Eternal Fire

"Okay, so armed mutants, possibly with suits like ours... Alright" Jerry said to himself, taking a few steps closer to where the doors seemed to be. Some of the little guys looked like they were getting ready to have fun, and the doc mentioned that Jerry's and the other biggest suit could be used as transport for the others. Like clockwork, one of them almost immediately jumped to his suit's back and asked if he minded a passenger. He turned the long neck of his suit around halfway so he could turn one of the mechanical eyes towards her.

"Shouldn't be a problem. Just keep your trays in an upright position and your seat belts locked; it could be a bumpy ride" Jerry said, mostly jokingly. "No but really, I'm gonna have to get used to flying this thing. Also I might become a bullet magnet" he added more seriously. Then something one of the others said got his attention.

"Right. Everyone, I am going to send out a drone through the doors once they open. That should give us a better idea of what is going on outside."

"Okay, I have another idea. ALL YOU LITTLE GUYS STAND BACK!" Jerry yelled into the comms as he turned the suit head back towards the door. "Anything on the other side of those doors with weapons ready will have to go through us big guys first" he continued, as his suit weapons started to unfold. The large autocannon and rocket pods extended up out of his shoulders, inadvertently threatening to displace Lucinda. The smaller machine gun unfolded near the tip of the tail, which Jerry curled around to aim forwards.

"I'd just like to see any bandit gangs try to mess with me, now..." Jerry stated, starting the comment strong, but trailing off by the end of it. He was finally noticing that his voice sounded really different. It's probably just my imagination, sounding like this because I'm in the suit Jerry thought to himself.

edited 15th Jan '15 9:53:45 PM by FirockFinion

"I like the way you think," Mendoza said over the radio.

He looked over at Anke. "I meant that guy on the radio, not you. But your idea's good too. Not driving each other insane sounds like a good plan."

Lucinda smiled "I am kind of expecting that, don't get mad if I use you for cover from time to time"

With that, as the autocannons and other guns on Jerry's suit popped out, Lucinda was impulsed as if on a platform, jumping up on the force of them coming out to land again on the suit's head and settling herself nicely for whatever may come in once the doors open.

"Yo, Mendoza" Gideon called out, "you still got room?'

He jogged up alongside the elephantine mecha, keeping a good speed alongside it. He certainly wasn't regretting hooting for those kinetic stabilizers earlier, that's for sure. But this gave him a good idea of what he might shoot for next, if there was a couple more upgrades incoming.

"I'm trying to stay on the ground like a sane person."

"Of course he still has room." Said Charles, flying up towards the Ziz. "They both have room. They're fucking huge."

He landed on top of the flying fortress, dangling his legs over the side.

"Sooo... am I the only person who went Mesh-sized?" He asked the others on the Ziz.

"Plenty of room," Mendoza said. "What do we call you, chief?"

"The name's Gideon", the mercenary said, hopping onto Mendoza's mech. "Thanks for the ride."

Dominic continued alongside Mendoza´s elephantine suit, his autocannon trained squarely in the direction of the vault doors. " I´ll stay on the ground for now. If there is actually anything outside I would have to get off you anyway. No sense in jumping around like a rabbit just yet."

The doors creaked to a halt. The winds and sand from the wastes blew in, it would sting their faces if they weren't clad in armor.

large sand dunes made up most of the landscape... and a few buildings. But off in the distant a small bump could be made out, it was different than the others, "Ah vunderbar! Judging from your optic systems you can see ze vault! Good luck! Take your first steps out! Walk softly and carry a big stick is what ze Americans would say."

Following those encouraging words was the sound of more munching before the comm cut out.

As the desert sands blew in, Gaius was relieved to not meet with a hail of gunfire along with it. "Well, we're not dead yet. That's encouraging." Nonetheless, feeling exposed hovering in the same place, he burst forward at top speed, flying high into the air once he was outside. He cast his gaze around the dunes, taking in the view, but also keeping an eye out for any sign of the hostiles the Doctor mentioned. He kept moving out of a paranoid fear that someone might take a shot at him.

"Well we don't have all day," Mendoza said. "Might as well start walking."

He started moving forwards in the direction of the vault, taking things slow and steady while everyone adjusted to the situation.

"Hello" Said Anke to Gideon "the name's Anke, and these are my pets" she gestured at her drones "think we'll be traveling partners, lets get get along eh?" she said, then transmited to Mendoza "Oy, I'll be sending out a scout drone ahead too, if you need an eye in the sky link to it"

"Sure thing," Mendoza said, using the commander module of his fortress to accept the incoming signals, as well as forward them to the other suits in the area.

The dry desert winds buffeted Sigrun in the air, and as she struggled to regain control, the autopilot kicked in to stabilize her in the new currents. A plexiglass visor (complete with HUD) formed across her eyes and shielded her from the sand, while the armour shifted around somewhat to keep the sand from getting into the more sensitive parts of the armour. Using the winds to keep her aloft instead of threatening to send her to the ground, Sigrun flew against the breeze to enter the great outside.

As expected, it felt great! The warm breeze and gentle currents welcomed her as she swooped through the dry air like a big desert swallow. The feeling of infinite freedom of movement filled her with bliss, and she had the autopilot take her through some acrobatic loops and rolls just for fun. For an unknown space of time Sigrun immersed herself in her flight, sparing no thoughts to future hardships.

After a while, however, Wind chimed in to inform that her way of flying was taking its toll on the batteries and that if she wanted to arrive at the designated destination at optimal condition, she should take it easy for some time. Sigrun begrudgingly agreed and sought out one of the giant armours to hitch a ride. Which one to choose, however, was easy.

Sigrun landed on the back of the dragon-shaped Ziz, and opened radio communications with the pilot.

"You mind if I join you for a while? We fliers gotta stick together, yeah?"

"No doubt," Gideon said, nodding his head, "And I'll do well enough to keep you and everyone who isn't already gigantic in one piece."

In a couple of moments, a request to permit the visual data stretched out across across the soldiers vision. He accepted the request, or at least he thought he did. The pop-up seemed to respond to his thought patterns alone; he didn't even get the chance to say 'yes' or 'no' before the window disappeared. Out of everything that was happening, this interface was one of the oddest of them.

"I'm just happy we weren't greeted by gunshots."

"I am kind of expecting that, don't get mad if I use you for cover from time to time"

"What else is the biggest class good for if it can't take a little- Ofph!" Jerry was surprised as the woman in the suit suddenly sprung from the shoulder of his suit to land on the head, dipping the head down just a little as she landed. "... Right" He muttered as the doors came open, showing off the sand blasted landscape outside.

"So nothing was waiting after all" Jerry thought out loud, stepping the suit out with large steps, the feet sinking partially into the sand as he set weight upon them. One of the smaller suits zipped around before landing on the back of his, and messaged him about flyers sticking together. "I could probably use some escorts if we get into an air battle, but..." he trailed off, looking down at the sand then around at all the dunes.

"I don't know if I can take off in these conditions; I probably need to build up speed first, and that ain't happening here" Jerry admitted, zooming his vision in a bit towards the bump in the distance. The little pixie hologram flew over and around the suit's head, looking at Lucinda and making a few questioning squeaks.

:)

"You again? Darn it, I forgot to ask the doc about replacing you" Jerry commented as he saw it.

:'(

"Okay okay, just don't cry again, jeesh. Can you at least make yourself a little useful and help me out here?" Jerry asked it.

:|

The little hologram then flew over to one of the little lights on the side of the suit's head and seemingly dissolved back into it. "Uh, hello?.. Woah wait a second" Jerry said as information popped up on his HUD. "Lift assist? So that's how this thing is supposed to fly!" panels on the top and bottom of the wings folded away, revealing a number of large jet fans that started to spin up, compounding the blasting, sandy winds even further for everyone else around, and threatening to suck in anyone who went above them.

"Alright now, hold on a moment, hold on" Jerry told nobody in particular as the fans spun back down and the panels folded back up. "Let's find a clear spot to take off first. Last chance for anyone who wants to come along! Last call for..." he paused his yelling for a moment as he had to think of a name, before thinking of just the inspiration, "a ride on the Ziz!" With the decision and proclamation of his suit's name, Jerry started stepping the Ziz a bit away from the dome, to the top of a largest sand dune nearby, where he planned to take off from. He would wait there for a minute or two to let any of the guys and gals in the smaller suits decide if they wanted to come with.

Dominic stowed his weapon away with relieved sigh and gazed at the sky. His drone had already cloaked and flown high above the ground, masking it from curious eyes, but Dominic could still locate it thanks to his suit. He opened communications " I am setting the drone to make a few sweeps of the area and then continue to scout towards the vault. Mendoza, you can link to that as well, although so far I am not seeing anything unusual."

Dominic continued walking along, doing a few quick sweeps with his own sensors before continuing "Mendoza, I´m coming aboard. Your suit has an interior compartment, right? Although the dunes block the view a bit, possible threats can´t exactly easily spring an ambush on us. Getting to the vault is going to take a while, so I´d rather not walk all the way there."

{wrong thread}

edited 20th Jan '15 8:37:29 PM by Sanojutsu

"Last chance to hop on before the bus leaves," Mendoza said to whoever was still lurking around, as he started getting the elephant ready to charge.

Dominic sighed and matched his pace to the quickening speed of the elephant. Mendoza´s attention seemed to be elsewhere, so no telling what he thought of of Dominic´s questions. "Right, I guess it´s time to ride bareback." He muttered, seeking for footholds on the side of Mendoza´s humongous brute of a suit. Noticing a few footholds, Dominic willed his suit to concentrate power to the legs and launched himself towards the elephantine suit. Thankfully, Dominic found purchase and quickly clambered topside before the increasing pace could shake him off.

Anke had already gotten on the elephant before him, and Dominic took the chance to observe her more closely. She was quite the incongruous sight. A slender young woman in a lightly armored suit... and with disturbingly heavy firepower. She seemed pleasant enough, but something about her still worried Dominic. He glanced at the metal knight, jogging to keep pace with Mendoza´s suit. Gideon was thankfully more of a reassuring presence. The man seemed quite trustworthy, although the apparent lack of surprise about the suits was bit of a puzzle. Maybe he was former military? Dominic figured that he could focus on that later. Getting to know the two a bit better seemed like a good idea. "Right, I guess we are roomies now? Names Dominic, if you missed it earlier."

"You should just be able to latch on," Mendoza radioed to Dominic. "Got room for a little over a dozen of you outside of the suits. Don't know how many big ones can manage to hitch a ride."

"It appears to be that way" Said the aforementioned light armored woman "I'm Anke, good to meet ya" She kept looking out the corner of her eye at the feed from her drone, and other feeds that were linked as they cycled.

The ground and the dunes around them began to rumble, "I vas vondering when it would show up," Dr. O's voice sounded over their comm sets.

A deep roar came from the ground. Whatever it was. It was approaching fast.

"Alright, is that everyone? Let's get... Wait, what?" Jerry paused, just as he was spreading out Ziz's wings, when he heard the rumbling and the roar. "Doc, if you know what this is, why the hell aren't you telling us?!" he yelled into the comms, sweeping his weapons back and forth as he tried to find out where the sound was coming from.

"Ah shit," Gideon spat out, "When I was thinking 'mutant', I wasn't thinking about the kind of fucking thing that could make that sound." He rapped the back of his hand against the side of Mendoza's mech, aiming for his attention, if possible.

"You have a better idea of what the hell we're dealing with here?"