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This slows the bugs down as they stop to reform, but doesn't actually stop them. ::Hey, it takes a lot to destroy one of these. Maybe we need to work together, concentrate our attacks.::
"So, telepathy is weird where you come from? Sorry, it's just that's really weird to me. It's just such a normal part of life for us...it's easier I think when you're used to it. You know you have good control of it so it's fine. And really useful.""Telepathy. I don't like it, although I'm sure dating the high seer's daughter will probably cure me of that eventually." "Well, if you read the first chapter of History of Agartha, it does say that we're all descended from a bunch of dissidents and refugees from the early Empire...and you have to admit it's probably not a coincidence that so many natural telepaths ended up on the enemy list, you know? So not really an evolution thing so much as a we're what got weeded out kind of thing."
"Telepathy. I don't like it, although I'm sure dating the high seer's daughter will probably cure me of that eventually." "So, telepathy is weird where you come from? Sorry, it's just that's really weird to me. It's just such a normal part of life for us...it's easier I think when you're used to it. You know you have good control of it so it's fine. And really useful."
"Get used to what?" she asked, confused.
"Yeah," she said, looking uncomfortable and standing in an awkward way. A second glance shows that by and large acid is not that great for preserving one's modesty and she's actually trying to keep her shirt from falling off. "Scorch and Sparky fixed me right up....only I..uh...think I need a new uniform now. Because nearly getting melted by a swarm of robot bugs wasn't bad enough without adding in wardrobe troubles," she said sarcastically. "Thanks," she said, relaxing as she no longer had to worry about flashing her teammates. She shrugged. "Modesty is a really big deal among firebirds. We've got so many cultural taboos we have to keep lists," she added with a grin of her own. "Can't go breaking all of those at once. We just can't handle it."
"Yeah," she said, looking uncomfortable and standing in an awkward way. A second glance shows that by and large acid is not that great for preserving one's modesty and she's actually trying to keep her shirt from falling off. "Scorch and Sparky fixed me right up....only I..uh...think I need a new uniform now. Because nearly getting melted by a swarm of robot bugs wasn't bad enough without adding in wardrobe troubles," she said sarcastically.
Elektra scrambles out the window with help and dashes away from the building.
She is badly injured and definitely in need of immediate medical attention, but still conscious.
Ghalen's first three shots connect and knock apart the bugs that they hit. But the other bugs appear to be quickly reassembling the fallen. Elektra abandons her lightning blades in favor of a large burst of fire to clear the way to the window they entered by, and makes a dash for the window. The acid is still clinging to her skin and she continues to be burned by it.
The bugs moved astonishingly fast and Elektra and Ghalen had to dodge several balls of acid spit as the ran away. , , In spite of her best efforts at dodging, there were just two many of the little things, and Elektra screams as she is badly burned by acid attacks.
The laser suddenly tilted over, its blade cutting off abruptly as Elektra sliced through it with a lightning blade, revealing a large group of bugs that had been hiding behind it. "Ummm......I think this might be a good time for a tactical retreat," she said nervously.
"You think they're machines or something?" she asked uncertainly. "Be careful," she whispered, watching suspiciously. There was an awful lot of skittering going on in here.
"You think they're machines or something?" she asked uncertainly.
"Wonderful. Cause bugs weren't problematic enough without spitting acid," she said from the window. She looked around carefully before following him into the room. "You got a visual yet?"
"It stands to reason. I'll go in and take a look around, determine if they are hostile. If they are, we'll act accordingly. Ok?" "Got it," she said, nodding.
"So whatever took over the factory might be controlling the power grid?" she asked.
Elektra tilted her head to the side as if listening to something. "Everyone is meeting up and coming in from one location. They'll be here in five. No more than ten minutes. We should scout things out while we wait."
The two workers startled a bit when Elektra landed right in front of them. "Who are you?" the first one asked suspiciously.
"Er...yes, he did. I'm sort of an ...advance scout. So I'm supposed to tell him what's going on...er, what's going on?" "Well.....I'm not sure we rightly know exactly. There were power fluctuations. And then machines turning themselves on and off and then....well, we got chased out by these things....like they weren't big exactly. And I have to admit that we never got a really good look at them. But I think there were a lot of them and they had control of the machinery, and so we evacuated. Not really sure what else to do," the more hopeful one admitted, looking a bit crestfallen at the idea.
As they approach the factory, Ghalen goes into soldier mode, and assumes the worst, and hopes for the best. He moves between cover on the way there, hoping to expose himself to whatever may be watching as little as possible.::There's a couple of guys just sort of randomly standing around watching the building. Do you want to approach them? They're wearing coveralls. Looks like they're probably workers,:: Elektra said telepathically, relaying what she can see from the air.
As they approach the factory, Ghalen goes into soldier mode, and assumes the worst, and hopes for the best. He moves between cover on the way there, hoping to expose himself to whatever may be watching as little as possible. ::There's a couple of guys just sort of randomly standing around watching the building. Do you want to approach them? They're wearing coveralls. Looks like they're probably workers,:: Elektra said telepathically, relaying what she can see from the air.
Ghalen goes through the routine of securing the shuttle after they land, and begins to head, with Elektra, to the base. Elektra shifts into her bird form once they're out of the shuttle, flying up to get a better view of what's ahead. Her bright orange and red feathers would be easy to spot during daylight, but in the dark it's not so easy to spot her. ::Fido and Phoenix have just landed. They're approaching from the other direction, but they parked a little farther out, so we'll probably get there first,:: she sent to Ghalen.
He nods as she speaks. "It's entirely possible. Not a whole lot of heat signatures, so the workers must have bailed, or the FLiR can't penetrate certain areas of the buildings. I'm not too familiar with the layout, yet, so I'm not sure what I'm looking at. This 'dome' here is interesting...dunno if it's alive or what. But whatever's happening, the radio seems to be affected. So, fly away and see if we can get radio contact, or land outside of town and go in on foot. You call it." Elektra grinned. "Wanna know the best thing about telepathy? People who jam radio signals usually forget about it entirely," she said. "Fido and Phoenix are having the same trouble we are. And Fido says we should land and go in on foot. He says they'll meet us there. He wants to pick a different landing zone just in case. Apparently it's only paranoia if they're not actually out to get you," she added, rolling her eyes.
"You think they're under attack? I mean, from what I hear, stuff tries to attack the school pretty often. And the town. No reason the factories would be any different," Elektra said, as she tried to figure out what all the different readings and such actually meant. She was still just starting to study the manuals for this stuff.
"Roger, Fido, heading back." looks over at Elektra "The terror of the cows will need to wait, it seems.""Copy that, Grunt. The Boss is still dealing with site five, but he has Sunbeam as backup if things go south. We need to head back to base, over.""Fido, that's a negative on contact with HQ, over." "Well, let's just hope that there's something more exciting than cows waiting at the other end," she said, flippantly, heading back to the shuttle.
"It's just a bunch of cows," she said quietly, turning back to Ghalen after peeking in the window of the barn. "I mean, I guess somebody could be hiding in with all the cows, but..." she shrugged. The radio flared to life again. "Grunt, this is HQ. Confirm site 5 is hot and that the objective has been retrieved, over."
Elektra moved forward silently, flattening herself against the side of the barn and peering in a window.
Assuming Elektra acknowledges the message...Ghalen takes the shuttle up, and looks at the area around site 1. Using trees or hills for cover, he lands far enough away to not alarm the inhabitants, yet is still with in a 5 minute jog to the location. He then places the shuttle in hot standby in case they need to bug out, and pulls his pulse rifle out getting ready to disembark. He takes a knee and checks his clips, offering to double check Elektra's gear as well, and inviting her to double check his. "You ready?" Elektra doesn't actually have any gear, which she doesn't seem to view as a problem at all. She's just wearing normal clothes, albeit loose-fitting easy to move in ones. no weapons. "As ready as I'll ever be," she said, her confident demeanor back on.
"TacNet err....I mean....control?" she said, trying to remember the radio protocols she'd only seen once. "This is Spitfire and Grunt. Heading due west, just passed point zero, and awaiting further instructions."
She hastily wipes her eyes on her sleeve. "Yeah, that would be a nightmare," she agreed with a sniffle. "Sorry for getting all emotional. It's obviously a sore subject for me. One I'm gonna have to come to terms with it seems. And don't you dare tell the boys I got all emotional," she said. "They'll never let me live it down. It's hard enough keeping them in line as it is."
He nods. "Yes, I'm immune to fire, and that compulsion bit is unfortunate. I often worry about such countermeasures with the Empire, to be honest." "Are you telling me that the Empire mind controls its troops?" she asked, looking a little ill. "That's..." she struggled for words. "My dad is one of the controlled guardsmen. It was bad enough thinking that we might be facing off with those. Even if it's from another house, it's almost impossible not to think of that, because they don't have a choice in what they do anymore. But if you're talking on a larger scale...I'm not sure I can do this," she said, turning her face away.
"Pretty good, actually. We have some pretty good tech and aerial surveillance. She'd have to be hidden pretty deep under ground to avoid detection. I think her captors are either too used to having the aerial advantage, or kidnappings aren't a thing they normally do, and didn't think about it over much. Finding her won't be the problem; the extraction will."Stands up, almost at attention as soon as Jiminy goes into the impromptu briefing. He listens, then nods. "Alright 'Spitfire', let's go", he says to Elektra. As they walk the glammer on his armor shifts to reveal his combat armor, which can double as a flight suit for him."Nice threads. Obviously whatever unit you used to be part of had better fashion sense than ours ever did," she joked, half-heartedly. Elektra looked uncomfortable. "Yeah, probably. This is normally where I would make a smart-alec remark about hoping you were fireproof, but the thing is that I have information that I think might be important. At least it's probably important if she was taken by firebirds. And I can't think of why anyone else would take her. But I'm kinda hoping I'm wrong. Anyhow, the thing is that the noble houses...all of their servants and guards have these marks tattooed on their arms that can be used to compel obedience. That's common knowledge. But the thing is, that some of the noble houses, not all of them mind you, but some of them...there's another level of mark. It doesn't just compel obedience. It basically totally removes any free will. It's not widely known. I don't think even Ardiente knows about it. But the del Sols use it. Their most trusted guards all have it. That's the other half of the reason why we ran when we had the chance. We three were due for the upgrade and didn't want it. I don't know if it can be reversed. But I thought it might be important information to have, knowing that we might have to fight people who aren't actually in control of their actions," she said glumly.
Stands up, almost at attention as soon as Jiminy goes into the impromptu briefing. He listens, then nods. "Alright 'Spitfire', let's go", he says to Elektra. As they walk the glammer on his armor shifts to reveal his combat armor, which can double as a flight suit for him."Nice threads. Obviously whatever unit you used to be part of had better fashion sense than ours ever did," she joked, half-heartedly. "Guess I better get used to flying from the inside of a machine," she said, looking around the cockpit with interest as they took off. "Only my second time in one of these, and the first time I wasn't allowed near the controls." "Just as an educated guess, what do you think our chances of finding her are?"
Stands up, almost at attention as soon as Jiminy goes into the impromptu briefing. He listens, then nods. "Alright 'Spitfire', let's go", he says to Elektra. As they walk the glammer on his armor shifts to reveal his combat armor, which can double as a flight suit for him. "Nice threads. Obviously whatever unit you used to be part of had better fashion sense than ours ever did," she joked, half-heartedly.
Both Alev and Etain started to step forward and were summarily shoved back by Elektra, who stepped forward, turning to face Mithros. "No. Sir." she added with maximum snark. "I get that you have more experience with these machines than we do, and I respect your expertise, but there are some things you clearly don't understand. We have spent the better part of our lives on the front lines. In the service of depraved, evil maniacs, I might add, although we didn't realize at first. That's how it happens a lot, I'm guessing. Pretty sure he wouldn't be here, otherwise," she said, nodding towards Ghalen. "We will follow orders, and we won't slack off. But don't you dare expect us to be serious all the time. War is serious enough. If you don't give your brain a break sometimes, you will break. So, yeah, we make some smart ass comments sometimes. But wait to see what we actually do before you go judging us. Isn't that the whole point of starting on simulators? So we don't break anything important if we're not suited to being pilots after all?"
"Ha! Like most of us have a fiery disposition?" There were some snickers from the boys which were silenced by another glare from Elektra. "So, if we're all done with the questioning each otther's loyalties and the reminders that we're all coming from different cultural backgrounds with different sets of expectations, can we get on with actually learning how to fly these things?" she said, obviously eager to get started.
"Training! Same as you! I knew you weren't listening at lunch! I told you, didn't I, Alev. I told you he wasn't listening. Totally checked out daydreaming about his girlfriend," he taunted. "Oh, leave off, Etain. Stop being such a snowflake," Elektra said, rolling her eyes. "You had all day to behave like overgrown children. We're supposed to be doing some serious training here," she added sticking out her tongue at her friend.
"Well, that's fair. I mean, seriously? That kid over there just summoned some kind of large hairy animal just to throw away his trash. And I don't even know what that guy is. Or those weird greasy looking things hanging out by the beverage station chanting Koff fee. And the machines and magic and things they all use like it's normal....this place is crazy. From what I can pick up so far though, this place is crazy even by surfacer standards, so don't feel bad. It helps if you pretend like it's all no big deal.""Yeah. This place is nuts. I don't know how to respond to half the people here. The other half you're supposed to run from. Not here, hunh?" "Apparently not. We're supposed to all get along....maybe we'll get along with them better than we get along with each other?"
"Yeah. It's not that there aren't interesting people. It's that everyone's so unnerving, I don't really know what this place is... I'm just finding it hard to take it all in.""So what do you think makes a person interesting?" he asked in between shoveling mouthfuls of food in as if he were in a terrible hurry to eat. Etain and Elektra both had the same problem with table manners. A guard thing perhaps. "There's lots of people here. Stands to reason at least some of them would match your definition."hiesta gives a fake smile, pretending she actually cares about what he's saying. "Well, that's fair. I mean, seriously? That kid over there just summoned some kind of large hairy animal just to throw away his trash. And I don't even know what that guy is. Or those weird greasy looking things hanging out by the beverage station chanting Koff fee. And the machines and magic and things they all use like it's normal....this place is crazy. From what I can pick up so far though, this place is crazy even by surfacer standards, so don't feel bad. It helps if you pretend like it's all no big deal."
"It's totally okay to tell the lot of us to sod off if you'd rather eat alone or just want to meet people you don't already know," he says with a charming smile, trying to coax the sullen firebird girl into some form of interaction.Lucas sits down close to her, with Icarus hopping off his shoulder hopping over to her other side, trilling quietly "are you ok? How has your day been so far" "Having some trouble adjusting?" she asked sympathetically.
Lucas sends a quick telepathic projection to ardente telling him they'd meet up later before he follows the the others to the food, hoping they knew where it was so his own ignorance would not be revealed, this being mostly a force of habit. Elektra used the wall arrow trick and the group was soon headed to the cafeteria along with most of the rest of the crowd.
"Translation, we should keep our noses out of it," she laughed as she put a hand on Alev's shoulder, pulling him towards the door.
::not a problem, it happens to the best of us:: he projects, despite his not flinching at the attack, ::I suppose it's my turn then?:: he projects drawing a wand, and fireing off a focused blast of fire
Elektra easily defects his blast with fire. She breathed a sigh of relief. That would have been very embarrassing if she'd missed.
"Let's stick with fire for now. Alev can do a little bit of sonic, but not much, and Etain and I don't have the knack for it," she said, moving into position as Alev and Etain faced off with each other. Just as she prepares to send a fire attack at Lucas the room shakes with sound as Ardiente misses his counter against the sonic attack and her flame shoots over Lucas's head. ::Sorry. I lost my focus there for a moment. Won't happen again.::
[facepalm]
And I made new aliases for some new arrivals. |
