"And you intend to cease my existence how? You never explored my crash site entirely when I landed did you?" he asked switching the hologram to a 3d image of his crashed ship that had landed before "I was not alone when the ship orbited this local moon, I doubt i'm alone still" Bravo turned the hologram off "I may be from Earth, but I am in no circumstance related to you humans that defiled the planets resources for your own gain" Bravo stated as he held both hands up "Plus captain, if you attempted to destroy me, all my data would automatically erase itself so that it could not be accessed, even IF you had a way of getting near to that point, so you need me activated one way or another and I do no good if not mobile"
The medical bot raised his hands up in way if he was dealing with an animal that didn't trust humans, and said "Please miss, lets fix your wound and plus from the looks on your friend, he seems awful hurt, we only wish to help out, please, miss let us help you and your friend and once we are done you'll be on your way" the Z-bot looked at Kellenger so innocently, it truly is being sincere to help the two.
Kampfer looked at Ketin and smiled freakishly at him and said "Fine, I'll take him back" Kampfer then went towards the president, grabbing him and teleporting him to another unknown location, to be dealt with later. He soon teleported back to Ketin and said "Vell I did vhat you vant and now you'll do vhat I vant, so I'll ask again...vhat is true goal, is it really not to hurt anyone or is it something more?" he got to Ketin's ear and said in a whisper "I can feel you in my head, so I warn you top stop prodding or your not gonna like what you find in zere" he warned about all the gruesome experiments that Kampfer has done...but has neglected to say that good he has done. "If your vondering how I know, its all in your eye zat gives you zat ability" he said as he straighten up and waited for his answer. Kampfer knew that Kete won't be able to read the battle network in his head since it's something completely different and is protected by the Mother AI and it would give him a sever headache if he was able to do it and it would be too much to comprehend.
Kampfer looked at Ketin and smiled freakishly at him and said "Fine, I'll take him back" Kampfer then went towards the president, grabbing him and teleporting him to another unknown location, to be dealt with later. He soon teleported back to Ketin and said "Vell I did vhat you vant and now you'll do vhat I vant, so I'll ask again...vhat is true goal, is it really not to hurt anyone or is it something more?" he got to Ketin's ear and said in a whisper "I can feel you in my head, so I warn you top stop prodding or your not gonna like what you find in zere" he warned about all the gruesome experiments that Kampfer has done...but has neglected to say that good he has done. "If your vondering how I know, its all in your eye zat gives you zat ability" he said as he straighten up and waited for his answer. Kampfer knew that Kete won't be able to read the battle network in his head since it's something completely different and is protected by the Mother AI and it would give him a sever headache if he was able to do it and it would be too much to comprehend.
It was all a lot clearer to him now. The tackle had woken him up and the city looked a lot different. The night lights had turned to smoke and fires, windows were broken and he could smell the scent and reeks of several nasty things originating from the nearby area. He wrinkled his nose at it, feeling awfully familiar with it for some reason.
The boy was startled at the ATT arriving. He would yelp as he was about to reply to Royanna, but the surprice arrival scared the sound out of him before he could form any words.
Christofer helped with Kallenger's intentions, hiding and curling slightly behind her before she could really do much. He held the gun on the furthest away hand, pointing it to the ground, not wanting to accidentally shoot Kallenger if the trigger was swift to be pressed.
"... Please... Don't let them touch me..." He whimpered, scared of the bots as he had never seen anything like them. "... I don't want them to touch me..."
Hw had his trust fully tied onto the lady. Her actions spoke for her even before the words would. He hadn't known her for all that long at all, but somehow he felt like he could rely his whole little life on her. It was... Reassuring... A little warm feeling in all the coldness...
The ears on his head laid flat instantly when the bot moved. His body became all tense and he took a bit more prepared stance, even if it was still a but hunched over. It was all like it would have been some self-defence mechanism.
"Stop." This time he hissed in a somewhat menacing tone and followed it with an angry growl. "Stop moving. Don't you ******* move again." The boy didn't trust the bots. They were big, new and scary. It all seemed even more like some American testing ground now. What were these, the cops? Were they trying to act all nice and then they'd beat them up afterwards? Of course. That's how every movie ever with robots in it went. It would always end badly... He did not trust a single gear in those bots...
"Go back," The boy snarled. "Get away from me!"
The boy was startled at the ATT arriving. He would yelp as he was about to reply to Royanna, but the surprice arrival scared the sound out of him before he could form any words.
Christofer helped with Kallenger's intentions, hiding and curling slightly behind her before she could really do much. He held the gun on the furthest away hand, pointing it to the ground, not wanting to accidentally shoot Kallenger if the trigger was swift to be pressed.
"... Please... Don't let them touch me..." He whimpered, scared of the bots as he had never seen anything like them. "... I don't want them to touch me..."
Hw had his trust fully tied onto the lady. Her actions spoke for her even before the words would. He hadn't known her for all that long at all, but somehow he felt like he could rely his whole little life on her. It was... Reassuring... A little warm feeling in all the coldness...
The ears on his head laid flat instantly when the bot moved. His body became all tense and he took a bit more prepared stance, even if it was still a but hunched over. It was all like it would have been some self-defence mechanism.
"Stop." This time he hissed in a somewhat menacing tone and followed it with an angry growl. "Stop moving. Don't you ******* move again." The boy didn't trust the bots. They were big, new and scary. It all seemed even more like some American testing ground now. What were these, the cops? Were they trying to act all nice and then they'd beat them up afterwards? Of course. That's how every movie ever with robots in it went. It would always end badly... He did not trust a single gear in those bots...
"Go back," The boy snarled. "Get away from me!"
"I don't believe the void is specially related to the Old Earth, but whatever." The Ranger's steady steps followed from behind Aelyn. Even though he felt certainty in the Captain's speech some moments ago, AP still left much to desire. Maybe he wasn't so much imposing than he were before.
Then, much for the Ranger's horror... Or rather horrific frustration, Bravo were up and running. It was tempting to just pull out his LRMT 72 and blast the android away to his heart's contents. By that point, he didn't even cared for Volo sudden quietness, as CL himself were both amazed and utterly angered by Bravo's excellent, but annoying, autonomous repair operations. After all, the bot did manage to heavily modify The Ranger's gasoline-based fighter just he could send it straight towards the Stella Viventium with an armed nuclear device.
Even though part of CL's disgrace were pretty much due to Bravo's actions, he still tried to keep his temperament under the situation. The Ranger stood hard by the MechBay entrance, his furious breather could be clearly heard by anyone passing by. The only thing he wanted to do was to see the CD destroyed in all ways possible and... Whoever made him. This question easily calmed The Masked Man's conscience. If what Bravo said was true, then how much information about Old Earth the Ranger had lost destroying haywire man-hunting machines back at the forgotten outwards of NVL 02? CL's own home-galaxy?
Then, much for the Ranger's horror... Or rather horrific frustration, Bravo were up and running. It was tempting to just pull out his LRMT 72 and blast the android away to his heart's contents. By that point, he didn't even cared for Volo sudden quietness, as CL himself were both amazed and utterly angered by Bravo's excellent, but annoying, autonomous repair operations. After all, the bot did manage to heavily modify The Ranger's gasoline-based fighter just he could send it straight towards the Stella Viventium with an armed nuclear device.
Even though part of CL's disgrace were pretty much due to Bravo's actions, he still tried to keep his temperament under the situation. The Ranger stood hard by the MechBay entrance, his furious breather could be clearly heard by anyone passing by. The only thing he wanted to do was to see the CD destroyed in all ways possible and... Whoever made him. This question easily calmed The Masked Man's conscience. If what Bravo said was true, then how much information about Old Earth the Ranger had lost destroying haywire man-hunting machines back at the forgotten outwards of NVL 02? CL's own home-galaxy?
Aelyn Was silent for a long moment. His expression was flat, and failed to reveal that he had suddenly remembered that no – in his haste to find the bot, he had failed to examine the wreckage. It was a miserable oversight. Not good for his image. It was this whole thing really – he was so tired…
Via BrainPal Aelyn was already ordering an exploratory team sent down to the crash site via stealth craft. Since no teleportation was possible on the surface or within the magnetosphere of the planet, they would have to reenter physical space from their relative Not position, then get to the surface the normal route. It would be no trouble – even though all of Petrovalyc’s battle resources had been extinguished in the earlier outbreaks, he still had some fantastic stealthcraft.
Dorin Harkahn and Aleessa Rivierre, along with two other scientist/researchers and two nameless guys with guns were already mobilizing. They were going to get everything of value from that crash site and bring it all back to the Stella. Since the southern jungle had been largely abandoned since the chaos which had erupted when the ordeal first began, there was no reason to anticipate resistance. Even the area where that mysterious group led by the albino were was too far north.
Aelyn thought it best to simply ignore the comment. Things would be taken care of. Presently, the issue at hand was to get on with investigations. Find whatever nonsense this bot was spouting. Figure it out.
“Alright. ‘Shadows of the Angel Moon’.” Aelyn quoted from the bot’s earlier ramblings. “Can you elaborate on this? Clarify? There’s got to be something I can do to get more out of you than this…What is your primary function? Prime directive? Purpose for existence?” Indeed, he was just throwing things at the wall by this point.
Via untraceable BrainPal transmission - it was still a one-way communication - Aelyn sent to CL:
Don’t worry. When this is all over I’ll let you blast the stupid thing beyond repair. I only ask that I get to watch.
I am invoking my rights as a sovereign individual to refuse the alteration or tampering of my person and the person of those in my charge!” Royanna barked, viciously. Something about the way the kid reacted had really lit a fuse. Her words failed to express this but actions spoke louder, or so it seemed. The way she held out her right hand in that protective half-shield seemed to say ‘I won’t’ in assurance to the boy’s whimpered anxieties.
Noticing that she was letting her fuse get lit, she calmed herself…slightly. “Leave us alone. We’ll cause you no trouble.” She continued, lower and well annunciated. “We want to stay uninvolved. We want nothing to do with you, is that understood? Leave us the @#$% alone.” The conclusion was positively venomous.
Roya stood between Toffi and the bots. One arm was held lowly out at her side, while the other one – that which had been wounded – was limp at her side. It hurt far too much to move it, at this particular junction. Her long coat made Toffi’s hiding of the gun more effective, there was no way the bots would see it without someone getting behind them, or Christofer moving it – obviously.
Behind them was the park, ahead of them was the city. A street bordered the park perimeter, stretching far east to west.
There was a long moment – Kallenger stared down the medical bots with a harsh, cutting glare. The short, boyish hair was just barely touched upon by a chilling, early-nighttime breeze that wafted along the road, making its’ way through the corridors of buildings, contrasting the warmth of the fires where they still burn in smoldering embers.
Then she began to back away, keeping eyes locked on them, not letting them out of her sight for a moment. The woman was hurt, but that would not stop her from using that blade of hers should one of them get too close. Since Kallenger’s rapier was an advanced, monomolecularly bladed weapon – just like the Eoclu assassin’s – it would slice effortlessly through virtually any matter, despite density. It was the only way so eclectic a weapon could prove useful in the age of projectile weaponry. Nevertheless, Kallenger did not want a fight.
Once she had put some distance between them, the woman spun around to face east, looking down the road which was largely blackened by the night. Only an eerie glow was cast from the connecting roads, between blocks. The park on the opposite side was desolate and darker than night itself, so it seemed.
As she spun around, a little flare of the coat would continue to keep the gun well hidden – not to mention that she was making sure to keep a close proximity to the boy.
Now he was in front of her – a nudge of the arm as she spun would indicate that she wanted him to do the same. It was a casual enough gesture – simply turning around, but with some speed – that it likely wouldn’t rouse suspicion. After all, she’d said the wanted only to be left alone.
If they could make it so far without interruption, Kallenger would lead the boy – from behind, ever keeping herself between him and the potential threat – two blocks down, then left into the city proper, where they would immediately take shelter in the first available building…
It should have been obvious to Ketin from the moment he first realized what this strange Kampfer fellow was that things would be more than a little different between the two of them than per usual. Naturally the Lord of Technology would have some kind of sense. He would be able to feel the negative energy from the readout of the eye – billions of miniscule, infinitesimal connections, one-way, yet it was not fundamentally impossible to back-trace.
The eye was always reading, and always fully connected. Any brain within the range was completely integrated as though it were a part of Kete’s own. As such, everything in Kampfer’s brain had been ‘copied’ to Kete’s, and would be ‘deleted’ when out of range. It would likely feel to be a vaguely static sensation. The limit would be in knowing exactly which part Kete was accessing – because even though it was Kampfer’s brain being scanned, it was within Kete’s mind alone that he would actually probe the depths. Kampfer knew that Kete was in his head, but he would not know if the boy was actually looking.
Indeed, the battle network was not composed of standard electronic technology and was represented as a sort of tube. Kete could see it, but he could not see what was in it. He knew there was a battle network, but he was unable to access it. This would not change.
And of course, artificial intelligence could be looked at like any other brain, but an overload was entirely theoretically possible…
Presently, Kete swallowed hard. The fat president was gone. He was confident that he had not been killed, which was good enough. The boy nodded meekly at the insistence that he was going to do what Kampfer wanted – that being ‘talk’. His eyes kept downcast, unable to meet the overpowering gaze of the madman.
Though it was not merely the madness in the Lord which diverted Ketin’s eyes. It was the man himself. He kept bringing back images of…of….Duros Aller. Kete did not like that, and yet however hard he tried, there was some part of him which yearned…
Yearned…for what? To have that terrible man back? To have an equally terrible man fill his shoes? No. He could not let this guilt, this…weird…complex of his overtake him.
“I…I don’t want to hurt anyone.” He said at last, with some resolve despite the tremble in his meekly spoken words. “It’s all a big mistake. I never wanted to hurt anyone.”
Which was partially true. After all, wasn’t it the paternal affection of Duros Aller which had driven him to the bloodlust?
Or was it a fundamental trait of himself? Perhaps it was always there, and merely needed the temptation of familial presence to bring it out? Maybe he would enjoy anything which could gain him that affection?
The kid was screwed up in the head, to say the least. Serious daddy issues.
Ketin waited silently, standing there in the open, arms at his side, eyes down at the tarnished metal floor, biting his lip anxiously, ears down…
Via BrainPal Aelyn was already ordering an exploratory team sent down to the crash site via stealth craft. Since no teleportation was possible on the surface or within the magnetosphere of the planet, they would have to reenter physical space from their relative Not position, then get to the surface the normal route. It would be no trouble – even though all of Petrovalyc’s battle resources had been extinguished in the earlier outbreaks, he still had some fantastic stealthcraft.
Dorin Harkahn and Aleessa Rivierre, along with two other scientist/researchers and two nameless guys with guns were already mobilizing. They were going to get everything of value from that crash site and bring it all back to the Stella. Since the southern jungle had been largely abandoned since the chaos which had erupted when the ordeal first began, there was no reason to anticipate resistance. Even the area where that mysterious group led by the albino were was too far north.
Aelyn thought it best to simply ignore the comment. Things would be taken care of. Presently, the issue at hand was to get on with investigations. Find whatever nonsense this bot was spouting. Figure it out.
“Alright. ‘Shadows of the Angel Moon’.” Aelyn quoted from the bot’s earlier ramblings. “Can you elaborate on this? Clarify? There’s got to be something I can do to get more out of you than this…What is your primary function? Prime directive? Purpose for existence?” Indeed, he was just throwing things at the wall by this point.
Via untraceable BrainPal transmission - it was still a one-way communication - Aelyn sent to CL:
Don’t worry. When this is all over I’ll let you blast the stupid thing beyond repair. I only ask that I get to watch.
I am invoking my rights as a sovereign individual to refuse the alteration or tampering of my person and the person of those in my charge!” Royanna barked, viciously. Something about the way the kid reacted had really lit a fuse. Her words failed to express this but actions spoke louder, or so it seemed. The way she held out her right hand in that protective half-shield seemed to say ‘I won’t’ in assurance to the boy’s whimpered anxieties.
Noticing that she was letting her fuse get lit, she calmed herself…slightly. “Leave us alone. We’ll cause you no trouble.” She continued, lower and well annunciated. “We want to stay uninvolved. We want nothing to do with you, is that understood? Leave us the @#$% alone.” The conclusion was positively venomous.
Roya stood between Toffi and the bots. One arm was held lowly out at her side, while the other one – that which had been wounded – was limp at her side. It hurt far too much to move it, at this particular junction. Her long coat made Toffi’s hiding of the gun more effective, there was no way the bots would see it without someone getting behind them, or Christofer moving it – obviously.
Behind them was the park, ahead of them was the city. A street bordered the park perimeter, stretching far east to west.
There was a long moment – Kallenger stared down the medical bots with a harsh, cutting glare. The short, boyish hair was just barely touched upon by a chilling, early-nighttime breeze that wafted along the road, making its’ way through the corridors of buildings, contrasting the warmth of the fires where they still burn in smoldering embers.
Then she began to back away, keeping eyes locked on them, not letting them out of her sight for a moment. The woman was hurt, but that would not stop her from using that blade of hers should one of them get too close. Since Kallenger’s rapier was an advanced, monomolecularly bladed weapon – just like the Eoclu assassin’s – it would slice effortlessly through virtually any matter, despite density. It was the only way so eclectic a weapon could prove useful in the age of projectile weaponry. Nevertheless, Kallenger did not want a fight.
Once she had put some distance between them, the woman spun around to face east, looking down the road which was largely blackened by the night. Only an eerie glow was cast from the connecting roads, between blocks. The park on the opposite side was desolate and darker than night itself, so it seemed.
As she spun around, a little flare of the coat would continue to keep the gun well hidden – not to mention that she was making sure to keep a close proximity to the boy.
Now he was in front of her – a nudge of the arm as she spun would indicate that she wanted him to do the same. It was a casual enough gesture – simply turning around, but with some speed – that it likely wouldn’t rouse suspicion. After all, she’d said the wanted only to be left alone.
If they could make it so far without interruption, Kallenger would lead the boy – from behind, ever keeping herself between him and the potential threat – two blocks down, then left into the city proper, where they would immediately take shelter in the first available building…
It should have been obvious to Ketin from the moment he first realized what this strange Kampfer fellow was that things would be more than a little different between the two of them than per usual. Naturally the Lord of Technology would have some kind of sense. He would be able to feel the negative energy from the readout of the eye – billions of miniscule, infinitesimal connections, one-way, yet it was not fundamentally impossible to back-trace.
The eye was always reading, and always fully connected. Any brain within the range was completely integrated as though it were a part of Kete’s own. As such, everything in Kampfer’s brain had been ‘copied’ to Kete’s, and would be ‘deleted’ when out of range. It would likely feel to be a vaguely static sensation. The limit would be in knowing exactly which part Kete was accessing – because even though it was Kampfer’s brain being scanned, it was within Kete’s mind alone that he would actually probe the depths. Kampfer knew that Kete was in his head, but he would not know if the boy was actually looking.
Indeed, the battle network was not composed of standard electronic technology and was represented as a sort of tube. Kete could see it, but he could not see what was in it. He knew there was a battle network, but he was unable to access it. This would not change.
And of course, artificial intelligence could be looked at like any other brain, but an overload was entirely theoretically possible…
Presently, Kete swallowed hard. The fat president was gone. He was confident that he had not been killed, which was good enough. The boy nodded meekly at the insistence that he was going to do what Kampfer wanted – that being ‘talk’. His eyes kept downcast, unable to meet the overpowering gaze of the madman.
Though it was not merely the madness in the Lord which diverted Ketin’s eyes. It was the man himself. He kept bringing back images of…of….Duros Aller. Kete did not like that, and yet however hard he tried, there was some part of him which yearned…
Yearned…for what? To have that terrible man back? To have an equally terrible man fill his shoes? No. He could not let this guilt, this…weird…complex of his overtake him.
“I…I don’t want to hurt anyone.” He said at last, with some resolve despite the tremble in his meekly spoken words. “It’s all a big mistake. I never wanted to hurt anyone.”
Which was partially true. After all, wasn’t it the paternal affection of Duros Aller which had driven him to the bloodlust?
Or was it a fundamental trait of himself? Perhaps it was always there, and merely needed the temptation of familial presence to bring it out? Maybe he would enjoy anything which could gain him that affection?
The kid was screwed up in the head, to say the least. Serious daddy issues.
Ketin waited silently, standing there in the open, arms at his side, eyes down at the tarnished metal floor, biting his lip anxiously, ears down…
"I must have my equipment from my wreckage to help you further." Bravo stated "However the Angel Moon was given the name due to it's angelic glow when viewed from a planet at night time with the different phases it goes through over a great span of time changing from crescent, to full moon." Bravo elaborated and pulled up a hologram of the Angel Moon again "This is the angel moon, it has a giant trench circling the planet which I can only estimate has some form of importance, and on the north and south poles there's two buildings use is unknown" Bravo said and with the hologram coordinates were shown just below the Angel Moons image
Kmapfer can tell by the body language of Ketin that was telling the truth...all the poor kid wanted was to live in peace and not hurt anyone. But what kept Kampfer bothering him is why is this kid causing such trouble for the Galactic Empire. To Kampfer, he knew it was the eye, the "Devil's eye" that was causing Ketin so much grief anfd not allowing him to live the lif that he wants. Lucky, Kampfer happens to be on a nice mood string for his encounter with Ketin because if not Ketin would have been on an operations table being dissected,awake. Kampfer looked at the poor boy and squatted down to Ketin's level and looked at him dead in the eye and said "Ketin, I truly vish to help you get rid of zat eye of yours if it's causing you so much grief, ze zing is if I try to pluck it vith my surgical equipment, no doubt it'll try to defend itself from being plucked out. I could...do it right here and right now, but you'll be in a vorld of pain and agony, before I can prepare a replacement eye. You are something special kid, but I can't place my finger on it, may it be for good or ill. So I give you another choice, I can take the eye out right know and you wait in pain for the replacement to come in or I can send you back to the park and continue on with your unknown fate there, but mind you once the choice has been made my soldiers/nor equipment won't be affected by your eye anymore" Kampfer got the news about the assassin and the mysterious group in the forest decided not to go there again, but already sent out three orders to the newly arrived Death's Head unit to deal with and being with Ketin for gave Kampfer the chance to analyze his eye and develop a code to counteract it's affects, it'll eliminate the uneasiness of the Z-bots, but the Doc-bots will still be affected by it and Kampfer's equipment won't totally shutdown, only slow it, a worthy fix, but unless Kampfer can have the eye, that's the best he's gonna get.
Back in Earth City, seeing that the medical bot couldn't get them to see medical decided to back off, but as he backed off another ATT came opposite of Kellenger's and toffi's position, this one coated in black, a tall tale sign that this was the Death's Head unit or at least one of them. Five soldiers came out of the ATT, all dressed in dark black and wearing gas masks with a glowing red tint on them with helmets all much taller and tougher than the standard Z-bot. The fifth one wore a black officer's peaked hat and carried a rather imposing shotgun, with a large drum magazine in the front, while the others carried machine guns with drum magazines. All of those weapons have a ridiculous rate of fire, that could kill man with only one burst. All five soldiers in black raised there guns at Kellenger and Toffi and said "Kellenger, you are under arrest for trespassing unto the planetary system of Earth, you sentence is immediate extradition back to the Galactic Empire and if you do not comply..." they all cocked there weapons to fire "...then we will use deadly force" The medical bot ran towards the group and raised it's hands in front of them. "You can't shoot them, there injured, we have orders to help no matter if they are good or foe" he pleaded with them. Sadly the plea fell on deaf hears and the officer took out his pistol and executed the poor bot leaving a gaping hole in front of it's forehead. As it fell back hitting the pavement, the medical ATT backed off leaving the Kellenger, Toffi and the soldiers in black alone. The regular soldiers themselves knew not to interfere with Death Head unit's or the fate of the medical bot is what they get. The officer put away his pistol and repointed the shotgun back the two with both hands this time.
Back in Earth City, seeing that the medical bot couldn't get them to see medical decided to back off, but as he backed off another ATT came opposite of Kellenger's and toffi's position, this one coated in black, a tall tale sign that this was the Death's Head unit or at least one of them. Five soldiers came out of the ATT, all dressed in dark black and wearing gas masks with a glowing red tint on them with helmets all much taller and tougher than the standard Z-bot. The fifth one wore a black officer's peaked hat and carried a rather imposing shotgun, with a large drum magazine in the front, while the others carried machine guns with drum magazines. All of those weapons have a ridiculous rate of fire, that could kill man with only one burst. All five soldiers in black raised there guns at Kellenger and Toffi and said "Kellenger, you are under arrest for trespassing unto the planetary system of Earth, you sentence is immediate extradition back to the Galactic Empire and if you do not comply..." they all cocked there weapons to fire "...then we will use deadly force" The medical bot ran towards the group and raised it's hands in front of them. "You can't shoot them, there injured, we have orders to help no matter if they are good or foe" he pleaded with them. Sadly the plea fell on deaf hears and the officer took out his pistol and executed the poor bot leaving a gaping hole in front of it's forehead. As it fell back hitting the pavement, the medical ATT backed off leaving the Kellenger, Toffi and the soldiers in black alone. The regular soldiers themselves knew not to interfere with Death Head unit's or the fate of the medical bot is what they get. The officer put away his pistol and repointed the shotgun back the two with both hands this time.
As Royanna had done, Toffi would move a bit further away from the bots, feeling better every step he got distance from them. The boy wouldn't move too far though, always waiting for Kallenger to move after him. He'd keep his eyes on her and the bots, making sure that they'd keep off each other.
The arrival of the other ATT wasn't in anyway planned though. Christofer would automaticly move closer to Kallenger as he heard the vehicle aproach
He didn't like the bots. He didn't like them at all. Yet they were everywhere... Why wouldn't they just leave him alone?
When some of them mentioned their will to harm Kallenger, the boy cracked a bit on the inside.
Toffi hugged Kallenger - closer to just holding his hands around her though, not a tight hug by any means. The way he held around her wouldn't immobilize either of them though. If ordered, he'd still be able to fire the gun that he kept hidden and Kallenger would easily just slip through and make her move.
But the main idea of the boy was that if they'd go, then they'd both go, not just one of them. It was surpricing how fast he had gotten attached to her, but then again, he had been lonely and alone and one reliable person was enoug for him to be his world, sun, night and day all in one.
The boy wouldn't speak. He knew that Kallenger wanted to be the one to lead the situation, so it was better for him to not interrupt on that with words. All he would have done was probably bark anyway. Yea... It was quite obvious that his 'trick card' wouldn't be working here...
The arrival of the other ATT wasn't in anyway planned though. Christofer would automaticly move closer to Kallenger as he heard the vehicle aproach
He didn't like the bots. He didn't like them at all. Yet they were everywhere... Why wouldn't they just leave him alone?
When some of them mentioned their will to harm Kallenger, the boy cracked a bit on the inside.
Toffi hugged Kallenger - closer to just holding his hands around her though, not a tight hug by any means. The way he held around her wouldn't immobilize either of them though. If ordered, he'd still be able to fire the gun that he kept hidden and Kallenger would easily just slip through and make her move.
But the main idea of the boy was that if they'd go, then they'd both go, not just one of them. It was surpricing how fast he had gotten attached to her, but then again, he had been lonely and alone and one reliable person was enoug for him to be his world, sun, night and day all in one.
The boy wouldn't speak. He knew that Kallenger wanted to be the one to lead the situation, so it was better for him to not interrupt on that with words. All he would have done was probably bark anyway. Yea... It was quite obvious that his 'trick card' wouldn't be working here...
".... Now where is that woman..." The albino was lurking nearby. He had made his way back with reinforcements and a few extra additions.
"Who do you mean, sir?"
"Sikku. Where the Hell is she?" He was looking for the mid-long haired, occasionally glasses wearing technical lead of their troops. For some reason they were nowhere to be seen even though just a moment ago she had partly been screaming from top of her lungs upon seeing the carcas that had been brought to her.
As the albino was getting rather annoyed at the dissapearance of his co-worker, his underling would point at the ATT and indeed, he would note faint movement in their specified location map in that direction.
"You ******* crazy woman..."
There was nothing for him to do now. As much as he'd want, the albino would not move from his position to catch up to the mad lady and lecture her.
Ingá and her two subordinates would get in the vehicle rapidly, immobilizing anyone that would still be inside with their equipment they had modified slightly with the information they had gotten from the Z-bot brought in a it earlier. Surely, they would have been using a bit more time and investigating, but with the tech master curious and burning with passion towards the subject, she wouldn't sit still for longer than a few minutes and ordered an expedition to be put to action immediately.
The last member of her troops would close the entrance to the vehicle as soon as they entered.
When she got to the control room the woman tapped her fingers together exitedly. Soon she could hear her helmet's radio signal that there was a call coming her way.
"Ingá Sikku. What the Hell are you planning??" It was the albino, and he did not sound pleased.
"I'm hijacking this baby~!" The lady would state joyfully as she moved things around and ripped a few things around to mold the place to be of her liking. Her subordinates would just shrug and try keeping the space together.
The albino would shut down the radio conversation with her as most he could catch from her were her exited screaches. That woman was insane. He'd roll his eyes and turn to his troops.
"How many defencive units do we have with us?" He'd look into the list that showed their numbers and waited for confirmation from the one responsible for that information. "Two? Just two?" The lead sighed and gritted his fangs a bit. "Send request for at least one more, not that we need it... But with that lady around I'd rather like to be safe than sorry."
The albino would look at what he had at hand and tried to make a quick plan from what he had
It was probably obvious by now that the ATT had been taken over, so the black wearing 'whatever' were probably fixated on them - at least half of them would be
The albino would open the radio connection with Ingá for a short message.
"Don't run them over just yet." He'd start. "I like it when they are bunched up together though." He didn't want to hear her answer though. The man was so done with her. The radio on his part would be swithced off.
"I'm going. You two, get ready." The lead would look at the troops shortly and point at a few of the members.
"You have one chance, screw it up and you're what is for dinner tonight." One could argue that they didn't practice the act of cannibalism in the midst of them, but maybe it was for the best to not oppose the words of the lead - this man slept with his knifes afterall. "You others know your roles, get moving."
The movement would happen fast - it was what they were known for after all. It would be the same as it had been many times before. Good old quick hack 'n slash.
The Albino wouldn't try cutting the lead of the black dressed ones though. Rude move. That would be left for his followers and the ones that looked after his back while he himself would be taking the lesser threads out, still doing most of the work as at least two of the bots would get snapped in a state where they'd be useless in under a mere minute of time.
"Who do you mean, sir?"
"Sikku. Where the Hell is she?" He was looking for the mid-long haired, occasionally glasses wearing technical lead of their troops. For some reason they were nowhere to be seen even though just a moment ago she had partly been screaming from top of her lungs upon seeing the carcas that had been brought to her.
As the albino was getting rather annoyed at the dissapearance of his co-worker, his underling would point at the ATT and indeed, he would note faint movement in their specified location map in that direction.
"You ******* crazy woman..."
There was nothing for him to do now. As much as he'd want, the albino would not move from his position to catch up to the mad lady and lecture her.
Ingá and her two subordinates would get in the vehicle rapidly, immobilizing anyone that would still be inside with their equipment they had modified slightly with the information they had gotten from the Z-bot brought in a it earlier. Surely, they would have been using a bit more time and investigating, but with the tech master curious and burning with passion towards the subject, she wouldn't sit still for longer than a few minutes and ordered an expedition to be put to action immediately.
The last member of her troops would close the entrance to the vehicle as soon as they entered.
When she got to the control room the woman tapped her fingers together exitedly. Soon she could hear her helmet's radio signal that there was a call coming her way.
"Ingá Sikku. What the Hell are you planning??" It was the albino, and he did not sound pleased.
"I'm hijacking this baby~!" The lady would state joyfully as she moved things around and ripped a few things around to mold the place to be of her liking. Her subordinates would just shrug and try keeping the space together.
The albino would shut down the radio conversation with her as most he could catch from her were her exited screaches. That woman was insane. He'd roll his eyes and turn to his troops.
"How many defencive units do we have with us?" He'd look into the list that showed their numbers and waited for confirmation from the one responsible for that information. "Two? Just two?" The lead sighed and gritted his fangs a bit. "Send request for at least one more, not that we need it... But with that lady around I'd rather like to be safe than sorry."
The albino would look at what he had at hand and tried to make a quick plan from what he had
It was probably obvious by now that the ATT had been taken over, so the black wearing 'whatever' were probably fixated on them - at least half of them would be
The albino would open the radio connection with Ingá for a short message.
"Don't run them over just yet." He'd start. "I like it when they are bunched up together though." He didn't want to hear her answer though. The man was so done with her. The radio on his part would be swithced off.
"I'm going. You two, get ready." The lead would look at the troops shortly and point at a few of the members.
"You have one chance, screw it up and you're what is for dinner tonight." One could argue that they didn't practice the act of cannibalism in the midst of them, but maybe it was for the best to not oppose the words of the lead - this man slept with his knifes afterall. "You others know your roles, get moving."
The movement would happen fast - it was what they were known for after all. It would be the same as it had been many times before. Good old quick hack 'n slash.
The Albino wouldn't try cutting the lead of the black dressed ones though. Rude move. That would be left for his followers and the ones that looked after his back while he himself would be taking the lesser threads out, still doing most of the work as at least two of the bots would get snapped in a state where they'd be useless in under a mere minute of time.
Now the Dmitiri's crew entered the ATT, the Mother AI initiated it's defensive measure by freezing up the controls of the ATT, now they won't be able to drive it or use the gun and sealing the all the entrances into the vehicle shut. All of the soldiers in black started to laugh evilly seeing that they fell into there trap. It should be obvious that the plan was to kill two birds with one stone and from the reports from the old ATT, predicted correctly that the mysterious group would arrive since the proximity of the forest to there position. One of the soldiers held a detonator in his hand and clicked the button on it, which released toxic gas into the ATT, that is also flammable of course, if it ignite it would render the vehicle crippled and not only killing the intruders. Seeing that the plan worked, the three of the five turned there attention to the mysterious group, while another black ATT rolled up and five more soldier's in black appeared, the new ATT made a loud DING* noise to pinpoint mysterious groups position, this time the new ATT won't be so easily taken now that it's on high alert. The officer in black was one of the three that turned his attention to the mysterious group and yelled "Your not gonna take us down easily, like those poor excuses for soldiers in the forest. We were made to deal with groups like you!"
"It'll be a pleasur... er--" - The Ranger tilted his head from Bravo to AP for a split second. Did he just projected a message into the Ranger's head without actually speaking? To think of it, it was the first time he had actually witnessed how such device REALLY worked, since Alessa and Harkahn were far away from the heated gunfire. A quite surprised Mad Ranger were lost in toughts. He pondered, theorized and wondered. How the BrainPal actually worked? Most worrying, would it cause any conflict with his own neural circuitry and built in operating systems? Aelyn or his Chief Doctor would certainly need to waste a couple of substantial hours explaining a paranoid, gun-nut mercenary about such device. Far more important questions, however, still managed to foreshadow this issue with the BrainPal, one of those including the actual means of Aelyn's teletransportation to The Not... And it's unavoidable consequences in a near future.
Trying to clear his mind on those subjects, the Ranger took his LRMT-72 unto firm grasp, once again making his way unto a dropship that would launch himself towards that damnable warzone of a planet. There wasn't enough time for repairs on his armor or hydrogen resupply, CL didn't even knew if his radar or if his cloaking module were working again, but it was more than sure that he was still a valuable presence with whatever tools of war he had in hands.
Letting out a obviously tired sigh, quite distorted from his mask, CL buckled up into one of the dropship's seat, staring blankly at anyone unlucky enough to sit in front of him.
"Ah, ey, Cap'n..." - Now remembering something, the Ranger spoke through his radio, wired into the BrainPal's secure frequency. - "There's a bunch of admiral wannabes behind the farthest planet of this system. A tiny gas dwarf, I guess. 10 or 20 AUs from the Earth Copycat. Give 'em a shout, say that I'm fine and tell 'em to get their weapons and shields heated."
More company?
Trying to clear his mind on those subjects, the Ranger took his LRMT-72 unto firm grasp, once again making his way unto a dropship that would launch himself towards that damnable warzone of a planet. There wasn't enough time for repairs on his armor or hydrogen resupply, CL didn't even knew if his radar or if his cloaking module were working again, but it was more than sure that he was still a valuable presence with whatever tools of war he had in hands.
Letting out a obviously tired sigh, quite distorted from his mask, CL buckled up into one of the dropship's seat, staring blankly at anyone unlucky enough to sit in front of him.
"Ah, ey, Cap'n..." - Now remembering something, the Ranger spoke through his radio, wired into the BrainPal's secure frequency. - "There's a bunch of admiral wannabes behind the farthest planet of this system. A tiny gas dwarf, I guess. 10 or 20 AUs from the Earth Copycat. Give 'em a shout, say that I'm fine and tell 'em to get their weapons and shields heated."
More company?
Ingá yawned, flexing their arms a bit at the same time
"Awww, I was hoping to have some more fun with this thing..." She pouted. "Oh well, might as well take what we can with us." The lady would hoard up what she had already ripped off and gather them to be carried out whenever they decided to leave. The toxic gas didn't really do anything to them other than make them use their sencors to be sure where each of them was moving in. It wouldn't be able to damage their armor and they had more than enough air on them. No need to hurry. They could explode the vehicle all they wanted and be ok with it.
"Are we leaving now, lady Ingá?" one of her assistants would ask
"Nah, I want to check on a few other things... Jozo, could you get a few samples of that for me?" The lady answered, pointing at some direction as they kept on digging through places and other spots. Her subordinates would shrug at each other and bottle up a few extra samples while the crazy lady would continue her examination...
"Oh, how nice~ So the government really does hate us~" The albino would blurt with a sardonic tone to his words as he kicked over one of the fallen black 'units'. "You know, it would be taking a bit more emotions out of us if the reason for all this wouldn't be Their Own Errors."
There was some fact to the words and the mention of errors, although, the reasoning for the words would probably be one to not be overly investigated, as the government had long tried erasing the existence of the group all together. Probably the reason why people and bots alike would end up on calling them 'the mystery group' or whatever name they'd chooce to prefer in the end.
"They're nothing more than human that made some errors after all though. Just went and created something new to try and make up for their unfortunate last time and then they tried to just forget about the last time." He'd laugh, smirk a little as he spoke and moved around. "It feels like a very bad pathetic attempt to me. You don't just go and say "I'm sorry" to the kids and other family members of those whom you just dispatched from the books of living."
It wouldn't be surpricing if their names wouldn't be remembered. Their names were erased as a result of the governments regret for their bad actions. Most likely some of their family members were blackmailed to do their biddings in the end...
"Well, I tell you what. People are not going to forget things like that so easily." The albino would move on to stab another one of the black ones. "People aren't going to just sit still and rot away, forget about their kids and their partners waiting for them to come back home."
The man would kick over the black suited 'thing' and stab their face with his dagger.
"Ho~ But I wonder what sence does it make for me to try 'lecture' you about this. If you are 'any better than us' you won't care. The less feels they have the better." He'd admit as he twisted his dagger out and turned to face another one of the units dressed in black. "Let me just say. When they invent something even less human than you with even less sence of their own but is just as effective they'll ditch you in some far corner to rot and believe that you'll just dissapear."
"Out of sight, out of mind."
"Awww, I was hoping to have some more fun with this thing..." She pouted. "Oh well, might as well take what we can with us." The lady would hoard up what she had already ripped off and gather them to be carried out whenever they decided to leave. The toxic gas didn't really do anything to them other than make them use their sencors to be sure where each of them was moving in. It wouldn't be able to damage their armor and they had more than enough air on them. No need to hurry. They could explode the vehicle all they wanted and be ok with it.
"Are we leaving now, lady Ingá?" one of her assistants would ask
"Nah, I want to check on a few other things... Jozo, could you get a few samples of that for me?" The lady answered, pointing at some direction as they kept on digging through places and other spots. Her subordinates would shrug at each other and bottle up a few extra samples while the crazy lady would continue her examination...
"Oh, how nice~ So the government really does hate us~" The albino would blurt with a sardonic tone to his words as he kicked over one of the fallen black 'units'. "You know, it would be taking a bit more emotions out of us if the reason for all this wouldn't be Their Own Errors."
There was some fact to the words and the mention of errors, although, the reasoning for the words would probably be one to not be overly investigated, as the government had long tried erasing the existence of the group all together. Probably the reason why people and bots alike would end up on calling them 'the mystery group' or whatever name they'd chooce to prefer in the end.
"They're nothing more than human that made some errors after all though. Just went and created something new to try and make up for their unfortunate last time and then they tried to just forget about the last time." He'd laugh, smirk a little as he spoke and moved around. "It feels like a very bad pathetic attempt to me. You don't just go and say "I'm sorry" to the kids and other family members of those whom you just dispatched from the books of living."
It wouldn't be surpricing if their names wouldn't be remembered. Their names were erased as a result of the governments regret for their bad actions. Most likely some of their family members were blackmailed to do their biddings in the end...
"Well, I tell you what. People are not going to forget things like that so easily." The albino would move on to stab another one of the black ones. "People aren't going to just sit still and rot away, forget about their kids and their partners waiting for them to come back home."
The man would kick over the black suited 'thing' and stab their face with his dagger.
"Ho~ But I wonder what sence does it make for me to try 'lecture' you about this. If you are 'any better than us' you won't care. The less feels they have the better." He'd admit as he twisted his dagger out and turned to face another one of the units dressed in black. "Let me just say. When they invent something even less human than you with even less sence of their own but is just as effective they'll ditch you in some far corner to rot and believe that you'll just dissapear."
"Out of sight, out of mind."
The officer in black listened as the leader of the group spoke and understood what he was saying. He felt a little sympathy to him but also saw that the leader thinks that they are recently deposed Earth Gov't or there the Galactic Empire. The soldiers in black that were stab soon got backed up surprised on what just happened while the one who got stabbed in the face was screaming in agony, he was going to die if he isn't treated right away. "Fellow combatant, I don't think you know who we are...we aren't the Earth gov't nor the Galactic Empire" he yelled at him seeing the leader coming straight towards him. He swung the shotgun around and pointed at him "We are with the Lord of Technology, Doctor Professor Kampfer" he exclaimed as he pulled the trigger on the gun. The shotgun made a rapid DA,DA,DA,DA,DA sound at the leader, seeing the speed on how the leader of the mysterious group moved he tensed up expecting to him to dodge the shots and prepared for his counter attack.
There was few reasons for him to Dodge. Sure he could have easily done it, judging by the body language and actions the meeting wasn't going to be the most friendly one. It could have been easily avoided, just a press of a button to increase his abilities a little bit and the crisis would have been avoided. Nah, Dim felt lazy. There was another way for him to avoid the incoming shots, as technicly advanced troops would have said: there is a button for that too.
The defencive shield would take the hits for him, the only notable downside for it was that he was going to be stuck standing still for as long as the person would keep shooting.
"A good leader doesn't exactly waste bullets." He'd make a calm remark at the moment when the fire would cease. "He knows that there is only so many you can spend."
"You're quoting Him again, are you~?" The tech woman would interrupt her fellow commander, seemingly having made it out of the ATT pretty much in one piece. She'd grin."The L-"
"Shut up Ingá! A man can dream!" The albino would be swift to cut out the words of the woman who was now laughing hysterically. The man would direct a low growl at the woman, and was tempted to be even more childish than that, but returned to act like a proper adult. He'd turn back to face the shooter, the move being accompanied by an annoyed sigh. "Unnessessary 'silliness' aside. You still work for someone. Which is more than enough reason for me to at least slap you."
He would turn at the man he had only resently stabbed; seemingly they were still moving and letting out some sounds.
"We aren't packing any medics with us now." He'd reply to the sounds as he picked the black wearer up and proceeded to throw him at the direction where the so called 'red cross' units would be at. "Heal him if you can, bot." There was a sharp disparaging tone in his words. The man clearly didn't like the technical mashinery or anything related to them.
With that act done, he'd turn back to face the person he now assumed to be on the lead of the black coated troops.
"I'll be nice though. What is your objective here?"
The defencive shield would take the hits for him, the only notable downside for it was that he was going to be stuck standing still for as long as the person would keep shooting.
"A good leader doesn't exactly waste bullets." He'd make a calm remark at the moment when the fire would cease. "He knows that there is only so many you can spend."
"You're quoting Him again, are you~?" The tech woman would interrupt her fellow commander, seemingly having made it out of the ATT pretty much in one piece. She'd grin."The L-"
"Shut up Ingá! A man can dream!" The albino would be swift to cut out the words of the woman who was now laughing hysterically. The man would direct a low growl at the woman, and was tempted to be even more childish than that, but returned to act like a proper adult. He'd turn back to face the shooter, the move being accompanied by an annoyed sigh. "Unnessessary 'silliness' aside. You still work for someone. Which is more than enough reason for me to at least slap you."
He would turn at the man he had only resently stabbed; seemingly they were still moving and letting out some sounds.
"We aren't packing any medics with us now." He'd reply to the sounds as he picked the black wearer up and proceeded to throw him at the direction where the so called 'red cross' units would be at. "Heal him if you can, bot." There was a sharp disparaging tone in his words. The man clearly didn't like the technical mashinery or anything related to them.
With that act done, he'd turn back to face the person he now assumed to be on the lead of the black coated troops.
"I'll be nice though. What is your objective here?"
The medics in surprised in what has happened immediately went to work to helping the injured soldier. Seeing this, the officer released his finger from the trigger and the shotgun soon stopped firing. He looked the Albino and mad sure to uplaod his face and body into the battle network, for later analyse. "Maybe we can solve this without blood shed" he said seeing that there 's a possibility that the this simple mission may not be as simple as ir was. "I'll tell you our objective and you'll tell me yours, foxxy" he looked at him dead in eye and didn't really care if the albino didn't say is objective the DEath's Head unit objective was quite simple. "Our objective is to capture and send back Kellenger to the Galactic Empire, by the wishes of Ketin "Devil Eye" Clark, who wishes to live in peace, I do believe from the reports I have" he said as looked at the albino. "If your objective is to deal with Kellenger, you may have her as long as she leaves this planet and not to go after Clark since he's under Kampfer's protection. It doesn't matter what you do with her, this mission is a joke anyway" he said with disdain at this simple mission. "Also our objective is to figure out who you and your group is and also capture an ecolu assassin, who is very dangerous" he continued. He took a glance at the hacker coming out of the ATT and said to it "You won't get anything out of those pieces, it's junk that you can get off from anywhere, there not advance as you may think" his words ring true since the ATT is mass produced, the more advance tech comes from the large experimentals that have disappeared from the city and a few other equipment, the only advance piece of tech is the AI, but that can't be reached or interacted with from an independent location
Aelyn-Paeryc grinned that toothy grin which proved to be the strongest expression of gladness that he was capable of. (Alexa was always smiling, or at least half-smirking. What in Space did she see in him?)
”Now we’re getting somewhere.” He said, through the grin. ”About damned time…We’ll head down to the crash site as soon as you’re back in working order. Volo can help with that if you need it. He made what repairs he could to your main processing units while you were out, so hopefully no more going ape@#$%. If it will help you help us in finding the remains of Sol, I will have the wreck repaired to the best of our ability. We’ll be more than small enough to slip in and out without being noticed by the planet’s new king and country.
How he hated humoring that damnable tin can! But one could get more with sugar than vinegar…usually. The thing needed to be treated like a participating ally, for now at least. Aelyn reveled in the thought of the thing being blasted to bits after all was said and done. It would be a perfect finale.
”Angel Moon.” he mused, “I’m going to send out a small research satellite, have it orbit once or twice around the Moon and see what it can get us. We can probably dig up some records on moon phases, images from some of the planetside should help determine if this planets’ moon is the Angel Moon. If not I’m sure we can find it – it’ll be no problem to go world-skipping.Frankly I’d be glad to get away from this stupid rock.”
Having made up his mind on those matters, Aelyn turned his attention back to CL.
The Ranger seemed to be troubled – though how the Captain could tell was merely a matter of hunch.
The cyberDyne company was actually located within the city of Stella Viventium. While not owned or headed by Petrovalyc himself, naturally the Captain had access to the best and newest. The cyberDyne BrainPal was just that – an implant which utilized sub-aetheric brainwaves in conjunction with electronic and electromagnetic manipulation allowed for all the advantages of a modern computer to be inserted directly into the brain.
Where precisely the cyberDyne scientists had gotten started with all this was a mystery to Aelyn – who frankly did not care – and therefore would not have been concerned with the fact that the technology was rooted in that of the ancient city of Old Isandril…That desert relic from which Imperial scientist Duros Aller had visited before his exile to Ardella. The same mysterious, abandoned superstructure from which came the technology within the Devil Eye. Which allowed Alexa Petrovalyc to see with her two prosthetic eyes.
Luckily for CL, it was extremely unlikely that BrainPal technology would interfere with any of his systems. Transmissions from the BrainPal were so peculiar and subtle that other devices not licensed by cyberDyne were fundamentally incapable of acknowledging their existence.
Compatibility charts were available on cyberDyne’s aethernet site – just a Goggles search away. Of course, Dorin Harkahn liked to talk about these sorts of things, and would be more than happy to explain it all to a paranoid gun-nut mercenary if given the chance.
Aelyn watched, blank-faced and subtly confused, as the Ranger suddenly began walking back toward the dropship.
He looked downward for a moment, contemplating this.
Yes, perhaps it would be best if they all went down. Sending Dorin and Aleessa with a few nameless guns probably would result only in more disaster. He recalled the earlier given order. It was not long before Aelyn, Alexa, Harkahn, Rivierre, Bravo, The Ranger, and – to everyones’ misery – Drakis Volo – were loaded into the Bullet and ready to go – Alexa as the pilot.
Sure as @#$% it was Volo sitting right across from CL and looking entirely unfazed by the eerie red glow of the Ranger’s unyielding stare…
The idea was that between Volo and Harkahn they would be able to help Bravo in any way possible – the two of them could handle their way around even the most alien technology when they put their heads together. Even if Bravo didn’t need any assistance in managing the wreck, it didn’t hurt to bring them along.
Well, except for Volo, who seemed as infuriatingly and obliviously upbeat as ever – though at least he seemed to take the job seriously and wasn’t motor-mouthing. For now. In fact, everyone was more or less quiet.
Will do.
The Captain replied, again in silence and through BrainPal alone. Within seconds he had accessed a transmitter capable of communicating on standard secure bands and prepared a simple text message which would be sent as soon as the Bullet entered physical space again. As it happened, that was within one minute. They took off from the belly of the Stella, into the terrible blackness of the Not – though there were no windows in the little bullet for passengers to see it – and without the slightest disturbance they were once again in physical space, appearing from nothing in open nothingness some distance from the planets’ magnetosphere.
The message was sent without any fuss – focused directionally so that it was not likely to be picked up by any planetside or orbital systems. The Bullet sped in silence and virtual invisibility past the moon, down to the planet, aimed for as close as possible to the wreck at which everything had begun…without destroying it. When they did arrive some fifteen or twenty minutes later, there would be an entry similar to that in Kartupelis – the Bullet would impact the ground, burrow a few yards down, then float back to the surface – it would make a noise, but nothing that would prove significant so far in the jungle. At least, not to anyone but a certain Eoclu Assassin who was the only one still close enough to the area to potentially notice the disturbance.
[ Message from CL-‘Mad Ranger’ to ‘Admiral Wannabes’: “Give them a shout, say that I’m fine and tell them to get their weapons and shields heated” ]
She had been given her ultimatum. Oddly, Royanna Kallenger found that she was not quite as upset as she’d expected to have been, supposing the scenario.
Yet for a long moment, her expression was thoughtful. She considered her options, nodding slowly as though she were mentally counting to ten. She set her jaw. Stood unmoving as a statue otherwise, with right arm at her side, left crooked slightly from the shoulder injury. The boy’s embrace was not returned, but it certainly strengthened her resolve. Who were they? To terrorize this poor kid. All her life she had been taught to protect innocent people from the menace of the Devil Eye – yet it was astonishing just how much nonsense seemed to be going on in the world. Didn’t anyone realize what the real threat was?
It didn’t matter.
In reality, the decision had been instant – but she was still sharp enough to know that answering quickly or revealing eagerness was never a good idea.
And the moment passed. “We will comply without resistance.” she said, firmly, confidently. “If you wish I can provide you with the necessary code to contact Imperial Dispatch and request an unarmed military transport. We could be off your planet and out of your hair within the hour. We have no intention of resisting, nor combating a force that is clearly superior to our own. If you can assure us safe transport into Imperial custody, we can assure you that no Imperial response will be made. Is this acceptable?”
The words, as always, were measured – carefully chosen, but quick and sharp. Official. It was obvious that this person was important within Imperial ranks – perhaps if she claimed to promise that there would be no Imperial response, she really meant it? It was not unreasonable, and she made sure that her tone drove that point home.
”I should add for your benefit that our elimination or detainment will warrant an immediate response from Imperial Military. While I have no doubt that you would prove an impenetrable force, it would result in unnecessary hassle on your part.”
Back to the point however – had she really intended to give up so easily?
In short – yes. After all, what else was there for her on this world? She was convinced by now that her two remaining soldiers had been destroyed. She had utterly failed her mission – more thoroughly than ever before, since previously the Devil Eye had ever slipped her grasp, but never had she suffered such devastating losses. All there was left to do was retreat.
If these new super-soldiers had any sense of social observation, they would see that she was quite honest in her proclamations. Besides – with her out of the picture, it would make things that much simpler for everyone! Especially the Lord of Technology and his Special Forces, who surely had bigger fish to fry.
The man looked Ketin dead in the eye, but the boy found himself unable to meet the steady gaze. Eyes glanced erratically, locking for seconds before averting once more to the floor, the ceiling – anything else. It might possibly have appeared as though he were not paying full attention, however any potential of that possibility was dashed the moment Kampfer mentioned removing the miraculous cybernetic device that caused the boy so much trouble.
Eyes shot open wide, and the Lord would hardly be able to get another word out before interruption. Kete yelped, stumbled backward and fell on his ass, back against the wall. Instinctively in a measure of unnecessary defense, both hands flew to his head to cover up the left eye, fingers clutching, palms cupped over. He shook his head rapidly. ”N-nuh uh~!” He sputtered, pathetically. ”D-don’t take it, just send me back or whatever b-but…”
Words drifted off – the boy was visibly trembling now.
The very notion of having that Devil’s Eye taken was horrifying to the bone – and it was not the pain which shook him so. The idea of being once again trapped in his own head, all alone…
It was too much. It was bad enough when the strange electromagnetic disturbance of the planet (Due to the whole ‘being-part-of-an-interstellar-coordinating-machine’ thing that A.P. had so far glazed over) clouded his ‘sight’ – worse still when, Space forbid, that precious wire got cut. It had happened two or three times before – it was so remarkably easy to cripple the supposedly vicious killer. Sever the little black wire – snip – and the eye might as well have been gone.
But at least in those instances it was simply a matter of re-connecting the wire. Soldering the copper, re-forming the admittedly durable carbon-rubber coating. Strong, but far, far from impenetrable…
If the eye was gone? Kete wasn’t so sure how long it would take for him to completely lose his mind.
It was incredible, that a great, interstellar empire – among the largest and most powerful in the Wide Galaxy – saw this groveling, frightened kid as such a threat. Yet they did – and why? After all, upon closer examination of their tactics, it might become clear that they weren’t really after the eye itself. He had been charged with war crimes after all, hadn’t he?
Though…that was not always mentioned so clearly.
Presently, Kete scuffled his feet some on the floor as though it would press him farther into the wall. Ears flat, head shrunken between shoulders, he looked up at Kampfer through his uncovered, fantastically blue right eye and prayed to the ‘Verse that he’d meant what he’d said. Nothing else mattered. Kete knew now what had gone down in Earth City – having poked through Eisenglower’s brain for their brief encounter. Yet it did not matter – anything and everything was more irrelevant compared to feeling secure in knowing that his all-important left eye would be left right where it was…
”Now we’re getting somewhere.” He said, through the grin. ”About damned time…We’ll head down to the crash site as soon as you’re back in working order. Volo can help with that if you need it. He made what repairs he could to your main processing units while you were out, so hopefully no more going ape@#$%. If it will help you help us in finding the remains of Sol, I will have the wreck repaired to the best of our ability. We’ll be more than small enough to slip in and out without being noticed by the planet’s new king and country.
How he hated humoring that damnable tin can! But one could get more with sugar than vinegar…usually. The thing needed to be treated like a participating ally, for now at least. Aelyn reveled in the thought of the thing being blasted to bits after all was said and done. It would be a perfect finale.
”Angel Moon.” he mused, “I’m going to send out a small research satellite, have it orbit once or twice around the Moon and see what it can get us. We can probably dig up some records on moon phases, images from some of the planetside should help determine if this planets’ moon is the Angel Moon. If not I’m sure we can find it – it’ll be no problem to go world-skipping.Frankly I’d be glad to get away from this stupid rock.”
Having made up his mind on those matters, Aelyn turned his attention back to CL.
The Ranger seemed to be troubled – though how the Captain could tell was merely a matter of hunch.
The cyberDyne company was actually located within the city of Stella Viventium. While not owned or headed by Petrovalyc himself, naturally the Captain had access to the best and newest. The cyberDyne BrainPal was just that – an implant which utilized sub-aetheric brainwaves in conjunction with electronic and electromagnetic manipulation allowed for all the advantages of a modern computer to be inserted directly into the brain.
Where precisely the cyberDyne scientists had gotten started with all this was a mystery to Aelyn – who frankly did not care – and therefore would not have been concerned with the fact that the technology was rooted in that of the ancient city of Old Isandril…That desert relic from which Imperial scientist Duros Aller had visited before his exile to Ardella. The same mysterious, abandoned superstructure from which came the technology within the Devil Eye. Which allowed Alexa Petrovalyc to see with her two prosthetic eyes.
Luckily for CL, it was extremely unlikely that BrainPal technology would interfere with any of his systems. Transmissions from the BrainPal were so peculiar and subtle that other devices not licensed by cyberDyne were fundamentally incapable of acknowledging their existence.
Compatibility charts were available on cyberDyne’s aethernet site – just a Goggles search away. Of course, Dorin Harkahn liked to talk about these sorts of things, and would be more than happy to explain it all to a paranoid gun-nut mercenary if given the chance.
Aelyn watched, blank-faced and subtly confused, as the Ranger suddenly began walking back toward the dropship.
He looked downward for a moment, contemplating this.
Yes, perhaps it would be best if they all went down. Sending Dorin and Aleessa with a few nameless guns probably would result only in more disaster. He recalled the earlier given order. It was not long before Aelyn, Alexa, Harkahn, Rivierre, Bravo, The Ranger, and – to everyones’ misery – Drakis Volo – were loaded into the Bullet and ready to go – Alexa as the pilot.
Sure as @#$% it was Volo sitting right across from CL and looking entirely unfazed by the eerie red glow of the Ranger’s unyielding stare…
The idea was that between Volo and Harkahn they would be able to help Bravo in any way possible – the two of them could handle their way around even the most alien technology when they put their heads together. Even if Bravo didn’t need any assistance in managing the wreck, it didn’t hurt to bring them along.
Well, except for Volo, who seemed as infuriatingly and obliviously upbeat as ever – though at least he seemed to take the job seriously and wasn’t motor-mouthing. For now. In fact, everyone was more or less quiet.
Will do.
The Captain replied, again in silence and through BrainPal alone. Within seconds he had accessed a transmitter capable of communicating on standard secure bands and prepared a simple text message which would be sent as soon as the Bullet entered physical space again. As it happened, that was within one minute. They took off from the belly of the Stella, into the terrible blackness of the Not – though there were no windows in the little bullet for passengers to see it – and without the slightest disturbance they were once again in physical space, appearing from nothing in open nothingness some distance from the planets’ magnetosphere.
The message was sent without any fuss – focused directionally so that it was not likely to be picked up by any planetside or orbital systems. The Bullet sped in silence and virtual invisibility past the moon, down to the planet, aimed for as close as possible to the wreck at which everything had begun…without destroying it. When they did arrive some fifteen or twenty minutes later, there would be an entry similar to that in Kartupelis – the Bullet would impact the ground, burrow a few yards down, then float back to the surface – it would make a noise, but nothing that would prove significant so far in the jungle. At least, not to anyone but a certain Eoclu Assassin who was the only one still close enough to the area to potentially notice the disturbance.
[ Message from CL-‘Mad Ranger’ to ‘Admiral Wannabes’: “Give them a shout, say that I’m fine and tell them to get their weapons and shields heated” ]
She had been given her ultimatum. Oddly, Royanna Kallenger found that she was not quite as upset as she’d expected to have been, supposing the scenario.
Yet for a long moment, her expression was thoughtful. She considered her options, nodding slowly as though she were mentally counting to ten. She set her jaw. Stood unmoving as a statue otherwise, with right arm at her side, left crooked slightly from the shoulder injury. The boy’s embrace was not returned, but it certainly strengthened her resolve. Who were they? To terrorize this poor kid. All her life she had been taught to protect innocent people from the menace of the Devil Eye – yet it was astonishing just how much nonsense seemed to be going on in the world. Didn’t anyone realize what the real threat was?
It didn’t matter.
In reality, the decision had been instant – but she was still sharp enough to know that answering quickly or revealing eagerness was never a good idea.
And the moment passed. “We will comply without resistance.” she said, firmly, confidently. “If you wish I can provide you with the necessary code to contact Imperial Dispatch and request an unarmed military transport. We could be off your planet and out of your hair within the hour. We have no intention of resisting, nor combating a force that is clearly superior to our own. If you can assure us safe transport into Imperial custody, we can assure you that no Imperial response will be made. Is this acceptable?”
The words, as always, were measured – carefully chosen, but quick and sharp. Official. It was obvious that this person was important within Imperial ranks – perhaps if she claimed to promise that there would be no Imperial response, she really meant it? It was not unreasonable, and she made sure that her tone drove that point home.
”I should add for your benefit that our elimination or detainment will warrant an immediate response from Imperial Military. While I have no doubt that you would prove an impenetrable force, it would result in unnecessary hassle on your part.”
Back to the point however – had she really intended to give up so easily?
In short – yes. After all, what else was there for her on this world? She was convinced by now that her two remaining soldiers had been destroyed. She had utterly failed her mission – more thoroughly than ever before, since previously the Devil Eye had ever slipped her grasp, but never had she suffered such devastating losses. All there was left to do was retreat.
If these new super-soldiers had any sense of social observation, they would see that she was quite honest in her proclamations. Besides – with her out of the picture, it would make things that much simpler for everyone! Especially the Lord of Technology and his Special Forces, who surely had bigger fish to fry.
The man looked Ketin dead in the eye, but the boy found himself unable to meet the steady gaze. Eyes glanced erratically, locking for seconds before averting once more to the floor, the ceiling – anything else. It might possibly have appeared as though he were not paying full attention, however any potential of that possibility was dashed the moment Kampfer mentioned removing the miraculous cybernetic device that caused the boy so much trouble.
Eyes shot open wide, and the Lord would hardly be able to get another word out before interruption. Kete yelped, stumbled backward and fell on his ass, back against the wall. Instinctively in a measure of unnecessary defense, both hands flew to his head to cover up the left eye, fingers clutching, palms cupped over. He shook his head rapidly. ”N-nuh uh~!” He sputtered, pathetically. ”D-don’t take it, just send me back or whatever b-but…”
Words drifted off – the boy was visibly trembling now.
The very notion of having that Devil’s Eye taken was horrifying to the bone – and it was not the pain which shook him so. The idea of being once again trapped in his own head, all alone…
It was too much. It was bad enough when the strange electromagnetic disturbance of the planet (Due to the whole ‘being-part-of-an-interstellar-coordinating-machine’ thing that A.P. had so far glazed over) clouded his ‘sight’ – worse still when, Space forbid, that precious wire got cut. It had happened two or three times before – it was so remarkably easy to cripple the supposedly vicious killer. Sever the little black wire – snip – and the eye might as well have been gone.
But at least in those instances it was simply a matter of re-connecting the wire. Soldering the copper, re-forming the admittedly durable carbon-rubber coating. Strong, but far, far from impenetrable…
If the eye was gone? Kete wasn’t so sure how long it would take for him to completely lose his mind.
It was incredible, that a great, interstellar empire – among the largest and most powerful in the Wide Galaxy – saw this groveling, frightened kid as such a threat. Yet they did – and why? After all, upon closer examination of their tactics, it might become clear that they weren’t really after the eye itself. He had been charged with war crimes after all, hadn’t he?
Though…that was not always mentioned so clearly.
Presently, Kete scuffled his feet some on the floor as though it would press him farther into the wall. Ears flat, head shrunken between shoulders, he looked up at Kampfer through his uncovered, fantastically blue right eye and prayed to the ‘Verse that he’d meant what he’d said. Nothing else mattered. Kete knew now what had gone down in Earth City – having poked through Eisenglower’s brain for their brief encounter. Yet it did not matter – anything and everything was more irrelevant compared to feeling secure in knowing that his all-important left eye would be left right where it was…
The officer in black heard that Kellenger will cooperate. "Well I am sorry, white fox it seems that our objective has surrender to us" he said towards the albino as he shrug his and to one of his soldiers to apprehend her. The solider pulled out a flare gun to call in a drop ship to transport seeing that travel by ATT may not be a good idea and it'll only take about a minute for one to come by. The solider put away his flare gun and rifled butted Kellenger to knock her out and then yank her away from Toffi. "I don't know if you want, but you can have him instead, we don't need him" the officer offered towards the albino, seeing if he would buy. Soon the drop-ship came by and prepared to take up its precious cargo.
Kampfer grinned at Ketin despite not understanding why he would want to keep that eye that has caused him so much strife. He placed his name hand on top of his hand and petted him like dog, and even went decided to scrathc the back of his ear to see if Ketin would react the same way a dog or cat would(even though he's a fox if I am correct). They both soon teleported to the park, away from the eoclu and the ablino/Death's head unit confrontation. Kampfer stood up and said to Ketin "You are velcome to leave ze planet, if you vish but you von't have my protection zough but as long as you stay here, you'll be under my protection, zough. I do vish you a great life, Ketin" he said as he bowed at Ketin, before he teleporting out of the region back to his main base.
Kampfer grinned at Ketin despite not understanding why he would want to keep that eye that has caused him so much strife. He placed his name hand on top of his hand and petted him like dog, and even went decided to scrathc the back of his ear to see if Ketin would react the same way a dog or cat would(even though he's a fox if I am correct). They both soon teleported to the park, away from the eoclu and the ablino/Death's head unit confrontation. Kampfer stood up and said to Ketin "You are velcome to leave ze planet, if you vish but you von't have my protection zough but as long as you stay here, you'll be under my protection, zough. I do vish you a great life, Ketin" he said as he bowed at Ketin, before he teleporting out of the region back to his main base.
Apparently Royanna Kallenger must have been at least partially composed of steel or carbon fiber, considering how stupidly resilient she was. In reality there was no such augmentation, but she did have a very, very thick head. Some of her soldiers had joked that Kallenger would never die because she’d never realize she’d been killed.
So when she was stricken by the butt of the rifle, it was a hard hit. The woman recoiled and was knocked back, but just barely managed to retain her balance so as to not fall to the ground. Instead, her reaction was vehement, though not hostile.
Stumbling back, Royanna recovered by shooting her right hand to latch – perhaps a whole lot rougher than necessary – onto Christofer’s arm. The result would likely be that he would stumble as well, but Roya would keep them both standing if nothing else.
”The boy comes with me or Imperial response is guaranteed!” She roared, the words absolutely savage, emerald eyes positively alight with outrage. Then, slightly more measured; ”My faction responds in any way to your operations here and your mission has failed. This kid stays with me un-****ing-conditionally or I’m gonna’ tie your little army up in so much bull**** that you won’t have time to sneeze for a goddamned month. Is that understood?” Her professional, overly-official tone had suddenly been replaced by the savage words of anger, it seemed. The woman did have a temper.
She did have a point. If the mission was to get her off the planet then the objective had been clearly stated – and the Galactic Empire was a large enough force that if they decided to launch an attack it would be a serious pain in the neck for the Lord of Technology.
(Kete’s part will come later~)
So when she was stricken by the butt of the rifle, it was a hard hit. The woman recoiled and was knocked back, but just barely managed to retain her balance so as to not fall to the ground. Instead, her reaction was vehement, though not hostile.
Stumbling back, Royanna recovered by shooting her right hand to latch – perhaps a whole lot rougher than necessary – onto Christofer’s arm. The result would likely be that he would stumble as well, but Roya would keep them both standing if nothing else.
”The boy comes with me or Imperial response is guaranteed!” She roared, the words absolutely savage, emerald eyes positively alight with outrage. Then, slightly more measured; ”My faction responds in any way to your operations here and your mission has failed. This kid stays with me un-****ing-conditionally or I’m gonna’ tie your little army up in so much bull**** that you won’t have time to sneeze for a goddamned month. Is that understood?” Her professional, overly-official tone had suddenly been replaced by the savage words of anger, it seemed. The woman did have a temper.
She did have a point. If the mission was to get her off the planet then the objective had been clearly stated – and the Galactic Empire was a large enough force that if they decided to launch an attack it would be a serious pain in the neck for the Lord of Technology.
(Kete’s part will come later~)
Christofer was holding around Kallenger as she spoke. The newly arrived force confused him thoughts drift all around the place. Where had he heard those voices before? Had he heard them before? Yea, he had definitely heard them before... He knew these people... But... In a way he didn't... He was confused, speechless...
As his mind became clouded again, the boy was looking at the people and others looking back at them. He would try scanning them from head to toe. He had definitely seen half of them somewhere, but... He couldn't recognize what they were wearing. What was this? What was it? A bunch of 'decoys'? Or surpricingly big ammount of identical twins?
The boy was awoken from his thoughts as one of the men dressed in black approached them and hit Kallenger. He snarled at them instantly, finding it highly unnesessary to hit her as she had already seemingly surrendered. These people were now on the list of violent people to him and he didn't like them and would bite the person that tried to take her. Tried to at least, although he was held back slightly by Kallenger then speaking. Maybe it was best for him to stay on the innocent side rather than turn hostile. It would be better, for them both.
The boy would wait, staring at the person in black. The lights might have been faint but one could swear that he looked quite a bit more canid on the facical area... Maybe there was at least a slight connection to the new party..?
As his mind became clouded again, the boy was looking at the people and others looking back at them. He would try scanning them from head to toe. He had definitely seen half of them somewhere, but... He couldn't recognize what they were wearing. What was this? What was it? A bunch of 'decoys'? Or surpricingly big ammount of identical twins?
The boy was awoken from his thoughts as one of the men dressed in black approached them and hit Kallenger. He snarled at them instantly, finding it highly unnesessary to hit her as she had already seemingly surrendered. These people were now on the list of violent people to him and he didn't like them and would bite the person that tried to take her. Tried to at least, although he was held back slightly by Kallenger then speaking. Maybe it was best for him to stay on the innocent side rather than turn hostile. It would be better, for them both.
The boy would wait, staring at the person in black. The lights might have been faint but one could swear that he looked quite a bit more canid on the facical area... Maybe there was at least a slight connection to the new party..?
"It's not useless~" The lady would reply. "All of this can be used in great variety of ways~ It's not useless scrap metal to me~" She'd state in a joyful manner, expression just shining brightness around herself. One would say that if she was a dog, her tail would be wagging so fast that it could knock and flip a dozen tables over, she was that exited.
While Ingá might have been having some sort of conversation with the other troop members, the other lead was having his eyes on 'the targets of the black suited ones'. He was rather curious on what would be so interesting in them. The other one he had heard of and the one hiding appeared surpricingly familiar. It was as if he had last seen that person around a week ago.
"..... (Interesting)..." The albino would think to himself. Maybe it was best for them to just look carefully at what the other team was going to do for now. They themselves weren't interested on capturing anyone or taking hostages or anything like that, but there was a chance someone would be returning.
He wouldn't make offers yet though, wouldn't state out their motives or interrupt the situation in any way, he could still have been wrong with the case all together. It could have been his eye playing tricks on him as he swore that that person he was seeing had been dead, laying under a layer of soil for a while now.
While Ingá might have been having some sort of conversation with the other troop members, the other lead was having his eyes on 'the targets of the black suited ones'. He was rather curious on what would be so interesting in them. The other one he had heard of and the one hiding appeared surpricingly familiar. It was as if he had last seen that person around a week ago.
"..... (Interesting)..." The albino would think to himself. Maybe it was best for them to just look carefully at what the other team was going to do for now. They themselves weren't interested on capturing anyone or taking hostages or anything like that, but there was a chance someone would be returning.
He wouldn't make offers yet though, wouldn't state out their motives or interrupt the situation in any way, he could still have been wrong with the case all together. It could have been his eye playing tricks on him as he swore that that person he was seeing had been dead, laying under a layer of soil for a while now.
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