huzzaaaaaaaah
The border lands of Battleworld would feel a massive rumble coming on, as their surroundings seemingly changed. Water covered the borders even more, lands were suddenly re-arranged, and just because the Cure felt like it, the world suddenly looked much more different. But those who were not in the lands that made up the borders of each continent would not notice the changes...
◊ "Thank you. Come on, Dad!"
"Right behind you, Steven!" Greg said as he dropped the blankets on the back of the van, putting on his sandals.
"I want to say sorry for what happened yesterday..." Steven started explaining. "The Gems, they're friendly, I swear! They just got a little tense after the earthquake and thought you guys were enemies. They never meant any bad— I hope you guys are not... thinking about going to war with us or s-something like that?"
"Woah woah woah!" Yakko yelled, putting his hands up. "We're jumping to the interrogation already? I wanna hear my rights!"
"Can I be bad cop?" Wakko asked, suddenly wearing a detective outfit.
"Boys." Dot groaned. "Sure we can help you guys. What do your friends look like?" She said, showing them three pictures: the first of an angry-looking mask, the second of a sexy nurse, and the third of the five soldiers they were looking for, all of them wearing hula skirts and sporting a sign that said 'went to Hawaii'.
King Bradley laughed at the little correction. "Of course, Sir Slajavic. And if you don't mind, I'd love to know more about this technology that allows contact over such high distances... we have something similar to it- we call it 'radio', but I do believe you have something far more different than that, no?"
Central City didn't seem to be affected by the sudden quake, and as such, King Bradley lead the Helghast envoy through the Headquarters of the Military, past hundreds of saluting officers, towards a lush and grand meeting room where a giant circular table with chairs spread around it waited for the envoy...
... but on the way in, one of the soldiers would find a beautiful and slender woman, wearing dark clothes that seemed to stick to her curves, looking longingly at him, one that wasn't saluting, but instead seemingly asking him out for a quick conversation with her eyes.
The streets of New York City, this time, are empty. Abandoned cars litter the streets, a tipped bus here and there, empty barrels filled with newspaper still in flames, broken up storefronts and the occasional hobo hiding underneath his cardboard fortress. No one to interrupt Outpost 341's intelligence mission...
... but appearances can be deceiving...
"I can wait as much as I want. But you need to ask yourself..." The Collector pointed at the frozen soldier. "How much time does your friend have left before his internal organs freeze up?"
"Did I ask for your opinion of my tactics?" Kuvira growled at Axton, hands still behind her back. "Besides, I knew from the beginning the soldiers of this land couldn't do much against my forces. Casualties on my side are nearly non-existent. If the people from this land hadn't reacted like fearful animals, we wouldn't be having this discussion. Now, the leader of this land. Where is he?"
Just after that, Earth Empire soldiers came running down the street, much to Kuvira's surprise. But the look of surprise only grew when she saw what they were carrying: bodies. The bodies of her soldiers. "What happened?!" She demanded to the leader of the squad, who fell to her knees, sobbing.
"They slaughtered us! With weapons that...s hot metal at incredible speeds! We couldn't bend it, they didn't even give us time to react!" She responded, as one of the soldiers yelled in pain as his friend bended a bullet out of his arm. Kuvira dropped from her car, walking over to the wounded soldier, before standing up and pointing at Travis just as the report from the radio came in. "And now your men accuse us of breaking the cease-fire WE ASKED FOR?!"
"No more games!" Kuvira yelled, bending the metal on Travis' belt to bring him closer so she could grasp him by the scruff of his shirt. "If you are leading me into another trap, I will have my forces make sure NOTHING of your land stands. Do you understand?!" She brought him even closer, and he could see the seriousness in her eyes. "DON'T. TEMPT. ME." She growled, before letting him go and ordering her troops to follow Travis and collect the wounded.
edited 27th Apr '15 1:58:39 AM by Stratofarius
Look at all this life, oh bearer mine~
Images of every named unit can be found in the signup sheet, either attached to their character or in the full unit list
A Nova Cat crouched under a tree, defiant despite mortal wounds. A monstrous dragon poised to attack. A Jade Falcon with broken wings watching from a branch above. The dragon rears back and snaps forward, jaws wide. But just before it can land the lethal blow, the dragon vanishes.
Yet here was the final stand of the Nova Cats, the Dragon prepared to end them, but no miraculous vanishing act could save the day. The vision she beheld so vividly, long ago, now looked to be a lie.
Jacali Nostra snarled at the charred bulk of an Uziel as she paced her Nova Cat around the tarmac, the unit insignia of the 1st Sword of Light barely visible. The mech had been taken down by a Salamander team, a fate shared by the immobilized and abandoned Marksman M1 tank at the end of the runway. The Mechwarrior had ejected, but the tank crew had been cooked alive inside their own war machine. The equipment itself had hardly even been damaged.
As she rounded what remained of a terminal gate, she scanned the treeline across the fields around Rosse Spaceport. Her eyes kept returning to one section. She could not make anything out, but she could have sworn something was in there. She turned her attention upwards to the skies. The Combine fighters would probably be back for another pass, determined to strafe the fighter Star of her second-in-command as they rearmed and refueled on the ground. Back to that cluster of trees. What was in there?
Only a couple seconds after she had scanned the airspace, a fighter streaked across the treetops, angling for a line of attack that would bring it past her left side. Jacali swung her ballistics arm skywards and unleashed a hail of autocannon fire, riddling the craft with dozens of shots. A wing shore off and the craft started to dive. She put two shotgun blasts into it before it hit the ground. There was little left of the craft on impact.
“Stravags,” she muttered into comms angrily. “Kuritan dogs!” the last word she shouted as a particle cannon discharge streaked out from the forest, the artificial lightning bolt barely missing her autocannon arm as she backpedaled and lowered it after taking down the fighter. She knew exactly where it came from. She engulfed the suspicious patch of woods in a torrent of laser fire until she heard an explosion. Toggling the zoom interface on her HUD, she could barely make out the wreckage of a Thunder Fox lit by the burning trees. The quadrupedal mech had been crouched hull-down in the underbrush, trying to line up a shot on her this whole time. Its head was now utterly obliterated; the laser fire had travelled straight through the front of the machine to detonate an ammo bin within, the ensuing blast tore off the dorsal weapon mount. Flames from within its hull joined the inferno of the brush around it.
If the Dragon was not to disappear, she could at least make it wish it had with her dying breath.
“Beta star refueled and rearmed, preparing for takeoff,” said a collected voice over her command channel
“Neg, hold. They are in the air close, let Alpha Nova take care of their next pass before you launch.” As if to illustrate her point, several loud cannon reports sounded on the other side of the terminal structure, two Shodens firing birdshot pellets the size of a human fist at a pair of fighters passing overhead. The wheeled vehicles hit both their targets, but only one went down. The other was picked off by an Outpost dropship firing out of its landing pit. What the pilot was thinking flying so close to a veritable fortress could now never be known.
“We will wait three minutes. That should be long enough for their run to have passed, quiaff?”
Jacali thought a bit before replying. This was the third pass the enemy fighters had made. This time they got lucky, or the enemy got stupid, and the timing of the run was predictable. If it was really a diversion, with another run close but delayed, her fighters would still be vulnerable.
“Aff,” she said. They will simply have to be watchful.
A point of Elemental-IIs exited the terminal in front of her, cutting short her slow pace around the perimeter. They scrambled up the outside of an adjacent building, powerful armor-rending claws easily finding purchase on the war-rent walls and propelling themselves to the top. A makeshift gun nest was set up there, sandbags and metal plates making a firing pit. There was, however, no gun. The armor the Elementals wore carried them wherever the soldier went.
No sooner had they gotten into position and Jacali throttled her Nova Cat back up to continue her patrol, a massive earthquake struck the area. The ancestral grounds of the Draconis Combine on Terra lied in a volcanically active area, and all their structures had excellent seismic stabilization. Jacali was not afraid of their hard-won prize falling apart on the spot. What worried her was the fact that New Barcella was definitely not known for its geological activity
She turned her gaze- and the torso of her mech, its internal gyro handling the shaking ground with input from her own sense of balance- towards the monstrous mountain to the north. Tengoku was not erupting, not that it ever had in the five and a half centuries of habitation on Irece. What was causing this activity now?
Without any more warning than the earthquake, and against all physical possibility, the entire ten-kilometer-tall mountain vanished.
But just before it can land the lethal blow…
Suddenly the vision was upon her again. The dragon, the Nova Cat, the Jade Falcon. The terrible visage of the dragon lashing out to finish the injured cat off. But this time, the cat and bird vanished, and the jaws of the dragon snapped at empty air. Or had the bird disappeared before? It was so fast, a fleeting glimpse of a passing moment of a vision she never had, none of the clarity she witnessed in prior portents. Never had she experienced the same vision twice. Never had she experienced a vision outside a Quest.
When she came to, she was staring at the new skyline. Still no Tengoku. Her cockpit chronometer had only clocked four seconds since the mountain disappeared. Her mech was still standing, so she had not passed out. What in the name of Kerensky had just transpired?
“Status-“ she tried to swallow and choked on her suddenly dry throat- “Status report! What the hell h-happened?” The curse could not paper over her nervous stutter. This was far outside anything she was expecting, she could not even begin to comprehend what was going on. The last Khan of Clan Nova Cat, reduced to a mewling kitten. To be fair, a ten-klick-high mountain was a lot of mass to vanish into thin air.
Reports started filtering in quickly, as other warriors shook themselves out of their stupor. “Out here in the woods we-“ “-The whole skyline just-“ “Sensors reading multiple-“ “-and lost contact with-“ “-but New Barcella-“ “-no visual-“ “-reports Beta Nova has encountered-“
Jacali seized on this last voice, “Lenardon, command channel, now. Everyone else, retreat back to Rosse and assemble at your dropships pending further orders. Do not dismount. End.” She did not even wait for the Nova Captain to key into the new frequency before speaking again. “You said you had a command post set up while you occupied this place before we arrived?”
“Yes, Khan,” the Elemental responded. Her voice belied her stature, and sounded as awestruck as a sibkin getting their first view of a battlemech. “The ATC tower was converted into a command center after we secured the spaceport sensor arrays.”
“Good, meet me there in ten. Show me what you have been able to salvage. I want your point ready to go with you anywhere I say. Anywhere. Put the rest of your Nova on the perimeter of the starport; all assets out of the woods. Prep the Yashas for long recon.”
“Aff, it will be done.” Jacali heard the channel click closed. As she turned her Nova Cat back towards the heart of the spaceport complex, she keyed to a new channel she had not left open during the battle.
“Visions, do you have any sensor probes onboard?”
“Aff, Khan Nostra,” the dropship commander responded. “Nothing that’ll last you the battle though, and I’m not sure about-“
Jacali winced at the loose language. The dropship personnel spent much time around freebirth jumpship crews. Another sign that her clan should have been free of the Draconis Combine a long time ago. “Watch your lazy tongue. Put one up as high as you can, I do not care how long it will stay up. I want you to capture as much imagery as you can in as wide radius as your equipment can resolve clearly. Feed it to the ATC central array, I am told it is ours to use freely. Nostra out.”
The Nova Cat drew up to an intersection in the runway complex. She had originally planned to go back to the dropships and address the Keshik as a whole, but she realized that doing so while as in the dark as they would not help matters any. She turned her mech to instead travel directly to the traffic control center. An Epona skirted by her feet, angling towards the tower as well. Jacali could make out several battlesuited forms riding on top of the speedy hovercraft. That was probably Lernardon and her point. Whatever had befallen the area happened early enough into combat that the power-armored troops had not a chance to penetrate far beyond their initial battle lines. They simply had to switch mounts to return.
The lifeless shell of a King Crab lay next to another burned-out Marksman near the ATC tower. The hundred-ton assault mech was probably the commander of whatever forces held this starport before the Binary Lenardon led infiltrated it. Judging by how pristine the mech was except for a small amount of damage above its head, the Nova Captain- then a Star Captain- herself likely took this massive beast down. At least the Combine pilot received the honor of dying in his cockpit; an honor many of the infiltration victims of Lenardon never received, nor an honor the Combine deserved.
“Star Colonel, have you arrived back at the dropships?” Jacali did not need to name him. Lossey was the only Star Colonel that remained under her command. He was the only Star Colonel alive in the entire Nova Cat touman.
“Aff, lead. What would you have me do?”
“Make sure we have all our personnel once everyone has had time to return. Keep them settled and in-line. I will be addressing them shortly with whatever information we can gather.” She marched right up to the steps of the tower before finally powering down her mech. After she had descended the field ladder down to the base of the tower, the Nova Captain was already waiting for her.
“We have just started receiving the probe feed. We are displaying it in the holotank,” Lenardon said as the two entered a lift and shot up into the control deck.
Inside, in the center of the glass-walled control center was a large holotank that would normally provide a three-dimensional image of the local airspace. Displayed on it now, however, was a series of high-resolution images, accompanied by preliminary best-guess fits at terrain elevation. Only the center of the table was showing any clear pictures, but more and more space resolved in a broadening spiral. Cees Leroux was already there amongst the technicians, Jacali noticed with relief. She had not called him yet he had already came. His was a mind she could count on being sharp in the confusion “The probe was sent up in a spin at a set angle. The higher it travels, the wider a field of view we will receive,” her saKhan explained. As the detail spiraled out towards the images of the tank, the terrain mapping became more and more rough. In some places, it was no longer displayed at all, corresponding to areas of-
“Is that water?” Jacali asked, confused. Though just under half of the surface of Irece was covered in water, none of it was near New Barcella.
“I believe so, Khan,” Leroux responded coolly, his matter-of-fact tone doing more to settle the question than the hedged answer itself, “I need to look closer to be sure, but I think we will find that the terrain terminates at the edge of the water unevenly. We now have coastlines both east and west of Rosse Spaceport, and I cannot help but speculate that the coast is not smooth.”
Jacali was astounded. She could not think of any sort of geological activity that would give rise to that much water. Her astonishment turned to despair, however, when she looked at the way the coastline contoured. Where the boundaries of New Barcella would have begun to the east, a neat arc was cut. Where the city was stood was now a bay, the most westerly point a mere three kilometers from the edge of the starport. The treeline outside the clear-cut plains around the starport and what was once a city now gradually curved around to meet the coast to the north and south.
Across the strip of land they now occupied, the forest continued until it hit another body of water to the west. South of the spaceport, the forest extended all the way to a sudden rise in elevation, going from relatively flat terrain to mountains almost immediately, mountains that did not exist on Irece. Northward one would have to travel more than twice as far to see such an abrupt change in elevation, this time the altitude favoring them. The forest dwindled out into the open fields that were north of New Barcella, with those in turn giving way to the rough and rocky features that began well before the foot of Tengoku. After a short distance, however, that broken land suddenly dropped into steep cliffs that terminated with the plains of a different biome. Snaking canyons and networks of crag spilling out onto those flat grounds in a series of geological ramps and hallways. Again this terrain was so startlingly different than what should occupy that space Jacali could not reconcile the probe feed with the image in her mind. “So what you are claiming is the terrain is mismatched, as if the ground was picked up and moved. Transplanted. You believe we have simply switched places with someplace else, quiaff?”
“Would you think me insane if I said yes? There is no other explanation, reasonable or otherwise.”
Jacali did not answer. The feed from the probe ended as it started its descent and the holotank resized the image to encompass all received data. As far as she could tell, the theory her saKhan held was the best guess they had, impossible as it sounded. “Seyla…” Jacali breathed, several techs around the table echoing the word of awe. Some of them seemed so lost the response must have been rote.
“Nova Captain Lenardon,” Jacali began, though her eyes never left the holotank, “Send the Specters north and south. I want the Interdictors east and west, over the water.” Both models of Yasha VTOLs could jam enemy sensors if they were targeted, but the Specters had stealth armor that would also help prevent detection, while the Interdictors carried a more advanced sensor package instead, in case there was anything to spot beyond their new shores. “Send them out only as far as they can maintain contact with the aviation comms of the spaceport. Let us see what is out there, and may Kerensky will them friendly. Tell them to watch especially for Jade Falcon contacts.”
“You think there would be Falcons here?” Leroux asked, a touch of incredulity in his tone.
Jacali smiled, the first smile that came to her since the 1st Sword of Light touched down on Irece weeks ago. “Would you think me insane if I said yes? I shall tell you of a vision I had, long ago-”
Her personal come unit chimed, Star Colonel Lossey letting her know that everyone was ready. "But it will have to wait for now, I need to tell the others what is going on. Keep me informed if our scouts find anything. In the meantime, Nova Captain, I want your point in the southern woods; the new boundary there is closest to our position besides the sea, and most of our units would handle the forest poorly. See what the terrain on the other side is like. It will be the most difficult border to defend." Jacali turned and entered the lift, alone this time. It descended just as quickly, and soon she was back outside.
Floating next to the field ladder of her mech was a strange black sphere. She froze upon spotting it, but it did not appear to react to her in any way. A small piece of paper was hanging out of it. Cautiously she approached, and removed what she assumed would be a message. The further she read the wider her eyes grew, but the back of her mind was already forming plans. Her elusive opponent seems to have selected her batchall for her- the remains of her Keshik and the Starport itself. All that was left was to navigate this new battlefield, finding friends and foes. If it was a fight they wanted, a fight the Clans will provide.
edited 26th Apr '15 7:56:57 PM by Sere
1. With the body of a lion, paws that refreshes, a tail told by an idiot, and the head of a fox
Duty First
Helghast Envoy/ Central City
"Its called th' satellite network, Sir Bradley. Think of it as a long range radio wit' relays t' transmit th' radio waves 'nd increase its range.", explained Baites as he walked down with Bradley. Frankly, he's quite amazed. As he walked through the lines of saluting soldiers, he can't quite help but recall a sense of familiarity with how they operate. Discipline, and conviction, that seems to be the word he's looking for.
And out of the 5 that went with Baites, the unfortunate or fortunate man is a private. Private Yavel, recently transferred to the honorary guard of the Sergeant. He didn't stop for the woman when she looked at him, nor did he say anything. But he did turn around to look when she looked, and underneath the gasmask , a pair of eyes looked at her.
Helghast Envoy/ NY City
Appearances can be disturbing.
And that was why the men set up atop one of the office buildings, far above the streets and concrete jungle below. Communication uplink, sentry guns, sentry drones, and a command post was set up without much fuss and noises. And the most prominent of all, is the listening and radar outpost tower, disguised as a local communication tower.
With that, the men of the intelligence team begins listening in on radio waves, communication networks, mobile conversations, or telephone of the city...
And with that, the mapping of the place as well, relayed to the homebase in real time.
Helghast Outpost 341
The earthquake has been a minor setback, really. Helghan had offered worse earthquakes, one that could actually threaten even the sturdiest of buildings, and as such, steps has been ensured to earthquake proof most buildings after the Terracide. It was not easy doing so for a mountain top outpost, but it did, and the result payed off. They are none worse for wear following the earthquake.
But the Captain, sitting in his office is examining the new map of the world with relish. Satellite uplink has shown that new borders have formed, and sea borders at that. This means they have less things to worry about, which is good.
With that, he sat back against his chair, and waited for reports from his teams on field.
всегда верен
Dreams of Revenge
Aidan, Horse & Joanna, Raptor
If things had been a hive of activity before, then it became a hive of sound as alerts, advisories, and other aural warnings went off in the command centre. Aidan, Joanna, and Horse immediately tensed.
"What is the situation?" Aidan barked. If this was the surprise the Cure had talked about, then it had very nearly caught the Falcon Guards on the hop.
"The seismic sensors have detected major vibrations," answered one of the DropShip crew. "It does not appear to be consistent with an earthquake, but whatever activity is occuring is significant."
Aidan spent a moment trying to figure out what, if any action to take, when quite suddenly the alarms all went silent. Even without anyone saying anything beyond that required to keep things running smoothly, it was obvious that confusion reigned.
"...It appears that the seismic activity has ended," said the crew member finally. She tried, and failed, to keep her uncertainty from her voice. It was at that moment a new contact in the north caused one of the Raptor's sensor suites to ping - followed only the briefest of pauses later by another ping, caused by something flying in over the western sea. However, it was struggling to get a proper reading due to ECM. Both were displayed on the holotank representation of the Raptor's chunk.
"Star Captain Joanna and Horse, I want you to perform a sweep of our territory to the west and south respectively," said Aidan firmly. "I will be heading north. I think our friends wish to meet with me. I shall be going alone."
"You foolish surat, this could be a trap!" hissed Joanna, her eyes narrowing. "We do not even know if they have some variety of stealth technology!"
"That may be so," said Aidan. "But it appears to only be a single 'mech. I can handle myself in a fight, quiaff?"
"...Aff," said Joanna. The word seemed to be forced through her gritted teeth like a block of stone.
"If you want I'll prepare the memorial speech!" Horse had a big grin on his face, but his eyes betrayed more than a little wariness. The last thing the freeborn MechWarrior wanted was for Aidan to be assassinated by an unknown opponent taking advantage of his stubbornness.
"There will be no need," said Aidan as he left the command centre. The other two MechWarriors followed close behind.
Aidan, Axis/Raptor Border
Aidan brought his personal Timber Wolf closer toward the border. Like all of the Jade Falcon machines that had been in Gamma Galaxy, it was camouflaged in a manner appropriate to Tukayyid, albeit with trim in jade. What made Aidan's machine stand out, however, was the prominent swooping Jade Falcon
◊ on its side, the symbol of the Falcon Guards that was replicated on the cloth patch worn on its members' uniforms. Its green eyes gleamed brightly, and the silver paint of the sword grasped in its talons shone in the early morning light. It moved with a grace that belied its size, a subtle indicator of the skill of the man piloting it.
His computer picked up Haman's spindly 'mech quickly, and simply designated it as an unknown light 'mech. Switching to the 'open' frequency Horse had told him to use, Aidan transmitted, "I am Star Colonel Aidan Pryde of Clan Jade Falcon, commander of the Falcon Guards of Gamma Galaxy. With whom am I speaking?" His tone was purposeful without being threatening.
Horse, Raptor/City 17 Border Area
Horse and his Star were patrolling the area close to City 17; they hadn't seen hide nor hair of its inhabitants since... well... ever. Horse sighed and leaned back in his seat. This was very boring duty, perhaps, but the southern chunk was an unknown quantity that had to be investigated.
Aidan still hadn't lifted his previous orders to the effect of only shooting if fired upon, but this didn't concern Horse overly much. The southern chunk seemed utterly bereft of life, at least from this distance. The only threat to life it might pose is that caused by sheer and utter dullness.
Joanna and Selima, Raptor West Coast
The Star Captain's Mad Dog and its cohort of BattleMechs prowled toward the western coastline, the Clan MechWarrior within keeping her eyes fixed on the sky. She knew that somewhere in the area was Star Commander Selima and his Star of Elementals. They had been the first to spot an unknown VTOL flying toward the Raptor. It had failed to notice the Battle Armour clad infantry, and had continued on its course.
A fuzzy contact appeared on Joanna's sensors, moving at speed in her direction. Her computer warned of the use of ECM. Apparently detecting the 'mechs, the contact began to slow down until it settled into a hover in front of the Star. Joanna sent a signal to her Star to halt.
The VTOL was a rather ungainly thing, with a pair of almost comically oversized engine pods keeping a slab sided, angular body aloft. Beneath the fuselage hung what appeared to be a missile pod of some sort, whilst a chin mounted machine gun jutted out of the front like a metallic wart. The Mad Dog's sensors cycled through a storm of possible VTOL designs before giving up and classifying it as "Unknown".
How helpful, thought Joanna bitterly. It was then that the mysterious VTOL opened a channel and hailed her Star, asking if they were a Jade Falcon unit. That indicated that this interloper was familiar with the Jade Falcons - but how? She didn't recall spotting any forces that used VTOLs such as this, and if the Star Colonel or Horse had encountered such a force, then they had neglected to tell her. It was then that she spotted the Clan Nova Cat emblem on the side of the VTOL. Ah, so that is who you are...
Without thinking, Joanna answered, "Aff. I am Star Captain Joanna of the Falcon Guards, Gamma Galaxy. You are in Clan Jade Falcon territory. I know you are from Clan Nova Cat, but identify yourself." She quickly switched to MagScan, and there she could detect Selima and his Elementals slowly making their way over to her position just in case.
edited 27th Apr '15 2:20:46 PM by Flanker66
Locking you up on radar since '09
As the VTOL flew over Santa Destroy and toward the huge, city-sized crater, the VTOL's radio transmitters would pick up a radio signal emanating out from somewhere in that forlorn, ruined landscape. After a few seconds of static, the transmission resolved itself, into a jazzy, wistful melody
. The completely incongruous music wafted through the ship's cockpit for a few minutes, until a very loud voice came in over the jazz tune, apparently trying to drown it out.
"HELLO? WHO IS THIS, FLYING IN OVER OUR SECRET CRATER? IF IT'S THAT BLUE MAMMAL, TELL HIM THAT I'M NOT HERE RIGHT NOW. ESPECIALLY SINCE THIS ENTIRE PLANETOID HAS JUST BEEN RESTRUCTURED FOR NO APPARENT REASON. AND BECAUSE OF THAT, WE NOW HAVE EVEN MORE TESTING TO DO."
Then, another voice abruptly flared to life over the communication, apparently trying to talk over the first one- and the wailing saxophones in the background, which was not an easy task.
"Be warned, vertibird pilots! If you are COMMUNISTS, I shall SHRIEK in TERROR, summoning my LOYAL CAZADORS to my defence."
More voices joined in the encroaching fray.
"News flash! Mysterious earthquake wreaks havoc on the Battleworld. Unidentified aircraft swooping in over Big Mountain. Their presence here? Unpossible to understand."
"Did the blue mammalian creature fly in such an aircraft? I can't seem to remember..."
The first and loudest voice came back in, apparently shouting all the other ones back down.
"ALRIGHT, MAMMAL; ARE YOU FINALLY MAKING GOOD ON YOUR THREAT TO DESTROY ALL THINGS SCIENTISTICAL? I'VE ALREADY LOST MY TRAINS TO ANOTHER INTRUDER WITH BIG IDEAS... IF YOU THINK THAT YOU'RE GOING TO ATTACK BIG MOUNTAIN, YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER... UH... WHAT WAS I SAYING AGAIN?"
edited 27th Apr '15 12:13:09 PM by Locoman
Look at all this life, oh bearer mine~
Santa Destroy Airspace
The trip had been mostly uneventful. One settlement, that would not have been out of place on any one of hundreds of worlds, was the only feature of note. The Yasha had flown right over it without even bothering to alter flightpath. Ahead, however, a rather ominous facility stood, festooned with antennas and arrays. Its purpose was not immediately clear.
The initial signal was almost too faint to hear. "Is that music?" the pilot inquired, craning his head around to give his companion a confused expression. He turned the volume on the radio up, but then the first voice cut in, startling them both. A second joined it, then a third, and a fourth. Not one made any sense.
"They are insane," the pilot commented, "Absolutely insane."
"The last one makes me think they are science caste. Those are always a bit off."
"Call it in. I am just going to get us out of here before they attack. The last message did not sound friendly. We have reached the limit of contact with Rosse Spaceport anyway."
The Yasha turned and travelled back the way it came, once more flying directly over the small town. Even their advanced sensors detected nothing worthy of mention, nothing more advanced than small vehicles with combustion engines. They reported it as a footnote to their message to Rosse.
Border between Clan Nova Cat Territory and Outpost 341
When the shape of the antiair missile installation resolved through the haze, the Yasha crew shared a quick panic attack. The gunship hung stationary, the two-man crew silent, as if even speaking their fears aloud would draw the attention of a very large missile. Fortunately their stealth armor seemed to be performing its task well, and the small VTOL was not fired upon.
"Should we hail them?" the pilot asked, leaning forward over the gunner's shoulder.
"They might start looking for us if we do. I do not want to get blown out of the sky on a mere recon assignment. Spheroids can be twitchy, abandoning the honor of announced challenge out of fear."
"What if these are the Jade Falcons?"
"I do not recognize the weapons configuration, nor do I want to hang my life on a guess. I would recommend being cautious."
The pilot thought about this for a moment. His gunner was right, even if he was a freeborn. The pilot respected his opinion all the same, and he knew the codes of warfare well, both Clan and Spheroid. "Very well, I will pull back to our airspace. Lock in on their position. Broadcast a general greeting over all hailing frequencies when I say."
The gunship drifted backwards diagonally to the emplacement, complicating potential detection by introducing a lateral vector. He slapped the shoulder of the gunner twice when the terrain below dropped away sharply to the familiar forests of Irece, and started moving the aircraft sideways parallel to the border.
"Unknown defense emplacement, this is Warrior Shiro, NovaStar Keshik of Clan Nova Cat Alpha Galaxy," the gunner spoke over open frequencies. "We are on a peaceful reconnaisance mission. We request your identity and affiliation."
Clan Nova Cat Territory, Rosse Spaceport ATC center
Details in the holotank resolved as the Yashas continue their scouting expeditions. The one moving south had reached its destination first, despite moving the slowest, and stopped as the icon representing a defense strongpoint appearing on the map. It had retreated to friendly territory and was drifting lazily along the borderline. More recently, the one travelling westward had turned around. Its report had just arrived, and a tech was keying in its findings to the holotank. An icon representing a village appeared, along with an icon indicating other permanent structures of unknown purpose further beyond. Jacali mulled over what the crew had said about their strange encounter
Scientists, albeit deranged ones. The dropships carried a month of provisions and ample repair capacity for a single prolonged engagement, but they had no idea when they would be returning home. It may become important to secure production facilities for replacement components, or barring that at least weaponry and armor of a comparable level to their own to replace damaged equipment with. She couldn't be sure they would be amenable to a partnership in their madness, and the insane are often also quite paranoid, making an outright takeover tricky due to defensive systems. Whoever she sent would have to be able to avoid detection, fight whatever they may encounter, and have the authority to speak on her behalf should they find someone willing to discuss the matter.
"Nova Captain Lenardon," she spoke into the comm system, beamed to a battlearmor-laden Epona in the southern forest. Fortunately, as a hovercraft, it would be able to traverse the lake. It would be slower than a transport, but Jacali didn't have any available, and lacking the heavy battleclaws the Elementals and Salamanders carried, the Rogue Bears couldn't reliably hitch a ride on the outside of a VTOL. "Change of plans. Head west-northwest, out over the lake. Meet up with the Yasha returning to base, it will provide you with information on your next mission. I need you to do some in-depth recon and possible negotiation with a potential science caste facility.
"Understood, my Khan," Lenardon said. The Epona's indicator swung around in a wide arc and sped off on its new course. Jacali noted it was in configuration 'A'. A lucky choice; the long-range missile racks would allow it to provide fire support from outside the area.
The eastbound Yasha had just reached a shoreline now. Several contacts appeared on the map display. To Jacali's surprise, they were fairly specific markers. Battlemechs, and familiar ones. Moments later the call came in.
Jade Falcon forces. Gamma Galaxy. Falcon Guard.
It did not take her long to remember the name. The fate of the Jade Falcon Guard was taught in every history course Clan warriros studied as sibkin. The lesson of hubris; the elite of the elite of a whole Clan laid low by the dishonorable conduct of the Inner Sphere. Devastated on Twycross, rebuilt only to be destroyed on Tukayyid, losing half their forces in a single terrible attack. ComStar never admitted what weapon caused such destruction, never even claimed credit for the deed so powerful that it marred the very surface of the planet itself. The unit was disbanded after that day, its fate was a lesson to any Clan who dared take the honor of the Inner Sphere for granted. But if they were here, Jacali now knew what had happened. It wasn't a ComStar weapon at all. There was very likely a similar scar across the surface of Irece now.
This was the Jade Falcon, watching from the tree with broken wings. One wing Twycross. One wing Tukayyid. Merely watching because it could do no more, trapped as it was on this strange world. The strange world the mortally wounded Nova Cat now found itself on, and not a sign of the Dragon anywhere.
She struggled to remember the commander's name. Probably some dezgra Star Colonel, shamed leader to match a shamed unit. But she felt she should extend some credit; for all she knew he alone could have improved crushing, humiliating, absolute defeat of the Falcons on Tukayyid. That Star Colonel would be the only one on this forsaken rock who understood how she felt.
She could not get there in any reasonable time, but her saKhan would have no such problems. "SaKhan Leroux, ready up. I want you to go meet these Falcons personally. They may turn be the only ones we can rely on here, even if they turn out to be reliably hostile."
The pilot had not moved since he had first theorized what truly happened; not when she had found the note, not when she had briefed the troops. Only now did he stir at her command, leaving with no more than a silent nod.
Jacali opened the channel to the Yasha pilot staring the Falcon mechs down. "Tell them we request an audience. The saKhan is on his way."
Clan Jade Falcon Territory, Western Shore
"I am Point Commander Kalla, NovaStar Keshik, Clan Nova Cat Alpha Galaxy. It is my honor to report your presence here, and our meeting, has been foreseen." Several moments passed before she spoke again. "Our saKhan requests an audience with your commander. He is en route now. Please provide me with coordinates to your command center so I may relay them to his aerospace fighter."
edited 27th Apr '15 6:13:36 PM by Sere
1. With the body of a lion, paws that refreshes, a tail told by an idiot, and the head of a fox
Duty First
Helghast Outpost/ Clan Nova Cat
Within moments of receiving the hail, the outpost quickly assembled together a reply while informing home base.
"Warrior Shiro, Novastar Keshik of Clan Nova Cat Alpha Galaxy. This is Reconnaissance Outpost A-21 of Helghast Army Outpost 341 We have received your message, and is requesting Command to decide on your message. Please turn back and exit our airspace meanwhile, or we will be forced to open fire. Say again..."
While the message is being broadcasted to the unknown visitor, various hidden SAM sites quietly comes to life, tracking the unknown craft not by means of infrared or radar lock. Simply by one of the men in A-21 using very good cameras and optics and radio controlled missiles.
After several minutes...
"Craft, you are free to proceed. Please head South if you wish to directly contact Command, or turn back if you wish to return another time. This frequency will be open for your use to contact us again. Say again..."
всегда верен
After the defeat of the Snowmads, the Kongs decided to celebrate Donkey Kong's birthday for real after the previous attempt was so rudely cut short. With DK playing the defeat Lord Frederick's magic horn, Diddy Kong on the bongos, Dixie on guitar, and Cranky on bass, the party started off with a bang with all of DK Isle invited, the grateful masses celebrating along with their saviors. The party lasted from the early morning to the late hours of the night, so late that clean up would be regulated to the next day.
Donkey Kong was snoozing the day away, enjoying his well deserved sleep, oblivious to the beams of sunlight peaking through the window. Being the birthday boy, the big ape had enjoyed the party the most, as evidence by the confetti and now browning banana peels all over the floor and the lampshade over his head. Best of all, he finally managed to get a taste of that delicious banana foster cake he was pining for before the Snowmads came and ruined the fun. One of the only two things that dampened the party was Candy being forced to go home early because of her job. It was pity she could not stay longer. DK was planning on bringing her home with him.
The other things were Kremlings somehow managing to crash the party just to spike the punch......with actual spikes. One of these days, the island guardian was going to deal with those repulsive reptiles......
But in the meantime, DK continued to sleep, dreaming of flying bananas in the sky.........
Then the earthquake hit. Smaller objects were thrown about and large objects vibrated crazily. Donkey Kong himself was thrown off his hammock and fell face first on the floor. By the time he hit though, the earthquake stopped and he was rudely awoken. DK looked around confused, scratching his head in puzzlement. He then climbed back up to his hammock and fell right back to sleep.
*click*
"Got the sound system all connected, Dixie!"
"You are you want to do this, Diddy? Cranky told us specifically to clean everything up."
"Aw, don't worry about it, Cranky always sleeps in! We'll be able to practice a bit, clean everything up, and put away the equipment before the old guy wakes up!"
"That would take hours, y'know."
"But when do we ever to get a chance like this! Rarely we ever bring out the prime equipment!"
Currently the two Kongs were at an outside dance floor by the beach with some surrounding tables, currently littered with garbage and smaller animals rummaging through it all for any scraps still edible. Diddy Kong was manning the turn tables while in between a pair a large, expensive looking speakers while Dixie Kong was holding an electric guitar.
"I'm mostly hoping the noise doesn't wake him up," Dixie said.
"Don't worry! It takes even more to wake Cranky than even DK!" Diddy responded. "Now......" The monkey then flipped his cap backwards and donning a pair of sunglasses. "Its time for the most epic rap & rock combo symphony ever! And-a one, and-a two, and-a one, two, three, G - "
The earthquake hit. The Kongs lost their footing, all the discarded plastic plates and cups fell over, the speaker precariously vibrated, and all the scavengers ran for cover. As soon as the sudden phenomenon occurred, it suddenly stopped. Both teenage Kongs stood perfectly still, anticipating something else to come at any moment......
"What the Heck was THAT?!?" Diddy said, breaking the silence and then checking the speakers.
Dixie recovered first and looked upon the tallest peak on the island. "The Volcano's still dormant. Are the speakers okay?"
"Think so," he said. "Anyway, let's get back to it! ROCK ON BABY! And-a one, and-a two, and-a one, two, three, GO!!" Diddy activated the turn tables, scratching a rudimentary tune and following up with a wicked bass beat. The bass pumped, waiting for that perfect moment.........waiting...........waiting...........
..................
A beat.
Diddy cut the music. "Dixie, you were supposed to come in there!"
"Diddy, look over at the horizon," Dixie said, looking out into the distance.
Diddy got up and walked up to Dixie, tilting his sunglasses down and looking at where she was pointing towards. "I see a shoreline with some buildings. So what?"
"Exactly."
It took a few moments for Diddy to process. His pupils shrank to pin pricks in realization.
In one of Funky's many depots, the Kong was putting the finishing touches on his latest plane. "Aw yeah, that's a beautiful girl," the ape said. "All that's left is to give ya your first test flight, and you'll be joining your spectacular sisters in the - "
The earthquake struck. Immediately Funky desperately hugged the plane like the daughter it was. He only broke away from when spotted some really fragile tools and parts vibrating right off the shelves. He lunged forward, grabbing them all in one hand, then another, then a third, and in between his arm and leg. After a single excruciating minute, the earthquake stopped.
A beat
Funky gave a sigh of relief and starting putting everything away. "Here I thought the volcano got all its bad vibrations out," he said. "Still, no worries, mon." When he finished he walked up to the plane and hopped in. "Let's see you spread your wings, girl!"
The plane's engine roared to life, the propeller spinning. Funky guided the plane to the runway. It soon accelerated, gaining lift, and finally soared into the air, Funky cheering all the way. The Kong then steered the plane to the West, heading towards the nearest island, Juicy Jungle.
Only.......Funky soon realized that, despite knowing by heart where the island was, he had no idea where he was going. "Where am I....?" he asked himself. He decided to find some place to land and possibly find directions.
Anyone hanging out at Beach City's namesake and economic source would see what looked like a biplane which was once a large barrel with airplane parts stuck on it coming for a landing right on the beach.
edited 27th Apr '15 8:22:56 PM by UdtheImp
DAMMIT MARK, STOP HOTTING HELPY!!
Problem Child
Not wanting to remain behind and answer awkward questions, Prowl had quickly reentered vehicle mode, and slipped away. Pulling over beside a cafe, and fairly sure that he was alone, he spoke into his communicator.
"This is Autobot Prowl to any Autobot forces in range. I'm in an organic city under siege. They're slaughtering each other. Fighting is at a lull now, but any moment now it could bubble back over. Does anyone read me?"
There were a few painful moments of silence over the radio, before a response filtered through.
"This is Optimus Prime of the starship Orion. We're en route to extract you. Hold tight."
"A full scale slagfest between our neighbours won't go down well with the commander," said Bumblebee, his optics blinking nervously.
"Then we'll defuse the tension wherever it crops up," answered Optimus. "We'll leave the ship high out of range, send the X-4 drone to pick up some disguises, and head down there to this Prowl's position. Once we're sure he's safe, and the combat is dying down we'll have Ratchet swoop in on the ship and hook us out."
"Whoa, hold up Boss-bot," interrupted Bulhead. "Hookline extraction wasn't covered in mechanic training. We're not Academy bots."
"I am. And I'll walk you through it, once we're on the ground. Ratchet, you stay with the ship. If we get into any fights, we're not here to wage war. Disable only. We find Prowl, make sure the situation doesn't escalate, make contact with the leaders and then we're out of here."
Ratchet grunted in affirmation. "This ain't a good idea, but it's yours. I'll handle the shuttle as best I can. I'm deploying the alt-form drone now."
The drone quickly separated from the ship, and barrelled towards Santa Destroy, seeking out vehicles that would match the physiology of the four Autobots. With plenty of emergency vehicles around in the wake of the crisis, it gravitated towards the selection of a fire truck, an ambulance and a tactical armoured truck. For the diminutive Bumblebee, the drone simply took on the scan of a yellow microcar. Optimus stepped into the reformat chamber to receive the codes, and his body shifted and realigned itself to match the fire truck. He took careful note of the strange, rubbery wheels on his shoulders and strange internal seating structure folded away in his chest.
The other Autobots took their turn to take on the new forms. Reformatting was basic protocol when encountering other civilisations. Taking on the properties of the natives, or their machinery should they be organic, was a way to maintain covert operations, while providing a familiarity when it came to cross-species contact.
"Alright, said Prime, looking over the new forms of his crew. "Bumblebee, Bulkhead, let's get to the cargo bay. Ratchet, bring us in and then get up high, out of range."
And with that, the Autobots took their positions, the Orion swooping in close to the border of Santa Destroy and Zaofu, touching down briefly, and opening up its cargo bay ramp. Optimus, Bulkhead and Bumblebee stood.
"Don't take any unnecessary risks. Make for the city limits at top speed, don't get into a protracted fight. Save anyone in danger. We're here to improve the situation, understood?"
"You got it, Boss-bot," said Bumblebee, Bulkhead nodding.
"Transform and roll out," commanded Optimus. The three Autobots changed into their new vehicle modes, pausing for a moment to appreciate them, before powering down the ramp, and gunning it for the Zaofu/Santa Destroy border.
"Passage through our territory..." repeated Ultra Magnus. "That could be a major security concern should your intentions be less than noble. Though... Iacon is in need of resources. We have teams hard at work scouting for minerals below the city, but should there be more readily available fuel and minerals among neighbours, we shouldn't discount the value of a trade route. Or the potential to collaborate in raids on less cooperative territories."
edited 27th Apr '15 8:43:08 PM by SR3NORMANDY
What if there’s no better word than just not saying anything?
Calamity is a housewife
With that all over, the Sergeant sheathed his sword. The rest investigated the bodies, while two support units went to check up on their fallen soldiers.
"These are corpses, they've been long dead."
"Well they've stopped, so that's all that matters. Take what's left of them to the castle. Someone's bound to want to find out more about these things."
"Yes sir."
"How are our casualties?"
"Two down sir. We're doing the best we can, but we're losing them quick."
"Get them a medic, now. I'll check back with his Highness."
"Yes sir."
It seems Amy was eager to invite Dizzy into her circle of friends. Forming an alliance with them would be good, she supposed returning to Illyria could wait for now.
"Alright, I'd love to meet your friends Amy."
The soldiers gritted their teeth, watching their frozen comrade was rather surreal. Never have they seen any Magic like this.
Before long, Ky arrived on the scene. The swordsmen all gave him way as he approached the Collector personally, sword sheathed.
"I am Ky Kiske, High King of Illyria. You are here to discuss something?"
Ky stole a glance at the frozen guard. He winced a little, seeing what this strange man was capable of, but he dared not show weakness in front of a potential enemy. He stood his ground and awaited the Collector's response.
"Shake the dust." - Anis Mojgani
Eternal Princess
If the news on the radio wasn't bad enough, Kuvira herself seemed to make the officer all the more suspicious. Between the way she talked down about the people of Santa Destroy to an outright threat to kill everyone in the city, any thought that this was a misunderstanding was instantly destroyed. He couldn't help but smirk when he saw their wounded after she proudly proclaimed their invincibility, but he quickly wiped it off. Guess the lady never learned you are never supposed to corner rats.
Travis brushed off his shirt. Don't tempt me she says. Well shit, if saying that didn't make it all the more tempting.
"Can't speak for Jeane or anything she plans but me, traps, underhanded tactics, not my thing. I am upfront with everything I want. Keep it real. Like right now, I think you're a fucking bitch. Like that bit about going to destroy every man, woman, child, even the buildings. That's the kind of shit only a cartoon villain or a complete cunt would say, neither of which is good for Santa Destroy. The boss lady wants to talk, fine, whatever. Up to me though, you and I would be having it out."
Travis turned back toward the runner and began walking. The officer looked at Travis then Kuvira confused at what was going on.
"I...wait. What? Where are you guys going?"
"None of your damn business. Besides, I thought you had some amigos under attack. Shouldn't you be worrying about that instead shit that's already getting done?"
The officer gritted his teeth in frustration. He didn't want to let Kuvira go after a threat like that, and trusting some punk to take care of the mess seemed just as bad. But it didn't look like he was going to get a say in the matter. He radioed in the development, suggesting a squad car or two trail the invader before inquiring what happened to the officers being attacked else where in the city.
Travis was also thinking about who was still attacking the officers on the radio. Communication didn't seem to be this Earth empire's strong suit. Her men had to come limping bloody and bruised to her just so they can report they got their asses kicked for fucks sake. Soldiers in other parts of the city could be acting in dereliction of duty, or under orders while she maintains deniability. If it wasn't her though, then Human Village probably isn't as harmless of a place as it sounds. Well it wasn't any of his concern, at least not for the time being.
He hopped in the back of the runner.
"Going to have to bum another ride off ya. I can tell you how to get there."
If they go to the Townsend residence, they will find themselves driving down a long road flanked by palm trees before coming to a magnificent mansion. A skeleton crew of suited bodyguards is all that remains on the premise and will be waiting at the entrance. If Kuvira tries to bring any more then two soldiers with her on the premise, they will be met with resistance, then out right hostility if they try to force their way in.
Jeane and Death Metal were in the great hall awaiting the arrival of Kuvira. They had chosen this room specifically for a tactical advantage. The hall from the main building to this one was long a narrow, a perfect place to put up a defense if the invaders started attacking. It also connected to the outside garden which Holly's helicopters could use as an LZ if needed. Jeane was stretching, getting herself limber in case a fight broke out, as Death Metal sat meditating in the middle of the room, his beam katana folded up in front of him in a shape that could only be described as a suit case.
"Its a mistake."
"What? Still afraid to die at your age?"
"Hardly, but suffering the undignified death brought on solely through foolish decisions. A death here would not nearly be good enough."
"Then if it comes to it, kill them all and find your death else where. If you die, you have no one to blame but your own failures."
Death Metal merely chuckled and smiled. Jeane stopped what she was doing when she heard a third person enter the room.
"What the fuck? I thought you were only rank 10. Where the fuck are you getting the dough to pay for a place like this?"
"Bad Girl, it's about time you...you're kidding right?"
"See, told you. Perfect fucking outfit for going undercover at a place like this. And it's sexy as shit right?"
Jeane could only stare slack jawed. Death Metal, curious what they were talking about, opened one eye, took a look, shrugged, then went back to meditating.
"Not any worse then the outfit she was wearing yesterday."
Bad Girl grinned at Jeane as she pointed toward Death Metal.
"See, the old guy is cool with it, what's your problem?"
Jeanes just put her hand to her head and let out a sigh.
"Cause, no actual maid would be caught dead wearing that."
Holly watched lazily as the Yasha flew over the city. They had no way of shooting it down so why try? She wondered how Jeane knew to watch the skies. Prophetic vision? Lucky guess? It didn't really matter. Some other group out there had air power and they had no way to counter it. Oh well, no use lamenting on it. If it was death from above, then it was death from above. She waved at it as it went by.
It didn't seem to do anything though and just passed through. A scout from the east, somewhere beyond the sea. Since it was not attacking immediately, it at least gave her some time to come up with a counter meaure. In the mean time, her attention was still needed below. She looked down from the Helicopter at the concentrated group of Zaofu soldiers. She could spot Axton's unique vehicle and Travis thanks to his red jacket, but she had trouble spotting Axton himself and Kuvira blended in with the rest of her men thanks to the similar uniforms.
As she watched from above she called Jeane to report the scout flyer. She was sure to report that it came flying from the east and not the north, not that having it be from an unknown source make it any better then from the known enemy in the city. The autobots entrance into the city went completely unnoticed with all eyes on the conflict.
How do you kill that which has no life?
The guards did not really know how to react to the fact that this....thing was continuing to ram itself against them ineffectively at first. Then one of the guards got an idea.
Outside the gate now was a hastily placed table with all of the suit shreds the guards could find. Next to the table was the still intact suit, now chained to the wall.
"Out of the way, you drooling monkeys, before you contaminate something!" Tannis yelled as she approached the setup. "Honestly, does no one know how to prepare a proper lab anymore?" She pointed at one of the guards. "You, tell me what happened, spare no detail."
"Yes, well a group of these things approached the gate. All but one were unarmed. They approached and attempted to grab Dave over there and drag him away." He pointed at a sobbing mess of a guard standing far, far away from the suit. "The things were only stopped when they were torn completely to pieces. As you can see, this one is still moving despite losing its arms and head."
"I see." Tannis said as she examined first the suit shreads, and then the suit itself, which continued to repeatedly attempt to bump against her.
"Fascinating. The repulsive smell coming from this thing and the bones scattered on the table would seem to indicate that these are human bones, dead for a very long time."
"They....they were human?" The guard asked, horrified.
"Yes. They also had horrible fashion sense. Honestly, who in their right mind would put these on?" she circled around the suit, the suit following as best as it could.
"From what I can see, these suits seem to be completely self controlled. Whenever they are being remotely piloted or if they have somehow developed minds of their own, I cannot say. What I can say is that I would very much like to meet whoever created this. Which way was the suit trying to take him?"
"Er, north. You're not honestly...."
"Of course I am! I simply must know how they managed to build such a thing."
"But....don't you have to watch city hall for visitors?"
Tannis waved a dismissive hand. "It'll be fine. If you're that worried, have Marcus do it. Bring him that gun." She pointed at the plasma rifle the one suit had been holding. "Tell him he can have it if he covers for me until I get back."
"Maybe a couple of men should go with you." The guard said in a final effort to stop her.
"No need." Tannis said cheerfully. "I have this." She held up a small pocket watch looking device. "Handsome Jack's watch, with special prototype cloaking technology. I brought it off the Vault Hunters for a pretty penny. Meteorically speaking, it cost a great deal more then a penny. Well, tootles!" With that, she left Sanctuary and started heading for the Big MT
Chirico looked out one last time, the strange vehicle still sitting there, it had done nothing, still, "Pops, Vanilla, Cocona, be safe," he asked of his friends, a tone of actual worry in his voice.
"Hey don't worry Chirico, the ship has plenty of power and it has laser cannons, we'll be perfectly safe!" Vanilla assured him patting Chirico's Burglary Dog.
Chirico nodded to them and climbed in, Fyana and Ru already in their Hero Dog and Rabid Dog, a line of 5 customized Scopedogs tied up.
The three powered up their A Ts and waited for the hangar to open, before the glide wheels sped up and 8 Scopedog customs were out the door and on their way to the Jade Clan base.
Haman - Axis/Jade Falcon Border
Haman observed the Timber Wolf for a first time, seeing where the young scout got the impression of it being a small mobile suit. Its design seemed to be geared more for being a mobile weapons platform than most mobile suits she was used to, but despite that it had a sense of odd grace to its movement. The pilot was not someone to be trifled with. She could not sense any hostility coming from the other machine, leading her to believe they were serious about wanting peace for the moment.
The newtype woman switched to an open channel, like the scout reported, and received Aidan's message. "A pleasure to meet you Star Colonel Pryde. I am Haman Karn, regent of the Zabi family and leader of the Neo Zeon forces of Axis." Haman replied confidently. "One of my scouts reported last evening of a meeting between our forces. I am here to follow up on that meeting." She said.
Inside his hut, Cranky was lounging on his rocking chair, with the TV on and watching a video game trailer. He scowled.
(Author Note: The following are just opinions of the character himself and does not reflect opinions of the author)
"Back in my day, videogames didn't need set pieces!" he said. "And trailers?! This is a for a dagnab game! If I wanted to see trailers, I'd pay ten buck to watch a movie! Whole thing's setting up for disappointment anyhow. All we needed was a couple a fanclub newsletter and that's all the hype we needed! None of this appealing to the masses bull crap! Not like its actually appropriate for most decent folk, anyway! Thank you so MUCH Midway, you've made blood and gore in games so trendy practically almost every single one has blood dripping out of it! Even those soulless pixelated 2D indy games have blood gushing out of it and an entire game based around getting covered in it! If the concept of 'difficulty settings' didn't start to ruin the industry, Mortal Kombat certainly did its ultra violence, free advertising from the politicians, and that ESR & B! And what is with this music?! Sounds like something one of them blood letting emus would listen to! The state of society must be pretty bleak is drek like this is popular! Least its leagues better than that rap nonsense Diddy listens to."
Its was then an earthquake hit. The room rattle and shook, bad enough to cause Cranky to be nearly flung out of his rocking chair. Eventually the shaking ended.
.................
A beat.
"Those Kremlings must've pissed off the hippos again," he said, not giving it a second thought.
"crrraaaaankiiiii......."
An unearthly chill suddenly filled the room......
"Crrrraaaaaankiiiiiiii......."
A strange voice echoed the old ape's name........
"Crrrraaaaaaankiiiii - "
"Oh come off it, Wrinkly, enough the haunting bit," Cranky said. "It stopped being scary after the third time!"
"Really, you're no fun at all!" said the ghostly apparition of an elderly looking ape looking only slightly younger than Cranky.
"That's what I heard after Junior rescued me," Cranky responded with a sly grin.
"Yes, yes, very funny, anyway, I need to tell you something - "
"Lemme guess, if I don't get my act together, Tiny Tim's gonna die from pneumonia or something."
"Cranky - "
"Or probably you're bothering me because bingo night is heaven's so dull you'd spend time here?"
"DONKEY KONG, this is serious!"
Cranky's eyes bugged out and he nearly fell off his chair. Ever since he changed his name to pass down the moniker of Donkey Kong, Wrinkly only called him that when the situation was truly dire. "Was is it?" he said, his tone becoming deathly serious.
"The island has been moved," Wrinkly responded.
"Moved?" Cranky said.
"Yes. Look out the window."
The old gorilla got up from his rocking chair and looked out a Westward facing window, seeing out in the distance a flat shoreline that suddenly led to one with tall buildings and spires in the distance. "Yup, the island's moved," he said. "We shouldn't be this close to any land."
"I believe this to be the work of something far greater than anything we, or anyone has faced before."
"That's an exaggeration. Probably the work of K. Rool, or Bowser, or some other villain."
"I've been cut off from the afterlife. I do not know how, but I am stuck here, a permanent visitor."
Cranky's face hardened. "We need to get the whole clan."
"THIS IS IT?!?" Cranky yelled. "THIS is everyone?!?"
Diddy, Dixie, and Candy Kong all shared nervous glances with each other as Cranky yelled before nervously nodding.
"Where's Chunky?!" he said. "Where's Tiny?! Lanky, Kiddy, Swanky, Funky?! What about my good for nothing lazy grandson?!?"
"Last time I heard from Tiny, she was in Sarassaland doing a photo shoot," Dixie said. "I tried calling before, by there's no connection."
"Chunky and Kiddy are be in Kongo Bongo Island, and Kiddy's being trained by the Kong Clan there to be the new guardian," Candy explained.
"Don't ask me about Lanky," Diddy said defensively. "I have just as much idea about where that guy is as anyone else here. Funky, though, said he would be testing out his newest place for his fleet. He must've left before the earthquake."
"That leaves Swanky and DK," Cranky said.
"Actually, Swanky called me last week to tell me he was going to Diamond City," Candy said. "Hired to be a indy videogame developer by Wario - "
"Wario?"
A beat.
"WARIO?!?" Cranky practically shrieked, suddenly livid. "SWANKY WENT TO WORK FOR THAT FAT, DISGUSTING, GREEDY HALF-RATE EXCUSE FOR AN EVIL TWIN?!? Next time we see him, I am officially revoking his Kong Clan discount priveledges - !!"
"Cranky, back on topic."
The eldest living kong immediately calmed down, taking a few calming breathes. "Anyone he's know where DK is?"
"He's back in his hut," Diddy answered. "Couldn't wake his up, though."
"I'll go," Cranky volunteered. "Wrinkly, try to scry the land and draw map so we have some idea of where the island was deposited in."
"Its going to be rather inaccurate," she said.
"Just do your best," Cranky assured. "I'll be right." As he left, the three younger Kongs once again looked at each other nervously. The only times Cranky and Wrinkly spoke to each so frankly without any insults flung was in really dire situations, and it made the three of them realize this may be more serious than they thought.
DAMMIT MARK, STOP HOTTING HELPY!!
Fuyuki City
Ike walked back together with Saber in silence. This confirmed some of the worst of Soren's suspicions considering Saber's true rule of the city. It also set the idea of an alliance army back a few steps, with so few wanting to rally around the King's banner. Still, hope was far from lost.
Soren’s Room; Emiya Residence
Soren put down the fantastical tool that the locals called a "ballpoint ben", and turned around to face Emiya. So much more practical than quills and ink. Some had spoken warmly about "computers", which was a kind of magic that sounded just up his street, but they seemed to not be working because of none of the "electricity", which seemed complicated.
Anyway, technology could wait.
"Good morning, Master Kiritsugu. Her Majesty was very gracious to offer us lodgings here."
Starling City
Volke poured the man's soup with a helpful smile as he listened. Palmer...a new name, a person of great wealth and high position. What was most interesting was that this man had the power of electricity while others had none. A clue worth following further at a later time.
"Next, please."
Melior Castle
"Yes, milady. Please follow me."
Sanae's next journey through the palace corridors was significantly shorter, but the destination much grander. The maid stopped in front of a pair of splendid white doors, and had a brief word with the manservant outside. The manservant then knocked on the door and entered, then opened the door for Sanae to enter.
Bastian's chambers were a sight to behold. From the billowing embroidered curtains to the fine lacquered furniture, it was a showroom of luxury, fine arts and grandeur. Countless gifts and souvenirs were on display, and paintings in gilded frames were in such great numbers that it was hard to make out the exquisite wallpaper. Unlike Lucia's and Sanae's own room, there was a side door that showed that the count had more rooms to his disposal should he feel so inclined.
"Lord Fayre, I present to you the envoy of Moriya Shrine, the Deified Human of Wind, Kochiya Sanae. Lady envoy, you are in the presence of Lord Bastian, Count of Fayre and Deputy Prime Minister."
The Count himself sat behind a magnificent desk of lacquered wood, where orderly piles of paper fought for attention with more decorative items and a few picture frames. He gave Sanae a smile as she entered.
"Good morning lady envoy," Bastian welcomed her and motioned towards a high-backed cushioned chair before the desk. "Please do have a seat. I hope the rooms were to your liking, and that the morning sun upon Melior finds you feeling rested and refreshed?"
Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!
huzzaaaaaaaah
There was no one in the actual beach part of Beach City currently- although there were still many people in the city- that is... except for a young man
standing on the beach, taking many, many pictures of the incoming plane with his cellphone.
Just as the passengers of the cruiser looked away, the giant carrier seemed to move ever so closer to them, inch by inch, now occupying their own land...
"Fascinating." King Bradley said as he motioned for the envoy to take their seat, other Amestris generals taking their seat on the opposite side of the table. "Right, will we all take our seats and start working out the terms of our deal? What I have in mind, Sir Slajavic, is for us to formally unite into one singular union of nations... aggregating the space between our chunks and using it for development of our people... seeing as they need certain resources to survive and thrive."
The woman
looked at Private Yatel from under her hat, and he could see that she was positively stunning- almost like lust incarnate. She blew him a kiss, before pointing at an empty alley, her eyes suggestively implying that maybe they should have a... conversation over there?
The Helghast Envoy would listen to a mishmash of conversations, from various people, all of them scared, confused, lost- except for one.
"-on't you understand? The phone lines are down, I can't call anyone-"
"-water, no food, no electricity, we're all stranded here-"
"-find the Turtles, and arrange for Foot forces to find ways to replenish the city's resources-"
"-how am I going to survive without my snacks, man?!"
"Ah! The King shows his face." The Collector says, steepling his fingers. "I don't know what I would have done if I had to wait one more minute!" He chuckled, before touching the forehead of the frozen knight, unfreezing him. "Unfortunately, I can't do much for his friend. He's part of my collection now... oh, yes, did I mention my name? I am Taneleer Tivan, the Collector. And I seek... rarities."
"Let us get down to brass tax, as you mortals like to say." The Collector continued. "I have in my possession any technology your nation will need to survive in the upcoming years of harsh battle in this vicious world. Not just survive, but thrive. Look upon your lands- you still depend on agriculture?! I can give you the schematics and materials necessary to build a farm that farms itself. All free of charge."
"Well, not exactly free. Like I said, I am a Collector. And I can offer any technology you want- any technology, no limits, at a price. To the east of your chunk lies a place known as Human Village. And to the south of your chunk lies a place known as Angel Island. I will give you all that your hearts desire if you... bring to me... five of each chunk's population." The Collector grinned. "So that they may be added to my collection, where they'll live for the rest of their eternal lives, frozen in a singular moment of captured beauty. A simple offer, is it not?"
The sandy coasts of the City 17 chunk provided Horse with nothing more but the relaxing noises coming from the sea, until he could hear a very faint noise- the sound of helicopters whirring to life. Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh... Except, there were no visible helicopters around him. And now, another sound was added to the fray, the sound of something charging up and—
Suddenly, Horse was showered with blaster shots made up of a material he had never seen before. They were more powerful than laser blasts, and so hot that the craters they left on the sand were smoking and smouldering. The chopper appeared out of nowhere, showering Horse with incessant fire for a good seven seconds, before spinning around him and charging up another seven second blast.
When Kuvira and her forces moved to Townsend Residence, the Earth Empire commander gave a quick orders to some of her generals, who got to work on healing the wounded and bringing the dead back to Earth Empire territory. At the same time, they were going awfully fast for someone who just wanted to return the dead back to their land. Probably because they were needed, at this moment, in the battlefield.
Kuvira tried to move into the Residence with five soldiers, and when the bodyguards tried to touch her, she waved both of her hands up, lifting them by the metal on their clothes- located in their belts, body armor, pins and such. "Stop. Touching. Me." She ordered, before dropping them back. "Your men slaughtered my citizens when all they did was march into your town. Kindness was received with violence. I will have five bodyguards with me and nothing less." Warnings put on the table, she stepped inside, all of her army spread out on the courtyard in front of the residence.
"All I'm saying is, Palmer should be down here with us, not up on his giant tower..." The man continued to rant as he took his bowl of soup without even saying thanks.
Not that it was a problem... because soon after that, a woman with a young girl came to Volke's table, holding out their bowls with tender smiles on their faces. "Thank you so much for what you're doing." The woman said to Volke, nodding. "You're a good man, that's right, you're a good man."
This post never existed.
edited 28th Apr '15 3:54:49 PM by Meanken
Duty First
Helghast Envoy/Central City
"I can certainly agree with that, Sir Bradley.", Baites said, as he took his seat along with his envoys of privates and warrant officers. Among the privates, Yatel was one of them, giving the woman a respectful nod and slow shaking of head, motioning to his superior who have taken a seat. That, and he is quite dense in regards to romantic matter; he thought the lady is asking for directions.
"We can certainly arrange trades between our locations; we 'ave th' technology 'nd means t' provide food 'nd necessities. We lack th' materials however."
"Another point woul' be th' nature of th' alliance...which I woul' 'ave t' leave t' m' superior 'nd Commandin' Officer. Anton?"
A private bearing a comically large backpack sets his bag on the table, with one side facing Bradley and the generals. And then, it unfurls, revealing a lit screen, and the visage of Captain on it, waving to the audience.
"Greetings, everyone!", followed by him tipping his hat."I am Captain, leader of the Outpost."
Helghast Intelligence Team/ NY City
The men operating the outpost knew he hit jackpot. He quickly tunes to the line and chatter on 'Turtles' and 'Foot forces', while motioning to his officer to come.
всегда верен
Tannis's travels took her over the lip of the crater, then down into a series of sharply descending rocky crags and canyons. It only took a few more minutes of walking before the ground evened out, revealing the rest of the massive crater. The building closest to her was
a a massive, decaying, communications array
of some kind. It had clearly seen better days, but the monstrous radio array still seemed to be working. More specifically, the tower was emanating a strange, high-pitched frequency that made the scientist's head hurt if she focussed on the signal too intently.
Just off to the east was another building; this one resembled a patchwork airplane hangar
, covered with rust and crudely refitted with rusted sheet metal, as if to provide an extra modicum of protection against something.
Additionally, Tannis might notice a pair of bald, scarred humans shambling mindlessly just beyond a nearby network of corroded pipes, apparently completely ignorant to everything beyond their immediate sensory input.
edited 28th Apr '15 4:24:22 PM by Locoman
Funky soon touched down right on the beach, coming to a stop. The kong cut the engine and jumped out, surveying the land a bit. "Better look around, oughta at least know where this is," he said as he began his journey. He then noticed a single lone human nearby.
"Hey mon, rad morning to ya!" Funky waved and greeted. "Lovin' them curls! Say, I've been flyin' by, making a test run of my baby over there, and I'm in unfamiliar shores. Where am I?"
The man would immediately take note of Funky's accent, which seemed to be a fusion of Jamaican and surfer.
Donkey Kong slept soundly, snoozing gently as the day went by. So deep in sleep, with dreams of bananas in the sky, the outside did not exist. Not even the alarm clock being brought up next to his ear -
*BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-*
Seeing the alarm clock was not working, Cranky reeled it in from the fishing poled he had and shut it off. Then promptly tossed the clock out the window. A few moments later, he was inside the hut, carrying a Klaptrap
◊. He brought it up to DK's ear, careful not to bring it too close lest it try to nibble on the gorilla's head. Cranky then used a set of old dentures on the tiny reptile's tail -
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRR!!!!!
Seeing DK still snoozing, Cranky tossed the Klaptrap out of the window. He came back inside with a flatscreen sized blackboard and a metal hand rake. He scratched the tool onto the chalkboard. Seeing that ineffective, he tossed the chalkboard and the rake out the window, the rake striking a random sheep.
Clearly running out of patience, Cranky decided to bring in a large soundboard. He started pushed random buttons, each one making a different loud noise.
At this point, was really angry and just started to wail on Donkey Kong - "WAKE UP YOU STUPID OAF!" - first by slapping DK in the face back and forth, then shaking him, whacking him in the head with his cane, jumping right on his face, splashing cold water on him, putting a bomb right near his head -
......................
A beat.
When the smoke cleared, DK still lay in bed, perfectly asleep. The only movement he made was turning over in his hammock.
At this point, Cranky realized what he had to do. He had to break one of the Kong Clan's greatest taboo, a sacred rule should never be broken. However, this was a desperate time, and measure had to be taken. That, and what would follow should be funny anyone.
"Donkey Kong," Cranky said, calmly and deadpan. ".......someone stole the banana hoard again."
The door to the hut slammed open from the inside, nearly fling it right out its hinges. Literally shooting out of the hut was the somersaulting form of Donkey Kong. He landed hard on the ground, creating a small crater and tremor. He beating his chest, practically roaring in sheer rage. He turned away and bolted directly for the banana hoard. When he reached it, he found.......
That the cave was filled to the brim with bananas. Like it should be. Anger melted away to confusion. Then He heard laughing.
Cranky walked into the cave, laughing all the way. "The look on your face....." he wheezed before laughing some more.
DK immediately knew what the elder was talking about and angrily glared at his grandfather. Cranky laughed a bit more until calming down.
"Yeah yeah, I know, pretty underhanded of me," Cranky said. "But I had to wake you up somehow. Its really important this time. Come on!" The former guardian walked out of the cave with DK, still angry, following. Soon they were outside. "Out there, look," Cranky said, pointing out into the distance with his cane.
Donkey Kong looked out as well, and he saw a shoreline out in the distance. The gorilla made some grunts.
"That's land alright," Cranky responded. "Whenever we are, it definitely ain't near the Mushroom Kingdom, and Funky's out there somewhere as well. The others are at my nearest hut."
DK nodded and let Cranky climb on his back. The younger ape then started to sprint towards Cranky's hut.
edited 28th Apr '15 6:54:54 PM by UdtheImp
DAMMIT MARK, STOP HOTTING HELPY!!
Look at all this life, oh bearer mine~
Border between Clan Nova Cat Territory and Outpost 341
The Yasha crew exchanged looks again, before the gunner responded. "We are not authorized to negotiate on behalf of Khan Nostra, but we are honored by your invitation. Provided your parent facility has broadcast equipment of sufficient range, you may transmit requests to the following frequency." The gunner listed the open hailing frequency of the ATC tower, before switching to the frequency the Keshik was using to coordinate, as the pilot turned the gunship around and headed north. "Southern recon returning to base now. We have made contact with a defense emplacement belonging to a faction identified as Helghast Army Outpost 341. Contact self-identified as Reconnaissance Outpost A-21. Contact was made on the following channels in this format [File attached]. Response was received on the following channel in the following format [File attached]. Contact was provided with our open hailing frequency."
"Received. We will keep an ear open," a tech at the command post said. Just as he finished, Nova Captain Lenardon's voice came through the channel. "Neg. Move to the following coordinates; meet up with me and your pointmate. Warrior Rell, Star Commander Kira, you are to bring your vehicles to my location, I want both points here. Star Commander, you are to carry Nova Commander Ayal's point, relay my order to him. All rendezvous at the provided coordinates.
The pilot adjusted his course accordingly, and soon had passed over a trail of dust in the forest that must have been the Epona Lenardon's point was riding. In the distance, over the lake, he could make out the Yasha piloted by his Point Commander. He wondered what this sudden meeting was all about.
Unnamed Lake, Offshore of Santa Destroy
The Epona slowly decelerated to halt underneath the pair of Yashas overhead. Their point reformed, they now comprised a hunter-killer team, the Point Commander in the BAP-equipped unit directing its stealthier companion with the light Gauss rifle. A little distance eastward, Aleida Lenardon could make out three more Eponas skirting across the lake. The turret of one matched the one she was riding, the tips of forty small long-range missiles visible. The turret of the second was dominated by a large rotary Gauss rifle, while the bulk of the third housed a pair of plasma cannons. Once they drifted to a stop nearby, Aleida flicked her eyes to the right, the iris-tracking system build into her battlearmor helmet keying the appropriate comm channel.
"Point Commander Yori reports that some vehicles with some interesting energy signatures have entered this town. After stopping here to wait for further instruction, it became apparent there is some sort of low-level conflict in this town. Nova Commander Ayal, you are now in charge of this formation. Your task is to observe this conflict and, if possible, determine the identity of participating factions. Track, especially, those unique energy signatures. You are authorized to use force if threatened or if requested and can bargain some assistance in return. Do not bind us to any permanent arrangements. For now, keep the formation offshore but in visible range; we do not wish to appear too aggressive but want to make a showing. Transfer to another vehicle; we will be taking Star Commander Kira's craft to our destination, around this settlement."
The five warriors in Salamander battlearmor jumped one at a time from the Gauss-carrying Epona to the one mounting the plasma cannons, their jets flaring just long enough to arc between the hovercraft. They moved with ease that belied the depths of the waters below, a depth they might not be able to escape. The hovercraft rocked gently with each impact, but held its position. Once they had dismounted, Aleida followed suit, the other four warriors of her point doing the same. For warriors trained to jump between battlemechs in motion, a stationary vehicle transfer was almost child's play.
"Take us out Star Commander, along this path unless forces are encountered [File attached]. Make best speed." The Epona kicked to life immediately, and shot across the lake to the southwest. Looking back, Lenardon saw the other three Eponas and their Yasha escorts pulling closer to the shore, with the one carrying the battlearmor edging mere meters from the beach. The two Yashas cautiously moved forward, stopping every hundred meters or so, presumably for another sensor sweep.
Her trip was largely uneventful, the hovercraft moving across the southern reaches of Santa Destroy's chunk at far too quickly a pace to be intercepted by any footsoldiers they may encounter, and steering clear of any spotted vehicles. Soon the terrain changed to a rockier variety, and a mountain covered in equipment of some disrepair loomed large. Reaching the final nav point of the provided route, the Epona glided to a halt, and Aleida's point dismounted.
"Find any cover nearby you can, as long as you can fire down that approach," Aleida told the Star Commander, pointing towards a path fringed in scrub. She started down the path, and as the four other Rogue Bears followed behind her, they activated their optical camouflage systems, visually blending in with the environment and becoming effectively invisible. Their stealth armor fought enemy sensor acquisition, and what managed to get through would be interfered with by their ECM units. Despite their impressive stealth, the group moved slowly, not knowing what they would find.
Border between Clan Nova Cat Territory and Central City
Star Colonel Anastaas Lossey stood atop the rocky rise overlooking Central City, deep in thought. His Hellion behind him cut an imposing figure against the sky as visible from the territory of the city ahead, but it stood as if a giant statue, dormant without its pilot to grant it life. Even still, the angled plates over long limbs gave it a nimble appearance well-suited to its capabilities.
Anastaas had been here before, years ago. He knew the Falcons would be here, just as Nostra. He saw it himself, on this very spot. Back then, however, the view beyond was far different.
He had seen himself wielding a sword, a thin, slightly curved weapon that matched that in the Jade Falcon's emblem. The design was common amongst the Combine, the katana, but he knew this was not the weapon of a samurai. It did not carry the weight of Kuritan tradition, the Bushido path its warriors followed. In his vision he was not fighting for the Dragon but for himself and his Clan. He was squared against another man, with a blade of his own. It was a sparring match, or a training session, not the life-or-death struggle depicted in the vision that granted his Khan the foreknowledge of Falcon presence. It had given him confidence in their triumph over, or at least escape from, the Dragon's clutches on Irece, simply because that vision had yet to pass.
At first he thought the sword may have represented the Jade Falcons led to the Inner Sphere by Galaxy Commander Alexander Hazen. Perhaps they would cut a swath through the Inner Sphere, linking with the Nova Cat's holdings, and together crush the Combine as they had decimated the Lyran Alliance. But Alexander died, and his sister Malvina went mad, taking the Galaxy back to Sudeten and turning on her own Clan. Later, as the Rebellion first started, he thought the vision may resolve with him leading a Kuritan unit against their former masters, but the Dragoncats were disbanded, and he was reassigned to NovaStar Keshik. He lost the meaning in the vision, then, but never lost faith that it would some day reveal itself to him.
The new world provided ample opportunities for it to pass. The Falcons had been discovered across the eastern sea, precluding the vision's completion by a direct meeting. In his stead was sent saKhan Leroux, though he felt he would have been the better choice, meeting the other Star Colonel as an equal. But if they were to cooperate- and Anastaas sincerely hoped they would- that would be one way his vision could resolve. There were others, in the back of his mind, more unusual but interesting scenarios. So far the other contacts they've established had been of some measurable tech level, from the ICE vehicles used across the lake, the transmission-capable scientists beyond, the Jade Falcons on the opposing shore the east, and the anti-air emplacements to the south. But the city below him did not seem to have an appreciable tech level at all, from his vantage point on the cliffs. Might they have swordsmen in their touman? And what of the other factions, distributed throughout this strange world?
Perhaps it was soon time to go on another Vision Quest. He preferred to avoid them if the vision before had yet to pass, but the length of time he had been waiting on this one had been far greater than he would like, and his desire to experience the wonderful sensations yet again tickled his emotions. Everything, from the fasting, the meditation, the contemplation, was a thrilling sensation for him. Strange that one bred for battle would be so taken by such a calm pursuit. That was the Nova Cat way.
The other four mechs of his star had been testing the grounds after the Yasha had returned, exploring various paths down and around the canyons and crag to see which were viable routes to the chunk of land below. They were under strict orders to avoid the abrupt change in terrain, as to not encroach on the other's territory, and should be finishing their task soon. The city beyond was waiting, but whether it was waiting for their words or their weapons had yet to be determined.
Anastaas held his hand out, picturing the sword of his dream held within its grasp. It wouldn't be long now, he could feel it.
edited 28th Apr '15 7:25:23 PM by Sere
1. With the body of a lion, paws that refreshes, a tail told by an idiot, and the head of a fox
Duty First
Helghast Outpost A-21/ Clan Nova Cat Territory
"Understood. Safe travels. Out."
Moments after that message has been transmitted, the Outpost quickly relayed the information they obtained to the Command, which in turn gave the command for the Northern Mountain range to be on alert.
With that, listening outposts throughout the northern border flared into life, unmanned as they are with their SAM and artillery emplacements activating. Radars are activated, while various sensors hidden and dotted throughout the mountains starts transmitting datas to the outpost and Command.
Meanwhile, in the atmosphere, a reconnaissance satellite tracks the foreign gunship, its cameras following it as it moves up North.
всегда верен
Tannis, now having activated her cloaking device, took out an Echo recorder and began whispering into it.
"My journey into this strange new land has begin. I can see two locals now, and somehow they look even more braindead then the sycophants I am consonantly surrounded by in Sanctuary. I will avoid contact. No need to get dragged into a conversation about the no doubt idiotic things they talk about.
"I also see two structures. One appears to be a signal tower of some sort. What the signal is, I cannot say, only that it hurts my head when I focus on it, much like what happens when I try to focus on Scooter's drivel. The second appears to be a building of some sort.
"I am moving in for a closer look inside. Perhaps I will find a gift for Clonk. He tells me he is bored sitting on the ceiling all day. A toy may cheer up his dreary life as a chair up a bit."
With that, Tannis walked over to the building and entered.
edited 28th Apr '15 7:46:06 PM by Meanken
Eventually, the group of anthropomorphic animals and winged humanoid would see a procession of three red-clothed figures making their way back toward the green landscape of Angel Island, ignoring the flattened remains of their unfortunate predecessor.
Unlike the one lone Trauma Harness who had come calling yesterday, these three seemed to be on a definite mission, if their quick stride seemed any indication. As soon as they saw (perhaps saw was the wrong word here, since the only eye sockets the things possessed hadn't been used in 200 years) the unaware group, they turned and started walking toward them, their orders to "retrieve" overriding whatever was left of their programming.
edited 26th Apr '15 2:07:14 PM by Locoman