"To be honest," Gaius said slowly, "I'd, kind of like to know what we're fighting for too. We don't really have any indication that your secret project isn't something bad. I can think of a few plausible things your project could be that wouldn't so much be for the betterment of mankind." ...Of course, I'd never say them outloud... since I don't want to give the mildly creepy mad scientist any ideas...
"And another thing; if your project is in the last vault, why do we even need to go to the others anyway? And who are these mutants we're supposed to just presume are terrible monsters? I mean, we only really have your word to go on. I think it would just help us all out alot if you at least went into a little more detail. ...I-if... you don't mind, that is..."
"If what you're saying is true," Raymond added, swallowing his rising paranoia, "Then I'm in." Regardless of his feeling on the matter, he had to know something about whatever this scientist was planning, and he had to make sure that he could keep the people with him safe. The prospect of whatever mutants that were residing in the facilities eventually escaping wasn't all that pleasent, either.
"Better to put this crazy shit to rest."
To the law and for the good of man. All I need to live by."Vunderbar! Glad you are in! And to answer your little friend Gaius's concern about ze other Vaults. Zat is where your upgrade points are in and where proper stations for ze upgrades and even repairs for your suits are. The final vault is several days away and even with these pieces of advanced technology. You are all still human... well... mostly human. I am talking about you Charles."
A sigh came over, "We are nearly done, everyone equip your weapons the doors will open shortly. Oh and when you make it to the other vaults, do take your time to look about, the shutdown for the security system or at least something to help you fight it better may be there."
Dominic still felt unsettled. The doctor was being evasive about his intentions and the suits he was providing, but he also seemed to be mostly truthful with what he was willing to tell. Nevertheless Dominic was relieved that he was not the only one with misgivings about the doctor.
Dominic shrugged. "I am in as well, at least for now. But before we get on our way, I have just one last question. What about supplies? Based on the designer program and what my AI is telling me, power and ammunition will not be big problems but sustenance and medicine appear to be different stories. Do the suits have any solutions to help with that or do we need to rely on scavenging and other sources?"
"Pfft, you're just jealous of my cyborg powers." Charlie said, drawing his plasma sword and twirling it around. "Now, let's go get some sweet, sweet upgrade points!"
He tossed his sword up, then leaped into the air and caught it, floating there with his jets. He raised his sword up in a salute, pointing it at the doors. "Carpe Diem, baby! Woo!"
What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?"Fine, fine, guess I'll have to scavenge some more cigs for myself when we loot this next place," Mendoza said. He yawned and stretched his hands out for a moment, exhaling while he watched the others show off or otherwise make taunts.
He flicked a cigarette butt onto the ground as his backpack transformed, with him now hidden away inside an elephant that towered over everything in the room aside from the Ziz.
"Wait a minute you hyperactive squirt" Jerry said, spreading out one of the massive wings of his suit in front of the little floating cyborg man, practically putting a large wall in front of him. "I've got an important question doc; you may not have been willing to use these suits, but what about the mutants? If they know how to get the suits working, won't they?" he asked into the comm line, looking into the air; he wasn't sure exactly what direction the doctor was actually in, but better than looking at any of the other people here, Jerry figured.
"I want to know if we're gonna have to contend with dudes outfitted like us" Jerry continued, his attention shifting over to the massive, transforming, elephant mech. "Oh, so one of you guys did also pick the big option! Alright then" he commented idly.
edited 13th Jan '15 2:44:21 PM by FirockFinion
You are reading this."It iz possible, zat ze mutant band zat threw me out could be assembling suits. So be prepared, and another reason to scavenge ze vaults," Dr. O pondered.
Then a laughter echoed throughout their suits and the intercoms of the vault, it ceased in a instant. "My apologies. Just found ze fact zat we now have two troop transports available now amusing. Been awhile since I laughed. So zat is what it sounds like," he cleared his throat, "As for food. Yes we have food. Zere is cold storage with many foods in storage, I am piping some up to my new "office" as we speak. Ah excelent zey have beer as well!"
Munching sounds could be heard, "Zat is good. Hrmhrm sorry, actually having real food. As for medicine, zere is some at ze second vault. Also is a surveillance drone assembler. Find it, activate it, and tune it to the frequence 04.51 and zen I can stop using your optics to see everzing."
Gaius frowned beneath the mask of his suit. He didn't really answer most of my question... Deciding that asking any further along the same line was a waste of time, he changed his approach. "So, are you just waiting here? You're going to follow us remotely?" he asked as politely as possible. Leaving out that we've never seen you in person... We don't even really know that you're a normal human yourself... Or at all.
Letting out a sigh, Gaius reached over his shoulder and pulled loose the weapon holstered there. The previously collapsed form of a handheld particle cannon unfolded. Gripping the almost oversized weapon with both hands, Gaius tried to keep it at what he felt was a comfortable ready position. He'd never even held a gun before, let alone a cannon. This was clearly going to be a bit of a learning experience.
Taking a deep breath, Gaius flew higher, taking position at the height of the door. The Doctor hasn't really given us any reason to trust his motives, but I can't run away either. If I did, I'd regret it forever. I do know that it would be dangerous for anyone to create an army with these suits. I can't just turn my back on that. ...I'm here now. I don't know where this road will take me, but I'll follow it. I'll just have to make sure it leads somewhere good, and if it doesn't... change it!
"Weapons, weapons..."
Sigrun started checking weapon-wielding sub-routines, assisted by Wind. She'd used guns and sharp objects before, but they'd just been small hunting rifles for vermin or farming tools. These military weapons were...well, kind of overwhelming. She'd let the AI choose what weapons best supported her kind of armour, something that would let her use her mobility and agility to its full while still keeping her out of the thick of it. Wind chimed in on the issue.
"Reminder: The plasma claws of the Predator mode are unusable in Avian mode."
Sigrun nodded. While winged, Sigrun's main weapons would be the particle beam and rocket pod. The rockets seemed simple enough (choose where to aim and fire away), but the beam would require some practice.
"Ready the beam."
"Initializing."
The heavy armour of her right arm shifted and adapted, with the barrel of the particle beam point out above the back of her hand. The wrist and finger joints also locked into place, so that they could not move into the path of the shot. Meanwhile, her left arm went through similar though not as great changes, accommodating a targeting system as well as a weapon stabilizer. By integrating the entire weapon systems into the armour's arms instead of being stand-alone armaments, they were more intuitive for Sigrun to use and the chances of making a mistake dropped. Or so Wind had said. Sigrun raised no objection.
"Okay...ready for flight!"
Her wings unfolded softly, with a series of soft clicking noises. She giggled, loving the sound of her very own mechanical wings getting ready to take her into the sky.
"Flight systems ready. Initializing air navigational subroutines and autopilot."
Or in plain speak, the suit was ready to make up for Sigrun's own lack of experience. Wing-based flight was very nimble and agile, but as a trade-off it was much more complicated to carry out. Wind would make sure she didn't crash into something or start plummeting to the ground, at least until she could keep track of things on her own. Of course, that diverted computing power away from other mechanisms, so she would have to either take manual control or land if she needed the AI for other complex options. Anyway, that could wait.
"Let's fly!"
Her wings beating slowly but powerfully, she was lifted into the air of the armour chamber, getting ready to leave once the doors opened.
edited 14th Jan '15 12:18:43 PM by Lemurian
Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!"Ah shit," Gideon muttered, "This is gonna be a tragedy any way you cut it." With a clean movement, he drew the sword he'd requisitioned from it's 'scabbard'. With a few moments and a small explosion of greenish sparks that flew up the blade, it became enveloped in a tight cloud of plasma. The blade itself glowed as if it was just pulled out of a kiln. In his other arm, a small metallic nodule that he was carrying had exploded into a transperent wall of light that covered about 2/3 of his body.
"I can tell we're all just touched by our new toys, but let's try to focus on keeping alive first. Can't get get better against some freak-ass mutants as a corpse."
To the law and for the good of man. All I need to live by.Dominic slung his autocannon into a ready position, the weapon unfolding into it´s full size while he took position closer to Mendoza´s beast of suit and the cover it provided. "Weapon deployment detected. Shall I initiate combat mode?" The emotionless voice of his AI queried in Dominic´s head."Yes. Prep the drone for action. I want it through the doors and getting a read of the situation the moment they open. Be ready to run interference if there is anything out there."."Acknowledged.". Dominic´s visor slammed down, his field of view becoming awash with updates about the status of his suit. Not that was necessary. He could feel the suit getting tenser as it readied itself.
"Right. Everyone, I am going to send out a drone through the doors once they open. That should give us a better idea of what is going on outside." Dominic called out while a small machine slightly reminiscent of a big colibri detached from his back and began to hover close to the suit.
"Thanks, but I'll stay in the air as well," Sigrun replied, with a grin. "With these wings, I want to feel what it's like to fly across the open sky!"
Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!Anke considered her options for moving out, shooing away some of the tactic assessment her AI whispered into her ears, finally she jumped on top of the towering elephant, her drones following suit. "mind if I hitch a ride, Tusks?" She asked Mendoza.
The graceless warrior, wielder of the edgeless blade, prophet of the old religions, writer of fluent nonsense, saviour of soul and song.

Sigrun hesitated a little. She had never fought before, except with some wild animals, and "retaking" these vaults from mutants and security systems sounded, well, scary. On the other hand, though, she did owe the doctor a favour for the suit. After some thought, she nodded to herself.
"Okay, I'll do it. Well, try at least. Where are we going?"
She'd do her best, and hope the others were better at fighting. And if that wasn't enough, well, she'd just run away.
Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!