build mechs from scratch?" Tycho asked, eyes bright and hopeful.
"Don't see why not if Derek can build 'em as fast as he can fix 'em. Assuming of course we get more parts." Spark answered. He looked up at Chip's Dire Wolf and sighed. "Bloody Cavalry," he said with affected annoyance broken with a smile. "I'll get those arms. I think your docking pad might need a few adjustments." Adjusting his hefty, impressive looking tool belt, he climbed the ladder on the scaffolding to the top and began examining the arms on the Dire Wolf.
ooo
Strike and the kids cringed internally as the artificial voice of the bike assaulted their ears, the robotic tone reminding them of Epoch's, although admittedly Epoch's was a lot more spine chillingly eerie, much due to the fact that it was coming from a mostly organic being rather than a sentient machine.
"Voice mod," Strike said, nodding with a suitably impressed look.
This was starting to look and sound more like the Daemun Strike remembered from the army days, before he went all dark and secretive and eventually "evil shadow demon" on them. Part of him wanted to believe in his old army buddy and willingly lapsed back into friendly camaderie, the sensible, wise, experienced part of him remained cautious, searching for a hole in the logic, remaining watchful for a hint of potential betrayal. The kids for their part remained silent, somewhat surprised by the sudden change in attitude. Trajectory had automatically gone into watcher mode as Starzone tentatively checked out Daemun's energy field, trying to see if she could work out without probing whether he was some kind of Psion or whether he had been possessed by something or something.
Trajectory arched an eyebrow while he kept tabs on Starzone's thoughts. Wired blipped its identity, then purred, sounding pleased to make Apocalypse's acquaintance, and damn but those were some awesome trimmings.
"Shall we?" Strike inquired, heading back towards his aerotech. Starzone didn't reply, just mounting up behind Trajectory and pulling on her helmet. Trajectory pulled on his while he wraped his tail around her waist. Starzone rested her hands on his hips, she looked over at Daemun while Trajectory looked to Strike for permission to get going.
(OOC: XD! Dragon B- *Background voice: "Wrong show dumb ass!" Or right...Biker Mice From Mars! *Background Voice: "Well techinically-" Shut up fool!)
Rav'una kept the grip on the nasty looking gadget rather firm and the pressure was certainly on. You could tell in the Catatonian's expressions and although he showed some courage if he kept up the attitude he wouldn't have the balls he so forcefully attempted to show he had.
"Feh...Like I'm going tell you-Umph!" The Catatonian's temper was quickly changed with a rather rough reminder on Rav'una's behalf that she still had the Catation by the balls, literally, and was only second away from bringing him a whole world of agony. And she wouldn't hessitate either. Although she was starting to tire from being any close to a Catatonian's...pride than she ever cared to be.
"Urghn...Daemun sent out a distress signal. We lured them into what appeared to be a crash site and the morons fell for it. We grabbed them while we could, Daemun giving the orders to send a transmission out and from there the war began."
"You're hiding something..." Rav'una almost immediately noted with a small growl to her tone, her lip curled slightly as she added "That all seems far too easy for a skilled group of pilots who have no doubt been in the field far longer than you to have fallen into. It all seems far too conveniently simple..."
And meanwhile over to everyone's favourite techy!
"Wait a minute, 'other Lupes you know'?" Derek asked shortly after the firm handshake came to an end, perking a brow curiously at what he heard before with a shake of his head he continued "I thought this planet only had Martian Mice and Desert Squids...and the odd demon and Psion here and there."
Pushing that aside for later answering Derek listened to what was then explained, nodding to show he was understanding before then responding with a small shrug "Well back at home it really depends where you're from. Me? I used to tinker with just about anything technical. Heh, got me into trouble more than once but I guess I've always had a knack for this sort of thing. Since way back when I was just a pup I always played around with all kinds of gizmos and things, learning as much as I can and trained up but some pretty brainy techs and such" Smiling at Tycho with a friendly wink Derek added "I was probably just a little younger than you Tycho" Bringing his attention back up to Spark, Derek finished with a grin and a proud sort of stance, his thumbs tucked under his armpits "So sure, I'll teach him all I can."
Tycho's enthusiasm reminded Derek much of his own when he was of his age and it made him chuckle to see it in someone seemingly as eager to learn and get to work on the mechs and such as Derek so often is.
"Guy's got spirit, I'll give him that" Derek smiled before then turning to take a look at the Dire Wolf with a sigh. "Yup...but hey, look at the bright side" Derek smirked at Spark as he replied "At least this sort of work puts food on our table and keeps a roof over our head. Can't be all that bad, right?"
With a nod Derek agreed that what was needed pretty much had been listed by Spark and added "Apart from that we'll need a few other things but...meh" He shrugged "It can wait. Thanks by the way" He smiled with a thankful nod Spark's way.
Turning to Tycho now with a hand resting in a friendly manner on his shoulder Derek grinned as he asked "So, you ready to learn a thing or two kid?" Playing it as though he wasn't so convinced, although really Derek was, that Tycho might not quite be ready Derek joked "Because a little bird told me you might not be up for the challenge. Wanna know what I think?" With a grin and kneeling down so to be at Tycho's level and with a friendly poke on the nose Derek added "I think the bird told me a lie. What do you think?"
And meanwhile over to our favourite demon Martian Mouse and his bike of DOOOOOM...
"Best of the best" Daemun added with a confident and proud smirk he seemed to carry so care free and naturally.
In all honesty Daemun too was having a bit of a battle of his own within. A part of him was glad to see Strike again and loved the feeling of being accepted and having things more or less as they were back in the day. Yet an equally as strong other side of him remained bitter, cold, and still held onto that grudge that wasn't something he could so easily let go of. This was the part Daemun was trying to hold at bay and push aside but the more he pushed it the more it pushed back. On one hand he didn't want to bring anymore harm and cause anymore crap that he did. But on the other hand he still felt that his job was not complete and that this sudden change in mood was not acceptable and he even questioned himself as to what was with the sudden change in attitude all of a sudden. Whatever the case Daemun was at least trying for the time being. Struggling in process, that was obvious, but still trying.
Fortunately he didn't quite notice Starzone's scanning of his energies although he did feel some kind of change in its field. Like a small ripple of sorts but he didn't take it too seriously as it didn't, as yet, feel like a threat. Still, though his mood might have changed and all he was still unpredictable and so caution was a wise thing to carry when inspecting him in any which way or form. He still remained dark, this was apparent, and it just seemed natural to him. Something he can't help and has had with him for quite some time of his life. For now it was tamed and held at a gradual ease.
Apocalypse seemed pleased to find an aquintance in a fellow bike and it had been a while since she last ever spoke to one. Daemun, observing this, almost felt bad at the idea of having to yank her away from this possibly turning into an friendship of sorts and it was another reason not to turn around and stab anyone in the back. Daemun was, and has always been, extremely passionate about his bike and had actually killed to keep her safe. Strike probably would have remembered a time or two when this happened no doubt.
"Yeah, I don't want to spend another minute in this shithole than I have to" Daemun responded with a blunt honesty he was certainly well known for before with a brief whistle he caught the attention of Apocalypse. "Boss calls, got to jet" She said to Wired before zipping over to Daemun who hopped on board, slipping on a helmet that was as dark themed and impressive as his bike.
"Ready to roll" Daemun noted as he revved up his bike, each part moving fluently as the engined purred into a roar.
Geiser was in full agreement with Rav'una that the Catatonian wasn't telling them everything. Knowing full well that prank calls were often used for ambushes, no star ever ran headlong into a distress call. When the distress call came from one of their own there was usually a coded message involved that gave an indication of the situation. Scout had been cut off mid-transmission, not suspicious at all.
"You're holdin' out on us, mate," Geiser said affably. Looking at Rav'una, he commented, "He seems to be gettin' to ya. Gimme a sec to put down some sheets and then you can take his nuts off." With that, he headed to a locker in the corner of the room and started rummaging.
"Daemun knew where they were," the Catatonian blurted, seemingly involuntarily. Geiser poked his head out from behind the locker door with feigned curiousity. "Get this Xa'rlu'k whore off me and I'll talk." He was talking tough but they picked up the tremur in his voice.
"Bein' rude's not gonna win you any favours," Geiser smirked. He did however say to Rav'una, "Don't cut his nuts off just yet."
In the background Byte's brain stumbled over "Xa'rlu'k" and she vaguely asked the air: "What did he just say?" It sounded to her like the Cataonian had been about to cough up a hairball.
-=o=-
"Spark said bein' small was a good thing even when workin' on big things coz I can get into all the hard to reach places," Tycho said confidently. He was a remarkably small 10 year old, he was wearing the smallestbright orange coveralls and they were somewhat baggy on him, rolled up at the cuffs. He grinned. "What do little birds know about workin' on mechs anyway? What do we do first?" He was practically bouncing, eager to get started.
Up above Spark climbed onto the mech and stared at the blast damage on the docking arm. "Ares, Chip, do you not know how to dodge?" he demanded of his non-present addressee. He pulled out a blowtorch, lit it and began cutting away the mangled scrap that had once been weaponry. "Oi Derek," he called down suddenly, "did you have time to get given one of these pads or did you get sucked into action as soon as you got assigned?" He sounded like he would be completely unsurprised if the latter turned out to be true, as he held up his datapad for Derek to see what he was talking about shortly before he tapped into it, pulling up the specs for Dire Wolf-01. No improvements that could be done to the weapon systems but now was a good excuse to do some rewiring in the arm. He put in an order to replace the damaged weaponry, then measured up the panels and sent them through so Salvage could cut up more mercurite panels, as well as putting in an order for another double heat sink. With that much damage, he doubted the one in the arm would have survived.
-=o=-
"Follow the kids," Strike instructed. "I'll see you guys back home."
Trajectory and Starzone both saluted Strike automatically, taking it as an order. Strike ran back to his aerotech and jumped in, shutting the cockpit and starting it up. Trajectory gunned Wired and shot off in the direction of the Tir, figuring that Daemun would have no trouble keeping up. Strike's aerotech purred overhead, keeping pace with them.
"Tir, Aerotech-01," Strike said into the comm, "approaching from due south, Wired with two Psions and friendly on a bike accompanying."
"Aerotech-01, Tir, good to hear you Commander," Xu responded. "Got you on radar."
Strike looked down to check on the progress of the bikes, then looked up again. Over the short mountain range he saw the Tir, and Front Line in a formidable array outside the mech bay. "Got visual, Tir. What's with the welcoming committee?"
"Got visual on you, Commander," Xu confirmed. "We're in lockdown, sir."
Strike sighed. Of course, in his absence, and the added absence of his 2IC, chain of command fell to Epoch. And given the circumstances it was a completely logical and responsible decision to make, seeing as they had no idea what they were up against where Daemun had been concerned. It was just a bit of work to get back to normal operational status. He looked down and picked out the Kodiak in one of the point positions.
"Open up the hangar," he said, transmitting a code from the aerotech to prove he was who he said he was.
"Affirmative Commander. Opening hangar."
On cue, the dome of the hangar split apart, opening enough to just admit a an aerotech as long as the pilot was a good one.
"Tir, Cavalry Starleader accompanying friendly," Starzone's voice broke on the comm suddenly, "Got visual."
"Got visual, Cavalry Starleader," Kodi confirmed, as the Kodiak broke rank and lumbered forward to meet them. "You got no idea how glad we are to see you two. Front Line stand by. Hunter, regroup and return to base. Last Ditch, Salvage, stand down. Bikes, stand by. Wired, we'll escort you round to the vehicle bay."
"Thanks Captain." It was completely unnecessary but protocol.
Strike started guiding his aerotech into the hangar, the bikes met the Kodiak.
Even Rav'una knew that a distress call, as mentioned, wasn't something anyone would just dive into without taking into consideration that it could be a trap and/or trick of some form or another. There had to be more to it and unless Daemun sent out that distress call Rav'una wasn't quite buying the entire explination as fact. Even if Daemun did send out the transmission that would have only caused further suspicion. And yet here the Catatonian was trying to convince them that their once-were-hostages would fall for something as that? A likely story.
"You had best be quick..." Rav'una responded, the urge to bring down a world of pain on the Catatonian growing stronger than she imagined she could handle, still looking right at the Catatonian with that intimidatingly firm and cold expression "My arm is starting to tire and I may just slip..."
"What did you just call me?..." Rav'una hissed with a curl of her lip, mere seconds away from yanking the Catatonian's balls right off and if it wasn't for Geiser telling her not to do so just yet she would have. Instead she slowly moved the tool away, pointing it at the Catatonian as she glared.
"Consider this your lucky day Catatonian...You had best not speak of me in such ways again..."
"Xa'rlu'k" Rav'una responded to Byte as she had stepped away from the Catatonian and tossed the tool back onto the table. For now. The way Rav'una said it was far more pleasing to the ear and flowed smoothly as opposed to the Catatonian who carelessly spat it out. "It is the name of my race."
Over to Derek...
"He does, huh?" Derek smiled with a rub of his chin, playing it as though he was putting a lot of thought into what he said next. "You know, I think he's right"
The enthusiasm of the young mouse made Derek chuckle and shake his head a moment at all the energy, feeling at this point he could totally relate. Even at his age Derek was often a bundle of enthusiastic energy about ready explode.
"Hahaha, easy there Tycho" Derek began with a laugh, standing up and ruffling the fur on the top of Tycho's head with a grin "First thing we'll do is start with the basics. C'mon, I'll show you my Battlesuit first. That should give you a good idea of how some things work" With that he gestured for Tycho to follow him over to said Battlesuit with a brief swat of his arm in the direction of the Battlesuit with a confident grin.
Along the way Derek stopped when Spark called from atop the Dire Wolf and turned on his heel to looking up at Spark with a "Yo?" and then at the mentioned pad before responding with a shake of his head. "Nope, didn't get one of those" Derek yelled back, pulling out his PDA as he continued "All I've got is my old PDA that I've had with me since I uh...landed here"
"Oh one more thing" Derek then noted with a click of his fingers as a gesture that he just remembered something "The knee joints of Dire Wolf will need some extra suspension bars and some heat absorbers. The back bars are a little cracked and the cogs I had replaced a little earlier in the day so they seem fine"
Meanwhile elsewhere...
"Following" Daemun confirmed as he revved his bike, its engines flowing into a smooth roar as he took off like a bat out of hell and followed Trajectory and Starzone. It seemed no obstacle along the way was much of a challenge at all as Daemun zipped by, around and even over certain areas of land that altered the path which for any inexperienced rider would have become at very least an accident followed by great injuries or worse. For Daemun though it was a walk in the park.
It felt so odd and even a little unsettling to be back at the Tir after so long and it was any wonder what kind of welcome Daemun would recieve. But never the less he followed and soon enough parked his bike accordingly, the engine purring into a stop as he slipped off the bike and removed his helmet, at which point it would have become apparently obvious who he was.
"Home sweet home" Daemun said to himself with a hint of sarcasm to his tone.
"Ahh." Byte made a mental note to ask Rav'una if there was a phonetic spelling for the bioscanners later. It definitely sounded wonderfully melodic and exotic coming from Rav'una, but that was to be expected really. Her voice was much more pleasing than the Catatonian's to begin with.
The Catatonian flexed his hands, extending claws and then retracting them again. "You lot, you Tairngirans are a real pain in the ass you know," the Catatonian snarled, trying to regain some dignity.
"Why thank you," Geiser said dispassionately. "Keep talkin'."
"We were lookin' forward to gettin' rid of you. Daemun checked out so we were quite happy to work with him. Drop a warhead on ya, do what we wanted with survivors, salvage what we may. He was after a guy called Strike and another one...er...Flak. If they survived we were s'posed to deliver 'em to him alive."
Both Geiser and Byte darkened.
"How did he know where the scouts were?" Geiser demanded.
Here the Catatonian looked genuinely lost. "...I don't know." He eyed Rav'una carefully. "We were goin' over plans, all of a sudden he says there's three small mechs at this spot on the map, we'll be able to take 'em if we set up at these points, go do it. Sure enough," the Catatonian shrugged as best he could.
-=o=-
"Oh bloody hell," Spark sighed, looking and sounding completely unsurprised and not that put out really. "Thanks for the heads up." He went back to scything away damaged metal, and once more thanked the gods of Mars for their trading deal with the Mercurites. If not for their insane metal and metallurgy skills and their incredible cyberbiological knowledge, they would have a lot more damage and a lot less mechs.
Speaking of which, another shipment was due soon. The Tir was going to be practically crawling with aliens. Spark smirked as he tapped in a order for another datapad, immediate delivery to the Lupe techy in the mech bay.
Tycho almost bolted ahead of Derek, skilfully dodging cables, machinery and other techies, who while ome of them made playful or gruff exclamations, all seemed quite used to having to dodge young apprentices as part of their line of work. It looked like Tycho was the youngest apprentice there, other kids were about the place but they were teenagers.
-=o=-
Starzone dismounted off Wired, quietly thanking it and Trajectory for the ride, and moved over to where Anarchy was parked. Anarchy flashed its headlight as Starzone tipped off her helmet and placed it on the seat.
"Anarchy, this is Apocalypse," Starzone said, her fingers brushing along the gold hoop snake painted on that side of Anarchy's fuel tank as she introduced the hellfire motorcycle that had parked in the spare spot on the other side of Wired. "She'll be chillin' with you guys for a while. Apocalypse, this is my ride Anarchy."
The door to the vehicle bay slid shut, trapping them inside. At some point Epoch, obviously leaving it up to the plenty capable Kodi to head back tot he mech bay itself, had followed them into the vehicle bay and was striding towards them. On the other side in the other doorway an armed unit appeared, weapons drawn and looking cautious but not hopenly hostile, Chip and Streak among them. Sheer force of willpower was keeping Streak from running to Starzone, helped quite a lot by the painful looking death grip Chip had on his upper arm.
Epoch strode up to them, placing a hand on Starzone's shoulder and squeezing it affectionately. Their antennae sparked briefly before he very casually moved her behind him, stepping up to place himself between the kids and Daemun. They stood eye too eye, Epoch not hostile but wary of the demon he could sense within.
Even though she had that very firm nature about her, the kind of personality that you know straight off the bat not to mess with but that you can rest assured once you're in her good books she'd be willing to risk her life to save those few close to her, she still held a kind of beauty about her. A strong example of a female and one who certainly knew how to make a man cry.
"One more insult out of him and someone had best hold me back..." Rav'una spoke out loud enough for Byte to hear, keeping her stare straight at the Catatonian with an irritated twitch to her tail ever once in a while slipping by her as she stood leaned up against a near by wall, arms crossed and flexing her own claws in irritation.
The more the Catatonian dove into details the more Rav'una grew eager to smash his face inside out and contently beat him into a bloody pulp. But that, at least right now, would be a bad idea. Byte and Geiser weren't the only ones to darken suddenly when the facts hit more than just a little nerve. She may not know Strike and this Flak individual very well, if at all, but as far as she was concerned it was someone on their team and her "new tribe" as she would refer the team as.
Rav'una's blood was starting to boil she was so furious at the Catatonian and yet somehow she remained calm. A little too calm actually. The fact she practically shrugged off the Catatonian's look at her direction was something that could of been taken as a bit of a concerning sign. At least for the Catatonian. It was one of those calm yet unsettling sort of calm she carried as she would casually push herself off the wall she was leaning against, unfolding her arms and walking by the table full of tools, touching each one as she studied them all and proceeded to ask "Something doesn't yet quite sit with me Catatonian..."
Casually she walked over to Catatonian, sliding behind him as she leaned in close to his ear, reaching her hands down to his shoulders and them suddenly clamping her claws deep and hard into his shoulders.
"Aaaaaargrghn! You bitch! I told you all I know!"
"Oh really?" Rav'una hissed into his ear as she let go of one his shoulders, grabbing firming at the fur on his head and yanking his head back hard enough to cause it to thud against the chair and make the Catatonian cringe as Rav'una leaned in and spoke with harsh and sharply into his ear. "I believe thus far you have told us what we need to know, but not everything. Merely the tip of the iceburg. Do you honestly expect us to believe that someone thrown into the middle of the desert would have any form of incoming sitting about and just so conveniently happen to have all of the ingredients to make a weapon of great destruction simply laying around? I'm assuming you all gave him what he required, yes?"
"Y-yeah, yeah we did..." The Catatonian responded through the current agony he was going through.
"Good. We have established where that all came from. And I am going to assume that you also supplied the weapons. Correct?"
"Yeah? So what?"
"So my next question is; Are there more here on this planet?"
The Catatonian remained silent only to find himself with more pain shooting through his shoulder and the top of his head as Rav'una damn near tore his fur and shoulder out as she growled into his ear "Are...there...more on this planet?...Do not make me ask again!"
"Yes..." The Catatonian finally snapped. "But I ain't tellin' ya squat!"
"Oh if you wish to still have your shoulder and keep the fur on your head I would suggest you start telling me where and if they are active right now..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Don't mention it" Derek nodded with a small wave before then adding with a smirk "Good luck Sparky" with a chuckle, trying to add a little of his humor into the situation. That was the great thing about Derek, or the annoying thing depending on how you looked at it, he was always one to try and add a little humor to just about any situation. Sure he knew when and where to do so and all but someone had to try and keep his sanity and that of others. Even if his sense of humor was often so random.
Turning now and running after Tycho, who was obviously excited about what Derek was about to teach him, he eventually caught up with him, scooping him up with a laugh as he said "Hey easy there little guy, that's how accidents are caused" before putting him back on the ground and resting his hand on Tycho's shoulder as he added with his index finger raised and a smile "Lesson numero uno; Don't run in the tech areas. I know you're excited and all but unless you want to end up causing a mega explosion or risk falling flat on your face you gotta keep it cool, you with me?"
Derek wasn't overly firm with his lessons, starting to feel like more of a father figure than a teacher at this point and it made him feel a little awkward. He never did like telling others what to do but sometimes it had to be done. He could have completely gone ballistic and snapped and yelled and carried on but he didn't find it neccessary nor did he feel the need to have to do so. The kid was young and still learning and Derek remembered just how reckless he was when he was about Tycho's age.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Daemun didn't really need to thank Apocalypse for the ride and in her own ways Apocalypse knew he was thankful for her none the less. Besides, he often rewarded her with some special upgrade or a nice tuning or even a wash which was as good enough of a token of grattitude as any. As Starzone introduced Anarchy to Apocalypse, ironic as that may sound, Apocalypse cooly responded with "How you doin'?" and blinking one of her lights in a kind of wink, chuckling to herself before she added "Seriously though, nice to meet ya'll. Don't worry, I don't bite. Often."
Daemun meanwhile left Apocalypse, his helmet placed neatly on her seat, to get better aquinted with her new friends and exited the vehicle bay, adjusting his shirt and trenchcoat and his pants and straightening up his fur as he stopped and soon found himself eye-to-eye with one of the other members.
"Well hello to you too..." Daemun bluntly blurted with his usual sense of character "Good to see the trust is strong as ever..." he added then with obvious sarcasm. Though Daemun was willing to be helped he still remained somewhat cold and to the point, holding some bitterness toward everyone in general except for Strike who he was slowly but surely starting to forgive. Slowly but it was progress all the same.
(ooc- just in case you can't tell I'm having a blast :P and it's awesome distraction, life is being sucky atm :)
"How the hell did you flea bitten squid baits get 'em on planet?" Geiser cut in, retrieving a drop sheet with old rusty blood stains in it and spreading it on the floor around the chair. "Hit any arteries and you're scrubbin' the walls, love," Geiser winked at Rav'una.
-=o=-
Spark shook his head as yet another character picked up his blatantly obvious nickname. He glanced over as Derek snatched Tycho out of the path of a flatbed, said something to him and then the two of them continued at a more sedate pace towards Derek's Battlesuit, not that far away where he could easily keep an eye on them.
"Yes sir!" Tycho replied. The boundless enthusiasm and energy was still evident in his bounce but he paced Derek the rest of the way to the Battlesuit without going back to superfast mode.
-=o=-
Anarchy revved in amusement, flashing an indicator and cheekily suggesting that it would actually be very interested in seeing if the jaw on the skull trim was functional.
Epoch's antennae flashed. Starzone shook her head violently, fighting against him using her as his voice, saying "No, I know, we know, he knows." She grabbed on to Epoch's arm. Epoch took a while continuing to stare Daemun down before he ascertained that the demon infested mouse was not a threat at least for the moment, and turned eyes to his baby sister. "Give 'im a chance," she said, "He needs help." Her antennae flashed as she added something telepathically to her brother and to Trajectory on deep level. Epoch looked back at Daemun, studying him intently. One of his tail halves twitched, then he lowered his head slightly in acceptance, not breaking eye contact.
"Stand down." Strike's voice preceded him into the vehicle bay. The unit immediately and obediently stood down, forming a very loose knot in the corridor where they would be able to draw and fire immediately without hitting each other if they needed to. Strike stood in front of them, looking at the small gathering in the vehicle bay.
"Starzi, Traj, get some food and sleep. I'll need you two later."
The kids straightened slightly. "Sir," they both responded, and moved past Daemun. Trajectory cast him a wary glance on the way past, Starzone had eyes only for Streak. Once they were past Daemun, Chip released Streak, who rubbed his arm, looked at Chip reproachfully but softened with a slight smile, before running to meet Starzone. Starzone slammed into Streak, who wrapped her up in a tight hug. The three of them headed away down the corridor.
"Walk this way, Daemun," Strike's tone was quite jovial, sounding happy to see his old friend again. There was a hint of an undertone of caution, but that was hardly surprising considering that not that much earlier, Daemun had been threatening to off both him and Flak, not to mention there was the small matter of the whole demonic possession thing. Considering the amount of supernatural entities it was harbouring it was almost a wonder the Tir didn't get sucked into a rift or something. "Epoch, you're with me."
It was purely a precaution and to make Epoch feel better about the situation. Although to be perfectly honest Strike didn't mind Epoch's presence, if Daemun for whatever reason decided to go evil shadow demon again, there was precious little Strike could do aside from attempt to talk him down as there was no way in hell he would be able to withstand an attack from a demon trying to kill him. Epoch on the other hand would be able to do something.
(OOC: Really? Awesome ^..^! I was kind of worried that you weren't having as much fun as I hope this would be but Ican only say it truly means more than you know to hear that from you ^..^! Thank you! I can certainly assure you I am having a blast myself with this ^..^! And yes, I know the feeling. My theory is that life is awesome. It's just those damn obstacles that are stopping us from getting where need to be. But like all obstacles we can also over come them :) . Sorry it took me a while to reply btw.)
Previously in the RP!...
Rav'una is bringing a world of pain to a dumb ass Catatonian, Derek finds a new friend and student, and Daemun meanwhile arrives home. There. Brief and simple.
And now for the RP!
*Insert roughly designed prototype intro here.*
"We've got our ways..." The Catatonian squeezed from behind gripped teeth, Rav'una sending another painful reminder to the shoulder with a tight squeeze. "As with any fruit of opportunity" Rav'una would begin as she did so, the Catatonian growling in agony as he tried with misserable failure to slip from her grip "if you squeeze hard enough you will eventually get what you need. Answer Geiser's question!"
With Geiser spreading out the sheets and flashing Rav'una a wink she would smirk back with a wink of her own as she replied "When I am through with this one I assure you it will take more than one to clean up the mess" With a suddenly more serious tone she would lean in with a growl to her tone, addressing her frustration to the Catatonian with another tight grip, by now scraping along bone "Especially if he does not tell us what it is we wish to know!"
Meanwhile...
"That's what I like to hear!" Derek grinned with a chuckle to follow, ruffling the fur on Tycho's head before then guiding him over to the Battlesuit as they approached it, one arm around Tycho's shoulders as he gestured to the Battlesuit like a gameshow host with a proud smirk on his face.
"And that, my little mouse friend dude, is my Battlesuit. Watcha think?"
Over to Daemun and gang...
(XD! "Hey baby, how about we share some fuel and revv it up?") Anarchy's suggestion no doubt would later be put to the test. Knowing Apocalypse who was fairly cheeky herself...And who knows, with some of the upgrades Daemun had installed just about anything could well be possible.
Daemun stood his ground, his stance straightened and his confident sort of defense kicking into gear. The only thing he was concentrating on was any threats that would or could be thrown his way though fortunately it didn't come down to that and as Epoch lowered his head in acceptance Daemun's stance gradually eased. Considering that eye contact was yet to be broken Daemun didn't even blink as he stared Epoch right in eyes as well, giving a clear view of that pupil in that left eye showing his mood as being somewhat neautrial for the time being. It wasn't a complete calm but it wasn't a threatening unease either.
He only broke eye contact when Strike stepped into the scene, watching him and the others with careful observation and as Trajectory passed him giving him that wary stare Daemun smirked at it to show he wasn't phased by it at all. Cocky maybe but at least he wasn't striking anyone. Yet. With that he turned his attention to everyone else, taking note and even being proud of how everyone seemed to be reacting toward his return. Yet a part of him hated it also. But at least not everyone was being entirely so cautious and what not toward him and Strike showed this in his words.
With a nod Daemun now turned his attention to Strike and followed his lead. So far it was fortunate that Daemun had some level of control over whatever it was that was possessing him. If at all that was the case because what was interesting is that there was always some hint of that other side to him, particularly his left eye. Although his left eye had always been somewhat a little different in colour and appearence it was never so greatly obvious as it was now. It was almost as though that over the years it had 'evolved' or something to that extent. That and there were some things here and there that hinted that maybe, just maybe, this was far deeper than a possession...
"Bags not cleaning up," Byte smirked. If she had to spill blood she preferred to do it from a distance from the impersonality of her mech where she didn't have to think about it too hard.
"You smart enough to work out the master plan or weren't you important enough?" Geiser asked the Catatonian, his smile mocking.
-=o=-
"Never got to see one up close before!" Tycho beamed up at Derek before running and expertly scrambling up the Battlesuit, perching on its shoulder. "Civilians aren't allowed in here, and apprentices only if their masters are in here too." He checked out the mech from where he was, running his hands lightly along the panels of the arms he was close to, peeking through the glass at the controls within. "Y'know Spark made suits 18 to 23 special techy suits?" He slithered down back onto the ground. "You get to drive that?" he inquired, eyes wide.
-=o=-
(ooc - LoL XD btw the kids probably don't have a clue who Daemun is, though some of the older crew will if he came from any of the Tirs :)
Epoch walked between and a bit behind Daemun and Strike, minding every movement the former made, ready to intercede if he so much as thought about making anything that could be construed as a threatening move toward Strike. He could feel a strong buzzing sensation along the outside of his shields, emanating from their slitty eyed companion. What was with that? Epoch knew what demonicesque entities felt like and Daemun felt kind of the same but dfferent enough to raise curiousity.
"We're going down into the centre of the Tir," Strike explained to Daemun, wanting to be upfront and transparent all the way so Daemun didn't feel like he was being sprung...hopefully. "There's a guy there named Murdoc, he's a doctor and a scientist and he's dealt with his fair share of weird crap. The place is shielded to protect the rest of the Tir. Doc's currently the best person to help."
Rav'una simply smirked at Byte's response to the whole cleaning up subject and if it wasn't for the fact that Rav'una wanted to be sure that the Catatonian had it very clear that she was not playing around she probably would have chuckled at it too. Speaking of the Catatonian it didn't take long for Rav'una firm attention to snap back to him when Geiser spoke to him, the Catatonian giving him a bit of a sharp response while also trying to deal with the constant pain Rav'una made certain remained as a strong reminder of his position was there.
"Fuck you! I was important enough. Just...all we were told was that he had been transporting them for a while...placing them in different areas accross the sector. He planned on launching them straight into the Tir."
"In other words he strategically placed these...missiles in various areas all aimed at the Tir?"
"Exactly...Urghn...that was until you all fucked that up"
"Oh we are terribly sorry about that" Rav'una bluntly replied with sarcasm just oozing from her tone.
"Yeah, fuck you abomination whore..."
"I do believe I warned you about that..." There was that unsettling calm again. And sure enough it wasn't long before she yanked her back back and with a blood cooling crack pulled the Catatonian's shoulder right out of its socket.
"The next time I will tear your arm completely off!" Rav'una hissed at the Catatonian through the screams of pain.
Meanwhile over to the more cheerful Derek...
At first Derek was a little concerned about Tycho suddenly scrambling his way up to one of the shoulders of the Battlesuit, looking up at Tycho as he yelled out with a small frown "Hey! Easy on the paint work! I just sprayed that!" before then with a sigh he let it slide, shaking his head a moment and bringing his attention back up to Tycho with a smile which soon altered to match his more curious expressions as Tycho made his way back to ground level.
"18 to 23 specials?" Derek shook his head before then responding "Honestly I don't think by the sounds of things I'm as experienced on the field yet to take the controls of one of those. This is the best I'll have until I can prove my worth a little more. See, the way I understand it is a techy needs to work his up the ranks, just like any squad member. The more he proves himself the better stuff he gets. Kind of like a reward, ya know?" With a shrug Derek added "At least that how it was back home."
And now over to Daemun...
(OOC: Understood :)! I'd say originally he was from one of the Tirs, yeah. He would have had to started somewhere, right? ;P)
Daemun could certainly sense he wasn't too trusted around these parts and he could completely understand why. On one hand he felt bad about it but on the greater more gripping hand he enjoyed it in some way like a good feed of his ego, a small smirk playing accross his lips hidden from everyone as best he could. There was something very dark about Daemun as well. Yet it seemed to be controllable, at least for now and when he was in a better mood. But Starzone and Trajectory and even Strike had witnessed what kind of chaos and mayhem Daemun could unleash when in one of his more furious moods. Maybe the secret here was not to piss him off. At least in part of it.
Listening to Strike as he explained where they were headed and making things clear enough for Daemun to be comfortable while being guided to where they may take him it all seemed fine up until the point when Strike mentioned Murdoc.
"Whaow, whaow, whaow..." Daemun stopped with a shake of his head and a wave of his hands to stop things right there a moment before then adding with a frown "You didn't mention anything about no doctor."
(ooc - abomination whore? RoFL!)
"Byte," Geiser said, cryptically leaving it at that.
"Sir," Byte responded, obviously knowing what was being asked. She leaned back against the wall she was leaning on, a hint of a smirk still on her face, looking slightly downwards at nothing in particular.
"Where are the other warheads?" Geiser demanded, not feeling a need to do any more than that considering it looked like Rav'una was borderline seeking blood vengeance for who knew what.
-=o=-
"You got 22," Tycho pointed out, tracing part of the number on the Battlesuit. "Is it hard to do repairs with it?"
-=o=-
(ooc - fair enough, though Strike isn't originally from any of the Tirs, Flak was originally from Tir na nOg, he left as a youth to join the armed forces and brought Strike back with him when the two of them deserted. The Tir is a mobile village, I think there's close to 2000 people living in it, all that's left of the nomadic Tir tribes :)
Strike had moved a couple of steps ahead and when Daemun pulled up suddenly he used the third step to turn around to face him. Epoch stopped behind Daemun, looking stony.
"My first choice was my 2IC, who's a priest of Ares," Strike said, blunt and truthful. (ooc- too bad Darkmoon's not around, I'm sure the dark ones would find a priest of the war god interesting :P) "He's..." an annoyed look with a hint of pain flashed across Streak's face, "...currently indisposed. Doc's the next best option. I'll be there." He took a step further down the corridor to try to coax some movement. Epoch also took a step but at that point didn't see the need to "encourage" Daemun to keep moving.
(ooc - next mission, finding an excuse to have Daemun and Sydonai meet up, preferably without destroying the Tir :P)
(OOC: XD! Yeah I figured "Hey, he probably thinks her an abonination and he's pretty much clarified he also thinks her a whore so...that should work." Even though it probably makes absolutely no sense, XD!)
The Catatonian remained silent, apart from his heavy breathing and the occasional moan and groan of agony as Rav'una showed no mercy in unleashing her punishment on something she obviously dispised to the least. But with a little...encouragement in the form of a small nudge at the Catatonian's already nasty looking shoulder the Catatonian gave his response.
"Urghn!...Throughout the area...whatever length they can reach...Some are close to the Tir...others are further away so not to be discovered before they launch...Urghnn!"
"How many are there?..." Rav'una question with a growl.
"Ten...in total..."
This could prove to be a problem. Disarming all ten of the warheads and even finding them would be enough of an issue as it is. Unless...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So THAT'S what that number stands for!" Derek enthusiastically blurted out with a grin, clapping his hands once and following through with a cool sort of gesture toward the number (ala Fonz style, XD) to the Battlesuit as he replied to Tycho "With this baby just about any repair is a sinch. Buuuut, it has its moments like with everything else. What's cool about this model though is it uses magnetically guided gears to help steady the accuracy input of the welding procedures. Which in turn means that when it comes to repairs on the go the welders are given maximum stability when on the move. The down fall to that is that it also requires a steady guidance from the inside and you can't do much else while welding or whatever else you need to do"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(OOC: Ah, I see, I see. Well basicall Daemun has lived in the Tir all his life but isn't really sure where exactly he's from since he never knew his real parents. So he was orphaned at an very early age (possibly to due to some war or another, ironically enough) and so was raised somewhere in the Tir. Which also explains a lot of the mystery in his background, etc.)
"Hmm,,," Daemun's expressions alone showed quite clearly that he didn't quite trust the idea of meeting Murdoc at all but he trusted in Strike's decision and so proceeded to respond "Fine. But if he tries anything funny I'm warning you now I will not hessitate to make my move" It was more of a warning than a promise although knowing how Murdoc dealed with situations as these, for example in the scenario with Sydonai, there shouldn't be a need for Daemun to try and make any kind of attack and such. Still, Daemun wasn't known for being too predictable at times and so caution shouldn't be something tossed into the air.
And who knows who might show up during the meeting...
(OOC: Lol, great, now I'll have to role play two of my own characters with myself in certain scenarios. This isn't going to be easy...XD)
(ooc - the guy's in pain, he can be forgiven for making no sense whatsoever ;)
Byte looked up sharply. Ten in total was not good. How would they take them out? It depended entirely on the size of the convoys accompanying he warheads. If the Catatonians had managed to set up bases of similar size to the one they'd returned from, firstly they had a cat problem and secondly, they would need to dispatch all three battle-capable mach stars plus the aerotechs, which would leave the Tir virtually undefended aside from the built in defences, Last Ditch and the bikes. Alternately in the (hopefully) more realistic scenario of a platoon or so of claw troopers guarding and setting up each missile, a bike unit would easily do the trick, perhaps with the backup of just one mech per unit.
Defence of the Tir was critically important seeing as it was their last secure home.
The same kinds of things were crossing Geiser's mind.
"How big are the convoys moving the warheads?" he demanded, wondering if it was too much to expect an accurate answer. They could probably send out one bike to scout each area out. The Tir had to be moved immediately. If it could be moved out of range of at least some of the warheads it would increase their chances of the Tir escaping relatively intact or at least not requiring too many repairs, and as long as the civilians remained in their boltholes or in the Atrium during that time it would cut at least their potential death rate down to nothing. Of course first they had to know where to look. Xu would probably be able to find most of the warheads within range to cut down the area they had to look.
"Whatcha thinking?" Geiser asked Rav'una before Byte could, both aware that she seemed to be thinking something.
-=o=-
Tycho listened with rapt attentiveness to Derek's rapidfire explanation that would have shut down the brains of most other people and made them go all glassy eyed. An older teenage girl, who looked maybe 15 or 16, her orange jumpsuit accentuating her developing curves, popped up all of a sudden beside them.
"Hey Tycho," she said, ruffling the boy's hair. She looked over at Derek, studying him thoughtfully. "Derek, right?" she said, pulling a datapad out of her chunky tool-laden utility belt and holding it out to him. "Sparky said ya needed one a these."
(ooc - datapads contain all the mech and aerotech specs and can give an indication of how various mods would affect it. They also come with inbuilt tracking devices and remote detonators so if anyone steals one it gets blown up ;)
-=o=-
(ooc - all the Tirs have been through a share of wars and mainstream society being unhappy with their refusal to assimilate. And you've done interactions between your own characters already ;)
Behind Daemun, Epoch's fleeting expression indicated he wasn't impressed by Daemun's vague hint of a threat. Strike concecntrated on keeping Daemun calm, and fervently wishing they hadn't had a load of supernatural stuff drop on their head after Darkmoon had been taken. And to add to the stress he had to try to keep an old apparently demon infested comrade calm as it seemed like the demon within thrived on anger and pain and could quite possibly go out of control and when something like that went out of control people could be hurt regardless of whether it was the intention of the demon or not, and Byte had just reported the information they'd gotten out of the Catatonian to date.
He now had the choice to try to urge Daemun down into the centre of the Tir and see if they could pin the demon in the holding circle, where he would not be able to do any damage, or face him off in there, where damage to the rest of the Tir would be minimal at worst and completely unnoticed at best, or confront him now and take him out of the Tir. The last option wasn't really an option as it involved Strike offering himself as sacrificial lamb to try to appease the demon and nothing would bring the uncontrollablly overprotective Psions out faster.
He didn't like the demon within someone he had once considered a friend, someone he had once trusted with his life. But he was more willing to give Daemun the benefit of the doubt rather than trusting the word of some Catatonian. They entered the lift and Strike hit the button for the medical facility. As the scarily looking cobbled together lift began its descent to the tune of perfectly in tune, gently humming machinery, Strike looked at Daemun, the slit eye still sending a chill down his spine but determinedly looking for his old commanding officer in there somewhere. "We raided a Catatonian encampment not far from here, and captured one of their officers. He's currently getting worked over upstairs, and has named you in a plot involving ten warheads aimed at the Tir."
Epoch lowered his head, cybereyes flashing as he did so, a dark look manifesting on his face. The air in the lift thickened.
"Epoch," Strike said, injecting a healthy dose of authority into his voice. Epoch blinked, and whatever had been happening dissipated, although Epoch did not ose the dark look. Strike resumed looking at Daemun searchingly. "That's not your style..." he trailed off, aware that much had changed.
(OOC: Lol! True, that would certainly have some level of effect to one's ability to insult right, :P)
The numbers were certainly high and didn't sound too promising at all if each were, as they would be, active and ready for launch at any moment. And knowing Daemun he woudl have no doubt made some kind of fool proof plan with a flaw that was obvious yet not to the extent where one would figure it out right away. He always did have a way with that sort of thing. In any case if the missiles were to launch and hit it would prove devastating to the Tir, regardless of its size and ability to repel and defend incoming attacks both from the outside and the inside. Which no doubt was the case. This only made Rav'una take things suddenly far more seriously than she already had and this could well prove to be bad news for the already beaten and torn Catatonian hostage.
With another important question tossed his way the Catatonian thought twice this time about responding in silence with Rav'una looking deadly serious about keeping her word and with a glance at her he guided his gaze over to Geiser and gave his response. "Three are about the size of your average transport vehicle, each containing minature missiles which will be launched first as a weakening attack. The other four contain what are known as "Jericho" missiles (Thank you Iron Man!) which when launched and activated caused enough damage to whipe out quite a distance and finally the last sets are located within silos. These are the largest of the missiles and will be launched as a means to finish off the job..." With a smirk the Catatonian began to chuckle through his pain. "You don't stand a chance"
"Oh I beg to differ..." Rav'una responded, answering Geiser's question and glancing his way before bringing her attention to the Catatonian as she explained "I may not know a great deal about these missiles however I am aware that these would all be connected to some form of sequence, correct?"
The Catatonian remained silent, suddenly realizing what Rav'una was hinting at.
"That is what I thouht" Rav'una smirked before then letting go of the Catatonian and making her way over to a near by towel, conveniant placed there just in case, and turned to Geiser and Byte as she explained "To answer your question Geiser I would assume that if these missiles are launched in sequence there has to be some form of control panel or an activitation of some form. However my question would be that if this is the case, how is it that it works?"
"You'll need Daemun for that" The Catatonian blurted with a laugh "Good luck finding him! He's probably making mince meet of your pathetic little troops as we speak!"
"I would not be so confident in your assumptions Catatonian..." Rav'una smirked with a purr.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In all honesty it was any wonder that Derek hadn't actually confused himself with all the techno-babble he managed to yank out of the air and pour into the ears of the ever attentive Tycho who rather than having his head explode from all the technically mumbo-jumbo instead seemed to catch it all. Or at very least the important points. Derek was about to explain a little more when his attention was caught by the teenager suddenly popping up out of the blue.
"Do you make it a habit to pop up like that or are you intending on trying to kill of a few techs to claim your rightful place as ruler of the technicians?" Derek asked with a smirk, taking the pad and studying it a moment before lifting it with a little wave and an obviously happy grin. "Now it's official!" Derek grinned with a little laugh to follow. "Thanks babe!"
(OOC: Ouuuu! Portable fireworks! Niiiiiiice! Oh yeah and the other important stuff is cool too. XD)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(OOC: Ah, I see. Well in that case I suppose Daemun could originally have come from one of the Tirs and somehow worked his way into the fighting forces and ranked up quickly. Knowing Daemun he probably did so with flying colours too. And yes...yes I have, lol! I'll just have to do it again then ;P)
Daemun didn't seem at all phased by anything directed toward him in regards to any dislikes regarding his actions and such and it only fed his 'inner demon' so to speak. But just as things started to get a little tense Daemun would close his eyes and take a few deep breaths, calming himself completely before opening his eyes and directing his attention to Strike again. Fortunately things didn't esculate any further than that or Strike and the rest of the Tir would find themselves with quite a mess on their hands as Daemun the demon seemed to be like a unstoppable bull in a china shop when in one his more...darker moods. With that Daemun proceeded to follow, pushing aside his hessitations and any temptation to go ape shit within the Tir. He felt he had caused enough damage already, mostly out of his naive ignorance and his refusal to believe anything else apart from that Strike was the enemy and his target. Now that all was gradually starting to change and signs of trust toward Strike was openly being offered and fortunately taken but no doubt with caution in mind.
Now in the lift Daemun folded his arms and leaned himself against one side of the lift, one foot propped back against the wall and regardless of the condition of the lift Daemun yet again didn't seem phased. And you couldn't really be surprised by that considering he can sure take a heck of a beatin' should the lift fall. It seemed sturdy enough though.
With Strike now speaking to him the first person who caught Daemun's immediate attention was Epoch when he reacted the way he did, Daemun tossing his own dark sort of look into the mix as the air had thickened and such but he didn't add anything more to that. Instead he turned his attention to Strike and had began to reply "That Catatonian mentioned something about the war...heads..." Daemun's eyes suddenly widen before with a frown and a straightened posture he suddenly blurted "Fuck! The warheads! Shit..." Turning his attention once more to Strike with a very serious look and a tone to match Daemun proceeded to explain with some haste "Strike, we've gotta get on the move. Now. I'll stop them, somehow. There's a way to deactive at least the larger missiles but if we don't act now the whole set of them are going to be heading straight for the Tir and I don't need to tell you the kind of impact that'll cause..."
Both Geiser and Byte had no idea if Rav'una knew something they didn't or if she was simply bluffing the Catatonian, either was equally likely.
"Looks like he's reaching the end of his usefulness," Geiser commented. Speaking to the Catatonian, he said, "If you got anything more, spill it, and we might dump you. Otherwise..." he looked at Rav'una with a smirk, "you can have him."
-=o=-
"Can't help it if you're half deaf," the girl joked, winking. "That's got all the specs for all the mechs and aerotechs in the Tir. And you can do other funky things like play around with configurations and get an idea how it would affect the mech. It's got a tracker in it so in the unlikely event you try to steal it, we'll blow it up." She grinned playfully and skipped off in a frighteningly girly fashion into the swarm of activity, tools clinking cacophonically in time with her skips.
"Wouldn't you have to be careful welding anyway?" Tycho inquired, quite innocently. "Welding irons are real hot, right?"
-=o=-
Strike felt his blood run cold. He allowed himself to the count of five to feel terrified panic, then took a deep breath and focused. He had close to 2000 lives depending on him. Calmy but urgently he asked, "Which direction should we head to avoid them?"
Epoch looked at him, Strike looked back. Epoch didn't trust Daemun but he trusted Strike. The lift touched down on their floor just as Xu's cool, calming voice floated over the Tir-wide intercom.
"Tir is on high alert. Civilians return to boltholes or remain in the Atrium. All ancillary staff report to stations. All pilots and riders form up and stand by."
In truth Rav'una had actually simply thought ahead, not jumping to the conclusion it was anything official and in a small trick of her own managed to get exactly the answer everyone wanted to hear. In regards to Daemun however Rav'una just assumed that by now he was probably well and truly stopped somehow. Something told her it had to be the case.
"Wait, I told you what you needed to know!" The Catatonian, realizing his position now, had a sudden panic and fear strike him hard as he pleaded with a nervous laugh "C'mon, you don't really mean it, you'll just put me in a prison cell or something, right?..."
It was shortly after the Catatonian had finished that one of Rav'una's more pleased purrs was heard breaking the moment of silence as she stepped up behind the Catatonian, he double sided lazer blade sparking into activeness.
"I'm afraid Geiser is right Catatonian. Besides...you threatened my new tribe. That is punishable by death amongst my people..."
"C'mon, don't do this! I-I didn't mean the insults! Please! Don't do this!"
Rav'una's smirked became a little more amused at this point before turning her attention to Byte and Geiser she noted "If I were you two I would find some cover or leave the room if you do not wish to witness this. It is about to get awfully messy in here..."
"And don't worry Geiser, I will be sure to have it clean when I am done" Rav'una winked.
*Deep narator voice* Meanwhile...
"Yeah...well...shush you!" Derek jokingly threatened with a wave of his index finger, a hint of his amusement shown in his failed attempt to put on a serious face in not-so-serious scenario.
With that Derek proceeded to look the device over a bit as he listened to the explination of its uses, stopping a moment as he looked up at her when she mentioned the part about a particularly explosive security measure. "Well that's reassuring to know..." Derek blinked some, lifting an index finger then as he proceeded to add "I've got only one question" Turning the device to face the girl as he pointed at it he asked "Does it have Tetris?" It was a sort of half joke question.
Watching the teenager later skip down the hall Derek found himself staring at her with a small tilt of his head, not really sure how to take the whole girly skipping scene but with a shrug he in the end simply smirked and turned his attention back to Tycho.
"Sure you do" Derek nodded in affirmation "But when on the move you've gotta be even more careful because one slip could mean a nasty end to a very important mission. The irons are super hot during and after use but you've got enough protective gear on the Battlesuit to keep from getting injured as well as a bunch of fancy add ons to keep your welding irons from injuring anyone else or causing more damage than you started with. That said again it takes skill and precision to get it all right and one slip could be veeeeeeeery bad news my martian mouse friend."
And meanwhile over to Daemun...
"As far North as possible" Daemun began with a firm surity that his point would be made clear "But wether the Tir can move fast enough to avoid them all I don't know. All I can tell you is that we need to act now. Fast."
Bringing up his wrist to check the time Daemun let out another "Shit..." before bringing his attention to Strike as he explained "We've got exactly one hour to get to the main control pannel. There I can deactivate the missile launch but should any be launched...don't worry..." Daemun lowered his gaze in sudden deep thought and for a moment remained silent before then adding with a serious expression "I've got a plan b. You leave that to me, in the meantime we have to get to that control pannel. It's directly south of the Tir, actually in the same area I was found. I...had just finished the launch activation and hoped to buy some time...Now I wish I had stopped it before we left..."
(ooc- sorry bout that, we were switching service providers and they can't churn to naked adsl so no nets for 3 days)
"We don't do prison cells," Geiser said, smiling. "If it was just us, we'd dump you in the desert somewhere and leave it to the gods whether you live or die."
He'd barely finished talking when Xu's announcement came over the intercom.
"Go," Geiser said to Byte, who had stood up and looked edgy. Byte shot out the door as soon as permission was given. Geiser folded his arms across his chest and studied the Catatonian thoughtfully. "The lady seems to want blood vengeance. Any particular reason I shouldn't honour her wish?"
-=o=-
The announcement came over the intercom and there was the briefest attentive pause in the mech bay before the thrum of activity increased with techies stepping up the pace and a sudden influx of pilots in blue-grey jumpsuits, Cypher and Chip among them.
"All right you heard the lady," Spark yelled, projecting his voice over the hubbub, "We're on high alert, all junior apprentices get back to your families, seniors stand by in the Atrium in case we need you."
A small handful of kids started reluctantly straggling towards the exit. Tycho looked up at Derek. "Do I haaaave to?" He looked up at Derek with a borderline pathetic expression, looking crushed at the thought of missing out on action.
"Suit up," an authoritative voice barked. "Front Line, you're on the roof, watch the rear. Anyone else with LRMs, defensive positions on the southern, eastern and western sides. All mechs with jammers or ECM, behind Front Line. Last Ditch, you're keeping watch on t he north side. Move!"
Pilots began scrambling into mechs even as the roof hatch was opening. Front Line began piling into the lift but they could only fit two at a time, a bunch of smaller mechs from the other stars squeezing into any available space, some piggybacking on the assault class mechs.
-=o=-
Strike looked downwards slightly. As if compelled by his eyes, the ambient rumbling around them increased in volume to a very noticeable hum accompanied by a gentle vibration as the Tir ponderously lumbered into action, northbound. It was the Tir and it didn't move terribly fast. Maybe they would be able to move out of range of at least some of the missiles. Strike continued looking distracted.
Outside, the mechs were sorting themselves as they had been ordered, and the four other aerotechs had taken off and were hovering on high, watchful for any missiles and ready to intercept as necessary.
"What do you want to do?" Strike asked, his eyes coming back into focus as he ooked at Daemun.
(OOC: So that's what happened! I just figured maybe you were busy or the kids had you occupied or something ;P. In any case, great to have you back! I will note though, while on the topic of absenses, that as of May 15th I will be away for two months. If I can I'll hop online and check the forums but worst case scenario there may be a two month delay as of May 15th.)
The Catatonian suddenly realized his options were running thin which only made Rav'una smirk as she leaned forward and whispered in his ear "You lose again Catatonian...Karma certainly stings like a hornet."
The announcement made Rav'una perk up, her attention over to Geiser as he gave Byte the word to leave and she watched Byte make a hastey departure from the room with a curious perk of her brow. Of course she didn't question this just yet. Answers would come soon enough if Rav'una was to know but for now she returned her attention to the Catatonian, her blade still in hand and just itching to take him out. Normally she wasn't so eager to kill someone unless she truly had a reason to. And granted the circumstances she had her reasons this time around.
"I-I...She..." The Catatonian began to stutter, tripping over his words and struggling to break free. Rav'una then did something that completely caught him by surprise...She untied him, allowing him free movement in the chair.
"You're...letting me go?..." The Catatonian asked to which Rav'una coldly replied "No. I simply much prefer my targets to have an opportunity to at least move away from my attack than have them tied down as easy prey. Perhaps now would be your chance to kneel and beg for mercy or at very least give your reasons"
The Catatonian turned to Geiser, unable to do much since his shoulder was still a complete mess, and tried pleading his way out of his demise. "Please! I-I'll take you to Daemun! I'll help you find the missiles! Anything! Just don't-"
"Hmm, word along the grape vine is that Daemun has already been found and I would assume by now we already know where the missiles are located. In fact you have already guided us to them. You will have to do better than that"
Rav'una looked at Geiser, awaiting his final decision.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Awwwww maaaan" Derek sighed as the announcement was made, all too familiar with the rushing about scenario and what exactly that meant. It broke his heart to see Tycho looking up at him the way he did and placing his hand on Tycho's shoulder with a deep exhale and a nod or two to follow Derek smiled weakly as he broke the news. "Sorry Tycho, I gotta get to work. Again." Derek rolled his eyes before continuing "But hey, tell you what. When we come back and this is all over I'll teach you some more. Here..." Handing Tycho a small chip of sorts Derek explained with a smile "This is an ID chip we used back at home. Good thing I figured out they also work with the PDAs here. Anyway, it's got some details in there if you ever need to keep in touch. I'd take you along but I can't do that either so gimme a buzz some time, okay?" Ruffling Tycho's fur with a small chuckle Derek added "You better go before someone chews you up for being in the mech bay while we're on high alert"
With that Derek gave Tycho a small salute and hurried along and got out of his tech gear and into Battlesuit, buckling up and tapping at various buttons and switching a set of keys to get it boosted up. "This is Derek, Battlesuit-22 is booted up and ready to dock. Requesting clearence. Over."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seeing that Strike was obviously distracted, and for good reasons at that, Daemun pushed himself away from the wall of the lift and rested his hand on Strike's shoulder with a small shake of his head, stating in a such a calm way it was exactly the Daemun that Strike used to know speaking and not the roughed up, heart torn, emotionally challenged Daemun he is today "Don't worry, it'll all be fine Strike. Trust me on this...I promise you this time I won't fuck up..."
"I want you to stay some place safe, keep everyone in the Tir as far away from the borders of it as possible and in the most solid areas the Tir have to offer. In fact if you can get as many as you can underground if possible that will save a lot of lives if things go wrong. In the meantime...I'm going to help the others find the core. I'll need someone to fly me in. If can deactivate the missiles in time that'll stop the launch completely but it has to be done at the core and I'm the only one with the right ID and codes."
(ooc - ahh well if you end up with the 2 month hiatus we'll see if you're still interested in playing when you get back I guess :)
Geiser shook his head. "I'll go get some cleaning equipment for ya," he said to Rav'una, and walked out of the room.
-=o=-
"Thanks," Tycho said, smiling through his initial despondancy, and then dashing out of the mech bay.
"Clearance granted, Battlesuit-22. Step it up a little, we're on the lift next." Chip grinned at Derek over their comm but it didn't reach his eyes. The Dire Wolf extended an arm towards Derek. A bunch of smaller mechs straggled past them, preceding Cypher's Atlas towards the lift.
-=o=-
Strike glanced at the hand on his shoulder and then back up at Daemun. He had the briefest mental flashback to several years ago. "I'll fly you in," he said.
Epoch grabbed Strike's arm, attracting his attention, and shaking his head. Strike took his comm out and swiped the lift control panel, then hit the lift for the upper floor. The lift powered up and shot towards the top floor, express, not stopping for anything.
(OOC: Oh I certainly will be interested in still playing for sure! I'm just letting you know in advanced just in case ^..^.)
It was with that answer the Catatonian knew his end was close, Rav'una leaning forward and whispering sharply into his ear.
"You failed..."
As the doors shut the Catatonian began to plead with Rav'una but soon that pleading turned to a blood chilling scream and then...silence, a streak of blood spraying accross any near by window and needless to say Rav'una was not shy about making a mess in the room, even getting some of the red stuff on herself but she didn't even blink or hessitate. Just stood there like an emotionless bot and watched the lifeless corpse of the Catatonian fall. I don't think we really need to get into details what exactly she did but let's just say...it wasn't pretty.
~~~~~~~~
"Affirmative on that, Battlesuit-22 moving into position and preparing to dock with haste" Derek responded with a smirk of his own, moving the Battlesuit out of its bay and with the traffic in mind and caution taken he made his way over to Chip's mech, boosting up the boosters and docking securely into place. "Battlesuit-22 docked and ready to roll" Derek confirmed with a grin. "I'd say I'm getting pretty good at this docking thing" He proceeded to add with that proud grin still present.
~~~~~~~~
Daemun couldn't find the right words to respond to what Strike's had replied and was rather surprised, and yet not overly, that Strike would be so willing to fly him in. Of course there was no time to argue but taking note of Epoch's reaction Daemun found a new set of words to use as a response.
"Doesn't look like your pal here is gonna be so willing to let you do that..." He noted with a gesture to Epoch, looking at him for a moment and then back to Strike as he added "I think he has his reasons to be concerned Strike. If something happens to you-"
(ooc- ^_^ and I should probably work out the Tir's floor plan at some stage)
Geiser's ears perked as he heard the blood curdling scream. It was one of those things that worked its way through the chinks even in the most battle hardened exteriors to stroke a dischord and cause those chills up the spine you wished you wouldn't feel. He expressed it with a flick of his tail as he picked up a broom and bucket, pouring a couple of powdered mixes into the bottom of the bucket that would soak up the blood and dehydrate it so they could then sweep it back into the bucket and dispose of it.
He then moved along a little to the linen closet close by and pulled out a towel, figuring Rav'una might like to clean up herself after cleaning up the mess she'd made of the Catatonian. The last thing he grabbed was a bodybag for transporting whatever was left, and then he stood by waiting for Rav'una to finish up.
-=o=-
(ooc - now shall we have some fun and have at least some missiles launch and maybe hit or shall we just go with close call? I'm okay either way, thought it would be more interesting from a certain character development pov :)
"Yep, no scratches this time," Chip said, maintaining his humour and now able to move as soon as Derek alighted and began docking on his arm, now confident in the techy's ability to dock on the fly. They joined Cypher's Atlas on the lift, and a couple more Battlesuits alighted on them, one on Chip's other arm, and one on one of Cypher's shoulders, neither of them making as neat a landing as Derek had. A bunch of smaller mechs crowded around the feet of the assault class mechs.
The lift platform moved up, putting them up on the roof. As soon as it was safe to do so, the smaller mechs began piiling off the lift and heading out to various locations, the Last Ditch mechs heading towards the northwards face of the Tir. The heat blasted past them as the Tir crawled along the ground at a pace faster than one would expect such a monumental structure to be moving, but not nearly fast enough for comfort. The brownish red mouse that had been barking orders down below was in one of the assault class mechs of Front Line, busy organising the other mechs to make sure that there was a roughly even spread of long range missile carriers across the east, west and south facing sides.
"Dire Wolf-01, you're centre stage," the red mouse ordered suddenly, spying them. "Atlas-01, southside. Cover him."
"Yes sir," the triplets responded, immediately moving into position. Chip took up the centre of the floor, armed with his chunky experimental land to air missile launcher, Cypher strode out southside in front of him in a defensive position. The Templar that the orders were coming from suddenly turned towards Chip, the pilot's garnet eyes sweeping over Chip and then aligting on Derek.
"You." He glanced at the number printed on the Battlesuit. "Battlesuit-22. You're in charge of reloading the LAMs. 18 and 19 will pass 'em up." Seeming to have been summoned out of the aether (or at the very least spilling out of the lift that had come up again) as they were named, two more Battlesuits trundled over to stand by next to Chip, pulling crates of missiles that may well rival at least some of the ones that were going to come flying towards the Tir. At least they easily matched the Battlesuits for size.
-=o=-
Strike looked at Epoch, resting a hand on the younger mouse's where it held his arm. He could understand his concern with painful clarity. Epoch had lost his father, who had sacrificed himself to protect his son, the rest of Front Line, and the Tirs. He had lost Darkmoon, taken prisoner by an impossible enemy. Understandably, he didn't want to lose someone else he considered family.
"Epoch," Strike said, "I will come back."
Epoch shook his head again, slightly more violently.
"We're gonna stop a launch. Won't be hard." Strike smiled slightly, trying to soothe him. Epoch glanced over at Daemun, the mistrust showing in his eyes but not in his expression. Strike also looked at Daemun.
"We'll try to stop these missiles. We will come back." He hoped to the gods they would come back. Epoch saw a ruse involving Daemun taking Strike away to kill him while the rest of the Tir was bombed, or at least taking Strike away from anyone who had a prayer of protecting him from a demon, the whole warheads thing could be a setup. Strike could also see the ruse, but he could also see sincerity, and no one he knew to date could act that well, although that wasn't to say that fact could change. He didn't want to think about that.
The lift hit its destination and Strike stepped out with Daemun following. Strike turned to look at Epoch, who had remained in the lift. "Get out there, Captain," he said, his tone authoritative. "I'll see you when we get back." The undertone in his voice said don't get dead. Epoch saluted as the lift door slid shut.
Strike led the short bolt to the hangar where the techies had prepped his aerotech for takeoff. He jumped in and immediately started prepping, a techy passing in a spare helmet to Daemun.
"Back to where we were before?" Strike inquired, hoping he wasn't about to make a fatal mistake.
(OOC: Sounds like a plan to me ^..^. Heck you'll have two months to do so if you wish, XD! I'll miss you and our RP while I'm away though!)
It took a good long minute or two before Rav'una, standing over the now dead Catatonian in the collected style of a true assassin, said anything at all and the first thing was to notify that "It has been done...You may enter when you wish Geiser" before then glancing down at the Catatonian she proceeded to add "I had an awful feeling I would hit an artery or two. My only regret is that he did not fight back. He died a coward's death but I have no remorse for what I have done" She certainly held that "assassin's honor" about her and in regards to her kills she would judge them accordingly as she would if they were still alive. One could figure that she was raised by the unique codes and laws of her chosen path and what she did best. And she did so effectively and with frightening ease. The screams had been more so out of fear and it was fortunate that Rav'una had figured that enough suffering had been slapped onto the unfortunate Catatonian and so the final slice made it a quick and painless death. However...not as clean as Rav'una had hoped it to be.
~~~~~~
(OOC: Actually I'm glad you asked. I actually have an idea to throw in another twist for Daemun or rather to reveal something more about him. However I also think that having the Tir hit, even just by a few of the missiles or one or two of them, would add a nice dramatic touch things. Either way, I agree :)!)
"Lucky for me and your mech then" Derek smirked with a small laugh to his tone as he tapped away at a few more buttons and flicked a few switched overhead the pannel as he replied just to make sure indeed he was safe and secure in the dock and that all systems were ready. He kind of even impressed himself with how well he managed to dock this time. By the sounds of things he had done better than the others and this only made Derek's smirk become all the more proud.
It was one of those situations that Derek was becoming all too familiar with, the rush of a new mission kicking into gear as well as with some nerves that never seemed to settle regardless of how much of a hard ass one can be, and over all the excitement and concerns clashing together as Derek, no doubt like the others, did his best to filter it all and keep alive that of which was needed most.
Derek wasn't expecting to recieve orders so soon but then again he shouldn't have been surprised really. This was a high alert situation and there was no time to waste. With a small "Huh?" of surprise Derek's attention immediately went to the one giving him his orders and with a small salute and a nod Derek immediately responded with a simple "Affirmative" He knew what had to be done now and so would get the job done. Hopefully quick enough to avoid things turning sour...
~~~~~~~~~
Daemun hardly changed his expressions at all as Epoch looked at him with that obvious mistrust in his eyes but Daemun would say what he had to say to him in a moment. For now he turned his attention to Strike again and listened to his response, Daemun taking his hand away from Strike's shoulder as he did so.
"I just want to make one thing clear. To both of you." Daemun began with a firm yet reasonably calm tone, although his words were made quite clear and he was not shy about saying exactly what he felt and thought as he continued with his attention spread between Epoch and Strike "I know neither of you trust me all too well, especially right now, and that's fine. I don't even trust myself. I just want to make it clear that I know I fucked up. Big time. Now, I want to correct what I've done wrong. I can't bring back those who died because of my stupidity but I can honor them but doing what's right. These missiles are my fault...therefore I'll do whatever it takes to make sure those things do not hit the Tir. I can't promise they will all miss...but I'll make damn sure to do whatever it takes to stop another screw up on my behalf" Almost as though he had read something in Epoch's very soul Daemun turned to him and added "Loss is what started it all for me. Don't dwell on it. Take me as an example of what will happen if you do. Although even in darkness, there is light..."
With that Daemun exited the lift when it was safe to do so and followed Strike over to the aerotech, taking the helmet the techy handed to him with a nod to the techy before entering the aerotech, slipping on his helmet and buckling up and then looking at Strike with a nod.
"Affirmative. Your task is to drop me off as close to the area as possible. From there you are to return to base. Remember, if you die out there I would have achieved what I now don't want to do. So do as your told and I won't have to argue with you about it later." Even though Daemun was no longer in charge old habbits tend to creep up on one even when they don't intend them to. And thus the authoritive tone Strike could probably well recall from back in the day when Daemun was in charge to some extent.
This time Daemun intended not to get anyone killed.
(ooc- whether I get to do it or not is another thing, contrary to popular belief I don't have a lot in the way of time ;)
Geiser perked an ear when he heard Rav'una call out. Picking up the bucket and broom, he re-entered the room, stopping briefly when he noticed the blood spatter. Most of it had landed on the drop sheet he put down but a substantial amount was everywhere else. Internally he sighed. He wasn't a big fan of killing. Externally he just arched an eyebrow at the mess and put down the bucket, scooping some powder onto some of the blood, which immediately started fizzling.
"Get cleanin', kiddo," he said, smiling as he handed the broom to Rav'una. "There's a shower in the next room if you wanna get cleaned up," he added. "I put out a towel for ya."
-=o=-
(ooc- yup! Is it just me or do we have an equally twisted sense of fun?)
"Need a dry run with the autoloader?" Chip asked as he adjusted the targeting computer on his head and flicked a few switches and the like, grouping his weapons as he powered them up. His beam weapons charged up and the LRMs chunked as their autoloader armed up and shoved a bracket into the launcer. The kerchunk and the beam whine was vaguely echoed around the place as other pilots also warmed up and prepared weapons.
Battlesuits 18 and 19 in the meantime were debating the most efficient methods of raising brackets high enough for Derek's Battlesuit to be able to reach it without getting off the Dire Wolf.
-=o=-
Strike listened as he ran through the pre-flight routine he knew like the back of his hand. The aerotech whirred to life, the VTOL humming as he prepared to lift off. He smirked as he heard the old tone coming through.
"Yes sir," he said. Addressing Xu, he said, "Aerotech-01 ready for take off."
"Clear for take off, Commander," Xu responded after a while. "Come home soon."
"I'll see you when I get back," Strike responded, the picture of easy confidence as he eased the plane upwards through the narrow gap in the roof big enough for an aerotech to squeeze through with minimal clearance. He hovered for a second not too ar above the dome of the hangar, briefly taking stock of where the other four aerotechs were, flicking a few switches here and there.
"Long range missiles armed. Beam weapons armed," the computer informed him tonelessly. Strike engaged the engines and the aerotech shot off towards the mountains, covering the distance between the crawling Tir and the mountains where Starzone and Trajectory had confronted Daemun earlier in a remarkably short space of time.
"I'm comin' with you," Strike said conversationally, his eyes peeled for any sign of hostile activity as they drew closer, his hands sliding higher up the wheel so he could rest fingers and thumbs on triggers, "Or I'm hangin' round til after the missiles go. I'd rather hunt than be hunted."
(OOC: Well despite still being on my vacation I figured since I’ve got some time to spare at the moment that I may as well read and reply to this role play. I don’t want it to die or run the risk of it doing so! ïÂÂÃ…Â )
Rav’una wasn’t so much of a fan of killing herself but it had become such a part of her life and general way of living that she was hardly phased by it these days. Of course she was fair in her decisions, for the most part, and though cold toward Catatonians (and for good reasons at that) there were a number of occasions when she has had to kill someone she did not wish to kill and would make the death quick and painless. Likewise applied to the majority of her “targetsâ€ÂÂ. She is an assassin but not a cold hearted murderer. Although at times even she questioned the differences between the two only to find that one held an honor and fairness while the other often ended up being killed by the assassin. Somehow that helped her through quite a lot.
For a moment Rav’una had to stop and allow herself the time to move away from her “assassin mode†and once settled she holstered her weapon, slipping it back into its hold, and turned to Geiser when he had handed her the broom.
“I suppose it is only fair†Rav’una smirked as she took the broom and whatever else she would need for now and started to help clean up. “Thank you, I will shower once I am done here†She proceeded to add as she got started cleaning up the mess.
Meanwhile…
(OOC: Lol! I’d say we both an equally twisted sense of fun ;P. I mean just the two of us have made this RP so far bloom into an epic story! Or at very least are having fun, right? ïÂÂÃ…Â )
“I think I should be fine for the time being†Derek responded as he checked over his system status screen and tapped away at a few more buttons and switched before adding with a sigh “By the looks of things though I do need to keep an eye on my cloaking cells…They seem to be running pretty dry but they should last. I was going to replace them today but so much for that.â€ÂÂ
“But at least everything else seems to be in order†Derek added with a new sense of relief. Good to know his Battlesuit was at least battle ready and not about to fall apart when he least wanted it to.
Meanwhile…
Daemun couldn’t help but smirk himself as that familiar feeling of how it once was began to kick in and just like old times it felt right. The fact Strike was also listening to him gave him a new glimpse of hope that things would soon enough change for the better. Even though in the back of his mind he was still haunted by the mistakes of his past but there wasn’t anything more he could do about it but learn from it. And now was the time to do just that.
Daemun looked at Strike with a firm sort of expression when he mentioned that he would come along with him and it was obvious Daemun did not want that. More so because of any risks involved than anything.
“No Strike†Daemun responded firmly “If things turns sour and you happen to go down in the blast of things then no one wins. Stand by and prepare to take down any escape missiles that happen to be launched. It will start with the small ones and the missiles travel slower than any of the weapons you have in the Aerotech. If you time it right you should be able to take down more than one in a single shot but do what you gotta do.â€ÂÂ
“In the meantime…†Daemun paused a moment as he looked over to the side of the Aerotech, looking down then after to the destination below as he continued “Open the hatch. I’m going in.â€ÂÂ
(ooc- how's your holiday? :)
Geiser stood and looked at the body for a while as Rav'una busied herself around him. Eventually, he asked, "Got anything in mind for the corpse?"
-=o=-
(ooc - everything becomes epic with me, it's unavoidable, even my tabletop roleplays become epic, and this pisstake comic that I was doing with my husband starting five years ago, well I'm still going with that and it's become an animation, fucking epic... XD)
"You shouldn't need to cloak," Chip said tonelessly. Right close to Derek's Battlesuit, there was an extremely loud KERCHUNK as one of the land to air missiles loaded into the excessive large launcher. "If it gets too hairy quite likely I'll throw you back into the mech bay anyway." Seeing as he was concentrating on what he was doing it might have been a bit difficult to tell whether he was serious or not.
-=o=-
Strike brushed his hand over the console, the only evidence of him touching something the on board computer informing him "MASC enabled." He pushed down on the wheel, the aerotech dipped and dropped rapidly, Strike threading skilfully through the canyon walls that flew at them with alarming rapidity. He didn't mind skmming the canyons and doing some picking, and hopefully taking out some of hte missile launchers before they had a chance to launch, so he didn't argue with Daemun.
When Daemun mentioned he'd found his spot, Strike responded, "Good luck," as he attached his mask and released the hatch, pulling the back panel forwards so Daemun would be able to climb out, monitoring his movements but otherwise watching where they were going for obvious reasons.
Rav'una seemed unphased by the Catatonian's sharp tongue and she would prove, if need be, that her tongue could be quite sharp too. Of course she might not carry as foul of a language but then again give an Assassin enough to get annoyed about and something is bound to slip out sooner or later.
"You are not listening Catatonian..." Rav'una continued with that firm and to the point tone as she stepped one foot up on the chair between the Catatonian's legs, leaning forward and sliding the tip of her blade along the side of the Catatonian's neck just enough to part the fur and scrape lightly along the skin beneath as she continued "I said choosing option two will make you wish you had selected option one...I said nothing about it being your demise. Think about that for a moment. Let it swirl in your thoughts. After all, you don't know what I am capable of...I have a tendency to get a little..." With a quick flick of her wrist Rav'una slammed the tip of the blade into the chair so close to the Catatonian's face he could clearly see his reflection on the polished blade, Rav'una meanwhile leaning closer with a growl as she added "...drastic in my approach."
By this point the Catatonian was starting to get a little nervous, sweat running down his temple as he was starting to wonder what exactly Rav'una might do next. And the way she hardly changed her expressions, not even showing a glimpse of what she was thinking or feeling exactly at that moment began to screw with him.
"Come now...Why don't you save yourself the trauma and pain and tell me your little plan..."
"F-forget it!" The Catatonian pushed, his courage a little shaken but still standing "I'm not telling you anything you bitch!"
"Wrong answer..." Rav'una bluntly stated and with a quick flick of her wrist she flipped the blade into one smooth and fluent move that was lightning fast, driving it full force into the shoulder of the Catatonian who cried out in pain and proceeded to try and grin and bear it. Just to make it worse Rav'una leaned on her blade, taking her free hand to grab the Catatonian by the chin and yank his attention her way.
"Need I ask you again?..."
(OOC: Deal! And feel free to throw in any ideas you might have too.)
Meanwhile Derek was having his own fun...
Although more firm than Chip and perhaps, no doubt, with a little more of a different style of humor and such Derek was starting to feel a little more comfortable around Cypher and he felt Cypher was starting to get a little more comfortable with him too. Good. If that was the case that was certainly a plus. The last thing Derek needed was one of the brutes of the team writing his name in his bad books.
Scurrying off the mech bay Derek immediately began working on the final points of repair and such on the mechs he was working on earlier, tighting bolts and replacing metals, snipping wires and welding them back into place...the usual techy goodness. For Derek this was serious work and he took it very seriously. But at the same time it was fun for him so this could well be classed as his dream job. Minus the fighting and the bloodshed and the near death experiences out on the field. And not to mention random encounters with all kinds of things and types that would much rather kill you or watch you squirm than sit down with a nice cold drink for some friendly conversation.
(OOC: XD! Oh it won't be the last of such references, I can already tell, ;P)
"Thanks buddy!" Derek grinned with a nod as he took the tools the young mouse was handing him, still working on the mechs as he asked "What's your name kid?"
Meanwhile elsewhere...
(OOC: XD! Doesn't take much to break me considering I was already broken, lol. Ah, well in that case I suppose Daemun was Strike's commanding officer then, XD. I know it's all confusing at this point but we'll just flow along with what we have now then. I can't be bothered to fix up everything at this stage, lol! Onward then!)
Daemun watched Strike and the others carefully and with a watchful eye, his gaze darting from one and then the other before settling back on Strike as his trigger finger began to apply pressure to the trigger. But something was stopping him from pulling it all the way back and his hold was starting to be a little shakey. Still didn't stop him from holding it up and letting his anger get the better of him. However fortunately for Strike that anger was not as boiling as it was just moments ago. Still it was there and Daemun had a reputation of being unpredictable and untamed.
"You don't want to help me...All you want to do is-" Daemun stopped himself short when he saw that smile on Strike's face. Something about the genuine nature of it striked him harder than any physical blow either Starzone or Trajectory could of thrown at him and his expressions slowly began to ease, the pupil of that creepy looking eye of his expanding to its normal size, though naturally being a slit-shape didn't change much more than that but at least it was a good sign that was starting to calm down.
"You...really do want to help me, don't you?..." He finally continued, slowly and at last lowering his gun to his side as exhaled deep and shook his head with a lowered gaze.
"That's what I hoped you would say..." Daemun continued, adding then after a short pause and lifting his gaze back to Strike as he continued "I hated you. I dispised the very ground you walked on after everything turned for the worse. But a part of me, some small part deep down inside that refused to die, remembered you as someone to be admired and respected you. I see now that side of me was right all along..." Lowering his gaze once more with a shake of his head Daemun continued "I was such a fucking idiot...So naive, blinded by my rage..." With a frown, more so toward himself now, Daemun holstered his weapon and as he continued "No more. This stops now..."
Standing tall and proud as he looked at Strike, Daemun confirmed with a nod "I may still be bitter but I'm going to trust in your decision. I will come with you." Lifting his hand with a firm point Daemun added "But I swear to the Gods of Mars if you back stab me I'll personally find you again and shove a boot up your ass..."
You ain't got a life 'til ya live it free!
(Thanks Nightbeat/Katana for Derek's picture! ^..^)