Bravo took no heed of Rangers warning as he continued messing with the Hydrogen Splitter, rearranging modules, and doing something funny with it, hardly had he used the wire cutters he was equipped with and even then it wasn't for snapping wires. Soon he transformed his clippers back into his hand and kept rearranging and recoding some of the smaller components to the Hydrogen Splitter. After a few minutes of recoding and rearranging Bravo stopped and went underneath what he presumed the front of the ship and started lifting it into an upright position.
Strange how fleeting memories of the past would return at the most inopportune moments. Perhaps not inopportune, but certainly strange. Entire ideas could flash through the brain in seconds, memories returning to play out once more in full within the span of a blink.
Kallenger couldn’t help but smile ever so slightly – the image of herself some ten years ago had come back to her in the briefest moment of absent thought. Smaller, standing somewhat awkwardly, looking up at her mentor to recite the doctrine of the DEU. She did not enunciate as well then, mumbled. The splitting image of this Corporal Lennox, in fact. Very different positions, but the emotion was the same. Nervous, small, eager to prove.
Quietly, she addressed the ‘Alliance’s newest police-girl’ with words similarly low. “Corporal Lennox, are you aware that Agent 16/20 has the barrel of his rifle aimed at your head from a distance of approximately three inches?” She asked.
It was true. After all, nobody in this mess was safe. Lennox /had/ been safe…before her cloaking was deactivated and the soldier directly behind her was able to train his weapon at point blank.
Of course, someone else had their weapon aimed at 16/20, but still.
“I would also like to ask if I may-“ her words were more rapid now, spoken through almost gritted teeth, more full of intent. “if you have ever /actually/ torn and split apart the flesh of another human being to watch the life bleed from their dying body at your hands?....Just curious.”
Then, without waiting for a response, she would speak up. More authority, clearly addressing the whole now, rather than the individual. “Neither me nor my men will so much as consider dropping our weapons and looking for an apology is childish. Your rank and the fact that you believe it matters has been duly noted. “
Zing.
“I think we can both agree that a conflict at this time would result in significant casualties on both sides. Corporal Lennox, in fact, would be the first one to die, likely followed by 13/20 or myself…would you really be willing to kill Corporal Lennox and sacrifice her life over something as trivial as this nonsense? The bottom line here is that neither party has anything to gain from battle. The best course of action would be for both factions to lower their weapons and stand down on a count to three…I can assure you that we have no reason to fire upon you without direct indication of hostility. We are not here to fight you, we have no interest in your operations and I can’t imagine the brass would be very happy with you losing soldiers over something as stupid as this.”
She paused.
“Now on the count of three, my men will lower their weapons. Your soldiers will do the same – and if they do not, we /will/ fire, and you /will/ lose soldiers. Is that understood?”
Funny how she seemed to speak to everyone as though she were in charge – yet there was something in her voice and the confidence that hung with it which could almost make someone actually feel like she /was/ in charge – the effect was stronger on more subordinate individuals, but it was often noticeable to others.
“One.”
Some of the men shifted slightly where they stood.
“Two.”
She glanced again to Lennox – much of this was hinged on how she would react.
“Three.”
And on that word, all twenty of Kallenger’s men would lower their weapons.
“A CD Combat Droid? No kidding? Holy hot @#$%sticks I can’t believe one of those relics still exists!”
“Hm. It seems that way. The thing does certainly look outdated. I wanted to know if you had any information on them.”
“Yeah, follow me. Did you know we actually keep /paper/ records back here? That part of the place should be a museum…Yeah, outdated is right. More like ancient. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever actually /seen/ one outside of history books and @#$%.”
“The thing actually believes it’s from Earth. The real Earth.”
“Ha! Now that is a good one…”
“We really do have actual paper back here, don’t we? Wow.”
“There’s got to be some foundation we can submit all this to.”
“Have Harkahn work on it if he gets bored.”
“Will do…Alright, let’s see…here. CD units were often programmed with certain AI-override codes or frequencies. Here’s a list of them. Now it’s not all of them I’m sure, but it’s possible that either saying one of these codes or broadcasting one of these signals via radio – I know, right? /radio!/ - will reset some of the programmed protocols and make it think more to your way of thinking.”
“So…We may actually be able to make the thing think that it works for us?”
“Or that you built it. Something like that. Be careful though, they could do other weird things too. Or they could do nothing at all. No idea. But CD units are actually run /electronically/, so you do run the risk of frying it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, thank you Drakis.”
“One more thing.”
“Hm?”
“Well…if you’re /actually from/ the original Sol system like you say you are, then it might recognize you. Don’t ask how, but it’s possible. If I were you I’d have Dorin look over some of your genealogical signatures and see if there’s anything that could maybe prove the statement…Not that I don’t believe you of course.”
“I…hadn’t thought of that, actually. Thank you.”
“Glad to help.”
Kallenger couldn’t help but smile ever so slightly – the image of herself some ten years ago had come back to her in the briefest moment of absent thought. Smaller, standing somewhat awkwardly, looking up at her mentor to recite the doctrine of the DEU. She did not enunciate as well then, mumbled. The splitting image of this Corporal Lennox, in fact. Very different positions, but the emotion was the same. Nervous, small, eager to prove.
Quietly, she addressed the ‘Alliance’s newest police-girl’ with words similarly low. “Corporal Lennox, are you aware that Agent 16/20 has the barrel of his rifle aimed at your head from a distance of approximately three inches?” She asked.
It was true. After all, nobody in this mess was safe. Lennox /had/ been safe…before her cloaking was deactivated and the soldier directly behind her was able to train his weapon at point blank.
Of course, someone else had their weapon aimed at 16/20, but still.
“I would also like to ask if I may-“ her words were more rapid now, spoken through almost gritted teeth, more full of intent. “if you have ever /actually/ torn and split apart the flesh of another human being to watch the life bleed from their dying body at your hands?....Just curious.”
Then, without waiting for a response, she would speak up. More authority, clearly addressing the whole now, rather than the individual. “Neither me nor my men will so much as consider dropping our weapons and looking for an apology is childish. Your rank and the fact that you believe it matters has been duly noted. “
Zing.
“I think we can both agree that a conflict at this time would result in significant casualties on both sides. Corporal Lennox, in fact, would be the first one to die, likely followed by 13/20 or myself…would you really be willing to kill Corporal Lennox and sacrifice her life over something as trivial as this nonsense? The bottom line here is that neither party has anything to gain from battle. The best course of action would be for both factions to lower their weapons and stand down on a count to three…I can assure you that we have no reason to fire upon you without direct indication of hostility. We are not here to fight you, we have no interest in your operations and I can’t imagine the brass would be very happy with you losing soldiers over something as stupid as this.”
She paused.
“Now on the count of three, my men will lower their weapons. Your soldiers will do the same – and if they do not, we /will/ fire, and you /will/ lose soldiers. Is that understood?”
Funny how she seemed to speak to everyone as though she were in charge – yet there was something in her voice and the confidence that hung with it which could almost make someone actually feel like she /was/ in charge – the effect was stronger on more subordinate individuals, but it was often noticeable to others.
“One.”
Some of the men shifted slightly where they stood.
“Two.”
She glanced again to Lennox – much of this was hinged on how she would react.
“Three.”
And on that word, all twenty of Kallenger’s men would lower their weapons.
“A CD Combat Droid? No kidding? Holy hot @#$%sticks I can’t believe one of those relics still exists!”
“Hm. It seems that way. The thing does certainly look outdated. I wanted to know if you had any information on them.”
“Yeah, follow me. Did you know we actually keep /paper/ records back here? That part of the place should be a museum…Yeah, outdated is right. More like ancient. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever actually /seen/ one outside of history books and @#$%.”
“The thing actually believes it’s from Earth. The real Earth.”
“Ha! Now that is a good one…”
“We really do have actual paper back here, don’t we? Wow.”
“There’s got to be some foundation we can submit all this to.”
“Have Harkahn work on it if he gets bored.”
“Will do…Alright, let’s see…here. CD units were often programmed with certain AI-override codes or frequencies. Here’s a list of them. Now it’s not all of them I’m sure, but it’s possible that either saying one of these codes or broadcasting one of these signals via radio – I know, right? /radio!/ - will reset some of the programmed protocols and make it think more to your way of thinking.”
“So…We may actually be able to make the thing think that it works for us?”
“Or that you built it. Something like that. Be careful though, they could do other weird things too. Or they could do nothing at all. No idea. But CD units are actually run /electronically/, so you do run the risk of frying it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, thank you Drakis.”
“One more thing.”
“Hm?”
“Well…if you’re /actually from/ the original Sol system like you say you are, then it might recognize you. Don’t ask how, but it’s possible. If I were you I’d have Dorin look over some of your genealogical signatures and see if there’s anything that could maybe prove the statement…Not that I don’t believe you of course.”
“I…hadn’t thought of that, actually. Thank you.”
“Glad to help.”
The German couldn't get much sleep before he was interrupted By angry muttering. What was it now? Ah, who cares; probably someone talking to their phone and calling out on missing the bus or something - did he really care? The talking was annoying him though and so he turned on the bench and swithched the side he was laying on. There was some angry shouting, but Christofer just shrugged it off.
Finally some silence... It didn't last long though as he was pushed rather harshly. Seemingly someone really wanted to have a word with him.
"I said get the hell off that. You're not allowed to sleep there."
The German turned slightly to look at the person shouting, he didn't see all that many features or factors that would have caught his attention; the man was relatively well dressed though, but that's about it.
"..... So...? Do you own the bench? It didn't have your name written on it, I think" The boy was still tired. What was this guy thinking anyway? It's just a bench.. Chill...
Any argument would be irrelevant to Christofer's ears, but he did feel slightly guilty when the man would point at a sign that said "no laying on benches". The boy didn't really know how to react to that. He was used onto the "Don't step on the grass" signs, but this seemed rather out of his league.
Still, it would be better to not get in trouble, he didn't know where he even was after all.
"... Oh..... Sorry.." he appologized tiredly.
"You'd better be you scum! Now get off or I'll call the authorities." the man kept on shouting
What on Earth even was that? Seriously? Was there really a nation that would put someone in jail for laying on a public bench? What the actual taffy was that all about? Well, better to just not judge or think too much of it... If he was quick to judge the ways of this weird nation he'd surely be in trouble..
Christofer sat up, not feeling too good. His head was spinning again, but lucky for him it was a bit lighter now. "Ummm.... Is there a place where I could rest then..? I'm a little lost and I don't know this place at all...."
"Try the park. If you're lucky, not every little corner is filled with hobos. Now scat and take off that stupid hood of yours." The man would then point at to some well treated small woods area while they kept staring down the German.
"Sorry... It's a bit too sunny for me... I'll try getting a new hat later on..." he appologized as he stood up and left the bench. All of this felt somewhat stupid still, and the 'walk of shame' to the walk would add 'slight depression' to the list of moods he was feeling in his mixed head...
Finally some silence... It didn't last long though as he was pushed rather harshly. Seemingly someone really wanted to have a word with him.
"I said get the hell off that. You're not allowed to sleep there."
The German turned slightly to look at the person shouting, he didn't see all that many features or factors that would have caught his attention; the man was relatively well dressed though, but that's about it.
"..... So...? Do you own the bench? It didn't have your name written on it, I think" The boy was still tired. What was this guy thinking anyway? It's just a bench.. Chill...
Any argument would be irrelevant to Christofer's ears, but he did feel slightly guilty when the man would point at a sign that said "no laying on benches". The boy didn't really know how to react to that. He was used onto the "Don't step on the grass" signs, but this seemed rather out of his league.
Still, it would be better to not get in trouble, he didn't know where he even was after all.
"... Oh..... Sorry.." he appologized tiredly.
"You'd better be you scum! Now get off or I'll call the authorities." the man kept on shouting
What on Earth even was that? Seriously? Was there really a nation that would put someone in jail for laying on a public bench? What the actual taffy was that all about? Well, better to just not judge or think too much of it... If he was quick to judge the ways of this weird nation he'd surely be in trouble..
Christofer sat up, not feeling too good. His head was spinning again, but lucky for him it was a bit lighter now. "Ummm.... Is there a place where I could rest then..? I'm a little lost and I don't know this place at all...."
"Try the park. If you're lucky, not every little corner is filled with hobos. Now scat and take off that stupid hood of yours." The man would then point at to some well treated small woods area while they kept staring down the German.
"Sorry... It's a bit too sunny for me... I'll try getting a new hat later on..." he appologized as he stood up and left the bench. All of this felt somewhat stupid still, and the 'walk of shame' to the walk would add 'slight depression' to the list of moods he was feeling in his mixed head...
He wasn't going to scream at Bravo anymore to stop. The Ranger started to slow down his pace the further he approached his gunship and CD. Without any options available on his hands, the Ranger couldn't help it but, again, straight up point his gun at the droid. No matter what kind of technology he was built with, the hydrogen splitter had it's circuits irreversibly switched from it's original orders: Shutting down.
Adjusting the frequency to broadcast on his antenna, the Ranger muttered slowly inside his mask. A sibilant, deep male voice, distorted with static could be heard through miles. Even though his intended recipient was Bravo.
"I don't know if you can actually reason, robot, but..." - The bitterness of his voice could be almost be tasted.
"... You're going to trigger a nuclear detonation if you keep messing with that reactor."
Cryptographed System Message Captured
Recipients: CODENAME; 'Mad Ranger', Unknown AI #01; 'Bravo'.
"Obstruction of Reactor functions. Reverse engineering attempts detected.
Hydrogen Splitter shutdown sequence cancelled. Command 12 set. Detonation sequence activated.
Backup Hydrogen Splitter payload detonation in... 14 minutes."
Even though the accidental detonation of the Hydrogen Splitter were still the most threatening condition for the Ranger at the moment, he still kept switching his eyes from CD and to Lydia's own pod as well, despite the possibility that she, and probably Kallenger's men and the rest of the Unified System Alliance cyber soldiers, could hear his clearly worrying sentences.
Adjusting the frequency to broadcast on his antenna, the Ranger muttered slowly inside his mask. A sibilant, deep male voice, distorted with static could be heard through miles. Even though his intended recipient was Bravo.
"I don't know if you can actually reason, robot, but..." - The bitterness of his voice could be almost be tasted.
"... You're going to trigger a nuclear detonation if you keep messing with that reactor."
Cryptographed System Message Captured
Recipients: CODENAME; 'Mad Ranger', Unknown AI #01; 'Bravo'.
"Obstruction of Reactor functions. Reverse engineering attempts detected.
Hydrogen Splitter shutdown sequence cancelled. Command 12 set. Detonation sequence activated.
Backup Hydrogen Splitter payload detonation in... 14 minutes."
Even though the accidental detonation of the Hydrogen Splitter were still the most threatening condition for the Ranger at the moment, he still kept switching his eyes from CD and to Lydia's own pod as well, despite the possibility that she, and probably Kallenger's men and the rest of the Unified System Alliance cyber soldiers, could hear his clearly worrying sentences.
Bravo kept messing with components, however this time it was in the underbelly of the ship and from a direct stand point at the engines, it seemed like Bravo was trying to get the engines to turn on. He was doing the best he could to get a signal going from the current responding unit to the engines to keep it going but it appears to be failing for the moment. Bravo kept signalling until he decided to loop one of the wires around snip it and attach it to the main circuit of the engines to create an electrical loop, and Bravo sparked it. In moments the vessel when flying into the sky and Bravo watched as it flew off in amazement. "Perhaps we'll get to see it explode... without getting blow up ourselves" he shrugged and kept singing the tune to himself "I've got no strings, to hold me down..." in the same low toned, slow tune he used as last time as he watched the sky.
"
"Seriously, this has got to be the single more boring job on Stella."
"Ah, lighten up Rick. Just think - we're Overwatch, we're like spies, watching over the enemy like hawks, unknown to all-"
"You really need to stop reading those Thomas McClancy novels."
"Yes! Exactly like a Thomas McClancy novel!"
"Hopeless."
"Doesn't it make you feel good though? To be a part of the Captain's plans? I mean, what if they actually /did/ find the real Earth? We'd have been a part of that!"
"Yeah, as a couple of wallflowers who manned some surveillance equipment."
"The Eyes and Ears of Earth! How's that for a novel?"
"It's terri-WHAT IN OBLIVION IS THAT!!"
"Huh? Gyaaah~!!"
"Move, move move the damn thing's coming right for us!"
"Evasive maneuvers!"
"Stop shouting and move us!"
"We're not that fast!"
"Call HQ!"
"In a minute!"
"Get moving!"
"I am!"
"Aaaaahhhhhhhh~!!!!!!!!"
................
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................................
.....................................
"Was that guy out of his @#$%ing mind?!"
"Well they do call him the /Mad/ Ranger."
"Yeah but trying to hit us with a ship acting as a Verse-be-damned atom bomb?!"
"We need to relay this pronto."
"Agreed."
"Do you think they found us?"
"They must have. How else would they know to aim that bomb at us?"
"I mean, we need to be sure about this if we're going to tell the Captain. What if they just launched it to get it out of range of the planet? I mean, if it it hit us, wouldn't it have still blown all of them up too? We're not /that/ high up."
"They were attacking us and HQ needs to know!"
"I sure hope you're right about that..."
"Seriously, this has got to be the single more boring job on Stella."
"Ah, lighten up Rick. Just think - we're Overwatch, we're like spies, watching over the enemy like hawks, unknown to all-"
"You really need to stop reading those Thomas McClancy novels."
"Yes! Exactly like a Thomas McClancy novel!"
"Hopeless."
"Doesn't it make you feel good though? To be a part of the Captain's plans? I mean, what if they actually /did/ find the real Earth? We'd have been a part of that!"
"Yeah, as a couple of wallflowers who manned some surveillance equipment."
"The Eyes and Ears of Earth! How's that for a novel?"
"It's terri-WHAT IN OBLIVION IS THAT!!"
"Huh? Gyaaah~!!"
"Move, move move the damn thing's coming right for us!"
"Evasive maneuvers!"
"Stop shouting and move us!"
"We're not that fast!"
"Call HQ!"
"In a minute!"
"Get moving!"
"I am!"
"Aaaaahhhhhhhh~!!!!!!!!"
................
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................................
.....................................
"Was that guy out of his @#$%ing mind?!"
"Well they do call him the /Mad/ Ranger."
"Yeah but trying to hit us with a ship acting as a Verse-be-damned atom bomb?!"
"We need to relay this pronto."
"Agreed."
"Do you think they found us?"
"They must have. How else would they know to aim that bomb at us?"
"I mean, we need to be sure about this if we're going to tell the Captain. What if they just launched it to get it out of range of the planet? I mean, if it it hit us, wouldn't it have still blown all of them up too? We're not /that/ high up."
"They were attacking us and HQ needs to know!"
"I sure hope you're right about that..."
Bravo stopped and processed "Assessment: It should prevent any disruptions in our meeting, however it is possible minor damage will still occur to the planet and ourselves in the form of destruction of orbital satellites plummeting from the sky, otherwise I do not foresee any physical harm to any of us." the droid had stated however he had a secondary approach for this matter "Only down side, minor radiation among the atmosphere might spread globally, but it is insufficient to harm you completely."
"Is zee orbital laser ready to fire?" said Kampfer to one of his Z-bots as looks at the targeting grounds. "Yes sir, all you have to do is push the button" he replied. Kampfer pushed the button with his claw finger on the laser designater and in a few seconds a large flash struck the ground cindering anything it touched, even the ground itself. "Zis is good, is my schip ready to take off?" Kampfer questioned. "Yes sir, the Overlord is just unloading the goods it caught from a recent raid with a few merchant vessels" replied the Z-bot. "Excellent, once its ready ve vill take off and visit base Beta-foxtrot" exclaimed Kampfer
(My intro for my character, sorry a little late)
(My intro for my character, sorry a little late)
Unbelievable. Clenching his fists against his helmet in a sick orgy of rage and desperation, the Ranger merely stood in awe, as his petrol gunship blasted far away into the Void, it's fate condemned to be destroyed in a violent nuclear explosion.
It was truly unbelievable how come money could go away so fast right in front of the Ranger's eyes, just because a ancient race of sorts weren't able to code a 'truthfully' intelligent droid, at least, for his standards.
Talking about Droids... It was pointless to do so, but the Ranger only desire at that moment was to tear Bravo apart and reprogram him to repeat how much he is a disgrace for all 'machine-kind'.
"... No physical harm, eh? You big <beeping> shambling junkyard..." -- The Masked Man muttered, unable to take one step closer towards Bravo and once were his gunship was. "Heh, whatever. We're all 'gonna die in the aftermath, anyway."
And there it drifted. A sole gunship acting as an high orbit fission device, ready to destroy anything in it's cent mile effective range and to effectively fry everything depending on electricity down in the Planet.
Somehow... The Ranger had a feeling that Bravo had some way to protect himself from his impeding doom.
Safety Protocols Violated.
Hydrogen Splitter Detonation Imminent.
"See you SpaceCowboy Ranger~!"
It was truly unbelievable how come money could go away so fast right in front of the Ranger's eyes, just because a ancient race of sorts weren't able to code a 'truthfully' intelligent droid, at least, for his standards.
Talking about Droids... It was pointless to do so, but the Ranger only desire at that moment was to tear Bravo apart and reprogram him to repeat how much he is a disgrace for all 'machine-kind'.
"... No physical harm, eh? You big <beeping> shambling junkyard..." -- The Masked Man muttered, unable to take one step closer towards Bravo and once were his gunship was. "Heh, whatever. We're all 'gonna die in the aftermath, anyway."
And there it drifted. A sole gunship acting as an high orbit fission device, ready to destroy anything in it's cent mile effective range and to effectively fry everything depending on electricity down in the Planet.
Somehow... The Ranger had a feeling that Bravo had some way to protect himself from his impeding doom.
Safety Protocols Violated.
Hydrogen Splitter Detonation Imminent.
"See you Space
"I don't know if you can actually reason, robot, but..." - The bitterness of his voice could be almost be tasted.
"... You're going to trigger a nuclear detonation if you keep messing with that reactor."
Two seconds passed, but it did not feel like two seconds. It quite felt like an eternity, and far too long.
Two seconds before Kallenger issued the silent order for evacuation maneuvers.
On the side of the grip of each DEU rifle was a small button which could be pressed with the thumb. Holding it and pulling the trigger would, instead of firing a bullet, detonate a powerful flash-bang smoke grenade forward from the end of the barrel. One-shot-only, but incredibly effective.
All twenty DEU soldiers fired their evacuation bombs at the same time, perfectly in sync. The result was devastating - their strange, curved visors were designed to be resistant to the effects, but to anyone who was unfortunate enough to have one one of the rifles aimed at them (and everyone currently did) was going to have a serious headache. The sound was absolutely deafening, the blinding flash was...well, blinding, and the immediate burst and release of thick, black smoke had soon cloaked the whole area.
Simultaneously, Kallenger ducked beneath the knife, drew from her coat a potent EMP stun-baton and brought it to brutal contact with Corporal Lennox's knee. This would send a (likely, but not necessarily) paralyzing shock through her armor, as well as forcing her knee to bend, putting her severely off-balance.
As the soldiers fired, each soldier dropped to the ground to avoid being shot by hair-trigger reactions. Then some rolled, some scrabbled, some ran - all following their leader, who had doubled back down the road from whence she had come.
Because apparently somebody had an atom bomb, and she had to at least try to do something about it.
They arrived however, just in time to watch the source of all the turmoil - the weird, masked man's scrapheap of a ship - go rocketing into the sky.
High above, a tiny, well cloaked two-man recon vessel swerved desperately, managing just in time to get out of the path of the terrible explosive as it went soaring by. Humorously the rocket had not been deliberately aimed at them, however firmly they believed it had. But then, that was just the paranoia of two men wanting to become more involved.
They didn't.
The twenty DEU soldiers had done what they do best - aimed their weapons at anything that moved. In this case it was ten guns on the Ranger and ten on the android - with the woman who had taken cover behind considered a nonentity at the moment. (Besides, her allies down on the jungle road were probably calling for backup at this very moment, and she would find that everyone was too involved with the bomb issue to give half a rat's ass about her.)
"What in the absolute Hell are you people doing?!" Kallenger barked wildly, demanding answers.
But in the seconds that followed, everybody - including the Captain and her men - was too busy watching the thing blasting into the sky. The robot was droning on about how everything would be fine, but that was rather hard to believe. It certainly didn't seem like the ancient wreck was actually capable of shooting out of range.
And even still! The consequences of detonating an atomic bomb in the atmosphere or even the orbit of a planet would be dire. It could cause worldwide panic, EMP that would disrupt systems all over the planet, not to mention nuclear holocaust.
No, there was no way it was going to manage to get out of effective range.
Then the ship winked out of existence.
It was at that moment that the largest man-made structure ever constructed in the history of the Universe appeared in the sky.
Kete received, and ultimately finished his meal.
This electromagnetic nonsense was really starting to get on his nerves. He wasn't blind yet, but things were hazy, foggy. He did not like that one bit. Anything less than full awareness of his fifty-foot range was inadequate.
Besides, there was nothing to be afraid of, this woman was obviously not who he had thought she was. There was no assassination going to happen. Nobody was going to get hurt.
The two had chatted for a while longer, but eventually Kete decided that it was time to go and try to find somewhere he could exist in peace without these pseudo-electric ghost clouds nagging at his brain.
That which he had been unable to finish - some delicious toasted somethings that he had already forgotten the name of - had been packed into a little brown bag, and he had bid his farewell.
Kete liked cities. In fact he loved them. Not that he had anything against nature, nor did he fail to appreciate the beauty of it. What he did not like was being without other eyes to look through, other minds to think with. It was when he was the most solitary that he was the most blind.
But in cities that was rarely a problem. There were so, so many people! The minds he was connected to, the eyes he could subconsciously see through in the back of his head - they were bountiful, innumerable. It was a grand, liberating feeling.
But now Kete was wondering with some concern if getting away from the city might help with this fogginess issue. Not that he was going to delve on a lonely jungle trek, but maybe someplace just a tad more sparse would do. Besides, he liked parks. They were lovely places to sleep in, and even when there were no people around there were usually a couple small animals. Animal brains did not satisfy the sensation nearly as well, but they would at least make him comfortable enough to not be thrown into a mental blindness induced panic attack.
So Kete had bid farewell to his new friends and, with doggie bag in hand, made for the park at the edge of the city. Luckily it was not an excessive walk, just a few miles.
And then he was there at last, and strolling down a path. There were some benches marked with "no sleeping", which he found disappointing, since he had intended on doing just that later tonight. Not that it mattered - the 'no sleeping' signs were for the benches, not for the trees!
But he wasn't sleeping just yet. He was walking.
Then, a ways down the path he saw...what was it, another halfie? Yes! A human, but he could clearly see the dog ears poking from his hair. That was delightful - there were so very few half-breeds on this Earth.
So as he approached, the other's eyes clicked on in his head. One moment they were not there, the next they were a part of him. Simultaneously he saw the other boy walking toward him, and he saw himself walking toward the other boy, and it was normal. He was connected to the other's emotions as though they were his own, but from a separate space in the back of his mind.
Once he was close enough to do so, the surprisingly short, fox-eared boy would wave one hand in the air, smiling brightly. "Hi! Hey there!" he shouted, from shouting distance. Then he quickened his pace to meet the other on the path. "Hi!" He said again, "You're the first other halfie I've met on this planet, so I had to say hi...Boy though, you look terrible." It was blunt to be sure, but still very earnest and empathetic. His ears had flattened a little in concern now. Then, looking a if he'd gotten a bright idea, he held up the hand with the bag. "You hungry? You can have these, they're real tasty...Not sure what they are though. Some kinda'...pastry or something, I dunno'."
Then the largest largest man-made structure ever constructed in the history of the Universe appeared in the sky.
Kete looked up passively up at it. "...Huh."
"Well it's feasible that if the android really /is/ from the actual Earth, it might have some way of recognizing...And depending on what period, it might be able to identify someone from one of the other Legendary Moons...which one did you say you were from?"
"I keep telling you Harkahn, they weren't /moons/, they were planets."
"I know, I know. Just habit."
"I was born on Mars."
"So, yes, if the robot was made after Mars was colonized then it very well might have some way of recognizing your DNA or something. It might also be able to recognize that you're as old or older than it is...And we've already figured out the truth of that. If it has any reasoning skills then it /should/ listen to you, especially if you've got those codes. I know you of all people I don't need to remind to be careful but...Well I never did like those old bots."
"I appreciate your help, Harkahn."
"Any time, Captain."
"Alright, everything's together."
"I /do/ so love this part."
"Station One - check. Station Two - check. Station Three - check. Initiating shortrange aetherjump."
"And vape that ship while you're at it. I'm pretty sure it's an atom bomb."
One moment it wasn't there...and then it was. Just like that. No lights, no flashing, no sound. It blipped silently into existence and hung still, like a stationary object in the sky, unmoving. It almost didn't look real, but it was.
Largely triangular shaped, with hundreds of towers that sprouted up from the deck. Toward the wide end was one great, rising wall which might have constituted a control deck on a ship of which the size actually made sense. On that machine it must have been more like an entire office block. The towers were skyscrapers, built into the machine, made of the same greyish, bronze material. (Imagine a Star Destroyer with Manhattan Island on top of it. Or...just a big, flying New York City.)
The fact that it was so clearly visible in the sky at the size it was must have meant that it was incredibly far away - in fact, it hung in geostationary orbit only slightly closer than the moon. It must have been hundreds of miles across. How such a thing could have even built, how it could even exist - that was a mystery. A marvel of engineering.
It was that vessel which had plucked the rogue, explosive ship out of reality with a Finger of God, made it simply cease to exist without so much as a targeting laser. As it appeared, the bomb was gone.
In reality the miraculously advanced technology had swapped the two vessels' positions, but programmed the structure of the smaller one to deconstruct mid-transit. It was quite gone.
And it hung there in silence.
"... You're going to trigger a nuclear detonation if you keep messing with that reactor."
Two seconds passed, but it did not feel like two seconds. It quite felt like an eternity, and far too long.
Two seconds before Kallenger issued the silent order for evacuation maneuvers.
On the side of the grip of each DEU rifle was a small button which could be pressed with the thumb. Holding it and pulling the trigger would, instead of firing a bullet, detonate a powerful flash-bang smoke grenade forward from the end of the barrel. One-shot-only, but incredibly effective.
All twenty DEU soldiers fired their evacuation bombs at the same time, perfectly in sync. The result was devastating - their strange, curved visors were designed to be resistant to the effects, but to anyone who was unfortunate enough to have one one of the rifles aimed at them (and everyone currently did) was going to have a serious headache. The sound was absolutely deafening, the blinding flash was...well, blinding, and the immediate burst and release of thick, black smoke had soon cloaked the whole area.
Simultaneously, Kallenger ducked beneath the knife, drew from her coat a potent EMP stun-baton and brought it to brutal contact with Corporal Lennox's knee. This would send a (likely, but not necessarily) paralyzing shock through her armor, as well as forcing her knee to bend, putting her severely off-balance.
As the soldiers fired, each soldier dropped to the ground to avoid being shot by hair-trigger reactions. Then some rolled, some scrabbled, some ran - all following their leader, who had doubled back down the road from whence she had come.
Because apparently somebody had an atom bomb, and she had to at least try to do something about it.
They arrived however, just in time to watch the source of all the turmoil - the weird, masked man's scrapheap of a ship - go rocketing into the sky.
High above, a tiny, well cloaked two-man recon vessel swerved desperately, managing just in time to get out of the path of the terrible explosive as it went soaring by. Humorously the rocket had not been deliberately aimed at them, however firmly they believed it had. But then, that was just the paranoia of two men wanting to become more involved.
They didn't.
The twenty DEU soldiers had done what they do best - aimed their weapons at anything that moved. In this case it was ten guns on the Ranger and ten on the android - with the woman who had taken cover behind considered a nonentity at the moment. (Besides, her allies down on the jungle road were probably calling for backup at this very moment, and she would find that everyone was too involved with the bomb issue to give half a rat's ass about her.)
"What in the absolute Hell are you people doing?!" Kallenger barked wildly, demanding answers.
But in the seconds that followed, everybody - including the Captain and her men - was too busy watching the thing blasting into the sky. The robot was droning on about how everything would be fine, but that was rather hard to believe. It certainly didn't seem like the ancient wreck was actually capable of shooting out of range.
And even still! The consequences of detonating an atomic bomb in the atmosphere or even the orbit of a planet would be dire. It could cause worldwide panic, EMP that would disrupt systems all over the planet, not to mention nuclear holocaust.
No, there was no way it was going to manage to get out of effective range.
Then the ship winked out of existence.
It was at that moment that the largest man-made structure ever constructed in the history of the Universe appeared in the sky.
Kete received, and ultimately finished his meal.
This electromagnetic nonsense was really starting to get on his nerves. He wasn't blind yet, but things were hazy, foggy. He did not like that one bit. Anything less than full awareness of his fifty-foot range was inadequate.
Besides, there was nothing to be afraid of, this woman was obviously not who he had thought she was. There was no assassination going to happen. Nobody was going to get hurt.
The two had chatted for a while longer, but eventually Kete decided that it was time to go and try to find somewhere he could exist in peace without these pseudo-electric ghost clouds nagging at his brain.
That which he had been unable to finish - some delicious toasted somethings that he had already forgotten the name of - had been packed into a little brown bag, and he had bid his farewell.
Kete liked cities. In fact he loved them. Not that he had anything against nature, nor did he fail to appreciate the beauty of it. What he did not like was being without other eyes to look through, other minds to think with. It was when he was the most solitary that he was the most blind.
But in cities that was rarely a problem. There were so, so many people! The minds he was connected to, the eyes he could subconsciously see through in the back of his head - they were bountiful, innumerable. It was a grand, liberating feeling.
But now Kete was wondering with some concern if getting away from the city might help with this fogginess issue. Not that he was going to delve on a lonely jungle trek, but maybe someplace just a tad more sparse would do. Besides, he liked parks. They were lovely places to sleep in, and even when there were no people around there were usually a couple small animals. Animal brains did not satisfy the sensation nearly as well, but they would at least make him comfortable enough to not be thrown into a mental blindness induced panic attack.
So Kete had bid farewell to his new friends and, with doggie bag in hand, made for the park at the edge of the city. Luckily it was not an excessive walk, just a few miles.
And then he was there at last, and strolling down a path. There were some benches marked with "no sleeping", which he found disappointing, since he had intended on doing just that later tonight. Not that it mattered - the 'no sleeping' signs were for the benches, not for the trees!
But he wasn't sleeping just yet. He was walking.
Then, a ways down the path he saw...what was it, another halfie? Yes! A human, but he could clearly see the dog ears poking from his hair. That was delightful - there were so very few half-breeds on this Earth.
So as he approached, the other's eyes clicked on in his head. One moment they were not there, the next they were a part of him. Simultaneously he saw the other boy walking toward him, and he saw himself walking toward the other boy, and it was normal. He was connected to the other's emotions as though they were his own, but from a separate space in the back of his mind.
Once he was close enough to do so, the surprisingly short, fox-eared boy would wave one hand in the air, smiling brightly. "Hi! Hey there!" he shouted, from shouting distance. Then he quickened his pace to meet the other on the path. "Hi!" He said again, "You're the first other halfie I've met on this planet, so I had to say hi...Boy though, you look terrible." It was blunt to be sure, but still very earnest and empathetic. His ears had flattened a little in concern now. Then, looking a if he'd gotten a bright idea, he held up the hand with the bag. "You hungry? You can have these, they're real tasty...Not sure what they are though. Some kinda'...pastry or something, I dunno'."
Then the largest largest man-made structure ever constructed in the history of the Universe appeared in the sky.
Kete looked up passively up at it. "...Huh."
"Well it's feasible that if the android really /is/ from the actual Earth, it might have some way of recognizing...And depending on what period, it might be able to identify someone from one of the other Legendary Moons...which one did you say you were from?"
"I keep telling you Harkahn, they weren't /moons/, they were planets."
"I know, I know. Just habit."
"I was born on Mars."
"So, yes, if the robot was made after Mars was colonized then it very well might have some way of recognizing your DNA or something. It might also be able to recognize that you're as old or older than it is...And we've already figured out the truth of that. If it has any reasoning skills then it /should/ listen to you, especially if you've got those codes. I know you of all people I don't need to remind to be careful but...Well I never did like those old bots."
"I appreciate your help, Harkahn."
"Any time, Captain."
"Alright, everything's together."
"I /do/ so love this part."
"Station One - check. Station Two - check. Station Three - check. Initiating shortrange aetherjump."
"And vape that ship while you're at it. I'm pretty sure it's an atom bomb."
One moment it wasn't there...and then it was. Just like that. No lights, no flashing, no sound. It blipped silently into existence and hung still, like a stationary object in the sky, unmoving. It almost didn't look real, but it was.
Largely triangular shaped, with hundreds of towers that sprouted up from the deck. Toward the wide end was one great, rising wall which might have constituted a control deck on a ship of which the size actually made sense. On that machine it must have been more like an entire office block. The towers were skyscrapers, built into the machine, made of the same greyish, bronze material. (Imagine a Star Destroyer with Manhattan Island on top of it. Or...just a big, flying New York City.)
The fact that it was so clearly visible in the sky at the size it was must have meant that it was incredibly far away - in fact, it hung in geostationary orbit only slightly closer than the moon. It must have been hundreds of miles across. How such a thing could have even built, how it could even exist - that was a mystery. A marvel of engineering.
It was that vessel which had plucked the rogue, explosive ship out of reality with a Finger of God, made it simply cease to exist without so much as a targeting laser. As it appeared, the bomb was gone.
In reality the miraculously advanced technology had swapped the two vessels' positions, but programmed the structure of the smaller one to deconstruct mid-transit. It was quite gone.
And it hung there in silence.
Without anymore disruptions, the boy made his way to the park. It did remind him slightly of the jungle and that annoyed him. That 'cursed' jungle had been the source of most of his weird experiences for the day and he was not going back there.
The German was dissapointed to note that some of the benches in the park were 'off limit' aswell. He'd wrinkle his face, tear up the paper note that banned resting on the 'hobo heaven'. He would then sigh. Why was he even doing that? They were going to throw him in jail and accuse him for stupid things and to be honest, he had heard so many scary stories of foreign prisons that he did not want to go there.
Better to just leave that bench, for now...
The park wasn't all that highly populated at the time being. Could be that people were working and such. Who knew, maybe there was a police out there beating up someone who just wanted to take a little rest. .... Really now? Was that all he could think of? The boy was rather dissapointed in himself...
As he wandered around the park, Christofer noticed someone else walking there too. Such a strange looking fella, but who knows, maybe that was the norm around here and he'd scold him for taking a seat or something. Stupid... He found it a little odd when the orange haired person would look at him though. Why? Meh, probably they just mixed him with someone else...
But they kept looking at him. Christofer had to look back eventually. What was that boy even? One of those people that liked dressing up as animals but could - for the time being - only wear the ears and not a full mask or something? It was strange. They were strange.
The boy would jump back in fright when the other one would start moving towards him, and really, to Him and not someone else. Shoot... He did not want to talk to anyone right now... Instead of comfronting the stranger like a normal person, he'd back away as he leaned forward, slightly holding over his head, ready to defend himself if he had to...
But the other one greeted him with exitenment instead of anger. Why? Did they mistake him for a friend of theirs?
"W-W-What are you talking about?! L-Leave me alone! Leave me alone..." his voice would get quieter as he was feeling a bit dizzy after having raised his voice. His throat was hurting as if he wouldn't have had to raise his voice for a long long time... Christofer coughed, holding his hand in front of his mouth of course, and due to a sting on his chest he'd slowly get closer to the ground until he'd be sitting. "... What do you mean 'halfie'..?" he'd ask with a now little sore voice. The boy wolud rub his throat a bit as in an attempt of easing the pain. He didn't really pay attention to the boy until he'd notice them offerinng food for him. "..? What is that..? Is it poisoned?" His ears would fold a bit backwards, unsure wether he should trust the ginger or not...
More confusion arose when the strange 'structure' would appear on the sky. Christofer had no idea what it was and he had never seen anything like it, but it still managed to make him afraid. Fear would fill all his insides and outer layers. What was that? His new pair of ears would now be partly glued against his head. He was scared.
The German was dissapointed to note that some of the benches in the park were 'off limit' aswell. He'd wrinkle his face, tear up the paper note that banned resting on the 'hobo heaven'. He would then sigh. Why was he even doing that? They were going to throw him in jail and accuse him for stupid things and to be honest, he had heard so many scary stories of foreign prisons that he did not want to go there.
Better to just leave that bench, for now...
The park wasn't all that highly populated at the time being. Could be that people were working and such. Who knew, maybe there was a police out there beating up someone who just wanted to take a little rest. .... Really now? Was that all he could think of? The boy was rather dissapointed in himself...
As he wandered around the park, Christofer noticed someone else walking there too. Such a strange looking fella, but who knows, maybe that was the norm around here and he'd scold him for taking a seat or something. Stupid... He found it a little odd when the orange haired person would look at him though. Why? Meh, probably they just mixed him with someone else...
But they kept looking at him. Christofer had to look back eventually. What was that boy even? One of those people that liked dressing up as animals but could - for the time being - only wear the ears and not a full mask or something? It was strange. They were strange.
The boy would jump back in fright when the other one would start moving towards him, and really, to Him and not someone else. Shoot... He did not want to talk to anyone right now... Instead of comfronting the stranger like a normal person, he'd back away as he leaned forward, slightly holding over his head, ready to defend himself if he had to...
But the other one greeted him with exitenment instead of anger. Why? Did they mistake him for a friend of theirs?
"W-W-What are you talking about?! L-Leave me alone! Leave me alone..." his voice would get quieter as he was feeling a bit dizzy after having raised his voice. His throat was hurting as if he wouldn't have had to raise his voice for a long long time... Christofer coughed, holding his hand in front of his mouth of course, and due to a sting on his chest he'd slowly get closer to the ground until he'd be sitting. "... What do you mean 'halfie'..?" he'd ask with a now little sore voice. The boy wolud rub his throat a bit as in an attempt of easing the pain. He didn't really pay attention to the boy until he'd notice them offerinng food for him. "..? What is that..? Is it poisoned?" His ears would fold a bit backwards, unsure wether he should trust the ginger or not...
More confusion arose when the strange 'structure' would appear on the sky. Christofer had no idea what it was and he had never seen anything like it, but it still managed to make him afraid. Fear would fill all his insides and outer layers. What was that? His new pair of ears would now be partly glued against his head. He was scared.
Immediately greeted with hostility, Ketin wasn't expecting that at all! His own big, fluffy fox ears went back, eyes averted to the ground for a moment - those weird eyes, that left one with the red and gold iris, that little wire sticking out from his hair. He shrunk back a little too.
In a very small voice he started to say "wh...wha?" But the look rapidly shifted to that of concern, ears mirroring the change.
"Wh- you know, half-breed. I'm surprised you haven't heard that term before."
He was caught again off guard when he was accused of offering poisoned food. Not insulted though or offended, just very surprised. "...Poisoned?"
Perplexedly he looked down to the bag. He opened it curiously, plucked a weird,vaguely seashell shaped pastry out, took a bite. "No, I don't think it's poisoned." He said, and it genuinely seemed as though he were as curious about it as the other fella' was. "Tastes good though...But I'm full so if you're hungry you can have 'em." Again, he held out the bag.
Then that thing appeared into the sky. He looked up at it with that previously mentioned nonchalance - and when he looked back to the person who was, whether he liked it or not, going to end up being Kete's friend, he was clearly frightened. He had noticed it in his mind, too. Definitely scared of the ship.
To Kete, it was surprising - sure. That thing was definitely the biggest man-made thing he had ever seen, quite impressive. Yet he couldn't help but be a little impassive about it - that electromagnetic disturbance was making him sort of...flattish?
Again, that concern which had momentarily disappeared to look at the ship - which still did nothing - returned. He really hated it when people were scared, and not just because it put fear in his own mind that he had to make sure he kept separate from his own emotions, but more so because he could empathize so very, literally well.
Of course, he wasn't about to confront it.
"Hey," he said with a little more feeling, "You really don't look too good." He squatted down next to him. "I'm pretty sure there's a water fountain a little ways back the way I came. You look like you could use it..."
In a very small voice he started to say "wh...wha?" But the look rapidly shifted to that of concern, ears mirroring the change.
"Wh- you know, half-breed. I'm surprised you haven't heard that term before."
He was caught again off guard when he was accused of offering poisoned food. Not insulted though or offended, just very surprised. "...Poisoned?"
Perplexedly he looked down to the bag. He opened it curiously, plucked a weird,vaguely seashell shaped pastry out, took a bite. "No, I don't think it's poisoned." He said, and it genuinely seemed as though he were as curious about it as the other fella' was. "Tastes good though...But I'm full so if you're hungry you can have 'em." Again, he held out the bag.
Then that thing appeared into the sky. He looked up at it with that previously mentioned nonchalance - and when he looked back to the person who was, whether he liked it or not, going to end up being Kete's friend, he was clearly frightened. He had noticed it in his mind, too. Definitely scared of the ship.
To Kete, it was surprising - sure. That thing was definitely the biggest man-made thing he had ever seen, quite impressive. Yet he couldn't help but be a little impassive about it - that electromagnetic disturbance was making him sort of...flattish?
Again, that concern which had momentarily disappeared to look at the ship - which still did nothing - returned. He really hated it when people were scared, and not just because it put fear in his own mind that he had to make sure he kept separate from his own emotions, but more so because he could empathize so very, literally well.
Of course, he wasn't about to confront it.
"Hey," he said with a little more feeling, "You really don't look too good." He squatted down next to him. "I'm pretty sure there's a water fountain a little ways back the way I came. You look like you could use it..."
He still had no idea what the whole half-breed thing was about. Was his hair really that messy that it looked like he had ears? Could be, but the German thought for it to be better if he'd not question the boy more. They seemed relatively nice and hadn't attempted on beating him up, so that was a plus.
Cristofer flinched a bit as he 'awoke' from his scared state, taken away By the rustling of the 'package' the food was in. He looked back at the ginger boy who was now again almost on his eye level, being genuinely nice and everything...
He wasn't fully sure yet on wether to trust him or not, but he would gently take the food offered and eat, not in a mad hunger though, showing it at his face, but a slow careful way, nibbling it a bit and taking small bites. Sure he was hungry and his mind didn't really prioritize politeness when starving, but the 'sencation' of eating felt a bit strange too. How long had it been since he had last eaten? Few hours? A day? Half a day? ... A week..? Years..? That was absurd, why would he even think of that? It was obvious he wouldn't even be a live if he hadn't eaten in few days.
It didn't take too long for Christofer to finish eating and he didn't bother asking if the ginger wanted some as they had already stated that they were full and didn't seem to drool either.
"... Sure..? I don't know where though.. Will you come with me?" his head made a slight tilt as the fountain came to be suggested. His throat would appreciate something more still, so he'd be fine with it, and maybe it was a good idea to stick around this other person for a while. They seemed to know a bit more than he did.
The German had partly forgotten about the thing covering the sky. The other boy didn't seem bothered By it, so he'd ask more about it later on...
Cristofer flinched a bit as he 'awoke' from his scared state, taken away By the rustling of the 'package' the food was in. He looked back at the ginger boy who was now again almost on his eye level, being genuinely nice and everything...
He wasn't fully sure yet on wether to trust him or not, but he would gently take the food offered and eat, not in a mad hunger though, showing it at his face, but a slow careful way, nibbling it a bit and taking small bites. Sure he was hungry and his mind didn't really prioritize politeness when starving, but the 'sencation' of eating felt a bit strange too. How long had it been since he had last eaten? Few hours? A day? Half a day? ... A week..? Years..? That was absurd, why would he even think of that? It was obvious he wouldn't even be a live if he hadn't eaten in few days.
It didn't take too long for Christofer to finish eating and he didn't bother asking if the ginger wanted some as they had already stated that they were full and didn't seem to drool either.
"... Sure..? I don't know where though.. Will you come with me?" his head made a slight tilt as the fountain came to be suggested. His throat would appreciate something more still, so he'd be fine with it, and maybe it was a good idea to stick around this other person for a while. They seemed to know a bit more than he did.
The German had partly forgotten about the thing covering the sky. The other boy didn't seem bothered By it, so he'd ask more about it later on...
Bravo turned to the Mad Ranger "Now if you would please, we are not safe here, we must move immediately" The droid stated as it began running into the woods. Running it's scanner a light grid could be seen very easily scanning the local wildlife it ran across, every few seconds Bravo would start beeping, and the grid would turn red giving the all clear to no major threat in the scanned zone. Bravo kept moving quickly and swiftly through the shrubbery and the trees making his way out of the immediate soon to be killzoned area.
"... Well, that's it..." - He could only mutter these words. Upon the absurd failure of his mission, the Ranger couldn't do much but express his frustration. Specially when his haywire 'friend' darted into the jungle depths, probably about to be reduced to scrap by any of those last gen soldiers probably hidden around.
He just didn't care that much about the ominous, doomsday spaceship that just popped in, it was about to get torn in half by the Hydrogen Splitter... Not. The Ranger waited and nothing. No blinding flashes. No falling satellites. No mass panic. Absolutely nothing. Did the droid managed to actually deactivate the reactor... ?
"'L-Lissen up, folks..." - The Ranger shrugged, clearing his throat, clearly with a rise of jitters into his muffled speech. "I'm, uh... A secret agent under t-the, eh... Under a para... A secret agent on a secr-- A undercover mission to, uh... Transport a nuclear device... !?"
Obviously a bluff.
"But... Alas... ! My mission have been... Have been compromised by that malfunctioning android... !" - Suddenly, his tone catched up to it's usual coldness.
"... And we are all going to die when the very own atmospheric structure of this planet rips apart after the detonation."
The Ranger glared into Kallenger's eyes and only now she could feel how painful was to look directly unto his the deep, red glow of his visor.
Hydrogen Splitter Detonation in... Five... Four... Three... Tw--
SIGNAL LOST
He just didn't care that much about the ominous, doomsday spaceship that just popped in, it was about to get torn in half by the Hydrogen Splitter... Not. The Ranger waited and nothing. No blinding flashes. No falling satellites. No mass panic. Absolutely nothing. Did the droid managed to actually deactivate the reactor... ?
"'L-Lissen up, folks..." - The Ranger shrugged, clearing his throat, clearly with a rise of jitters into his muffled speech. "I'm, uh... A secret agent under t-the, eh... Under a para... A secret agent on a secr-- A undercover mission to, uh... Transport a nuclear device... !?"
Obviously a bluff.
"But... Alas... ! My mission have been... Have been compromised by that malfunctioning android... !" - Suddenly, his tone catched up to it's usual coldness.
"... And we are all going to die when the very own atmospheric structure of this planet rips apart after the detonation."
The Ranger glared into Kallenger's eyes and only now she could feel how painful was to look directly unto his the deep, red glow of his visor.
Hydrogen Splitter Detonation in... Five... Four... Three... Tw--
SIGNAL LOST
The Overlord ship finally arrived to its destination: the dark side of the moon. Beta-foxtrot is a lunar base hidden inside a crater and it mission to spy on the planet Earth, mostly gather information on what's happening there.
Kampfer came to the base via warp gate and was greeted warmly by the base's Z-bot commander. "Greetings, my lord I hope the trip fair you well" said the commander. "I'm doing vell and I also brought supplies for you too" Kampfer pointed at the warp gate as boxs of supplies and soldiers came through. "Oh thank you my lord for these fruits you bare before us" replied the commander as Kampfer made his way to the command center.
As he got to the command center, the large screen had Earth on it and a large blimp signaling a large explosion had just happened on or near Earth. "Sir, we detected a large energy reading on the atmosphere, we believe to be a hydrogen explosion sir" said the Z-bot operator. "Bah hydrogen explosions are nothing compared to an anti matter bomb, anything else new?"asked Kampfer as he sat in the commanders chair monitoring the screen with the Z-bot commander next to him. "Uh we have also detected a large structure on the Earth's atmosphere" replied the operator. "Do ve know vhat it is?" Kampfer questioned. The operator shook his head and replied "no sir".
Kampfer scratched his chin with his claw finger and said "zis schall be interesting...how many soldiers do we currently have on base" He looked at the commander for an answer and the commander answered " 50,000 doc-bots, 35,000 z-bots and 10,000 other in for a total of 95,000 personnel on the base." "I pre assume other is vhat I zink it is" Kampfer chuckled. Addressing everyone in the command center "Ok ze plan ve are going to do is to establish a earth base for not only research purposes but also for more direct survallence, ve do zis nice and quiet so ve do rise suspicion by the government" "What location on Earth did you have in mind my lord?"questioned the commander "I say ze Siberian region, it's a very isolated and desolate place to live for any being zere, so it's perfect place for us to use" answered Kampfer with a grim smile on his face.
Kampfer came to the base via warp gate and was greeted warmly by the base's Z-bot commander. "Greetings, my lord I hope the trip fair you well" said the commander. "I'm doing vell and I also brought supplies for you too" Kampfer pointed at the warp gate as boxs of supplies and soldiers came through. "Oh thank you my lord for these fruits you bare before us" replied the commander as Kampfer made his way to the command center.
As he got to the command center, the large screen had Earth on it and a large blimp signaling a large explosion had just happened on or near Earth. "Sir, we detected a large energy reading on the atmosphere, we believe to be a hydrogen explosion sir" said the Z-bot operator. "Bah hydrogen explosions are nothing compared to an anti matter bomb, anything else new?"asked Kampfer as he sat in the commanders chair monitoring the screen with the Z-bot commander next to him. "Uh we have also detected a large structure on the Earth's atmosphere" replied the operator. "Do ve know vhat it is?" Kampfer questioned. The operator shook his head and replied "no sir".
Kampfer scratched his chin with his claw finger and said "zis schall be interesting...how many soldiers do we currently have on base" He looked at the commander for an answer and the commander answered " 50,000 doc-bots, 35,000 z-bots and 10,000 other in for a total of 95,000 personnel on the base." "I pre assume other is vhat I zink it is" Kampfer chuckled. Addressing everyone in the command center "Ok ze plan ve are going to do is to establish a earth base for not only research purposes but also for more direct survallence, ve do zis nice and quiet so ve do rise suspicion by the government" "What location on Earth did you have in mind my lord?"questioned the commander "I say ze Siberian region, it's a very isolated and desolate place to live for any being zere, so it's perfect place for us to use" answered Kampfer with a grim smile on his face.
The droid now slowing to a stop activated a distress beacon mounted within itself and placed its systems into standby mode. Sitting on the ground as a small antenna flashed a red light signalling to whomever could still hear it's age old frequency. His lights all over his mechanical body began to fade except for the antenna which sent out the beacon and blinked repeatedly every five seconds till someone were to discover it, which was who knew how long for Bravo.
Only after a day or so, the the base on the Siberian like region was now fully operational. Complete with and a energy wall and four automated turrets on the corners of the square like perimeter of the base. The patrols, despite being androids, wore winter like clothing and always on watch even though being in a very desolate place. Kampfer is in the command center of the base observing the blizzard storm outside. A Z-bot comes in and says "Sir, the orbital laser is in position and we have scaned the surrounding area for you as well". "Excellent" exclaimed Kampfer as he turned around to look at the trooper and then looked at the holographic table that has the local region map. "Ok here's your next set of orders to carry out, soldier...zese locations have materials zat we need" he said as he pointed out different locations on the map only a few miles away. "Send out ze diggers to mine zem out and bring zem back here, because a couple clicks away zere is a natural bay and vith zese materials ve shall make our next veapon of var" he explained more as he pointed out the various locations. "What is our goal sir?" said the puzzled bot.
"Our goal is to establish a more menacing zreat here on ze planet, via ze creation of ze aircraft slash battleship weapon" he told the Z-bot as he pulled the blue print on the table. "Vith zese veapon, ve can strike any vhere on ze planet and become terror of ze seas and ze sky. So ve vill collect ze materials and create ze parts here and zen assemble zem on sight on ze bay, do i make myself clear?" he told the Z-bot. "Yes, sir we will get right on it sir" responded the Z-bot as he walked himself out.
Kampfer walked towards the window and saw the large object in the sky and said to himself "Vhat are you and vhere did you come from, my mysterious object"
"Our goal is to establish a more menacing zreat here on ze planet, via ze creation of ze aircraft slash battleship weapon" he told the Z-bot as he pulled the blue print on the table. "Vith zese veapon, ve can strike any vhere on ze planet and become terror of ze seas and ze sky. So ve vill collect ze materials and create ze parts here and zen assemble zem on sight on ze bay, do i make myself clear?" he told the Z-bot. "Yes, sir we will get right on it sir" responded the Z-bot as he walked himself out.
Kampfer walked towards the window and saw the large object in the sky and said to himself "Vhat are you and vhere did you come from, my mysterious object"
"Where are you going next?"
It was a simple enough question yet Nirix found it difficult to answer Sul'sashi. Her eyes had followed Ketin all the way until he had vanished from her advanced sight. He had thanked her for the meal and without thinking Nirix, had forgotten the most important reason as to why she had even asked him to this meal. Protection, a friend in the shadows, Nirix cursed herself for not speaking to him about it before he had left but she was never one for conversation. How would one bring that up anyway?
"Da'len?"
Lavender eyes flickered away from the nearly spotless window and up at the silver orbs that gleamed with a hint of motherly concern. It suddenly dawned on Nirix that Sul'sashi probably had children who were her age...No wonder why she had been so warm during their intentional meeting.
"I'm not sure Hahren, whomever sends me a message sooner than later is where I shall travel" She answered, her playing off her curiosity to go follow behind the half-breed as if it was nothing seemingly working. Nirix needed to leave him be. It wouldn't be good for her work ethic to have someone who wasn't apart of her contact network or protected by the Imperial Eocluen empire rules....But still...
"Maybe you'll meet him again," Sul'sashi offered, no doubt noticing Nirix distracted nature. She had let her guard slip again...Some assassin she was...
"I have a feeling though, that he is more than what he appears to be...It is fueling my drive to seek him out" Nirix finally confessed and was surprised to see Sul'sashi smile at her.
"Then do what you must. Seek him out"
It was a simple enough question yet Nirix found it difficult to answer Sul'sashi. Her eyes had followed Ketin all the way until he had vanished from her advanced sight. He had thanked her for the meal and without thinking Nirix, had forgotten the most important reason as to why she had even asked him to this meal. Protection, a friend in the shadows, Nirix cursed herself for not speaking to him about it before he had left but she was never one for conversation. How would one bring that up anyway?
"Da'len?"
Lavender eyes flickered away from the nearly spotless window and up at the silver orbs that gleamed with a hint of motherly concern. It suddenly dawned on Nirix that Sul'sashi probably had children who were her age...No wonder why she had been so warm during their intentional meeting.
"I'm not sure Hahren, whomever sends me a message sooner than later is where I shall travel" She answered, her playing off her curiosity to go follow behind the half-breed as if it was nothing seemingly working. Nirix needed to leave him be. It wouldn't be good for her work ethic to have someone who wasn't apart of her contact network or protected by the Imperial Eocluen empire rules....But still...
"Maybe you'll meet him again," Sul'sashi offered, no doubt noticing Nirix distracted nature. She had let her guard slip again...Some assassin she was...
"I have a feeling though, that he is more than what he appears to be...It is fueling my drive to seek him out" Nirix finally confessed and was surprised to see Sul'sashi smile at her.
"Then do what you must. Seek him out"
Royanna Kallenger scratched the back of her head. It was an unusually human gesture for the typically stoic and emotionless woman that she was. She stared upward for a long moment, then returned her eyes to the Ranger.
The android had dashed off into the forest, and nobody saw any reason to follow.
The bomb-ship was gone, replaced with an impossibly large city-like structure in the sky, but everything had happened so fast that Kallenger wasn’t even too terribly sure what to do at this point.
Just like the ranger, her mission had become incredibly sidetracked. Entirely spun off-course.
“So…no more bomb.” She half-asked, raising a brow, looking at the Ranger. They were standing perhaps a tad closer to each other than either of them would have liked, but Kallenger apparently saw no reason to change that fact. The effect of the Ranger’s red eyes had initially shook her to the core, but in light of the sudden drop in danger she was feeling somewhat bolstered in that respect, and was able to look him in the eye without becoming entirely disturbed. “Quite a description there though. Have you considered writing a book?” Her voice was humorless, but it lacked malevolence or spite as well.
Still, the anticlimax of the whole thing was astounding. Suddenly everything was formless, aimless. Moments ago there had been rising conflict, immediate danger, things needed to be done! Now everything was nebulous and open again, and honestly it felt just a little bit peculiar.
Kallenger averted her eyes thoughtfully, then again looked back into the Ranger’s terrible, red mask-eyes. “Well then. I suppose that’s taken care of.” Indeed, this was the equivalent of an awkward silence! “I…bid you good luck in not destroying the whole planet.”
At last she turned, with a thoughtful expression on her face. “Men, move out. We’ve got a job to finish. Great Space this whole ordeal’s been absolute madness…” She continued muttering to herself as the soldiers in black spread out once more into the jungle, and shortly thereafter the Ranger was alone.
The clearing, where his ship had only moments ago lay smoldering, was silent now. Eerily silent. There was the crater, there was the wreckage of the ship which that other cyborg-soldier had come from before retreating into the jungle. There was a great scrap heap from however that robot had gotten here…All these things, but no sound. Silence. For a few moments, anyway. A few long moments…but not long enough for him to do anything crazy like…leave. Unfortunately for him it seemed the Ranger was never going to get the chance to just move on with his original quest – as if it hadn’t already been as hopelessly derailed as Kallenger’s…and everyone else who had a goal in mind.
Just as the gargantuan structure had silently blipped into reality some moments before, a vastly, infinitesimally smaller structure would blip into existence now. It wasn’t there, and then it was – a few yards behind the Ranger, in whatever direction by some coincidence he happened to not be looking.
It was sleek, black and slightly bulbous, looking something like a small, standard dropship but missing the wings required for actual flight.
It sat there for a moment, regardless of what degree of hostility the understandably jumpy Ranger might have toward it.
Also regardless of this factor, the door would at last slide open, and a girl would poke her head out, curiously. She had very short, brown hair and fascinating grey and gold eyes, with a little wire jutting from a metal panel at her left temple and curling around behind her ear. She wore a grey sweatshirt and jeans – remarkably casual for stepping out of what looked like a secret government time machine.
“Nope, off course.” She said, presumably to whoever was in the thing with her.
“Really?” Came the rather dull, but not lifeless male voice from within. “Wasn’t it broadcasting a rather clear distress beacon? Drat. No matter, we can’t be too far. I’ll ask Harkahn to work on the positioning…Personally I’m just glad we actually made it onto the ground instead of in it…Oh, maybe ask the Mad Ranger for directions?” He seemed distracted.
The girl, who looked perhaps in her early twenties and was rather short, glanced back into the thing they had arrived within. “I don’t want to talk to him, he’ll blow my head off.” She retorted.
Talking about him as though he weren’t there at all, despite the fact that there was only a few yards between them and he could hear with perfect clarity every word the two of them said. There was a satirical, bantering air about the two of them.
“Fair enough, fair enough.” It sounded as though he were standing up. Then he appeared also in the doorway, and the two of them were revealed in their entirety as they stepped out proper. The male was taller than the girl, with long, shaggy black hair, dressed nicer in a red velvet shirt with a leather overcoat. There were jagged scars along his left cheekbone, and his eyes – continuing the theme – were terrible, inky black pools of misery with inverted, white irises. If Lord Satan ever took a human form, it seemed fairly certain that it would look a whole lot like this young man – who also looked to be in his early twenties.
The two of them kept their distance – the man with hands in the pockets of his brown coat, the girl standing more casually with hands behind her head, reclining comfortably as such.
“Hello, Mad Ranger!” The young man greeted, with a wave of the hand and a sort of knowing grin, undeniably eerie eyes looking unaffectedly right into the terrible red glow of the Ranger’s mask. “We’re looking for our little lost combat droid, have you by chance happened to see him? He goes by ‘CD’ – or maybe ‘Bravo’ – and seems to have a rather dark sense of humor.”
“Oh and sorry about your ship.” The girl added in, thoughtfully.
“Great!” The weird redhead boy with surprisingly animated fox ears and an incredibly realistic fox tail said, smiling brightly. He stood up straight once more to his imposing height of five-something and held out a hand to help up the clearly very stressed individual whom he still assumed was a half-breed missing his tail. He’d seen it before – halfies missing parts for one reason or another. Sometimes it was self mutilation to remove the stigma, other times it was the cruelty of those who thought themselves to be superior. He found it best not to mention it, it was usually a sensitive topic.
“C’mon, it’s over this way.” A nod of his head down the pathway.
“So I’m guessing you’re not from around here huh?” He asked, as they walked the quarter mile or so to the water fountain. Upon arrival Cristofer would be faced with a very standard looking water fountain, though the water was a rather shockingly bright, crystalline turquoise color. It looked vaguely like it should have been in a swimming pool, but there was no chemical taste.
In reality there wasn’t any specific reason for it either. It was just weird.
In the back of his mind, Kete couldn't help but wonder if the woman from before was going to end up following him just as he had previously followed her. He also wondered absently what that massive thing was in the sky - he was growing steadily more curious about it. After all, who wouldn't? All the governments on the planet were going mad trying to figure out who and/or what it was. Isha Lastrow was furiously trying to communicate with them all and inform them that they were just a foreign civilian starliner - which was true - but not like any of that would be known to anyone down on the ground. Especially this carefree fox halfie and his new like-it-or-not pal.
The android had dashed off into the forest, and nobody saw any reason to follow.
The bomb-ship was gone, replaced with an impossibly large city-like structure in the sky, but everything had happened so fast that Kallenger wasn’t even too terribly sure what to do at this point.
Just like the ranger, her mission had become incredibly sidetracked. Entirely spun off-course.
“So…no more bomb.” She half-asked, raising a brow, looking at the Ranger. They were standing perhaps a tad closer to each other than either of them would have liked, but Kallenger apparently saw no reason to change that fact. The effect of the Ranger’s red eyes had initially shook her to the core, but in light of the sudden drop in danger she was feeling somewhat bolstered in that respect, and was able to look him in the eye without becoming entirely disturbed. “Quite a description there though. Have you considered writing a book?” Her voice was humorless, but it lacked malevolence or spite as well.
Still, the anticlimax of the whole thing was astounding. Suddenly everything was formless, aimless. Moments ago there had been rising conflict, immediate danger, things needed to be done! Now everything was nebulous and open again, and honestly it felt just a little bit peculiar.
Kallenger averted her eyes thoughtfully, then again looked back into the Ranger’s terrible, red mask-eyes. “Well then. I suppose that’s taken care of.” Indeed, this was the equivalent of an awkward silence! “I…bid you good luck in not destroying the whole planet.”
At last she turned, with a thoughtful expression on her face. “Men, move out. We’ve got a job to finish. Great Space this whole ordeal’s been absolute madness…” She continued muttering to herself as the soldiers in black spread out once more into the jungle, and shortly thereafter the Ranger was alone.
The clearing, where his ship had only moments ago lay smoldering, was silent now. Eerily silent. There was the crater, there was the wreckage of the ship which that other cyborg-soldier had come from before retreating into the jungle. There was a great scrap heap from however that robot had gotten here…All these things, but no sound. Silence. For a few moments, anyway. A few long moments…but not long enough for him to do anything crazy like…leave. Unfortunately for him it seemed the Ranger was never going to get the chance to just move on with his original quest – as if it hadn’t already been as hopelessly derailed as Kallenger’s…and everyone else who had a goal in mind.
Just as the gargantuan structure had silently blipped into reality some moments before, a vastly, infinitesimally smaller structure would blip into existence now. It wasn’t there, and then it was – a few yards behind the Ranger, in whatever direction by some coincidence he happened to not be looking.
It was sleek, black and slightly bulbous, looking something like a small, standard dropship but missing the wings required for actual flight.
It sat there for a moment, regardless of what degree of hostility the understandably jumpy Ranger might have toward it.
Also regardless of this factor, the door would at last slide open, and a girl would poke her head out, curiously. She had very short, brown hair and fascinating grey and gold eyes, with a little wire jutting from a metal panel at her left temple and curling around behind her ear. She wore a grey sweatshirt and jeans – remarkably casual for stepping out of what looked like a secret government time machine.
“Nope, off course.” She said, presumably to whoever was in the thing with her.
“Really?” Came the rather dull, but not lifeless male voice from within. “Wasn’t it broadcasting a rather clear distress beacon? Drat. No matter, we can’t be too far. I’ll ask Harkahn to work on the positioning…Personally I’m just glad we actually made it onto the ground instead of in it…Oh, maybe ask the Mad Ranger for directions?” He seemed distracted.
The girl, who looked perhaps in her early twenties and was rather short, glanced back into the thing they had arrived within. “I don’t want to talk to him, he’ll blow my head off.” She retorted.
Talking about him as though he weren’t there at all, despite the fact that there was only a few yards between them and he could hear with perfect clarity every word the two of them said. There was a satirical, bantering air about the two of them.
“Fair enough, fair enough.” It sounded as though he were standing up. Then he appeared also in the doorway, and the two of them were revealed in their entirety as they stepped out proper. The male was taller than the girl, with long, shaggy black hair, dressed nicer in a red velvet shirt with a leather overcoat. There were jagged scars along his left cheekbone, and his eyes – continuing the theme – were terrible, inky black pools of misery with inverted, white irises. If Lord Satan ever took a human form, it seemed fairly certain that it would look a whole lot like this young man – who also looked to be in his early twenties.
The two of them kept their distance – the man with hands in the pockets of his brown coat, the girl standing more casually with hands behind her head, reclining comfortably as such.
“Hello, Mad Ranger!” The young man greeted, with a wave of the hand and a sort of knowing grin, undeniably eerie eyes looking unaffectedly right into the terrible red glow of the Ranger’s mask. “We’re looking for our little lost combat droid, have you by chance happened to see him? He goes by ‘CD’ – or maybe ‘Bravo’ – and seems to have a rather dark sense of humor.”
“Oh and sorry about your ship.” The girl added in, thoughtfully.
“Great!” The weird redhead boy with surprisingly animated fox ears and an incredibly realistic fox tail said, smiling brightly. He stood up straight once more to his imposing height of five-something and held out a hand to help up the clearly very stressed individual whom he still assumed was a half-breed missing his tail. He’d seen it before – halfies missing parts for one reason or another. Sometimes it was self mutilation to remove the stigma, other times it was the cruelty of those who thought themselves to be superior. He found it best not to mention it, it was usually a sensitive topic.
“C’mon, it’s over this way.” A nod of his head down the pathway.
“So I’m guessing you’re not from around here huh?” He asked, as they walked the quarter mile or so to the water fountain. Upon arrival Cristofer would be faced with a very standard looking water fountain, though the water was a rather shockingly bright, crystalline turquoise color. It looked vaguely like it should have been in a swimming pool, but there was no chemical taste.
In reality there wasn’t any specific reason for it either. It was just weird.
In the back of his mind, Kete couldn't help but wonder if the woman from before was going to end up following him just as he had previously followed her. He also wondered absently what that massive thing was in the sky - he was growing steadily more curious about it. After all, who wouldn't? All the governments on the planet were going mad trying to figure out who and/or what it was. Isha Lastrow was furiously trying to communicate with them all and inform them that they were just a foreign civilian starliner - which was true - but not like any of that would be known to anyone down on the ground. Especially this carefree fox halfie and his new like-it-or-not pal.
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