Jonis will go and check Lieutenant Hamilton is ok. She will make sure is is not being tortured or anything like that, and that he will be eventually released (not executed).
At some point as you are gearing up for your next mission, a messenger from Lt. McDare comes and finds each of you and hands you a small credstick. When you authenticate it, it reads 'PAYMENT SUCCESSFUL, 7800 CREDITS DEPOSITED TO YOUR ACCOUNT. HAVE A NICE DAY.'
Jonis goes to the Grackletooth Officer.
"Good day, I want to check on the Coalition Officer. I am part of the group that captured him. Might I talk to him? I wish to make sure he is ok, and maybe I can convince him to cooperate with us all."
She winks her eye to him.
If allowed, she will go into the cell, and talk to the Coalition officer. She wants to make sure he is ok, give him her name and group for him to try to contact her if he needs help, and ask him to cooperate with the Tomorrow Legion.
"We are the good guys. We don't want to destroy humanity or anything like that. But we believe in freedom for all, non human included, as long as they respect and protect each other. Give us a change, give you a chance, and you will see."
You got five minutes," the Grackletooth says. You hear the Psi-Stalker muttering something about being able to get more out of him than you ever could.
The officer, now out of his armor and only dressed in Coalition Fatigues, looks every bit like he should be sipping wine and wagging his fingers at servants. His slick black hair and sharp features mark him as a socialite more than a military officer. "Jonis, is it? Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do and I'm sure this legion of yours does too, but you must understand, orders are orders. The Coalition is dedicated to protecting what's left of humanity. Associating with known threats to humankind makes you no better than them. Beneath them even."
Jonis looks at him sadly.
"Look at me. Am I a threat to humanity? Should I be killed so those in power in Chi-Town can keep exploiting and killing the people, starting with their own? I am sorry you can't see me as a friend, but know I am one to you. If you need something, ask for me, and if I am able I will help you."
He puts a hand in his shoulder.
"I am sorry you are a prisoner. But until you are free from the Prosek's influence, you are dangerous to us."
She turns and leaves.
---
To the Grackletooth Officer she thanks him.
"Thank you for the opportunity. I am glad he is not being tortured or anything like that, as I think we shouldn't do that. I owe you one. And I am sorry I couldn't be of assistance."
Lieutenant Hamilton is quiet for the moment, but as Jonis turns to leave, he speaks only one word. "Thanks."
The Grackletooth outside just shakes his head. "Them Coalition types got it all wrong in the head. Not much you can do about that."
Jonis turns to see the Lieutenant and smiles sadly at him before leaving.
--
Jonis touches the Grackletooth arm, nods, and thanks him again before leaving.
--
|
Atlas spends some time getting his grenade launcher topped off, and then pauses for some software upgrades (mainly swapping over to Refuge's OS) and takes the opportunity to look through the catalog of available programs. Realizing that software isn't bulky, he decides on a corse of action.
He asks after the location of Auriel (which just comes across as him yelling at people) until he tracks him down.
After finding the warrior, the cyborg doesn't say anything for quite some time. He just...stands there, staring. At last he booms out [bigger][b]"Greetings,"[b][bigger] but then stays silent, as if waiting for something.
You find Auriel in the castle library, reading a book on the history of the American Empire. Hearing you approach, Auriel will set down his book, look up at you, and say "What can I help you with, my companion?"
|
|
The assault mech shuffles on his feet in a decidedly awkward manner, before speaking up.
"Stealth is an important tactical factor."
This non sequitur hangs in the air for awhile. Finally the mech seems to decide on a conversation path and continues.
"There are software upgrades available that will greatly enhance my ability to remain undetected. However, I require greater money funds to acquire such a resource. I have noticed that your lifestyle is not...based upon material things. If this is so, may have temporary ownership of a portion of your cash credits to purchase and utilize a Ceres Industries Z97-B3M(v3) Wired Skill chip?
I would need approximately thousands of seven."
The speech winds down and he waits silently.
"Sure thing. Let's go talk to your cyberdoctor and I'll loan you the money."
Auriel will accompany Atlas to the cyberdoc and give him 7,000 credits.
As you head out towards your next mission, the comms officer tags you in your ears. "I'm really worried about this Rift opening guys, be careful out there. By the by, I managed to catch you a lift to get you there faster. Go to the flight deck, you'll see what I mean. "
When you arrive, amid the various small fighter craft, flying power armor suits and other aircraft, you come upon what looks to be an old boxcar with with rotors. Standing out front is the pilot, one "Captain Tiller, at your service. We're ready to roll, so let's skip any pleasantries and climb aboard. We'll make a quick stop to attach the Glitter Kicker and then we'll be on our way. ",he says, tapping his flight helmet.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Jonis looks uneasily at the contraption.
"You sure it will be able to carry my Glitter Girl?"
The cocksure pilot smiles at Jonis. "Two of them, if you'd like sweetheart. "
-Posted with Wayfinder
She smiles charmingly.
"I hope you are right, she weighs more than she looks, you know..."
Jazz spends the little sliver of downtime tinkering with her gadgets. Nothing she made on the trail seems to hold up terribly well, but by the end of it, she's at least able to use her headset for its intended purpose again. "We're always careful." she says over radio to the Comm officer. "That's why we fought a whole Coalition platoon with no backup." She sparks her headset with a tiny portion of mana. The monitoring officer might notice one of their traffic graphs briefly shaping itself into a winky face.
"Oh, wow," she breathes on seeing the chopper. Tiptoeing past Jonis and the pilot, she presses up against it, setting her ear against the metal. Taking in the technowizard mods, she lets out a blissful sigh. "Listen to that baby screech," she says. It does not screech. "Like a hawk." It does not sound particularly like a hawk. She tears her eyes away to shoot Captain Tiller a brief, reproachful glance as he flirts with Jonis. Frowning further, she slips back past them to Attie. "It's okay," she whispers, patting him on the grenade launcher. "He doesn't have a chance."
|
|
**************
The trip to the cyberdoc is relatively brief, but Atlas had to radio ahead to make sure that a low-ranking tech was in attendance. The tech is needed to open the temporal hatch to access the cranial carousel that houses Atlas' internal WSP unit.
A brief transaction accompanies Auriel's credits, including Atlas selling his older Mk1 chip.
The procedure is relatively quick since the chip just needs to be inserted and compiled with the existing unit.
****************************
As Atlas catches a first glimpse of the MH-60, he can't help but spout some historical babble. "The MH60's design began as a jump-capable upgrade to an older robot armor unit, but as the need for greater mobility and tactical versatility came to the fore after The Fall, the older model was cannibalized for parts and the project was redirected to an air unit," he says to no-one, unable to verify if any of that is true.
As Jazz addresses him, his large, ugly, and bullet-proof death's head swivels down to look at her. "But he does have a body."
Atlas takes his seat and runs a system check on his ARC-2R Archer rail gun.
The pilot continues his banter with Jonis as he watches Jazz enjoy the feel of his aircraft. He pretends not to notice the walking tank or the rest of you. "She handles her weight well, don't you worry. You're in good hands."
As the rest of you approach, the side doors of the aircraft open to allow entrance and those of you attuned to such things can feel the magical power coming from its engines as the pilot starts flipping some switches when he gets into the cockpit. He puts on a headset and starts preflight clearance chatter as you mount up. It only takes a few moments and suddenly you are lurching back as the thing takes off. The view of the castle complex really showcases the mix of ancient and modern technologies combined for such a place. It's massive, ugly and sometimes things just don't work right, but it's home.
Soon, you are hovering over a staging ground with a lot of robot vehicles in various states of preparedness. Some refurbished Coalition machines, Triax bots, Golden Age bashkits and even a couple more Glitter Boys.
It doesn't take them long to attach Jonis' Girl and the weight of it only slightly affects your flight. The magic power feeding this machine is in full bloom now. Moments later, you leave the facility behind and are soaring over trees and valleys and for a moment, you forget that you are in a strange world, where anything can happen. For now, nature lulls you...
"Alright folks, we've got an ETA of two hours, 22 minutes. Enjoy the flight. At two minutes we'll be coming in low and fast, so I'll give you a heads up then."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Auriel seems less than impressed by the helicopter. Then again, other than the glittergirl, he hasn't taken any real interest in any technology. He does listen respectfully to Jazz' story, however.
Jazz spends the first few minutes of the flight getting settled in and admiring the gorgeous nature outside. Before long, it becomes clear that sitting still isn't in her nature. She tries to stretch, then to scratch her back, but she can't seem to reach the right place. Sighing, she unbuttons the shoulders of her armor, then takes off the entire chestpiece. The tank top she's wearing underneath it has been crudely hacked lower to make room for the pieces of metal alloy that jut out of her back. Most of her shoulder blades are a mess of scars and pieces of leyline-metal. She leans back, scratching her back against cargo netting, Attie, whatever's available.
She stops, her back clanking against the wall as she looks out the door of the craft. "Is it weird I'm not scared of heights?" She wonders aloud. "I fell twice. The first time, I got crippled, the second I woke up weeks later, and I would have been dead if the Legion hadn't found me." Jazz flushes, realizing she has an audience and grabs the armor, starting to pull it up, before stopping. Remembering Auriel's tale back on the trail, she thinks for a second and keeps going. "When I was little, there was a place my dad used to take me way out in the woods behind our house. There was a cliff face up there, and it was a hell of a climb, but if you made it all the way to the top, you could see everything for miles."
"I never got to go back after I broke my neck," she says. "But just because I fell a couple of times doesn't mean it wasn't worth climbing, and it wasn't worth flying. Those falls are part of me now." Her back lights up with a jolt of leyline and her eyes faintly glow as she takes in a deep breath. "I'm never going to be healthy like I was as a kid, and I wouldn't move if it wasn't for my cyber. But I don't regret stuff. My body got tore up, so I'll never be, y'know, like Auriel." She smiles slyly at him, tapping him with the back of her hand on his bicep. "But that stuff wasn't too important to me. I got to keep my head, and when I was paralyzed, I read a lot, and I learned to listen." She sniffs, letting the magic drop from her back as she picks up her armor and pulls it over her head. She looks pointedly at Attie. "I guess what I'm saying is however your body ends up, it doesn't have to make you someone you're not. You don't have to stop trying. There was something my dad used to say up there on the cliff." She ratchets down the shoulder pieces of her armor. "Everybody falls. But if you stand tall, you will see, that when you fall, you will fall from a height most men will never reach."
Sitting back down, Jazz sniffs again, then turns to Jonis with an earnest smile. "Sorry, I guess that was kind of a total downer, huh?"
When the young magically cybernetic girl finishes her story, you realize you are almost there. Outside of the bay doors, you can see a bright blue ball of light pulsing in the distance. Attie's enhanced rangefinder lidar tells you that it is approximately 5 miles away and doing some fast calculating, it appears to be about three hundred feet across. As you admire the beauty of the thing, the pilot cuts in to your comms.
"Alright folks, we're about two minutes out. I'm getting spiked readings on my instruments, so this one's going to be a doozy. We're setting down just on the outskirts of the abandoned complex it's in, you'll have to walk the rest of the way."
With a lurch, the TW Heli turns and you feel yourself descending towards the ground at a rapid pace, trees and tall antennaes and what appear to be broken cranes and other large machinery fly by your window. Soon, the machine slows and your bellies return to where they are supposed to be.
"Sorry about that. Several lines going into this one, makes for a hell of a crosswind."
A thud and you are back on solid ground. Nearby is Jonis' Glitter Girl, its flight ribbons automatically detaching.
Even those of you not magically attuned can feel the power in the area. All of your hairs stand on end.
"I'll remain in the area for half an hour, then I got to head back, so hurry it up folks."
The helicopter takes off and flies away, leaving you alone with a pulsing Rift in the sky that will take you a few minutes to walk to..
Disembarking, Auriel will turn to the others and say "Shall we?"
In the last few minutes, Jazz pops out her comm device again. "We'll try this again," she says as she starts to tinker with the wiring under the plastic...
Snapping the device back into place and closing it up with a spark of mana, she holds off on turning it on. "What's our approach like? Careful and quiet, or do we go loud?" She coughs, glancing towards the abandoned building and shivering slightly. "I've never actually seen a Rift before."
|
|
Topped off with ammo and all systems showing green, Atlas tromps onto the ground and looks around, letting his A-TAC program happily scan the area, looking for targets and analyzing threats by habit. He registers an odd feeling, a certain skittering along his base programs that would make his hair stand up...if he had any left.
Atlas booms out, again using his outside voice. he states, answering Jazz and starting forward at a lumber, his weapon held low.
"Agreed. Besides, I think that we work well together and compliment each other's strengths."
Burgurk follows Atlas, his mind alert for any danger.
You move forward, through the ruins of what appears to have been a manufacturing complex of some kind. As you approach the burgeoning Rift, each of you starts to hear static on your comms. At first it is low level, but as you get closer, it rises in volume. Soon, you feel you are able to pick out voices, but the language is very alien, though strangely familiar...
-Posted with Wayfinder
-Posted with Wayfinder
|
|
Atlas tries to hone in on the radio chatter with his core electronics package, eventually getting a semi-decent feed, enough to run through his Olmstead 840 audio package...but he fails to get anything close to understanding. Still, a quick run-through of all his communication-based interactions in the recent past comes up with something.
>>>Jazz, do you still have your translation device? This seems similar to the blue civilians we recently encountered.<<<
"Not as such, but... Maybe I can..." Jazz says, bringing her headset down and tinkering with the inner wires again. "Thes things never seem to last."
Jazz messes with the signal and at first, you get more squelches and beeps than anything, but after a few minutes, instead of voices talking, you hear... singing. A choral voice, with varying ranges and sounds, but the words are the same language as those of the blue skinned folk you rescued. As soon as you hear it, in the background you start to pick out a harsher voice with a more specific language, Dragonese. The singing stops and suddenly the Rift closes. The last thing you hear is "...you will never be able to save them all..."
The electricity in the air settles and the static on your comms ends. You are left alone in the middle of this manufacturing complex...
"Sorry, I guess that was kind of a total downer, huh?"
Jonis, a tear in her cheek, approaches Jazz and embraces her, hard, like trying to hold her forever.
She keeps silent but tries to let the warmth of her body flow into Jazz. Tries to make her feel better, feel supported, feel loved.
The electricity in the air settles and the static on your comms ends. You are left alone in the middle of this manufacturing complex...
From Jonis' Glitter Girl, some half mile back, her sweet voice sounds on the radio.
"That was... ominous. I just hope those people are not being slaved over that dimension. Should we go in, and check if we can help?"
Auriel's eyes narrow at Jonis' suggestion and his face takes on a fierce, almost predatory look. He says nothing but begins stalking forward like a hunting cat, hands hovering close to his magical tattoos.
"I'm sorry, Jonis, but the Rift has closed. Anyone else have anything to do here, or should we just go back to base?"
|
|
Atlas looks rather like a confused dog wondering where the ball went...or if it ever existed at all. He stands still, except for his head, which moves about fitfully, sending out every can of scan he can.
After awhile he just sort of shrugs his shoulders and heads back. "Affirmative. The nature of Rifts is their instability. We were too late. Prepare for evac."
"But... shouldn't we wait for it to open again?"
She looks around.
"Maybe you are right, we should head back and report. And maybe ask for another change to see if people need our help."
-Posted with Wayfinder
|
|
**Wait one,** Atlas suddenly chirps over the comms. He stands very still and his head turns side to side, as if trying to triangulate a signal.
His search field gets narrower and narrower until at least he seems to have found what he was looking for.
**I'm picking up a heat bloom 20 meters from my current position. Possibly inside a structure. Could be weapons fire, or....** his comm trails off, slightly confused by the large number of things a heat signature could signify.
**We should investigate it before we relocate.**
Without waiting for backup, the assault mech starts walking in the indicated direction.
Jonis watches over Attie, in the distance.
"Be careful." - you can hear her clear voice over the radio.
Auriel doesn't say anything, but begins moving in that direction.
Burgurk follows as well.
Jazz takes off the headset, looking at it with concern. "Only thing I got was someone saying that..." She shrugs. "They said we couldn't save them all. They said it in Dragonese. Figure they weren't talking to us."
She puts the headset back on but kills the power unless she hears something else. She falls in behind Burgurk heading off in the same direction as Attie.