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Post by RedBindi on Sept 25, 2007 12:23:07 GMT -5
"Red, all non-essential personnel have been transferred to other ships heading down to New Zion. The only people left are the ones necessary to run the station, skeleton crew of course, and The Trust."
Lieutenant Porter looked around the nearly empty communications room at Outpost One as he waited for RedBindi's response. Just a few short hours ago this room had been bustling with activity as his men went about their daily routines, routines that had ended with the evacuation orders transmitted by RedBindi that morning. Since then the base had been a flurry of activity as anyone deemed not essential to emergency operations had gathered up their possessions and boarded whatever Trust ship was available to ferry them to the nearest transport ship.
"Understood, great job Porter. Just make sure the remaining crewmen find their berths aboard whatever Trust ship they have been assigned and continue to move ammo and supplies along with personnel to those ships. For the time being the only people I want in the Outpost are the people manning communications and the Turrets. Everyone else is to stay aboard their designated ship."
RedBindi's voice echoed around the empty room startling Porter out of his reflections of the last few hours. Sitting down heavily in his chair he rekeyed the comm. "They have their orders, Red. Don't worry, they'll follow them to a tee. I hand picked the ones that stayed behind... we can trust each and every one of them with our lives." Releasing the comm he sat heavily back against his chair and whispered to himself. "And that's exactly what we're doing..."
RedBindi leaned against the communications console on the bridge of the Diluculo. Wheeler, Fenshire, and she had just returned from ferrying the last of the personnel to the only remaining hoverbarge they could find and returned to the Outpost only a few minutes ago. She lifted her head towards the viewports at the front of the ship and looked out over Outpost One. "Roger that, Porter. Fen and I will be jacking in shortly to see if we can find out anymore information regarding the status of Old Zion. Red out."
"Porter out."
Sighing to herself she walked over to the pilots chair and sat down, never taking her eyes off the view of Outpost One. She smiled slightly to herself as she realized The Diluculo was on the same dock today as it was a year ago, the first time she had ever been to the Outpost, the view was the same... but the scene had changed drastically. No longer visible were the people going about their daily lives, instead the view before her was one of emptiness. Only a few people roamed the docks on their way to another vessel, arms usually loaded with boxes or pulling a cart full of supplies. No longer did the view offer reassurance of a new home, a new life; instead all she felt was a sense of sadness as the only home she had ever known seemed to be slipping away.
Fenshire finished his checks on the Diluculo’s rebuilt reactor, so far the reactor was running as it should he only hoped that trend continued. Turning towards the door he set down his diagnostic equipment and just listened to the ship for a moment, hearing nothing that would clue him into a problem he smiled and headed towards the bridge. As he approached the bridge he noticed the bulkhead door was still ajar and through the open portal he saw RedBindi sitting in the pilots chair her eyes fixated on the view of the Outpost in front of her.
RedBindi felt him behind her only moments before he put his hands on her shoulders, giving her a reassuring squeeze. “Bindi, everything will be fine. We just have to stick together.” Reaching up she placed one hand over his and returned his gesture of reassurance. “I know. We should jack-in, see if the liaisons have any more information.” He nodded as she stood and together they made their way back to the operations deck, jacking-in in hopes of hearing some good news for a change.
****** RedBindi’s eyes widened as Fenshire informed her of what he had been told. They both looked at each other and immediately understood the implications of Old Zion’s fall. The Outpost was vulnerable, The Trust was cut off, and they had to move now. Touching her earpiece, RedBindi had Wheeler patch her into the Trust’s Fleet channel to issue a new set of orders to the Trust.
“As of now all personnel are required to report to their assigned ships and evacuate Outpost One. Take all supplies your storage areas can hold and people will have to double and triple bunk. No one, I repeat no one is to be left behind.
Old Zion has fallen. All entrances and exits are blocked by swarms of sentinels. We are cut off and vulnerable. We are to regroup in New Zion, drop off your passengers, resupply, and make sure your batteries are fully charged.
Our duty is discharged... Old Zion is no more. Get to New Zion.
We need to move together, we are going to have to fight our way through. The Titan and Devildog will take the lead. Diluculo and Neptune in the middle. Saltpillar, Juliet, and Eudai take the rear.
Red Out.”
Fenshire nodded as her heard her orders and proceeded to give advice of his own, knowing full well the fight the Trust fleet was about to face.
“Make sure all weapons are loaded, and you have plenty of ammo. When in doubt of what kind of supplies you should take, ammo should be your number one priority.
ALL exits to old Zion are cut off. That includes us. Each of us has quite a fight on our hands, but if we stick together and watch each others' backs, we'll do fine.
Good luck to everyone.”
They stood together in a silence that was only broken as Farplane jacked-in to find out what was going on and Deffdog contacted them to offer assistance. Farplane knew how bad the situation was and his visit elsewhere had taken him away from the Outpost. He was now in a position where the Trust fleet could not easily reach him and he would most likely not make it back to the Outpost.
***** As Deffdog lifted off to join the Trust at Outpost One and add one more ship to the armed convoy heading down to New Zion, he was attacked by a patrol of sentinels. Quickly relaying his situation to the Trust he began racing towards the Outpost. RedBindi knowing he would need assistance quickly jacked out and raced to the Titan intent on ensuring he reached the Outpost in one piece. Once aboard the Titan she gave Deffdog’s coordinates to Vapor and ordered her ship to proceed to that area with all due haste, then jacked back in aboard the Titan to finish the evacuation planning session underway in the Matrix between Farplane, Vianne, Fenshire, JacenScheild, Shirotou, and herself.
The atmosphere in the Zion construct was one of tension as ideas and advice were bantered about. The final plan to come from the session was one of necessity, though no one wanted to go through with it. Farplane would use the Juliet as a diversion, getting the attention of a large number of sentinels, then when the Trust fleet was close blow his EMP allowing the fleet to escape through the hole in the Sentinels ring around Old Zion and allowing them the chance to reach New Zion. At the Outpost, Jacen’s old ship was being prepared to explode in concert with all remaining immovable EMP’s left on the base. When the sentinels swarmed the Outpost… the Outpost was going to take as many with her as she could.
***** In an increasingly bad firefight The Titan reached the Shadrack and quickly placed herself between the Shadrack and the pursing sentinels. Letting loose the firepower of the Titan caused an all too brief pause in the attack as the sentinels redirected their attack to the bigger threat. Deffdog pushed the Shadrack to the limits of her speed and the Titan covered his escape. Hoverpads and turrets failing he could only hope to make it to the outer perimeter of the Outpost where the gun turrets could assist in their fight. Fenshire, unable to stand by any longer, jacked out and bolted for the Devildog getting her in the air and headed to the Titan faster then many would have dreamed possible.
*****
RedBindi finally accepted Farplane’s plan, knowing it was the best chance for the rest of the Trust to survive. Saying her not quite goodbyes to him, she also accepted her place officially as the co-commander of the Trust. Facing the possible loss of Farplane, she could wait no longer. JacenScheild did not wish to leave Farplane behind and continued trying to reach him, hoping Farplane would leave the Juliet and make a run to the Neptune. Sentinels suddenly swarmed Farplane’s position, cutting off even this avenue of possible escape. At both Farplane’s and RedBindi’s insistence he finally turned his ship away and headed to form the rear guard of the column with the Saltpillar.
*****
Fenshire reached The Titan and The Shadrach only minutes out from the Outpost. He could tell The Titan was taking a pounding, but still had a lot of fight left in her. As he was about to engage the sentinels attacking her ship another ship appeared on his sensors, blocking their path to the Outpost. Checking the registration of the ship it became apparent the ship belonged to a Cyph. Turning his turrets onto the Cypherite ship he bore down on them with a vengeance.
***** “Goodbye, Red.” Farplane snapped a salute to RedBindi as he prepared to jack-out and get ready for the fight to come.
RedBindi stepped forward and hugged him. “See you later, Far.” Stepping back she snapped a salute and watched him until his jack-out process concluded.
*****
The Cypherite ship was not prepared for the firepower the Devildog unleashed upon it. Expecting to find only one nearly disabled ship and another to busy fighting off sentinels, they had anticipated an easy fight. Fenshire quickly disabused them of that notion and just as quickly disabled their ship. He was not about to allow a single Cypherite ship to keep him from protecting The Titan’s back.
Deffdog continued to push his ship, rerouting what power remained to the remaining hoverpads. Fenshire fell in behind The Titan and directed the Devildogs firepower to the sentinels attempting to cut through her hull.
*****
Jacen walked silently from the room and to the hardline, RedBindi following closely behind. He didn’t say a word as she called after him, only using the hardline to step out into another part of the city. Sighing she sent her final orders to him over the faction channel and received only the word “Roger” as a response followed by him jacking out. Shaking her head, she jacked out as well to finish the other battle she was engaged in.
*****
Reaching the perimeter of the Outpost Deffdog requested permission to land and affect emergency repairs upon his hoverpads. The outer ring of turrets opened up on the remaining sentinels and The Titan turned help The Devildog mop up the rest. Working as a team, with the Outposts turrets supporting them, they were able to take down the remaining sentinels.
“Deffdog, this is Outpost One. You are cleared to land on Dock 12. We will be sending a repair crew to get what turrets we can working in the next few minutes. Those crewmen will need berths on your ship as they will be traveling with you from here on out. Also, send what crewmen you can spare to the supply room and take all remaining ammo, food… anything that is left.”
Deffdog nodded to the crewmen on his bridge and breathed a small sigh of relief before keying the comm. “Roger that. Your crewmen will have berths and I’ll be heading down to the storage areas myself.”
*****
As the Trust Fleet prepared to leave, RedBindi sent one final transmission over the Trust Channel.
“Farplane is using the Juliet to create a hole big enough for us to get through the sentinels between us and New Zion.
We are continuing on without the Juliet... The Neptune will take her position as rearguard. Deffdog in the Shadrach is moving to the Neptune's position next to the Diluculo. Everyone will need to stick together. We are on the move now so keep alert.
The Outpost is rigged to blow... hopefully we will catch a good portion of Sentinels and maybe a Cyph or two in the blast radius.”
Lieutenant Porter handed the detonation codes to RedBindi as the Trust fleet took to the air and headed to Farplane’s position.
“Good luck, Far…”
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Post by Fenny on Sept 25, 2007 18:00:30 GMT -5
Fenshire and Disseminated let out a great sigh of relief as they dropped the last case of ammunition shells in one of the Devildog's gunnery decks. The captain pulled out a rag from his back pocket and wiped his sweat-soaked face down with it. He looked over at Disseminated. "Well... that should do us, until we get to New Zion."Disseminated looked back, as stoic as ever. "There can never be enough ammunition, captain. Perhaps we could clear out a few passenger quarters to stockpile some more?"Fenshire looked back at him, shocked. "Diss... we can't. There are PASSENGERS in the passenger quarters!"Disseminated just looked at Fenshire, and smiled mysteriously. The captain shook his head and made his way towards the operations deck. Along the way, he ran into Symmetric and Hauk, who were busy strapping down some of the overwhelming amounts of cargo and supplies that the Devildog was carrying. Both men gave Fenshire an update on their status, and a rundown on how many passengers they were carrying from Outpost One. Satisfied, the captain finally reached the operations deck, where Adesina and Thonemica were both checking the operational status of the reactor and comms unit. He could tell from the way they were both shakily working, that the two women were very nervous. He approached them both, encouraging them on a job well done, and trying to promote an air of confidence that he honestly didn't feel. The chances of their success were next to none. ...But it was better than sitting in the Outpost and dying... As they spoke, Hauk, Symmetric, and Disseminated came up to the operations deck, followed by a dozen or so passengers. "Alright Fen", Symmetric said. "We're ready to go. Everything's strapped down, we've been through the emergency battle plan with the passengers, and we've got enough ammo to take out a fair amount of sentinels."Fenshire nodded. "Good, Symm... thanks. Everyone's clear on how to operate the guns and make emergency in-flight repairs?" This was directed at the passengers... it was a pretty dumb question, as all of these men and women were capable defenders of the Outpost. They responded with various head nods and verbal affirmations. "Excellent. We'll be heading off soon. I'm going to go make a check on the other ships, and see if there are any last minute orders from Co-Commander RedBindi."He looked back at everyone, meeting their expectant gaze. He was at a loss for words... but everyone looked on, expecting him to say something more. He paused a few moments, and looked down. He took in a huge sigh, and looked back at his crew. "For over two years... we've stood for the Truce and the preservation of peace. Some of us did this with the Trust, some of us worked with the Machines... but our goal was always the same. Blue skies, freedom, and all that jazz.
Today... we lose a home, but we gain another in the form of New Zion. I know what a lot of you are thinking... that this is the end... that this is a major defeat.
This is merely the end of one of the many chapters of our lives. From here, we begin a new chapter. In this chapter, we're going to rebuild, we're going to survive, and we're still going to work towards peace. New Zion is a turning point for humanity. It's a message to the Machines that we don't want their control. We want freedom. We want peace.
Where do we go from here? Our old home is destroyed, the Outpost will soon be gone... We pick up the pieces, we rebuild, and tomorrow... we continue to send out our message.
We are free humanity. And we're not going anywhere. The Machines can work with us, or continue to beat their CPUs against a wall trying to destroy us.
The only way towards peace is together, where neither side holds the other in control. Control is NOT peace."He looks around at the others and nods. "When we leave this place... if we stick with the other ships, if we all work together... we'll make it out alive. Have faith. We have some of the greatest gunners and engineers on this ship. We'll be fine."Fenshire grins. "Now, let's get this ship powered up and kick some toaster ass."The crew cheered, and set off to work, their spirits considerably raised. Smiling to himself, the captain makes his way out of the hovercraft and over towards the Titan. Hauk and Symmetric watch him leave, when Symmetric turns to Hauk, chuckling. "Last minute orders my ass."***** One of the passengers on the Devildog, a rather plain-looking non-descript young man of about twenty, made his way to the Engineering deck to make some last minute checks on the engine. No one else was down there, and he approached various pipes, dials, and controls to make sure everything was in working order. Looking around to make sure no one else was there, the man made a move for one of the many bags of tools that were stored in here. He found his own bag of tools admist the pile and began to search around in it. He pulled out a small electronic device and began pressing a small strip of copper onto a rivet, creating a burst of electricity to the device's transmitter with each touch. ***** Deep below Outpost One, in one of the two massive tunnels that led straight down into old Zion, five hovercrafts sat motionless and powered down. Each of the crews sat in their ships in silence, watching and waiting the tunnels above them. One hovercraft sat a little higher than the others, and appeared to be a flagship of sorts. Inside, one of the crewmembers, a woman, silently made her way over to the captain of the hovercraft. The captain, also a woman, sat back in the pilot's chair, looking up the tunnel above. She turned in her chair slightly, to face the approaching crewmate, brushing a lock of brown hair out of her eyes. "Captain," the crewmate whispered. "We've received the last signal. The Trust ships are getting ready to leave, and all of our plants are in place."The captain nodded. "Good. The hippies won't know what hit them. Start telling the rest of the crew to get ready for a fight, Lazuline.""Yes ma'am," Lazuline responded, and moved back into the bowels of the hovercraft to send word along. Captain Ebola of the Hovercraft Exigence turned back to look up the tunnel. It was going to be a very good day to be a Cypherite, she thought.
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Post by RedBindi on Sept 26, 2007 8:45:56 GMT -5
((Originally posted by Metalogic in the DN1 thread for this.))
He misses his old ship Viraconrida, it was a warship, but because his faction merged with Exigence, some things had to be tossed aside, luckily the Viraconrida was still in Cypherite possession, in their post in the real. MetaLogic sat at the controls of Hovercraft Hypnos, with Goligoth by his side. MetaLogic was searching the dark tunnels, for something, for anything. Then the ship's operator Lotus came into the cockpit. "Sir, we got word from Ebola to get ready for The Trust." "Thank you Lotus." MetaLogic smiled, and he began preparing the ship. "Attention, all hands on deck, all hands on deck, I want every turret and the bomb bay to be manned and ready to go. I also want those mines and other charges to be ready to go." Crew members aboard the Hypnos began to scatter to their position. "This is going to be one Hell of a fight." he thought.
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Post by Covenant on Sept 26, 2007 12:00:28 GMT -5
The Serenity X looked like a five-story-tall grasshopper sprinting on lightning-bolt legs as it thundered at top speed through the gloomy tunnels. Inside the massive hovercraft, Covenant scanned the system-wide reports on the status of other Zion ships. The fleet was well on its way back to New Zion; everyone was regrouping after the Cypherites' latest treachery.
Everyone, that is, except for the convoy from Outpost One, which the report indicated had already engaged with Sentinels at the surface. Covenant knit his brow in concern. They were too far out, he thought - calling them "sitting ducks" was putting it mildly.
"Nat," said Covenant as he looked up from the Serenity X's operations screens, "set us down. We need to go back."
Natael's voice was strained with surprise as he responded from the cockpit. "Excuse me? Go back?"
"Just do it," called Covenant as he slid out of the operator's chair and swung on to the ladder that led down to the rest of the hulking hovercraft. "We're going to plan a rendezvous with The Trust."
Moments later, the crew stood around the table in the mess cabin, where Covenant had spread out a pile of smudged tunnel schematics. HiTech, her arms folded across her chest, squinted with skepticism. "An ambush? But how do we know anyone is going to be following them?"
"The Trust is already under attack. Red will get them out of there, one way or another, but the Machines won't let them go easily. If we turn around now," he continued, "we can intercept The Trust convoy as they descend the mainline towards Old Zion, here." He pointed to a bottleneck in the tunnel on the schematic. "If they have company, we will be in position to take out any pursuers after the convoy passes. Enemy reinforcements won't be far behind, but it might buy them some time."
"Not to mention giving us some time," said HiTech, her misgivings evident on her face. "If we go back, we'll have to run the Sentinel blockade at Old Zion along with the convoy . . . "
Natael started nodding, ignoring the dangers and considering the engineering problem. "Are you thinking about the Sovereign's old EMP that I replaced a few months ago?"
"Yep," smiled Covenant. "And the cargo skiff to get it into position . . ."
". . . and that old outboard generator," added Mierhen. The Serenity X, the flagship of the Eternal Alliance faction, served as sort of a mobile service station for EA hovercraft. Its enormous hold was a warehouse for discarded hovercraft odds and ends - some of which, it turned out, might be put to some good use after all.
"Cov," said Natael, "someone is going to have to burn that EMP manually if we set it up in the tunnel, we won't have time to rig a remote detonator . . ."
Covenant shrugged with resignation. "Well then, it looks like I have a hike in the sewers to look forward to. Let's make this happen. I'll get the Titan on the line, make sure we can coordinate and that we won't be in the way . . ."
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Post by RedBindi on Sept 27, 2007 9:45:58 GMT -5
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Post by RedBindi on Sept 27, 2007 18:03:09 GMT -5
The Titan shuddered slightly as another sentinel landed on her hull, its stay cut short by a burst of fire from the Devildog as Fenshire passed the Titan. So far by working together The Trust fleet had been able to keep the majority of sentinels out of Outpost One, however a few slipped by here and there. RedBindi knew they couldn’t keep this up for much longer, they had to get to the tunnels and soon. If Deffdog couldn’t get the Shadrach up and running soon, that crew would have to board another ship and abandon her.
“Lov, contact Deff. I need a status report on the Shadrach now.”
Lovable nodded and immediately opened a communication link to the Shadrach. Placing one hand over her right ear to block out the sounds of battle around her, she listened intently for a few moments, breathed a sigh of relief, and turned back to her captain. “Bindi, The Shadrach is online and ready to get the hell outta here.”
RedBindi gave her a curt nod, most of her concentration on piloting The Titan and the battle raging around her. “Good. Get me a line to the rest of the captains, its time to make our move.”
Moments later Lovable turned the comm over to her captain. “Alright Trust, as much as I would like to stay in this crapshoot a little longer its time to go. All ships need to converge on the Shadrach’s position pulling as many sentinels with you as possible. On my signal undergo an emergency power down and blow your EMP’s. I’ll be setting off some of the EMP’s on the outer perimeter as well once I power back up. We should be able to break off their attack long enough to get to the main tunnel. Once there get into your assigned positions, watch each others backs, and keep moving...”
*****
Twelve hours later RedBindi looked up wearily from her navigational charts. They had to find someplace to rest and repair... and soon. They had been in a series of running battles, usually just thinking they had gotten away only to be confronted again. No matter what they had tried they were countered, every plan foiled, every move known. Orders were now only given in the Matrix and nothing but the most essential communications passed between ships. Looking back down again she propped herself up with her hand and continued her search.
Lovable and Lawliet watched as their captains head drooped and her eyes slowly closed, sighing they looked towards each other and shook their heads. Lovable nearly jumped as the beep of an incoming transmission was heard on the bridge, looking up at Lawliet a little sheepishly she keyed the comm.
RedBindi startled awake as she felt a hand upon her shoulder. “Bindi, you’re going to want to hear this.”
Taking a moment to respond she finally nodded to Lovable and murmured a quick thanks. Before heading over to the comms station, she pointed to the map in front of her. “Lov, I need you to jack-in and let the other captains know that is where we are headed for now. Make it quick and tell them to keep it to themselves.” Once Lovable had the coordinates RedBindi shutdown her station and made her way over to the comm station slipping the headset on. “This is RedBindi of the Titan responding, Covenant... it’s good to hear your voice.”
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Post by Covenant on Sept 28, 2007 12:28:53 GMT -5
As the hovercraft barreled forward through the misty, stagnant air, the flickering blue light of the Serenity's pads cast deep shadows inside the cockpit. Covenant set aside the headset, and Natael slowly shook his head without taking his eyes off the tunnel terrain. "That didn't sound good."
"They're pinned down," acknowledged Covenant as he stared ahead through the viewport, "but they'll make a break for the mainline if we can provide some cover."
Natael glanced at Covenant with uncertainty. "Are they sure they can outrun the Sentinels long enough to get to the ambush site?"
"They'll make it," said Covenant simply. "Can't you get this thing to go any faster?"
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Post by Fenny on Sept 30, 2007 12:38:57 GMT -5
Outpost One was destroyed. As the Trust ships made their move out, the place detonated at RedBindi's command. That, coupled with Farplane's diversion, allowed the Titan, the Devildog, the Neptune, the Diluculo, the Eudai, the Saltpillar, and the Shadrack to escape from their current state of entrapment. It was far from over, however. Then sentinels immediately began to chase after the escaping ships, attacking unmercifully. Each of the ships moved in unison, defending each other and watching out for each other... moving as one solid unit. For awhile, the sentinels moved and acted as if they knew what to expect from the flight of hovercraft. Every order that was given out, every plan made, had been thwarted by the army of sentinels. It was only quick thinking and the hovercrafts' pilots' experience that pulled them through in the end. However, it was almost as if the sentinels knew what they were planning. Never had any of the ships' crews encountered sentinels employing tactics like these to counter their own. RedBindi had made the decision to start issuing out orders while inside the Matrix. Only captains would recieve the orders, and they would lead their crews based on those orders, keeping the crew in a need-to-know basis. After this, fighting off the sentinels became much easier. It was assumed that the sentinel army had somehow hacked the comms encryption between the ships, which was how they learned of all the hovercrafts' movements. This couldn't have been farther from the truth, and the danger was still not over... ***** Ebola picked herself up from the steel grated floor, grabbing onto her pilot's chair for balance and support. She looked around, seeing her crew also picking themselves up. Looking up out of the cockpit's window, she could see far above where the tunnel leading to Outpost One had collapsed. "Damn..." she said quietly to herself. She turned back to her crew. "Everyone okay?"The crew responded back, each member assuring her that they were fine. Ebola looked back at the collapsed tunnel, noticing a few of the Cypherite ships with her had been crushed. "What the hell happened...?""It looks as if they had their outpost rigged to blow, captain," Lazuline said. "We're lucky we didn't mobilize immediately."Ebola nodded. "Well, let's see what ships are left and undamaged, and then try to move out. Hopefully, our plants on the inside will be able to communicate with the sentinel squad leaders, and make short work of the hippies...."***** Thirteen hours later, on the Devildog... Captain Fenshire stood on the entrance ramp, grinning down at RedBindi as she exited for the Titan. When he saw that she was safely aboard, he hit the switch to raise up the platform. Making his way back to the operations deck, he ran into his freeborn operator, Hauk. "Hey, how'd the inspection go, boss?" Hauk asked, smirking. Fenshire turned a little red, and smiled. "Shaddup..." he muttered as he walked by. Hauk chuckled and walked after the captain. "So, I'm curious. What vital piece of equipment could the Commander have been inspecting inside the captain's quarters...?"Fenshire laughed. "I said shut up.""Must've been tough work," Hauk said mischieviously. "I mean, sounded like you guys were really working up a sweat."Fenshire spun around and pointed a finger at his operator. "You're lucky I don't beat your ass."Hauk came up on the captain and smacked him on the shoulder, smiling. "Ah, you love me. Besides, what're friends for? Imagine how dull and boring it'd be around here without me. I mean... all you'd have are Diss, Symm, old man Raddclif, and the noob girls."At that moment, Adesina walked around the corner, from out of the mess hall. "'Noob girls', Hauk? Don't you have something better to do than berate our poor captain? What is it that you do around here anyways?"Fenshire crossed his arms, and looked at Hauk, raising an eyebrow. "That's a good point. What -do- you do around here? I see lots of joke-making, but no actual work..."Hauk feigned shock. "Why, captain my captain, I'm hurt! Well, next time you two need an exit while your ass is being chased by an Agent, I'll just leave you wondering what kind of work I do."Fenshire laughed, and looked at his two crewmates. "Alright, alright. Let's get up top, guys. We need to get moving."As Fenshire walked off, Adesina punched Hauk in the arm. "Ow! What was that for?" he asked, laughing. "Pfft.." she said, smiling. "Noob girls."Rubbing his arm, he began to walk to the operations deck with Adesina. "Well... it's true."She punched him again. "Ow! Stop that!"***** In the engineering room, the nondescript young man looked worried. He was to continue communicating the Devildog's movements to the Sentinel army, but the captain had stopped relaying the plans with the crew... so he had nothing to report. To make matters worse, after the Outpost had exploded, he lost contact with the Exigence. He hoped Ebola and the others were okay... For now, he was stuck at an empass. His orders from Veil were clear, should communications be cut off. He sighed, his worry turning to nervousness. It was a great honor to be selected for this mission, and he knew that he most likely would not survive it. The 'cause' demanded sacrifices from time to time, and when he volunteered, he knew he was doing a great service for the Cypherites. The plan involved only allowing one ship to escape to New Zion... the Titan. The plant on the Titan had extensive experience in hacking mainframes, and it would be vital to get someone inside to try and get the Cypherites access to New Zion's mainframe. The other plants... were neccessary sacrifices. If they survived, the Machines had assured them the sentinels would take them to safety. But the chance of survival was very slim. Now, faced with that very real risk... the young man was unsure if he could go through with it. He sighed, closing his eyes. He had to. Others were relying on him. His actions could determine whether or not New Zion would fall. It was a very important role to play. The young man, with new resolve, began to work on the engines. He had to make sure it looked natural... like an accident. Suddenly, the engines began to chug to life, spraying smoke into the young man's face. Coughing, he wrapped a piece of cloth around his nose and mouth. He would have to work fast. There wasn't much time. ***** Fenshire looked down at the console in the cockpit, as a red light began to flash. "What the hell...?"Symmetric, in the co-pilot's chair, looked over. "Damn Fen, it looks like we're losing pressure in the engine. There's gotta be a leak or something."Fenshire began to unstrap himself from his seat. "I'll go check it out, Symm. Send a message over to Bindi that we've got an engine problem, but it should be fixed momentarily."Hauk, who was behind the two, put his hand on Fenshire's shoulder. "Nah, don't worry about it boss. I'll go check it out. You stay up here. I'll shoot you word when it's fixed. A leak shouldn't be too tough."Fenshire smiled, sitting back down and strapping himself back in. "Thanks, Hauk."Walking out of the cockpit, Hauk saw Disseminated by one of the gun turrets. "Hey big guy, go grab some tools and meet me down in the engineering room. Fen wants you to fix a leak."Disseminated looked up from the ammunition round he was currently polishing. The gunnery sergeant nodded, and began to silently make his way to the tool closet. Not for the first time, he wondered why the captain sent the ship's operator to give him orders, instead of giving him orders himself. Hauk grinned to himself as he made his way to the engineering room. ***** The young man began working quickly with the engine, loosening pipes and joints, black smoke and steam shooting out from various areas. He had received a communication from the sentinel's squad leader that they were closing in for an attack. He had to make sure that the Devildog wouldn't be able to get off the ground-- Oh shit. Someone was coming. The young man looked around. There was nowhere to hide, and he wasn't totally ready yet. If he fled, whoever was coming would see him and the engines would get repaired in no time. He needed time... that meant he needed to take drastic measures. Grabbing a massive wrench from his tool bag, the young man moved to the side of the door, waiting... ***** Immediately, Hauk knew something was wrong. As he approached the engine room, the whole gangway was clouded in smoke. It was hard to see, and hard to breath. He could see the light in the engine room spilling out onto the floor and wall outside. Was someone in there already? Hauk made his way into the room, and noticed all the jets of steam and smoke shooting out from almost every surface. "Holy shi--" WHAM! ***** The young man saw the long-haired operator enter the room, taking in the mess. Silently, he swung his wrench at the operator, but missed his aim. He was going for the operator's head, but ended up hitting him in the back, between his shoulderblades. Hauk staggered forward with a yell, and turned back. "What the hell...?"The young man let out a yell, and took another swing at Hauk, who backed up, the wrench just barely missing the operator's side. "A Cypherite!" Hauk yelled. Realizing that no one could probably hear him over the whine of engines, Hauk began to run towards the comms unit on the wall. The Cypherite realized that the operator would make it to the unit before the Cypherite could make to the operator, so putting all his strength into it, he threw the wrench. The wrench sailed end over end across the room, connecting with the back of the operator's head. There was a sickening crack, and with a scream of pain, the operator fell forward onto the ground, just feet from the comms unit. ***** Dissmeniated left one of the supply closets, slinging a massive arc welder over his shoulder and began to make his way to the engine room. Like Hauk, he immediately noticed the smoke in the hallway. From the engine rooms, he heard what sounded like the clanking of metal and someone scream. Disseminated hurried his pace. ***** Hauk began to pick himself up off the ground, his head pounding. He could feel the warm trickle of blood flowing down the back of his neck. He needed to warn Fenshire and the others... there was a sabateur on board.. a Cypherite! He could hear the young man approaching him from behind. Hauk needed to think quick. He looked to his side, and saw the wrench that hit him on the ground nearby. He reached out for it. The young Cypherite saw the operator reaching out for the wrench, and began to run over to him. "No!" the Cypherite yelled. As he reached Hauk, the operator swung up and around, smacking the Cypherite in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. The Cypherite staggered back, gasping for breath. "You son of a b*tch..." Hauk said, through gritted teeth. He was getting dizzy, and his head felt like it was being hit over and over with a jackhammer. "You were trying to get us killed, huh?"Hauk swung again, smacking the Cypherite across the face with a satisfying crack, and the Cypherite hit against a pipe-lined wall. The young man shook his head and lifted up his mask to spit out a few broken teeth. He needed to finish his mission... he couldn't go like this... The operator brought the wrench up over his head, swinging down at the Cypherite, intending to finish him off. At the last second, the Cypherite moved, and Hauk's wrench hit a pipe, bursting it open. The pressure inside the pipe was so great, as steam blew out of it, the edges of the fracture blew out, creating nasty, jagged, sharp edges sticking out. The steam hit Hauk full in the face. The operator yelled out in pain, dropping the wrench and bringing his arms up to defend his face against the steam. The Cypherite moved quickly behind the operator and grinned under his mask. "Bedtime..."He lunged forward, colliding with Hauk's back and pushing the operator up against the jagged edges of the bursted pipe. The edges of the fractured metal ripped through Hauks' chest and out of his back, blood splattering across the Cypherite's face and mask. The smell of burnt flesh was horrid as the steam from the pipe melted Hauk's skin. "Night night, asshole," came a deep voice from the doorway. As the Cypherite looked up, a bright blue arc of electricity shot from the doorway, hitting the Cypherite in the chest and sending him flying across the room, to lie limp in a corner. Disseminated entered, looking over at the limp Cypherite. He was not dead, just shocked and unconcious. Hauk weakly pushed himself way from the broken pipe, the jagged points of metal making a sick slurping sound as they exited his chest. The operator stumbled back, falling. Disseminated slung the welder back over his shoulder, and ran fast, catching the operator and laying him on the ground. "Hauk..."The operator looked up at the gunnery sergeant, gasping for breath and trying to speak. Blood spilled freely from his mouth, and tears began to fall from his eyes. "Don't try to talk..." Disseminated said. "You'll be..."With a last gasp, the operator fell still. Hauk was dead. "...fine." Disseminated spoke quietly. ***** The comms unit in the cockpit cracked to life. Fenshire spoke. "Hauk, are we good to go?"Disseminated's voice answered. "Captain. You need to come down here. We have... a problem."***** On the Titan, Lovable rushed over to RedBindi, her face white with shock. "Red... I just got a transmission from Symmetric on the Devildog..." Seeing Lovable's face, RedBindi looked concerned. "Lov... what's wrong...?"Lovable took a deep breath. "They found a Cypherite sabateur on board, and... there's been a fatality...."RedBindi raised a hand to her mouth, the color draining from her face. "Oh no...."Lovable put a hand on her captain's arm. "It's not Fen..."The captain couldn't help but to feel relieved. "Who...?"Lovable sighed. "Hauk..."RedBindi fell to her knees, as Lovable wrapped her arms around her.
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Post by RedBindi on Sept 30, 2007 15:53:57 GMT -5
"Hauk was dead..." The thought kept racing through RedBindi's mind as she knelt upon the cold steel of the Titan's deck, Lovables arms around her offering her what little comfort could be had. After what seemed an eternity to the two women, but was in reality only a minute or two, RedBindi stood her face becoming a mask as she pushed the emotions threatening to overwhelm her aside... for the moment. As much as she wanted to race back to the Devildog, that option wasn't open to her, orders needed to be given and the other ships needed to be warned.
Lovable watched as her captain’s face seemed to lose its normal expressiveness instead becoming void of emotion, except for her eyes. Lovable paled as she caught a glimpse them, burning a bright green they almost seemed to glow in the dim lighting on the bridge. They carried a dangerous, deadly glint in them... they promised death. It was a look neither she nor anyone in the Trust had ever seen.
RedBindi strode purposefully over to the comms station, her crew backing away from a captain they had never seen, and picked up the headset placing it on her head. Reaching down she opened the secure fleet channel and sent an emergency broadcast to the other captains.
"Moments ago the Devildog was sabotaged by a Cypherite, during the confrontation her operator, Hauk, was killed. Where there is one of these cockroaches, there are more. Each of you are to order your security teams to your ships vulnerable areas engines, turrets, food supplies, etc. You all know what areas are most prone to attack, so take care of it. Get your ships in the air and form up around the Devildog. Until they get their engines up and running we are going to have to protect her. I wan..."
Vapor's voice suddenly cut her off as he looked up from a radar screen suddenly showing a group of sentinels closing on their position. "Red, sentinels inbound."
"want them taken alive if possible. Hearing Vapors words she clenched her fists and cursed under her breath. "Get in the air and protect the Devildog. Red out."
Tearing the headset off her head she nearly threw it at Lovable as she raced towards the pilots chair. Lovable caught the headset as she slid into the comms station chair and strapped herself in. All around the bridge the crew of the Titan were strapping themselves in or racing to their designed gun turret. RedBindi strapped herself into the pilot's chair as she engaged the hoverpads and the Titan lifted from the surface of the tunnel. All around The Titan the other ships rose as well and formed a protective ring around the one ship still ground bound, The Devildog.
*****
Aboard the Devildog Fenshire couldn't believe his eyes, Hauk dead on the ground before him and that Cypherite bastard unconscious, but alive. He barely heard the words Disseminated was saying, he could only stare down at his friend, the man that had been there for him through everything. Kneeling down beside Hauk, Fenshire reached out and closed his friend’s eyes for the last time before gently picking him up. Not caring that Hauk’s blood was soaking his shirt, he carried him in a daze to a cot left in engineering for those rare occasions the captain was too tired to make it back to his quarters, and laid him upon it. Kneeling down he took one of Hauk's hands into his own while tears began running down his cheeks.
His world only came back into focus as he heard the voice of Symmetric over the comm informing him of the inbound sentinels. Looking down at Hauk one last time he placed his hand over the hole in his chest and pulled the cot's blanket up over his head. "Goodbye my friend..."
Once back on his feet he turned to find Disseminated already taking care of the prisoner. The man was already gagged and bound tightly and thrown roughly over his shoulder. Diss nodded at Fenshire and began walking out of the room. "He'll be enjoying the comforts of our brig for the duration of the conflict to come." Fenshire watched as Diss exited the room, his eyes burning with hate and rage, then picked up his tools and attacked the repairs needed on the Devildogs engines.
*****
The small cavern the Fleet occupied came to life as the sentinels burst out of the northern entrance and opened fire. They were met with the return fire of the hovercrafts located within, even the Devildog trapped on the ground though she was, made good use of her turrets. Having gotten used to watching each other’s back and moving together the ships of the Trust and the Devoted were able to hold their ground and protect the wounded Devildog. They defended and attacked with a ferocity the sentinels had never encountered, they weren’t just fighting for their lives... they were getting vengeance on the only things available for the loss of one of their own.
Less then a half an hour later the last sentinel rained in pieces to the ground.
*****
RedBindi set the Titan down at the conclusion of the battle and slowly unstrapped herself. “Vapor, take the helm. Lovable, you are in command of the Titan until I return.”
Lovable nodded and was about to stand when she received another transmission. Her face lost a little of its tension as she heard the contents of the message. “Red... Symmetric is reporting that the Devildog’s engines are patched for the time being.”
RedBindi nodded and walked over to the navigational charts. Bringing up a map of the tunnels she pointed to one of them. “Good. In that case let the rest of the captains know that this is where we are heading, Covenant should be meeting up with us in that area. Keep the Titan moving, I’ll rejoin you when I can.”
Lovable looked towards her captain, concern showing on her face. “What are you going to do, Red?”
“There is a prisoner to ... question...” Turning she made her way off the bridge and onto the gangway that led to her quarters, stopping only briefly she picked up several knives kept in her room. The crew of the Titan quickly moved out of their captain’s way as she made her way off the ship. None of them wanted to give her any reason to turn her gaze upon them.
Behind her the gangplank of the Titan rose as she entered The Devildog, her crew making sure she had made it before cutting off that avenue of escape. Barely acknowledging Adesina’s presence at her side, she walked purposefully to the Devildog’s brig. Fenshire looked up as he heard footsteps approaching the door outside the prisoners cell. He and Disseminated looked over at each other before positioning themselves to either side of the door. “Fen... its Bindi, open the door.” Fenshire nodded as Disseminated opened the door admitting RedBindi to the cell.
She paused only briefly at the amount of blood on Fenshire’s shirt and the tearstains on his cheeks. Turning to him she embraced him tightly and whispered in his ear. “He will pay dearly for this...” Releasing him she walked over to the prisoner and removed his gag. As she turned away Fenshire managed to catch a glimpse of her eyes, they alone gave him pause. In all the time he had known her... he had never seen that look.
The prisoner summoned all his courage and spat upon her, saliva and blood landed upon her shirt. “I see the captain brought his b*tch aboard again.” Raising her hand she placed it on Fenshire’s chest, just barely stopping him from attacking the man. “Let me handle this for a moment, Fen.”
Taking out one of her knives she placed its tip on his left shoulder and twisted slightly causing a small amount of blood to well up past the blade. “Oops... I really should be more careful with my knives...” Releasing the tension on her blade she walked behind the man, trailing the knife along behind her. Leaning down behind him she put her lips next to his ear and whispered almost seductively. “Until I have enough reasons not to use my extensive knowledge of how many body parts and blood a person can lose and still survive... you and I are going to be spending a lot of time together...”
Fenshire looked down at a side of RedBindi he had never seen, until he realized... she was using training gained from her memories of Lamont and he wondered what price she would ultimately pay for doing so...
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Post by deffdog on Sept 30, 2007 17:49:37 GMT -5
Deffdog sat in his bunk, very fatigued from gathering the remaining supplies from Outpost 1, along with everything else that has happened since he returned. After returning he went straight for the command deck to the pilot’s seat. Dragonnite kept urging for Deffdog to rest, but his stubbornness kept him on the command deck combating the sentinels. Making sure that the other Hovercrafts had their cover.
He really needed some sleep, but the news from RedBindi kept repeating in his mind. He only met Hauk once, but he was definitely a very loyal Zionite, he showed it in his life and even now in his death. However he was even more concerned, with of the news of possibility of saboteurs on board. He trusts his own crew members with his life; however he also has 12 members of the Trust on board. They are helping with the repairs of the craft to keep the craft moving and fighting. With the rumor of saboteurs, within the Trust, Deffdog is very uneasy.
Deffdog came to his quarters, to think on this dilemma. Any one of these men from the Trust could be a saboteur. He met privately with his crew, earlier. It was decided who will protect each of the sensitive areas. They could only hope that there was only 1 spy in the group, because they severely outnumber our crew if they all were spies.
Deffdog and Dragonnite will protect the command deck, especially the EMP controls. Pyro will be armed and monitoring the 6 members of the Trust security force while they are manning the turrets with Hunter. Maatkare and Jazz monitored the engineers closely, making sure that they were repairing not damaging the ship. The armory is secured with biometric identification devices, and with the current situation, it will only open for either Deffdog or Dragonite. All arms have been place inside, including the ones that the security force brought on board.
Deffdog leaves his quarters and makes his way to the command deck. “Report?” Deffdog asks Dragonnite as he enters the command deck.
“Were ready to get moving again, Deff,” Dragonnite replies.
“Good, how are our guests?” Deffdog asks.
“As well as we can expect, but were all nervous with this saboteur business,” he answers.
“Keep them busy, so they can’t dwell on our situation,” Deffdog responds.
Deffdog heads back to the entrance of the command deck and closes and seals the hatch, so he could speak candidly. “I really wish that the Trust didn’t drop these people in our laps, any one of them could be a spy. I had no real problem with taking them on board, but how can we trust them especially now,” Deffdog says with a very concerned voice.
Dragonnite responds with a shrug, “Were watching them closely, Deff. Well catch them if they are saboteurs.”
Deffdog was not reassured he wanted more information, about who is on his craft.
“Have we heard anything about the Cypherite that was caught on the DevilDog?,” Deffdog asks curiously.
“Nothing yet sir, RedBindi just went over there to help with the interrogation,” Dragonnite answers.
Deffdog sighs, “Well let’s hope they get some useful information out of him.” Deffdog is not particularly fond of the Trust’s interrogation techniques, but is in no place to do anything about it at the moment.
Dragonnite moves to a security console, and begins switching through security cameras throughout the ship.
“Well I would like to know who we have on board,” Deffdog replies. Deffdog heads for the Pilot seat and puts on the headset. He extends the communications antenna and starts broadcasting to the Titan, “Titan this is Captain Deffdog of the Shadrack, I know this may be a bad time, but we need the service records of the men you have assigned to the Shadrack.”
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Post by Lovable on Oct 1, 2007 12:55:56 GMT -5
A frightening, almost electric green stare glazed across the dull room; it only skimmed over Lovable, but it sent waves of fear through her body. The fingers on her right hand began to twitch involuntarily, once again revealing her weakness. She closed her eyes, hoping she could get away from it, praying she wouldn’t have to look at him—
Lov, wake up, you’re not there anymore…
Her eyes bolted open and the world faded back the deck of the Titan, where RedBindi had just stood up and brushed past her. Lovable shook her head briefly, shaking the image out of her head. She took a moment to re-orient herself with her surroundings as the Captain explained the situation on the Devildog to the rest of the fleet. Before the words could truly sink in, Vapor interrupted in a hurried tone.
“Red, Sentinels inbound.”
*******************************
“There is a prisoner… to question…”
The words were direct, but haunting. Lovable could only imagine what RedBindi would want to do to the infiltrator, and she decided it best to just leave it at her imagination. As the gangplank closed behind the departing Captain, she turned around to see the remainder of the Titan and its inhabitants.
Come on Lov, don’t choke up now.
“Well, you heard Bindi, get to your stations, we’re heading out. Vapes, you have those coordinates ready?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good… take us up, then.”
She moved briskly back to the comms station and sat down, taking in a deep breath. The Titan roused to life and began to trundle along its path. Naturally Lovable couldn’t help but wonder what RedBindi had in store for the poor fool on the Devildog – just how exactly she would make him talk. Her thoughts continued to wander through her psyche, zigzagging and intertwining as she tried to concentrate on the knobs, dials and keys that lay before her. Her arm shook again and she grasped it achingly with her other hand, trying desperately to silence its movement.
Take it easy, you’re okay…
It felt like a lie. Lovable knew she wasn’t okay, and she was just put in charge of a hovercraft and god knows how many people. She couldn’t fathom how RedBindi could trust her, and she was yet again thrown higher than expected. She turned her face to her station appearing to focus on the screen ahead of her, but more or less only squinting her eyes in self-frustration.
I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.
Something different entered her mind. The voice echoed inside her, the tone and inflection all too familiar to her. A voice she’d never be able to forget.
“Far…?” She whispered to herself, feeling a daze sweep over her.
You’re stronger than you believe you are.
She laughed a little. “I’m trying to believe that.”
“Lov?”
Lovable snapped out of her stupor and looked up to find Lawliet standing at her side, his expression one of curious concern.
“You alright, you feeling okay?”
She nodded briskly. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine – I just have to stay focused is all.” She faced the terminal again, somehow making herself look busy.
He slid one of his arms around her shoulder comfortingly and smirked a little. “I believe you. Who were you just talking to?”
Her eyes darted at his, but then back down. She managed an embarrassed grin. “No one, Law.”
A beep emitted from the console making her jump. Lovable scrambled for the headset and connected the transmission, its readings revealing it was from the Shadrack.
“Titan this is Captain Deffdog of the Shadrack, I know this may be a bad time, but we need the service records of the men you have assigned to the Shadrack.”
Lovable hit the button to respond. “Deff, this is Lov, I hear you. I’m standing in for Bindi for the time being. I’m going to assume the reason you want those records is because the incident on the ‘Dog…” she paused to glance at Lawliet. “… and I’ll get them to you as soon as I can. Titan out.”
She laid the headset in her lap and closed the broadcast. She began to key into the Outpost mainframe, sifting through the files and compiling the access codes. At least she had learned something from her time with Circuitron. Lovable felt a stare burning into her, but kept on working.
“Lov, you know what you’re doing right?” Lawliet asked her.
She returned his stare, searing right back at him. “If I were him, I’d want the same thing… Law, go check and make sure all the security are in position as per Bindi’s orders. Report back.”
“No problem,” he said, walking away from her.
A few moments later she had the file ready, and opened the channel up to the Shadrack.
“Shadrack, this is Titan... Get your Captain on the line.”
A moment later she heard him. “This is Deff, over.”
“I have those records you wanted, but only you are to have the access codes.”
“Loud and clear, Lov.”
She breathed sharply through her nose and tapped at a few more keys, adding a few layers of encryption.
Can’t be too careful.
“I’m sending them now.”
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Post by Fenny on Oct 1, 2007 19:51:17 GMT -5
((This was co-written with Bindi, and RP'd via Xfire.)) Fenshire reaches out and places a hand on RedBindi's shoulder. "Bindi..."RedBindi looks up at him, one hand still on the prisoner's shoulder. He looks back at her, concerned, and she can see all the pain he's experienced in the past half hour in his eyes. "Please..." he says, pleadingly. "Don't."She looks away for a moment, unable to meet his gaze as the emotions she's been holding back since hearing of Hauk's death hit her. Looking down at the prisoner she drops her knife and abruptly leaves the room. In the hallway she leans against the bulkhead and slides to the floor, her hands covering her face. The prisoner slumps, letting out a sigh of relief. Fenshire glares at him. "Oh, I wouldn't get too comfortable. We're not done."He nods to Disseminated. "Watch this guy, will ya?"Disseminated gives the captain a curt nod. Fenshire moves out into the hallway and approaches RedBindi, kneeling down next to her. He brings a hand up to her head, brushing away some of her long, red locks of hair. Then, he wraps both arms around her, pulling her close to him and holding her head to his shoulder. RedBindi wraps her arms around him, holding onto him tightly as tears begin to run down her cheeks. “I want to hurt that bastard so bad...”He closes his eyes, tears also falling down the sides of his face, as he holds her. "I know you do, love.... I know... I do too. But if there are others like him on the other ships... he's the one who's going to know..."Her hands tighten against his back, her fingers digging almost painfully into his shoulder blades. "That information can be obtained..."He runs his hands along her back, gently massaging her, reassuringly. "Not like that... not by you..."She lifts her head to look at him. “Then who Fen... you... you don’t need that either. Not after...”He brings his hands up to her face, looking her in the eyes. "I can't let you... You worked so hard to get away from all that... I'm not letting that bastard force you to go back to Lamont..."He sighs, the pain evident in his face. "I'll do it... I have to. Hauk was..."He looks down, closing his eyes. “I know what Hauk was to you... he was my friend too...” RedBindi replies. She looks at him and rests her forehead against his. “Fen... you doing this right now... it will have repercussions later.
We will both do this and we will both make sure we get the information we need without losing a part of who we are to get it...”He nods, and sits next to her on the floor against the bulkhead, letting her lean on him. "You're right, as always... we'll do this together, and watch out for each other. The thing to keep in mind is that we're doing this to get information from him... not to get revenge...""No... not revenge... but to prevent anymore deaths." She closes her eyes for a moment and sighs again. "We need to get this done, sooner rather then later..."Fenshire stands up, holding his hands down to RedBindi. "Let's do it."She takes his hands and stands, pulling him into one more embrace. "Let's go... time to find out if there are anymore of these bastards lurking on our ships."Fenshire approaches the door to the makeshift brig, and opens it. He nods to Disseminated who moves out into the hallway. Holding the door open for her, Fenshire follows RedBindi inside, closing the door behind him. The prisoner looks back up at them, and grows visably nervous at the sight of RedBindi. Seeing him like this, it's obvious to the both of them how young he is... sixteen, maybe seventeen years old. RedBindi shakes her head. "Figures the Cyphs would use kids to do their dirty work..."The Cypherite backs up against the wall, terrified. "Don't let that b*tch near me! She's fucking crazy!!"Fenshire steps forward, balling up a fist and punching him solidly across the face, hitting an already bruised area. The Cypherite falls to the ground, screaming out, spitting another broken tooth from his mouth. "You will never call her a b*tch again. And you're lucky we're letting you live. For now."The young man looks up at Fenshire. "For now...? What do you mean...?"“He means you killed a very good friend of ours...” RedBindi says, taking a few steps forward, her anger now apparent. “You’re lucky he stopped me and it would be a very good idea for you to answer his questions.”"A good idea indeed," Fenshire said, leaning down towards the Cypherite. "First thing you're going to tell me is who you are, and what you're doing on my ship."The Cypherite spits at Fenshire, and grits his teeth. "I'm not telling you shit!"Fenshire slowly stands back up, both fists clenched, as RedBindi reaches down and draws another knife from her boot. “You can talk to him... or you can talk to me,” she says menacingly, cracking a slight grin as she looks at the prisoner. The Cypherite moves away from RedBindi a little, a look of resolve crossing his face. "You... you can do whatever you want to me! It won't matter! The sentinels are coming, and they'll kill all of you!! We're all going to die anyways..."“You mean the sentinels that are littering the floor of the cavern behind us...? I’m afraid you missed that little battle, what with you being unconscious and all,” she says, chuckling. RedBindi looks around the room for a moment, amusement evident on her face. “If you were paying attention you would realize we are underway again... maybe you should reevaluate your statement.”The Cypherite looks around, suddenly feeling the vibration of the ship and the hum of the hoverpads outside. A panicked look crosses his face. "What are you going to do with me...? Kill me anyways?"“What is done with you depends on how well you answer his questions... which I once again strongly suggest you do.”Fenshire kneels down, grabbing the Cypehrite by his collar. "You heard the lady. Now talk. What're you doing here?"The Cypherite looks from Fenshire to RedBindi, panicked. He gulps and closes his eyes. "I... I don't believe you... I killed your friend. You're going to kill me anyways. Just do it!!"RedBindi walks over to the prisoner and kneels beside him with Fenshire. "Are you really so willing to throw away a chance at life...?"The Cypherite looks down, and speaks quietly. "I... I wasn't supposed to get caught. I didn't know the engines would be starting... it was supposed to be simple..."RedBindi slides the knife back in her boot. "What else were you supposed to do... and are there others?"The Cypherite looks down. As he speaks, he sounds tired... defeated. "We were supposed to give the sentinels your location and your movements..."RedBindi looks over at Fenshire. "So that’s why they were doing so well against us.”Fenshire nods at her. "Yeah... I thought that seemed a little odd."Looking back down at the young man, RedBindi sighs. “Is there anyone else?”The Cypherite looks back and forth between RedBindi and Fenshire. "...Yeah..."RedBindi reaches down out of sight of the Cypherite and squeezes Fenshire's hand. "Who?"The Cypherite looks down, avoiding their gaze as he speaks. "There's only a few... me on the Devildog... one was on the Juliet... another on the Neptune...""You know... when we find them, we will question them too. If they tell us there are more then what you have said..." RedBindi says, her tone becoming more threatening and her hand slowly moving towards the knife in her boot. He looks down again, nervous. He begins to sweat. Fenshire reaches out, putting a hand on the young man's shoulder. As he speaks, he tries to sound reassuring. "You don't have to die for this, you know. You tell us who else there is, and I'll do whatever it takes to protect you. From Zion, from the Cypherites... whoever."Fenshire tried his hardest to keep down the bile that was rising in his throat. He didn't want to protect this bastard... His best friend, Hauk, lay dead in the engine room because of this asshole. What Fenshire wanted to do was rip this kid's throat out. But for now... he had to keep his calm. There were more lives at stake. The Cypherite looks away, troubled. "There..." He sighs. "There's one on each ship..."RedBindi looks over at Fenshire, her face full of concern. “We are going to need their names,” she says, turning back to the prisoner. The Cypherite looks back up at the two. "I wasn't given names... honest..."RedBindi looks over at Fenshire and stands. "That really is too bad...""Yep," Fenshire responded. "Unfortunate, really."The Cypherite looks quickly from one to the other. "Wait... wait! What do you mean? What do you mean "RedBindi turns and looks back down at him sadly. “We need a way to find them... without that your information is useless.”Fenshire nods. "And... if your info is useless... then... well... so are you.""Wait! I told you what I know! What... what are you going to do with me...?" The Cypherite sounded like he was near tears. "How do you communicate with each other?" RedBindi asked. "Um... there's a device that we used... and old transmitter device," the Cypherite responded. She looked back down at him. "Where is the one you've been using?""In the engine room..."RedBindi dropped a hand to Fenshire’s shoulder and squeezed it. “I’ll go get it...”Fenshire nods, turning back to the prisoner and crossing his arms. RedBindi leaves the room, passing Disseminated on her way to the engine room. Once there, she begins her search in the Cypherite's belongings, quickly locating the transmitter in his tool sack. As she is leaving the engine room she pauses beside Hauk’s body and says her goodbyes. Nearly a half hour later she returns to the makeshift brig, fresh tearstains on her cheeks, and hands the transmitter to Fenshire. He takes the device and looks it over. After thinking for a bit, he puts his hand on Bindi's arm, and leads her out of the room. "Maybe we can communicate to the others, have them go to certain areas of the ship... and then catch them," he suggested, speaking quietly. RedBindi nods. "That's what I was thinking... actually..."Fenshire smiles briefly. The two had discovered that they often thought the exact same things, often finishing each others' sentences. During the battles with the sentinels, it had been a lifesaver on a number of occasions. Neither could explain it... it was if they had some kind of metaphysical bond with each other... a psychic connection between their brains, allowing one to know what the other was thinking at any given time. RedBindi returned his smile. "I guess you know how to work that thing...""Um..." he scratches his head. "Not really... Not really much of a comms guy, remember? Engine stuff... easy. Comms... meh."She laughs, holding out her hand. "Well, how about letting this comms expert take a look at it then?"He passes the device over to her, and she inspects it for several minutes before finally grinning back up at him. "This is easy... you just connect this copper tab here, and you can send out an encoded message... like Morse code. I'll send the message after we warn the other captains of where these bastards will be heading. I'm thinking to the water purification rooms. That would make at least some sense.""Yeah. If all the engine rooms, reactors and stuff are being guarded, then the next logical choice would be to poison the drinking water, or the life systems," Fenshire says, smiling. He then turns back towards the door to the brig. "Now... what to do with our prisoner here..."She walks over and hugs him. "As much as I hate to say it... Let's leave him alone for now. We might be able to get more information out of him later..."Fenshire nods, holding RedBindi tightly. He just sighs quietly. RedBindi stands there a moment, just holding onto him before talking again. "We... we can move him to the Titan after we capture the others if you don't want him aboard your ship..."Fenshire takes in a long breath. "No... no... we should keep them all seperated... we don't want them getting any ideas with each other...""We could move one of the others here... " She looks at him obviously concerned. Fenshire nods, the expression on his face blank. "Probably a good idea...""Fen... he'll get his due... don't fade away on me... Please... " She looks at him, worried and concerned. She had seen this look in his eyes once before. It was not a look that many saw from him... "No..." Fenshire wraps his arms around RedBindi's waist, resting his forehead against hers, his eyes closed. "I'm not going to fade away... I just..."His grip on her tightens, and he grits his teeth, tears rolling down his cheeks. She hugs him tightly, tears running down her cheeks as well. "I know... I know...""I don't know what to do..." Fenshire said, weakly. She lifts her head from his and looks him in the eyes. "We get our people safely to New Zion, we get our ships repaired, and we show those Cypherite bastards why they should have never messed with us." She closes her eyes a moment, more tears flowing down her face. "We remember Hauk and we make sure his death wasn't in vain....""He saved us all..." Fenshire said, as he held her tightly, slowly caressing her hair. She nodded, tears running down her face. "Yes he did..."The two stood in the hallway, holding each other in an embrace, emotions pouring out of each of them. For what seemed like an eternity for both of them, they cried into each others' shoulders, neither believing the events that had happened. After a few minutes, RedBindi spoke, her voice shuddering with sadness and pain. "Hauk... Hauk was a hero."Fenshire kissed her on the cheek, then rested his head against hers. "Yes... he was."
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Post by JacenScheild on Oct 2, 2007 9:29:44 GMT -5
It has already been a few days since the Convoy left the OutPost and with it gone, Jacen only seemed on focussing towards the newer objective... killing any fucking sentinals he see's on radar. #########
"Jacen, what are you going to do about sleep, its been two days." Spec was concern'd for his old friend.
"I'll be fine, I can make it a few more days." Jacen sounded alot more exhausted then usual, he can handle it without the sleep but with the constant battles it was draining him even quicker.
"Spec, go on and take the control's I will see how the passengers are doing on the last stop, we took, we picked up what, around thirty?"
"Sounds about right."
Jacen picked himself up out of the pilots seat and made his way into the operating station where he noticed alot of people staring at him intently. Jacen was heading there way... "Can I get you guys anything?"
"No, we just wanted to thank you for your kindness, it was crowded on those other ships."
Jacen nodded slightly and continued on, he turned the corner to see a young woman around his age with burnette hair staring at him and smiling. ##########
Jacen suddenly woke up but he wasnt alone, the women he noticed earlier had her arm accrossed him and her head on his chest asleep. Jacen tried to move her but for some reason he didnt want to awaken her. So he laid his head back on the pillow closed his eyes for a second asking him self...
"What just happened?"
... He looked back down at her, he looked over at his clock to notice he was asleep for about six hours. His comlight started flashing, he picked it up.
"Yeah...
"Jace..." Specs voice came through. "...Hauks dead."
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Post by Covenant on Oct 2, 2007 10:51:03 GMT -5
Covenant shivered in the cold, acrid air of the vast mainline tunnel and pulled his outer layer closer around his shoulders. Making last minute checks, he crouched by the EMP and the rickety mobile generator which he and Natael had tucked behind some large service conduits. Meanwhile, the Serenity X had concealed itself beyond the pulse’s range, upstream of Covenant’s position, ready to scoop him up after the trap was sprung.
Everything was set, but the convoy should’ve have been there long ago. They had tried to maintain radio silence to avoid tipping the Machines off to the Serenity’s ambush, so there was no way to know what was delaying the convoy. The waiting was agony.
When the radio’s headset crackled to life in his ear, it was HiTech. “Cov, we have holographic contact, and it looks like they’ve gotten the attention of some Sentinel patrols. Get ready.”
“Roger,” he replied as he switched off his small worklight. He gingerly covered the large red detonation plunger with his palm and craned his neck over the pipes to stare down the pitch blackness of the huge unlit tunnel. In the distant gloom, he could see a faint blue smudge of far-off light approaching. It was moving fast.
As the light grew brighter and a low rumble started to fill the unmoving air, HiTech announced, “Visual contact, the convoy is passing our position now. They look a little beat-up . . . uh oh.” Her voice had an edge of surprise.
“What is it?” The forward lights of the approaching Trust hovercraft began to pierce the tunnel, static arcs from the hover pads gleaming in the darkness.
There was a pause before HiTech responded. “There are a lot of machines, Cov.”
“Do we have enough juice to take them all?” He had to raise his voice over the rising noise of the convoy’s approach.
“Good question,” she called back. “We’ll have to time it just right. On my mark . . .”
A moment later, the convoy was upon him, and Covenant squinted against a thunderous gale of grit-flecked wind as the hovercraft hurtled by at maximum speed. He smelled ozone as static lightening struck the tunnel all around him, and the sub-bass hum of the ships throbbed in his breastbone. Covenant tried to identify them as they raced overhead: the Titan, Devildog, Diluculo, Neptune, Saltpillar, Eudai, Shadrach. He whispered a prayer as they soared by, urging them on: “C’mon, guys. Go, go, go . . .”
The last ship passed with a deafening roar, its aft turrets blazing to keep the pursuers at bay. Immediately after it, the dark tunnel was filled with a seething column of blackness punctuated by swarms of angry red dots. The menacing buzz of Sentinels surged over Covenant, and he controlled the impulse to detonate the EMP right away, waiting for HiTech to indicate that the convoy was safely out of range . . .
Suddenly, his chest tightened with surprise as he unexpectedly locked eyes with a set of evil-looking red lights high above. The Sentinel stopped on a dime and seemed to focus on him as the rest of the column swept by. “HiTech?”
“Almost there, Cov, just a few more seconds.”
A couple more sets of eyes had stopped and were also peering through the gloom in his direction; he could dimly see their tentacles snaking outwards, listening. “I don’t think I have a few more seconds . . .” he whispered urgently.
The Sentinels abruptly snapped into action and dove through the air towards him, their demonic tentacles whipping behind them. He gritted his teeth as the Sentinels covered the space between them with nightmarish speed, sizing him up and drawing back their bladed tentacles to strike at him through his makeshift cover. “Dammit,” he muttered to himself as he white-knuckled the plunger.
In the same instant, his headset crackled: “Now Cov!! Burn it!”
He punched the detonator and instinctively shielded his face with his hands as the tunnel ignited in a noiseless, luminous explosion, the billowing blue current coursing down the vast passageway in both directions. The incoming Sentinels quivered with the dampening charge and dropped lifelessly just feet from where he stood. As the pulse’s glow faded, there was a pause of rustling calm as momentum carried the column of Sentinels a little farther through the air, then a cacophony of metal crashing into metal as the inert machines plummeted in long arcs to the floor of the tunnel.
Moments later, Covenant was scrambling into the lowered rear cargo ramp of the Serenity as it hovered a few feet above the ground. Mierhen and HiTech grabbed him as best they could, Mierhen yelling into her headset, “We got him, Nat, go!” They held on as the pads flared to full power, heaving the Serenity down the tunnel after convoy.
Panting, Covenant leaned against a bulkhead and wiped his brow with his forearm. “How’d we do?”
Mierhen secured the ramp as she smiled back to him. “Not bad. Scanners behind us are coming up clean so far,” she said as she handed him a canteen.
“Terrific,” he grinned. “What took them so long?”
HiTech looked grim. “The Trust crews have been infiltrated by Cypherite saboteurs.” She paused before adding, “There’s been a fatality.”
Covenant lowered the canteen from his lips, his brow knit with concern. “Who?”
“His name was Hauk, one of their operators.” HiTech opened the portal into the lower levels of the hovercraft. “Good news is, the spy is in custody. And they have a plan.”
Covenant cursed under his breath as he hauled himself towards the portal. “Well, this complicates things . . . .”
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L.Lawliet
Junior Member
The First L, Deduction artist, Investigator
Posts: 90
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Post by L.Lawliet on Oct 6, 2007 22:39:38 GMT -5
L.Lawliet darted up and down the corridors of the Titan, running diagnostic reports on each life support system in an attempt to find any problems. The ferocious battle with the sentinels that had occurred not hours ago, had left the Titan slightly damaged but the damage was far from beyond repair. Noting several parts that needed replacing, several alterations and problems within a few of the systems, Lawliet darted back down the corridors, picking up several tools along the way.
Lawliet was a perfectionist, usually the only time he expressed frustration was when he thought he had failed at something or when he thought he hadn't done something to the best of his ability but this time it was different. He wished he had been there, he wished he could have prevented the fatality that had occurred on board the Devildog. But he didn't. He couldn't have been. It was illogical for him to blame himself for what happened and he knew it but it still frustrated him inside.
Hauk. They said his name was Hauk. Lawliet never remembered personally meeting him but he had heard he was a good man, a valued member of the trust. In the back of Lawliet's mind, he had always expected casualties. His job in statistical analysis prevented him from forgetting the considerably low probability of survival on this journey that the Trust had embarked on. Still, the death of an ally was never easy to accept.
As Lawliet worked on fixing the problems, he heard the sound of foot steps drawing closer to his position. Since the cypherite spy was caught on the Devildog, the atmosphere had been extremely tense. The crew of the Titan had been cautious, watching out for lurking cypherites aboard the ship.
Lawliet's hand slowly drifted to a metal pipe that lay just a little away from where he sat but he quickly thought "If it were a cypherite, he or she would be making more of an effort to move silently. It would not be beneficial to attack or kill me here. If they wanted to decrease the number of crew members aboard, there are a number of far more silent and effective methods available to them. Killing me here could possibly draw more attention to their presence which they do not need. It's probably another crew member. Lower the weapon Lawliet". Lawliet applied logical thought to almost anything that others would solve on pure instinct. He hated making any mistakes.
Sure enough, it was not a cypherite. As the dark figure moved toward Lawliet and into the light, Lawliet recognized who it was. "Hey Zell".
Zell stood before him with a some what serious look on his face which was hardly unusual. "Hey" he said, returning Lawliet's greeting. Lawliet threw the pipe to the side, sighing in relief and continuing his work. "You thought i may have been a Cypherite didn't you..?". Lawliet stopped suddenly and looked over to Zell, replying by nodding his head slightly before exclaiming "The atmosphere certainly is tense since the discovery aboard the Devildog". Zell sat down, watching Lawliet working. "Something tells me you didn't come down here for a conversation Zell. What is it", Lawliet asked in curiosity. "Lovable has received word from Redbindi. She asked me to call you to the communications station", Zell answered, standing up right once again. Lawliet smiled to himself slightly as he also stood up, his repairs were finally complete. "Well then, lets go".
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Lawliet once again found himself navigating through the darker corridors of the Titan, making his way to the water purification room as swiftly but also as silently as he possibly could. It had been moments ago that he stood at the communications station at the order of the first mate of the titan, Lovable, who had been left in charge of the titan by Redbindi who was still tending to matters aboard the Devildog. Redbindi and Fenshire had devised a plan to catch each Cypherite spy before the situation escalates into the loss of several more Trustees. Each captain simultaneously received orders from Redbindi on the Devildog, the plan that would stop the threat in its tracks.
The orders were for each captain to send a capturing squad to the water purification room of each ship, ready to catch the cypherite spy. Redbindi had managed to salvage a cypherite transmitting device that she planned to use to manipulate and position each cypherite into the water purification room on each hovercraft.
Lawliet had volunteered to lead 2 security guards currently stationed on the titan down to the water purification room and assist in the capture. Lawliet suddenly remembered Lovable's facial expression, almost reluctant to allow him onto the capturing squad, the expression of worry that seemed to be imprinted on her face. She knew he could take care of himself, but she couldn't help it and neither could he. The thought stayed with him as he lead the two security personnel to the water purification room, all 3 remained light on their toes, the position of the cypherite was still unknown and they wanted to avoid alerting him to their position. If the cypherite was in the same area and knew that the capturing squad were in the water purification room, he or she would have to be a fool to follow the instructions that Redbindi would send. Lawliet knew this and there for, moved with caution, not wanting to compromise the plan.
When the 3 of them reached the water purification room, Lawliet quickly issued orders.
"I'd like both of you to hide outside of the room. When the cypherite approaches and enters the room, i would like you to block his exit. He will be unable to escape and that is when i will incapacitate him. Do you understand?". The two security guards acknowledged his order with an enthusiastic nod, brandishing their batons in hand. Lawliet turned his back to the security guards and walked in the direction of the water purification system. He stopped suddenly as he heard one of the security guards whisper "Lawliet". Lawliet turned around, his eyes met the guards but his attention quickly shifted to the guards out stretched arm, holding out a spare baton. Lawliet shook his head slightly and muttered silently "I avoid brutality at all costs. Hide please". The security guards looked at each other, almost surprised at the British man's choice but quickly focused on hiding like they were told to.
Lawliet leaned up against the water purification system and pulled out a small communication device that Lovable had given him. He silently spoke into the device "Law to Lov. We are in position and standing by".
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"Bullshit. This is bullshit", the dark figure quietly muttered to himself as he remained hidden in the pitch black darkness of the engine room. It had been hours since a message had been transmitted from any of the other plants on board the other trust vessels and it had been even longer since the last time he had been contacted directly by his central leadership aboard the cypherite craft, the exigence. The man had practically been on the edge since he had first entered the titan, his nerves had driven him to change position every time he had heard the slightest distant sound of a voice or a foot step, his mind had been bombarded with the doubtful thought that his comrades had been captured or killed, the voice of reality and reason that existed in his head continuously told him he would not survive this mission. Told him to regret even considering volunteering himself.
After switching position on numerous occasions, he had finally chosen to stay put in the engine room. He thought that if he made any noise accidentally, it would be drowned out by sound of the working engine. He told himself to be patient, trying to calm himself down, he frantically started deeply inhaling and exhaling, beads of sweat fell from his forehead as he bent over trying to catch his breath.
Suddenly, his transmitter received a message. He sighed in relief as he stood up, trying to decipher the message he had received from the plant on the devildog.
It took him moments to read the message and take it in. The instructions in the message were clear, he finally had a new objective to fulfill. He stepped out of the engine room, his eyes darted from left to right as if scanning the area for possible hostiles. The voice in his mind now repeated the same question over and over again. "Which way is the water purification room?".
As the man finally reached the water purification room, he almost instantly sensed something was not right but he tried to ignore the thought.
As he approached the door way silently and peered around the door way, he could make out the silhouette of a man leaning against the water purification system. He brandished a metal pipe that he had found in the engine room earlier and walked in slowly approaching the figure. He heard a sudden noise behind him as the light flickered on, revealing the figures appearance, leaned up against the water purification system, his arms folded tightly. The cypherites eyes darted back and forth from the door way to the man standing before him, his expression truly depicted his shock. A British accent spoke calmly to the cypherite. "Please surrender", Lawliet firmly stated. The cypherite's eyes drifted back to the door way, now guarded by two rather large men, holding batons tightly in their grasp.
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Lawliet gazed upon the cypherite. He couldn't have been any older then 25, he thought to himself but quickly focused on the situation at hand.
"Please Surrender. You will not be asked again.", Lawliet reiterated. The cypherite glared at him, his eyes occasionally darting back and forth between the guards and Lawliet. Suddenly, the cypherite began to nervously laugh at Lawliet. Lawliet stared blankly at the cypherite, unfolding his arms and standing up right, almost anticipating the cypherites next plan of action against him.
The cypherite stopped his nervous laughter and said in a some what threatening tone, "How about i kill you instead..?". Lawliet continued to stare blankly, unthreatened by the cypherite. "How foolish of him", Lawliet thought to himself.
The two stood for moments, staring at each other, as if waiting for one another to reach for an imaginary revolver. The situation reminded Lawliet of the old spaghetti westerns he used to watch, the tense atmosphere between the two gun men during a quick draw duel.
The cypherite stepped forward quickly, swinging at Lawliet with the metal pipe in his right hand but Lawliet quickly anticipated and intercepted his movement, pouncing at the cypherite quickly. Lawliet caught the cypherites right arm between his left armpit and twisted it, a disgusting cracking sound could be heard over the cypherite's scream as he let go of the metal pipe. In a lightning fast movement, Lawliet chopped at the cypherite's throat and let go of his arm. The cypherite staggered and fell, his head connecting with the side of the water purification system, his body hit the floor with a loud thud.
Lawliet kicked the pipe to the side of the room and looked down at the cypherite, now desperately struggling to breath. "Or perhaps you could just lie on the floor and gag for a while", Lawliet felt compelled to answer the cypherites last question with another. "No really. Don't get up".
Lawliet's gaze drifted from the cypherite to the 2 security guards that had followed his orders as asked. A look of complete surprise had crossed both of their faces as they looked upon the gasping cypherite and then to Lawliet. Lawliet expressed his amusement with a slight smile as he walked towards the door way. "Tie him up and prepare him for intense interrogation".
Lawliet stepped into the corridor and held the communication unit delicately with his finger tips as he spoke into it. "Law to Lov. The capturing squad has succeeded. We have him ready for interrogation".
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