The droid stood in silence for a mere moment, gazing at Asimov "My construct denies me from following your order, after all, you did just point loaded weaponry towards me, that shows signs of possible hostility" he said and turned back towards Ranger and threw him an old data-chip "That has what you were looking for Ranger, you have no further need of my assistance, Bravo is my given title if you were wondering CD-407 Bravo" he said pulling out his pulse rifle and facing Asimov "For the Empire!" he said and raised his loaded weapon preparing to open fire on Asimov.
Kallenger’s men were far from invincible. After all, they were only men, after all. Men who were armed with the highest technology that the Galactic Empire had in its possession (which was pretty high!) and who had been training all their lives for the job they had now. Certainly they gave off the illusion of invincibility, given the dampening boots which allowed them to walk silently, the highly advanced EM detectors that could pick up traces of life from a hundred yards. The furiously rapid firing and accurate rifles they held, the titanium-petrostanium armor that was virtually impenetrable to most projectiles. No, they were not invincible – but they were certainly good at what they did.
It was the technological advantage that led to Agent 4/20 switching off his communicator – making so that anything he said would be heard only by him – and silently moving to the boy who thought he could sneak up on a stealth-shock team. But he did not have his weapon raised – he simply approached him from behind, and tapped him on the shoulder, leaning in close. Then he held a finger to his mouth, indicating that the boy would be better off keeping quiet.
The helmet’s pitch-black visor hid the man’s eyes, giving him a vague resemblance to Robocop, but in matte black.
“Hey, just a heads up, Boss is pretty pissed off right now. She’ll probably order us to shoot you on sight if anyone else notices you. So, like, I know she’s kind of a bitch, but I’d /really/ suggest you don’t try to screw with her, okay?”
He seemed about to say something else in relatively good nature, when gunfire rang out from somewhere down the road. The sound of a great number of highly automatic rifles all discharging at once. His head snapped to that direction. He cussed under his breath, and then glanced back to the boy. “Get out of here.” He ordered, much more forcefully than before – if Christofer protested, Agent 4/20 would deliver a harsh blow of the butt of his rifle into the kid’s gut, then switch his comms back on and sprint silently toward the commotion...
Kallenger had been walking down the path, with only a single soldier on either side of her. The remainder of them were hidden in the jungle brush, alert like foxes and ready to strike at a moment’s notice to protect their leader. She had ignored the strange, blue creature as it went shooting by her to disappear ‘round the bend.
Agent Royanna Kallenger, admittedly, did not appreciate when /other/ people made a dramatic entrance – particularly since it seemed most people could pull it off better than she. Of course, her lifetime of training had been for efficiency and combat effectiveness, not dramatic entrance.
Still, she was in a very foul mood now. When the two armored girls dropped from their craft she appeared entirely unphased. By the time they got to the word “System”, Kallenger was already ordering, nonchalantly and frankly in a low voice, as though she was quite fed up with them already – sure, her arrogance was a factor in the decision, but she /did/ have a sizable force to back it up, and she clearly did not have the patience for another distraction from her mission.
As such, by the time the girls had gotten to the latter half of the word “Alliance”, an incredible hail of bullets would descend upon them from all directions, as the well-concealed soldiers in the surrounding jungle all trained their weapons on the two targets. The men beside Kallenger opened fire as well of course – hopefully (for them, anyway) her jump-the-gun order would catch the enemies somewhat off guard and make the attack more successful.
The bullets, specially designed for combating a creature capable of incredibly powerful electronic manipulation, released small EMP fields upon impact, rendering most energy shields useless. (They would largely interfere with or disable any electronic devices as well, however many of the systems that soldiers might use were no longer electronically operated, so this effect would only be really useful on older tech.) The EMP release had the dual effect of a generation of great heat, which would improve their penetrating power – not perfect, but very good.
Unless something stopped them, the soldiers would keep firing until the targets went down.
Kete have a half-prideful smile. Easily complimented, he was usually happy to accept most commendations, even little ones. Sure, it wasn’t exactly difficult to see that this woman was not dressed like most others on this world – it occurred to him rather suddenly that he was being complimented for pointing out something pretty obvious, and it was at that moment that the smile faded to a half-frown of mild disapproval. So mild in fact that it likely meant nothing at all, but still…she…she thought he was a kid, didn’t she?
The idea irked Kete – he suddenly wanted to protest the point! But then, he knew that this perception could possibly be in his head alone, oversensitivity to the issue – it’d happened before. Plus, if she /did/ think he was a kid, it would make him that much more harmless, and harmless was good. Very good.
And then a credit card fell out of the sky and into the Eoclu’s hand. Kete winced at the sight of it. Drat.
That guy again, with the cloaking device and the creepy android! Why, /why/ could he not see him?! Why was there a fuzziness in the back of his head making all his typically natural operations seem labored and ineffective? No matter. There was another hole to dig himself out of.
Standing on his toes for a moment as they walked down the sidewalk, he peered at the card. “Nope.” He said, plainly. “My name’s not ‘Bogardt Henry’- hey, wait a sec!” Suddenly he looked offended. Whether this offense was genuine or not? Difficult to tell – but in reality it was, like his best lies, half-genuine. He was much more offended at this new presumed assumption of his age than at the idea that he might have stolen a card that he, well, actually did steal. But she didn’t have to know that.
It wasn’t the white hot anger that one might associate with a real insult, but he did look mildly offended nonetheless. “Just ‘cause I’m a halfie doesn’t mean I go around stealing stuff! I mean, I know that’s just what halfies /do/, but…” Okay, maybe he held some legitimate resentment toward his own kind. “But – where’d that even come from? What’d make you think it’s mine? It’s not.”
Gah. Too heavy! Lay off. Insistence like that never gets you anywhere, idiot.
Hopefully the half-feigned offendedness would redirect the issue?
“Which one did you say it was?”
“Two of four. The one orbiting that dwarf star off in Beta-west-7.”
“Well it’s good to see its working, if nothing else.”
“’Course it’s working, Ael. Everything you do always works out.”
“Keep stroking my ego like that and I’ll have to get violent again.”
“Oooh, so scared~”
“Really though – I didn’t think that electromagnetic field trick would work. “
“Yep. Every ship that enters the atmosphere’s got zero chance of leaving. It’s like a bug-catcher for gullible adventurers!”
“Hah. All these years, it still amazes me what people will go through to find that Pale Blue Dot. What /really/ surprises me though is, well, why would the /actual Earth/ be /named/ Earth? It’s a lost planet, for all intents and purposes it doesn’t exist. It’s obviously not going to be a planet that millions of people live on, trading with other worlds. And with /four/ planets in the Galaxy going by the name “Earth” what makes them think it could possibly be /this/ one I couldn’t begin to guess.”
“True, but it’s been a really long time, Ael. It’s probably changed a whole lot since…”
“Since we were there? Don’t start getting sentimental on me, Alex.”
“Me, sentimental? Never.”
“Get over here.”
It was the technological advantage that led to Agent 4/20 switching off his communicator – making so that anything he said would be heard only by him – and silently moving to the boy who thought he could sneak up on a stealth-shock team. But he did not have his weapon raised – he simply approached him from behind, and tapped him on the shoulder, leaning in close. Then he held a finger to his mouth, indicating that the boy would be better off keeping quiet.
The helmet’s pitch-black visor hid the man’s eyes, giving him a vague resemblance to Robocop, but in matte black.
“Hey, just a heads up, Boss is pretty pissed off right now. She’ll probably order us to shoot you on sight if anyone else notices you. So, like, I know she’s kind of a bitch, but I’d /really/ suggest you don’t try to screw with her, okay?”
He seemed about to say something else in relatively good nature, when gunfire rang out from somewhere down the road. The sound of a great number of highly automatic rifles all discharging at once. His head snapped to that direction. He cussed under his breath, and then glanced back to the boy. “Get out of here.” He ordered, much more forcefully than before – if Christofer protested, Agent 4/20 would deliver a harsh blow of the butt of his rifle into the kid’s gut, then switch his comms back on and sprint silently toward the commotion...
Kallenger had been walking down the path, with only a single soldier on either side of her. The remainder of them were hidden in the jungle brush, alert like foxes and ready to strike at a moment’s notice to protect their leader. She had ignored the strange, blue creature as it went shooting by her to disappear ‘round the bend.
Agent Royanna Kallenger, admittedly, did not appreciate when /other/ people made a dramatic entrance – particularly since it seemed most people could pull it off better than she. Of course, her lifetime of training had been for efficiency and combat effectiveness, not dramatic entrance.
Still, she was in a very foul mood now. When the two armored girls dropped from their craft she appeared entirely unphased. By the time they got to the word “System”, Kallenger was already ordering, nonchalantly and frankly in a low voice, as though she was quite fed up with them already – sure, her arrogance was a factor in the decision, but she /did/ have a sizable force to back it up, and she clearly did not have the patience for another distraction from her mission.
As such, by the time the girls had gotten to the latter half of the word “Alliance”, an incredible hail of bullets would descend upon them from all directions, as the well-concealed soldiers in the surrounding jungle all trained their weapons on the two targets. The men beside Kallenger opened fire as well of course – hopefully (for them, anyway) her jump-the-gun order would catch the enemies somewhat off guard and make the attack more successful.
The bullets, specially designed for combating a creature capable of incredibly powerful electronic manipulation, released small EMP fields upon impact, rendering most energy shields useless. (They would largely interfere with or disable any electronic devices as well, however many of the systems that soldiers might use were no longer electronically operated, so this effect would only be really useful on older tech.) The EMP release had the dual effect of a generation of great heat, which would improve their penetrating power – not perfect, but very good.
Unless something stopped them, the soldiers would keep firing until the targets went down.
Kete have a half-prideful smile. Easily complimented, he was usually happy to accept most commendations, even little ones. Sure, it wasn’t exactly difficult to see that this woman was not dressed like most others on this world – it occurred to him rather suddenly that he was being complimented for pointing out something pretty obvious, and it was at that moment that the smile faded to a half-frown of mild disapproval. So mild in fact that it likely meant nothing at all, but still…she…she thought he was a kid, didn’t she?
The idea irked Kete – he suddenly wanted to protest the point! But then, he knew that this perception could possibly be in his head alone, oversensitivity to the issue – it’d happened before. Plus, if she /did/ think he was a kid, it would make him that much more harmless, and harmless was good. Very good.
And then a credit card fell out of the sky and into the Eoclu’s hand. Kete winced at the sight of it. Drat.
That guy again, with the cloaking device and the creepy android! Why, /why/ could he not see him?! Why was there a fuzziness in the back of his head making all his typically natural operations seem labored and ineffective? No matter. There was another hole to dig himself out of.
Standing on his toes for a moment as they walked down the sidewalk, he peered at the card. “Nope.” He said, plainly. “My name’s not ‘Bogardt Henry’- hey, wait a sec!” Suddenly he looked offended. Whether this offense was genuine or not? Difficult to tell – but in reality it was, like his best lies, half-genuine. He was much more offended at this new presumed assumption of his age than at the idea that he might have stolen a card that he, well, actually did steal. But she didn’t have to know that.
It wasn’t the white hot anger that one might associate with a real insult, but he did look mildly offended nonetheless. “Just ‘cause I’m a halfie doesn’t mean I go around stealing stuff! I mean, I know that’s just what halfies /do/, but…” Okay, maybe he held some legitimate resentment toward his own kind. “But – where’d that even come from? What’d make you think it’s mine? It’s not.”
Gah. Too heavy! Lay off. Insistence like that never gets you anywhere, idiot.
Hopefully the half-feigned offendedness would redirect the issue?
“Which one did you say it was?”
“Two of four. The one orbiting that dwarf star off in Beta-west-7.”
“Well it’s good to see its working, if nothing else.”
“’Course it’s working, Ael. Everything you do always works out.”
“Keep stroking my ego like that and I’ll have to get violent again.”
“Oooh, so scared~”
“Really though – I didn’t think that electromagnetic field trick would work. “
“Yep. Every ship that enters the atmosphere’s got zero chance of leaving. It’s like a bug-catcher for gullible adventurers!”
“Hah. All these years, it still amazes me what people will go through to find that Pale Blue Dot. What /really/ surprises me though is, well, why would the /actual Earth/ be /named/ Earth? It’s a lost planet, for all intents and purposes it doesn’t exist. It’s obviously not going to be a planet that millions of people live on, trading with other worlds. And with /four/ planets in the Galaxy going by the name “Earth” what makes them think it could possibly be /this/ one I couldn’t begin to guess.”
“True, but it’s been a really long time, Ael. It’s probably changed a whole lot since…”
“Since we were there? Don’t start getting sentimental on me, Alex.”
“Me, sentimental? Never.”
“Get over here.”
The boy held onto his hood, keeping it over his head while sneaking, moving after the group. They weren't moving on the exact path he had come from, but he already seemed to be familiar with the flora, moving amongst it rather naturally. It almost felt to him like he'd have been seeing such greenery for a few years, although it didn't exactly resemble the kind that you'd find in Germany...
As he was sneaking, he could feel that someone was following him; the leaves were rustling faintly. His sences seemed to be a bit more active than they usually were. He turned just as the man was about to poke him and varyingly jumped backwards, taking a defencive stance, not sure whether to snarl at the man or not. They seemed harmless enough for him to not start snarling, he wasn't fully going to trust them though...
"Stay back." Not that saying that would really have any effects. If the one dressed in black wanted to move, they would move. Christofer might not really be able to accomplish a lot anyway, it probably wouldn't end nicely
When the shooting started, the boy held over his ears. It sounded like they would have been shooting right next to his ears. Normally he wouldn't give two craps about the shooting, but now his ears were hurting more than usually...
"What is her deal anyway!? Why is she like that?"
Not too long after would the rifles other end meet with its target, the pain in his ears hindering his performance just enough for the more better armed person to land a hit. Yelping due to it, he'd fall back, covering the new hurting spot all the while trying to manage with his ears. Knees could catch his fall, things were not going well.
As he was sneaking, he could feel that someone was following him; the leaves were rustling faintly. His sences seemed to be a bit more active than they usually were. He turned just as the man was about to poke him and varyingly jumped backwards, taking a defencive stance, not sure whether to snarl at the man or not. They seemed harmless enough for him to not start snarling, he wasn't fully going to trust them though...
"Stay back." Not that saying that would really have any effects. If the one dressed in black wanted to move, they would move. Christofer might not really be able to accomplish a lot anyway, it probably wouldn't end nicely
When the shooting started, the boy held over his ears. It sounded like they would have been shooting right next to his ears. Normally he wouldn't give two craps about the shooting, but now his ears were hurting more than usually...
"What is her deal anyway!? Why is she like that?"
Not too long after would the rifles other end meet with its target, the pain in his ears hindering his performance just enough for the more better armed person to land a hit. Yelping due to it, he'd fall back, covering the new hurting spot all the while trying to manage with his ears. Knees could catch his fall, things were not going well.
The Ranger would keep a response from the cyborg if his thoughts weren't interrupted by the sudden storm-like roar that dozens of guns discharged nearby. That Kallenger woman or whoever she was must've finally found her target... Or not. Anyway, he wasn't laying low so easily. Whatever conflict that was growing had already broke out and only in hell the Mad Ranger were staying in some sort of Alien Crossfire.
He would take one of his EMP's grenades and throw right at Asimov... If he had one.
Instead, the Ranger somehow managed to execute a backward leap in the air, guns blazing at Asimov with eagle-eye precision, surprisingly with none of the Hyper Accelerated Tungsten projectiles managing to hit his robotic friend. He was completely safe from the deadly "storm".
Less caring if the bullets did or did not affect the mech-lady, the Ranger milked the worst he could from his Petroleum Compounds Powered Jet Soles, managing to leap at incredible speeds over the dense jungle, not to mention the fiery flashes also igniting a good part of the plant nearby.
The gunship would probably be destroyed in the scuffle... And it was better that it wouldn't.
ATTENTION! USER OUT OF RANGE! LAST READING DETECTED: 145 BPM
WARNING! BACKUP HYDROGEN SPLITTER EMERGENCY OPERATIVES ENGAGED
ATOMIC INSTABILITY ADJUSTED FOR CURRENT TRIGGERING MECHANISM
SHUT DOWN IN... 30 MINUTES
He would take one of his EMP's grenades and throw right at Asimov... If he had one.
Instead, the Ranger somehow managed to execute a backward leap in the air, guns blazing at Asimov with eagle-eye precision, surprisingly with none of the Hyper Accelerated Tungsten projectiles managing to hit his robotic friend. He was completely safe from the deadly "storm".
Less caring if the bullets did or did not affect the mech-lady, the Ranger milked the worst he could from his Petroleum Compounds Powered Jet Soles, managing to leap at incredible speeds over the dense jungle, not to mention the fiery flashes also igniting a good part of the plant nearby.
The gunship would probably be destroyed in the scuffle... And it was better that it wouldn't.
ATTENTION! USER OUT OF RANGE! LAST READING DETECTED: 145 BPM
WARNING! BACKUP HYDROGEN SPLITTER EMERGENCY OPERATIVES ENGAGED
ATOMIC INSTABILITY ADJUSTED FOR CURRENT TRIGGERING MECHANISM
SHUT DOWN IN... 30 MINUTES
Nirix's mouth twitched to a half smirk, her amusement at his smug demeanor dying down once she noticed it changing to one of offense. Offense, Nirix had offended him? Taking the route of appeasement, The Eoclu gave a low bow.
"Ir Abelas, I am sorry and hope you forgive me for my mistake" Nirix offered in apology. "However I was not referring to your race, Da'len" She quickly added. What Nirix was actually trying to do, was get more subtle information about the Half-breed. She already knew is name, but to randomly call him by such without him telling her was not proper in her culture. For now, Nirix would have to stick to calling him Da'len until further notice.
"You are one with Shadows, following the Vir Banal'ras, way of shadows" She explained with a tilt of her head. A small smile colored her features before she spoke again.
"You followed me to the Maxsoni towers, a person of interest. Next, you observe others around you; their actions and way of dress, then you manipulate your words to make it seem like you know what you are talking about." Nirix looked at the Half breed next to her, trying to gauge his reaction before letting a small chuckle escape her lips.
"You would either be a good thief or a great spy from where I come from," Nirix explained her observations to Kete. "Though I have assumed too much from you. Tis nothing but a thought and I am sorry once again if I have offended you."
"Ir Abelas, I am sorry and hope you forgive me for my mistake" Nirix offered in apology. "However I was not referring to your race, Da'len" She quickly added. What Nirix was actually trying to do, was get more subtle information about the Half-breed. She already knew is name, but to randomly call him by such without him telling her was not proper in her culture. For now, Nirix would have to stick to calling him Da'len until further notice.
"You are one with Shadows, following the Vir Banal'ras, way of shadows" She explained with a tilt of her head. A small smile colored her features before she spoke again.
"You followed me to the Maxsoni towers, a person of interest. Next, you observe others around you; their actions and way of dress, then you manipulate your words to make it seem like you know what you are talking about." Nirix looked at the Half breed next to her, trying to gauge his reaction before letting a small chuckle escape her lips.
"You would either be a good thief or a great spy from where I come from," Nirix explained her observations to Kete. "Though I have assumed too much from you. Tis nothing but a thought and I am sorry once again if I have offended you."
Kete's ear lowered, and his offended expression dissipated immediately. Yep! Too strong, definitely too strong. Time to tone it back with a rebound. The same 'overage' percentage of emotional response, but in the opposite direction. It usually worked.
In the back of his mind, Kete wondered suddenly if he overthought these things too much. Probably.
He smiled widely again, hands raising in their signature, mild gesture of...whatever it was. "Nono! No it's fine, forget it - I can just be a little over-defensive about that sort of thing, y'know? We, ah...don't exactly have the best reputation in the 'Verse."
Hadn't his initial plan of action been to redirect the social interaction through the mild offense? But Kete wasn't entirely a sociopath. He did have his own interfering emotions - and he hated when people apologized to him. He was also very hard to offend...Despite that the possible reference to his age was still nagging at him. Forgiveness had been given before he even spoke, evident in his face.
Da'len. Da'len. What did that mean, exactly? Normally he could have plucked that information right out of the woman's mind without a second thought. Perhaps even subconsciously. But as before, he was off his game. He had no reason to believe that Da'len had implications of youthfulness.
"Hey, nothing wrong with speculating. In fact I'm honored that you think I'm so talented in the field! Though I've never thought of myself as being one with shadows." The last bit held a thoughtful connotation in the tone - as if he had accepted it as fact and was processing it...thoughtfully.
"I guess that all makes sense though." He concluded, with a nod. "When you put it that way, I mean." There was a pause, as he considered switching gears.
"So, you must be a psychohistorian or something, right? That'd explain how /you/ know about all that neat shadow-stuff."
Had he just redirected the woman's attempt at subverting information back to her? Perhaps, in a way. She had been, without the slightest need for malice or interrogation and entirely in the context of pleasant, friendly conversation (Which it truly was, of course!) put on the spot. After all, who but an assassin or some other variety of shadow-walker would know the signs that she had noticed in Kete?
Would it work? Maybe.
Was it intentional? Probably not.
"Hey, did we ever get those satellites up and running?"
"Yeah, a few hours ago. Its's being rerouted to the terminal over there."
"You looked at it yet?"
"Heh~ Afraid not. I'm neglecting my archaeologist's duties."
"Lazy."
"I prefer 'leisurely'"
"So you didn't see anything on this robot then?"
"Robot?"
"Yeah, the microscan surveillance on the area of the most recent crashes is showing...Well actually it sort of looks like a number of robots. But the CD one, the combat droid...Would you just come over and look at it?"
"Fine, fine. Nag...Alright, yeah it looks like only one of them is fully artificial. That's the one you're referring to, I assume?"
"Yep. The thing's ancient. I mean /old/. The signals that it's giving off are just...primitive as all hell."
"Audio feed?"
"It's pretty screwed up, but, well, call me crazy but the thing thinks it's from Earth."
"THE Earth?"
"THE Earth."
"Hm. Well it's probably nothing, but...Wait, wait- where'd it come from?"
"I didn't catch that."
"Hold on. I'll grab the logs...There. Looks like it had been orbiting the planet's moon."
"And actually, it looks like there's been a lot of turmoil in the scientific community about the moon, but I guess the consensus is..."
".....Is?"
"Patience."
"No."
"Is that the moon wasn't created by planetary debris, but rather caught in the planet's gravitational pull."
"So the moon came from somewhere else. A very, very long time ago."
"That's the consensus. But I guess the hard evidence is iffy."
"We're going to need to look into that...What is the moon called down there?"
"Just...Moon."
"THE Moon?"
"Do you really have to nitpick?"
"Of course I do. Only the finest and most precise results from my subordinates!"
"Subordinate my ass. But at least you seem to have gotten your sense of humor back...Are you drunk?"
"Only with knowledge."
"...Whut?"
In the back of his mind, Kete wondered suddenly if he overthought these things too much. Probably.
He smiled widely again, hands raising in their signature, mild gesture of...whatever it was. "Nono! No it's fine, forget it - I can just be a little over-defensive about that sort of thing, y'know? We, ah...don't exactly have the best reputation in the 'Verse."
Hadn't his initial plan of action been to redirect the social interaction through the mild offense? But Kete wasn't entirely a sociopath. He did have his own interfering emotions - and he hated when people apologized to him. He was also very hard to offend...Despite that the possible reference to his age was still nagging at him. Forgiveness had been given before he even spoke, evident in his face.
Da'len. Da'len. What did that mean, exactly? Normally he could have plucked that information right out of the woman's mind without a second thought. Perhaps even subconsciously. But as before, he was off his game. He had no reason to believe that Da'len had implications of youthfulness.
"Hey, nothing wrong with speculating. In fact I'm honored that you think I'm so talented in the field! Though I've never thought of myself as being one with shadows." The last bit held a thoughtful connotation in the tone - as if he had accepted it as fact and was processing it...thoughtfully.
"I guess that all makes sense though." He concluded, with a nod. "When you put it that way, I mean." There was a pause, as he considered switching gears.
"So, you must be a psychohistorian or something, right? That'd explain how /you/ know about all that neat shadow-stuff."
Had he just redirected the woman's attempt at subverting information back to her? Perhaps, in a way. She had been, without the slightest need for malice or interrogation and entirely in the context of pleasant, friendly conversation (Which it truly was, of course!) put on the spot. After all, who but an assassin or some other variety of shadow-walker would know the signs that she had noticed in Kete?
Would it work? Maybe.
Was it intentional? Probably not.
"Hey, did we ever get those satellites up and running?"
"Yeah, a few hours ago. Its's being rerouted to the terminal over there."
"You looked at it yet?"
"Heh~ Afraid not. I'm neglecting my archaeologist's duties."
"Lazy."
"I prefer 'leisurely'"
"So you didn't see anything on this robot then?"
"Robot?"
"Yeah, the microscan surveillance on the area of the most recent crashes is showing...Well actually it sort of looks like a number of robots. But the CD one, the combat droid...Would you just come over and look at it?"
"Fine, fine. Nag...Alright, yeah it looks like only one of them is fully artificial. That's the one you're referring to, I assume?"
"Yep. The thing's ancient. I mean /old/. The signals that it's giving off are just...primitive as all hell."
"Audio feed?"
"It's pretty screwed up, but, well, call me crazy but the thing thinks it's from Earth."
"THE Earth?"
"THE Earth."
"Hm. Well it's probably nothing, but...Wait, wait- where'd it come from?"
"I didn't catch that."
"Hold on. I'll grab the logs...There. Looks like it had been orbiting the planet's moon."
"And actually, it looks like there's been a lot of turmoil in the scientific community about the moon, but I guess the consensus is..."
".....Is?"
"Patience."
"No."
"Is that the moon wasn't created by planetary debris, but rather caught in the planet's gravitational pull."
"So the moon came from somewhere else. A very, very long time ago."
"That's the consensus. But I guess the hard evidence is iffy."
"We're going to need to look into that...What is the moon called down there?"
"Just...Moon."
"THE Moon?"
"Do you really have to nitpick?"
"Of course I do. Only the finest and most precise results from my subordinates!"
"Subordinate my ass. But at least you seem to have gotten your sense of humor back...Are you drunk?"
"Only with knowledge."
"...Whut?"
(Thanks a ton for the advise Ranger 
)
Without waiting to try and defuse the sudden hostility from Bravo, Lydia was already starting to jump back, going so far as to use her leg thrusters to move away as quickly as possible, when the Ranger performed his own escape act.
Lydia's reaction time was generally one of the best among the girls of the Fifth SOG, but the sudden flurry of activity threw her off. Having focused her shield towards Bravo she didn't have time to move it up to cover her from the Ranger's fire. Luckily the shield generator on her waist was set to automatic, though even it was unable to react to the Ranger's first shots. Of the ones that made it through, most ricocheted off her rounded armor, though one in particular leaves a gouge in her breastplate all the way up to her backpack. According to the warning that popped up in her vision it had also severed the left side energy line of her backpacks beam saber rack. That would mean several hours replacing the line, but at the moment it meant she only had one reliable beam saber.
Being one to always have the last word, Lydia snap-fires her vulcan at the retreating Ranger as she lands before darting behind the remains of her drop pod.. Calling the weapon a Vulcan was a misnomer. Firing tiny metal shards much in the way a rail or gauss weapon might. The name came from the sound of the projectile shaver that provided the ammunition to the weapon. Truthfully, the 'shards' had the wonderful effect of damaging exposed machinery and sensors but being able to still mildly injure or stun more organic opponents. that made it a great all purpose weapon. Hopefully her parting shots would at least makeup for her own damaged gear.
Their armor was extremely tough, it had to be considering their job, but even it couldn't handle a sustained onslaught like the Twins currently faced. Keeping their shields towards the heaviest of the fire being directed at them, they decided to use It. Turning their shields horizontally there is a momentary flash, not enough to blind or truly effect anyone but enough to know something had activated. Milliseconds after the flash, a green bubble type shield surrounds the girls. The bullets that end up striking the shield seem to stall against it before vaporizing into dust.
An atomic distortion shield. That technology hadn't even truly reached a practical laboratory phase yet, much less into the field. Of course there as a reason for that. It became clear as the girls shields give another flash, followed by the 'bubble' seeming to explode outward and wash over the area, leaving the emitters on the Twin's shields smoking before falling to the ground.
What followed was the familiar electrical arcing sound of cloaking being disabled. It wasn't the large tilt-rotor this time though. Around Kallenger's troops roughly twenty more armored cyborg women decloaked unexpectedly. Most had managed to get into position to strike Kallenger's men, but some clearly had not expected their cloaking to suddenly shut off and therefore ended up in the open near some of Kallenger's men. With the cloaking gone, besides the two cyborgs now standing awkwardly beside the two men at her side there was a girl visible just at Kallenger's right shoulder, a large knife in her right hand and eyes wide in momentary shock at the sudden and unexpected reveal of what would have been a very sudden reverse ambush. With a voice that sounded much like a teenager getting caught sneaking out at night, the girl whispers into her radio, though at such a close distance there as no way Kallenger couldn't hear her "Th-the...cloaking shut off Ma'am's." Not even bothering to use the radio, both of the Twins reply rather loudly in clearly unamused tones "We can see that Corporal Lennox..."
)Without waiting to try and defuse the sudden hostility from Bravo, Lydia was already starting to jump back, going so far as to use her leg thrusters to move away as quickly as possible, when the Ranger performed his own escape act.
Lydia's reaction time was generally one of the best among the girls of the Fifth SOG, but the sudden flurry of activity threw her off. Having focused her shield towards Bravo she didn't have time to move it up to cover her from the Ranger's fire. Luckily the shield generator on her waist was set to automatic, though even it was unable to react to the Ranger's first shots. Of the ones that made it through, most ricocheted off her rounded armor, though one in particular leaves a gouge in her breastplate all the way up to her backpack. According to the warning that popped up in her vision it had also severed the left side energy line of her backpacks beam saber rack. That would mean several hours replacing the line, but at the moment it meant she only had one reliable beam saber.
Being one to always have the last word, Lydia snap-fires her vulcan at the retreating Ranger as she lands before darting behind the remains of her drop pod.. Calling the weapon a Vulcan was a misnomer. Firing tiny metal shards much in the way a rail or gauss weapon might. The name came from the sound of the projectile shaver that provided the ammunition to the weapon. Truthfully, the 'shards' had the wonderful effect of damaging exposed machinery and sensors but being able to still mildly injure or stun more organic opponents. that made it a great all purpose weapon. Hopefully her parting shots would at least makeup for her own damaged gear.
Their armor was extremely tough, it had to be considering their job, but even it couldn't handle a sustained onslaught like the Twins currently faced. Keeping their shields towards the heaviest of the fire being directed at them, they decided to use It. Turning their shields horizontally there is a momentary flash, not enough to blind or truly effect anyone but enough to know something had activated. Milliseconds after the flash, a green bubble type shield surrounds the girls. The bullets that end up striking the shield seem to stall against it before vaporizing into dust.
An atomic distortion shield. That technology hadn't even truly reached a practical laboratory phase yet, much less into the field. Of course there as a reason for that. It became clear as the girls shields give another flash, followed by the 'bubble' seeming to explode outward and wash over the area, leaving the emitters on the Twin's shields smoking before falling to the ground.
What followed was the familiar electrical arcing sound of cloaking being disabled. It wasn't the large tilt-rotor this time though. Around Kallenger's troops roughly twenty more armored cyborg women decloaked unexpectedly. Most had managed to get into position to strike Kallenger's men, but some clearly had not expected their cloaking to suddenly shut off and therefore ended up in the open near some of Kallenger's men. With the cloaking gone, besides the two cyborgs now standing awkwardly beside the two men at her side there was a girl visible just at Kallenger's right shoulder, a large knife in her right hand and eyes wide in momentary shock at the sudden and unexpected reveal of what would have been a very sudden reverse ambush. With a voice that sounded much like a teenager getting caught sneaking out at night, the girl whispers into her radio, though at such a close distance there as no way Kallenger couldn't hear her "Th-the...cloaking shut off Ma'am's." Not even bothering to use the radio, both of the Twins reply rather loudly in clearly unamused tones "We can see that Corporal Lennox..."
"HOLD FIRE!" Kallenger barked suddenly, and perhaps a twinge more forcefully than necessary, considering that all of her men could hear her perfectly well through helmet-mounted comms devices. It was actually quite painful to the ear.
But sure enough, the weapons stopped firing - just in time for the greenish shield which she had expected to do some damage expanded and...
There was a flurry of movement in the area. Some of the men had become vaguely aware that there might be something near them - they had managed to spin around just in time to aim their weapons at the newly uncloaked soldiers.
Others had been caught entirely off guard, and were at a complete disadvantage. Some of the uncloaked soldiers had been similarly caught off guard, and were at significant disadvantages as well.
Within a short moment, everyone had frozen. There was nobody on the battlefield that would be able to do anything at all without someone else killing them.
Stone-cold resolve, Kallenger managed to stay completely still and appear entirely unphased by the sudden presence of her would-be assassin. She really needed to pay more attention to those instincts of hers.
She looked hard at the girls who were apparently in charge, mostly blank of expression save for the intensity of it.
Then a sound broke the silence. "Captain it's an ambush!" The soldier shouted, not bothering to speak quietly into his comms, as he leaped out of the dense jungle onto the path, and practically skidded to a halt. This resulted in a slight shifting of where weapons were aimed to continue the theme of nobody being safe.
"I can see that, Agent 4/20." Said Kallenger in a familiarly unamused tone, voice low, hard and flat as eyes kept locked on the leaders.
It was a bad habit, but Kallenger closed her eyes for a moment intently, in order to better think about the situation she had found herself in. It almost looked as though she had a headache, and to some extent, she did.
The situation was clear. If anyone started shooting, everyone would start shooting. They were evenly matched. It would be a bloodbath on both sides, and whoever came out victorious would do so only barely.
"Hold fire until fired upon." She ordered lowly, speaking slowly and enunciating clearly. She kept steady eye contact as she did so, clearly giving the implication that it would be best for her opponent to give a similar order. Kallenger did not like putting herself in this position - it meant that if they started shooting first, at least one of her men would die instantly. But it was the only way. She had to trust in her enemy.
A long silence. Then she took a deep breath and spoke.
"Special Agent Royanna Kallenger, Captain of Hunter Unit 11 of the Ardellan Galactic Empire. (She hated using that term for her beloved empire. Ardellan - as if there needed to be any specification as to which regime was THE Galactic Empire. But other groups had taken the name as well, it had to be specified.)
"We are in pursuit of a wanted criminal whom we have reason to believe may be located on this planet. We have no interest in, nor do we intend to disturb your operations in any fashion, however via Imperial Conservation Law 16.95-A we will refuse to abide by militant orders and laws from foreign institutions."
That about covered it, she decided. The brusque, official tone she spoke in gave her confidence in the situation. Her refusal to so much as turn her head toward the would-be assassin would ideally assist in projecting the image of her as unflinchingly willful.
But sure enough, the weapons stopped firing - just in time for the greenish shield which she had expected to do some damage expanded and...
There was a flurry of movement in the area. Some of the men had become vaguely aware that there might be something near them - they had managed to spin around just in time to aim their weapons at the newly uncloaked soldiers.
Others had been caught entirely off guard, and were at a complete disadvantage. Some of the uncloaked soldiers had been similarly caught off guard, and were at significant disadvantages as well.
Within a short moment, everyone had frozen. There was nobody on the battlefield that would be able to do anything at all without someone else killing them.
Stone-cold resolve, Kallenger managed to stay completely still and appear entirely unphased by the sudden presence of her would-be assassin. She really needed to pay more attention to those instincts of hers.
She looked hard at the girls who were apparently in charge, mostly blank of expression save for the intensity of it.
Then a sound broke the silence. "Captain it's an ambush!" The soldier shouted, not bothering to speak quietly into his comms, as he leaped out of the dense jungle onto the path, and practically skidded to a halt. This resulted in a slight shifting of where weapons were aimed to continue the theme of nobody being safe.
"I can see that, Agent 4/20." Said Kallenger in a familiarly unamused tone, voice low, hard and flat as eyes kept locked on the leaders.
It was a bad habit, but Kallenger closed her eyes for a moment intently, in order to better think about the situation she had found herself in. It almost looked as though she had a headache, and to some extent, she did.
The situation was clear. If anyone started shooting, everyone would start shooting. They were evenly matched. It would be a bloodbath on both sides, and whoever came out victorious would do so only barely.
"Hold fire until fired upon." She ordered lowly, speaking slowly and enunciating clearly. She kept steady eye contact as she did so, clearly giving the implication that it would be best for her opponent to give a similar order. Kallenger did not like putting herself in this position - it meant that if they started shooting first, at least one of her men would die instantly. But it was the only way. She had to trust in her enemy.
A long silence. Then she took a deep breath and spoke.
"Special Agent Royanna Kallenger, Captain of Hunter Unit 11 of the Ardellan Galactic Empire. (She hated using that term for her beloved empire. Ardellan - as if there needed to be any specification as to which regime was THE Galactic Empire. But other groups had taken the name as well, it had to be specified.)
"We are in pursuit of a wanted criminal whom we have reason to believe may be located on this planet. We have no interest in, nor do we intend to disturb your operations in any fashion, however via Imperial Conservation Law 16.95-A we will refuse to abide by militant orders and laws from foreign institutions."
That about covered it, she decided. The brusque, official tone she spoke in gave her confidence in the situation. Her refusal to so much as turn her head toward the would-be assassin would ideally assist in projecting the image of her as unflinchingly willful.
Bravo now having an identified name sent pulses of hard light a substance commonly used among most ancient progenitor (relic) wreckage but never before harnessed by any other race. The droid opened fire with his pulse rifle focusing on Lydia singing a tone to himself "I've got no strings, to hold me down..." in a slow and low tone he kept singing the line to himself. He kept side stepping once to the left, once to the right, duck, left, right. All in the same pattern as he fired on Lydia with his pulse rifle ablazing with light
[You're welcome, there's a list for post commands somewhere around the forums. Can't remember exactly where it was. >>']
At the first sign of responding gunfire, the Ranger crossed his arms together, holding up in front of his face, mid-flight, in an attempt to block the incoming projectiles towards his way. Whichever of the shards that were not stopped by the woods, swept smoothly across his cloak and, of course, miss him, managed to only scratch and shallow pierce his vest and arms...
That did, however, drew precious attention from another threat: Gravity.
Despite his neural implants, the Masked Man slipped away and got distracted by the sudden gunfight, forgetting that he was, in fact, constantly leaping through the air, rendering some results for Lydia's gunfire.
The Ranger couldn't do much but pray for none of his bones to be broken as he crash-landed against the rough terrain of the jungle, rolling violently against the ground until he was stopped abruptly by a tree.
"Ouch..."
ARMOR STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY: 93%
BACKUP HYDROGEN SPLITTER SHUTDOWN IN... 25 MINUTES
At the first sign of responding gunfire, the Ranger crossed his arms together, holding up in front of his face, mid-flight, in an attempt to block the incoming projectiles towards his way. Whichever of the shards that were not stopped by the woods, swept smoothly across his cloak and, of course, miss him, managed to only scratch and shallow pierce his vest and arms...
That did, however, drew precious attention from another threat: Gravity.
Despite his neural implants, the Masked Man slipped away and got distracted by the sudden gunfight, forgetting that he was, in fact, constantly leaping through the air, rendering some results for Lydia's gunfire.
The Ranger couldn't do much but pray for none of his bones to be broken as he crash-landed against the rough terrain of the jungle, rolling violently against the ground until he was stopped abruptly by a tree.
"Ouch..."
ARMOR STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY: 93%
BACKUP HYDROGEN SPLITTER SHUTDOWN IN... 25 MINUTES
"No," Nirix shook her head in response to his question, not entirely understanding what the word "Psychohistorian" meant.
"I am merely just a follower of ways long forgotten to my people." She replied with a small smile as they finally approached her desired destination;The Pearl Star.
Nirix had been most delighted when she had found the small and seemingly unnoticeable restaurant. The Pearl Star was tucked between two larger buildings, one being an old rundown laundry mat and the other being a dital bookstore. Though it went mostly unnoticed by others, the assassin took a great liking to it and had also found it to be one of the only restaurants on this planet that served authentic Eoclu style food. With a deep whiff, Nirix let out a pleased sigh. She could already taste the roasted Cracsuts.
"Welcome costumers to-Oh! Aneth ara, lethallan" Came a the warm greeting as Nirix made her way in. The olive skinned female Eoclu, Nirix had came to know looked as friendly as ever. Her bright sliver eyes, darken brown hair and deer like antlers were a large contrast to Nirix's appearance but yet she had the blood of one of the Eoclu and Nirix would not deny her that birth right. Not to mention she was way older than Nirix, that much was evident by the laugh lines in her face.
Responding in a bout of rapid tongue in their mother language, the two Eoclu continued on in conversation for some time before the olive toned woman finally took notice of the half breed accompanying Nirix.
"Who is this Da'len? A new friend of yours, Nirix?" Though she asked the question for Nirix to answer, her silvery gaze never left the boy's visage before leading them to a seat.
"I'm treating him to a meal, he has..." Nirix paused, trying to think of the right words. "Peaked my interest, as most things that are different to me tend to do."
Nodding in wordless understatement, The other Eoclu quickly produced two menus for her customers before waiting patently to hear their orders.
"Go ahead," Nirix gave a simple gesture to the menu in front of them.
"Order anything you deem acceptable to your taste. Sul'sashi can cook anything and everything"
"I am merely just a follower of ways long forgotten to my people." She replied with a small smile as they finally approached her desired destination;The Pearl Star.
Nirix had been most delighted when she had found the small and seemingly unnoticeable restaurant. The Pearl Star was tucked between two larger buildings, one being an old rundown laundry mat and the other being a dital bookstore. Though it went mostly unnoticed by others, the assassin took a great liking to it and had also found it to be one of the only restaurants on this planet that served authentic Eoclu style food. With a deep whiff, Nirix let out a pleased sigh. She could already taste the roasted Cracsuts.
"Welcome costumers to-Oh! Aneth ara, lethallan" Came a the warm greeting as Nirix made her way in. The olive skinned female Eoclu, Nirix had came to know looked as friendly as ever. Her bright sliver eyes, darken brown hair and deer like antlers were a large contrast to Nirix's appearance but yet she had the blood of one of the Eoclu and Nirix would not deny her that birth right. Not to mention she was way older than Nirix, that much was evident by the laugh lines in her face.
Responding in a bout of rapid tongue in their mother language, the two Eoclu continued on in conversation for some time before the olive toned woman finally took notice of the half breed accompanying Nirix.
"Who is this Da'len? A new friend of yours, Nirix?" Though she asked the question for Nirix to answer, her silvery gaze never left the boy's visage before leading them to a seat.
"I'm treating him to a meal, he has..." Nirix paused, trying to think of the right words. "Peaked my interest, as most things that are different to me tend to do."
Nodding in wordless understatement, The other Eoclu quickly produced two menus for her customers before waiting patently to hear their orders.
"Go ahead," Nirix gave a simple gesture to the menu in front of them.
"Order anything you deem acceptable to your taste. Sul'sashi can cook anything and everything"
"I dunno, sounds pretty suspicious to me." Replied Kete, though playfully. Then they had arrived. "Ooh, I always love little joints like this!"
He stood beside Nirix and rocked back and forth on his heels a little, with hands in coat pockets, looking around the place to occupy his eyes while the two of them spoke.
It was so frustrating! Usually he would have little trouble getting the gist of what they were saying - between understanding intent and basic memory-clues he could typically decipher at very least the basic idea. What was wrong?
At the word which had apparently become his label, Kete perked and looked toward the woman, smiling cheerfully and giving a little wave - the sort one gives when they're put on the spot. Not that this bothered him.
"I'm Kete." He introduced himself, upon taking his seat. "I've never considered myself too fascinating, but I can't say no to attention and a free meal." A shrug and cheeky smile.
For a short moment he looked half-blankly at the menu, before closing it and holding it out for her to take back. "I'll have whatever Eclou cuisine is most known for." He said, "And, ah-"
He almost said 'plum brandy', but stopped himself. It was still possible that he was simply imposing his own insecurity about his apparent age on the others, but it still seemed as though they were viewing him as younger than he would have liked. Ordering alcohol would end up leading to awkward explanations.
"Water." he concluded.
All the while he was looking, working, digging, trying to figure out why the woman had taken such a sudden interest in him. People never did that! Usually it took a lot more following and pestering before someone became fond of Kete.
Sure, he had made himself seem very suspicious what with the whole following-thing and causing all sorts of inconvenience and trouble. But still!
"Wait, you really want to just...show up and tell them?"
"Well, why not?"
"I don't know, it just doesn't...seem right."
"How so?"
"I'm probably just overthinking it. But it feels like going about this more subtly would get better results. We don't want them to feel pressured."
"The vast majority of the explorers and adventurers that are drawn to the 'Earth' planets are very driven. Looking for Earth isn't exactly the most comprehensive idea - anyone who goes looking for it /needs/ to be driven or else they wouldn't bother."
"So what, you're thinking of kickstarting them in the right direction?"
"Basically. Hah~ Maybe we could turn it into a contest. First one to find it gets some astronomical prize or something."
"I do hope you're joking."
"Of course. A competition would only result in everyone killing each other off in the pursuit. We need them to work together. Groups of them, at very least."
"That's what I thought - but we'll still need to figure in a reason to make them work togehter."
"I've got some ideas."
"You always do."
He stood beside Nirix and rocked back and forth on his heels a little, with hands in coat pockets, looking around the place to occupy his eyes while the two of them spoke.
It was so frustrating! Usually he would have little trouble getting the gist of what they were saying - between understanding intent and basic memory-clues he could typically decipher at very least the basic idea. What was wrong?
At the word which had apparently become his label, Kete perked and looked toward the woman, smiling cheerfully and giving a little wave - the sort one gives when they're put on the spot. Not that this bothered him.
"I'm Kete." He introduced himself, upon taking his seat. "I've never considered myself too fascinating, but I can't say no to attention and a free meal." A shrug and cheeky smile.
For a short moment he looked half-blankly at the menu, before closing it and holding it out for her to take back. "I'll have whatever Eclou cuisine is most known for." He said, "And, ah-"
He almost said 'plum brandy', but stopped himself. It was still possible that he was simply imposing his own insecurity about his apparent age on the others, but it still seemed as though they were viewing him as younger than he would have liked. Ordering alcohol would end up leading to awkward explanations.
"Water." he concluded.
All the while he was looking, working, digging, trying to figure out why the woman had taken such a sudden interest in him. People never did that! Usually it took a lot more following and pestering before someone became fond of Kete.
Sure, he had made himself seem very suspicious what with the whole following-thing and causing all sorts of inconvenience and trouble. But still!
"Wait, you really want to just...show up and tell them?"
"Well, why not?"
"I don't know, it just doesn't...seem right."
"How so?"
"I'm probably just overthinking it. But it feels like going about this more subtly would get better results. We don't want them to feel pressured."
"The vast majority of the explorers and adventurers that are drawn to the 'Earth' planets are very driven. Looking for Earth isn't exactly the most comprehensive idea - anyone who goes looking for it /needs/ to be driven or else they wouldn't bother."
"So what, you're thinking of kickstarting them in the right direction?"
"Basically. Hah~ Maybe we could turn it into a contest. First one to find it gets some astronomical prize or something."
"I do hope you're joking."
"Of course. A competition would only result in everyone killing each other off in the pursuit. We need them to work together. Groups of them, at very least."
"That's what I thought - but we'll still need to figure in a reason to make them work togehter."
"I've got some ideas."
"You always do."
The boy didn't seem to really get an answer from the strange soldier. He was glad that the noices stopped, but he was still not on the clear about the situation. There was pressure to be felt in the air though, so maybe it was best for him to leave ot be for now... The German didn't even have a weapon to aid himself with if something were to happen. Nope. Staying near any heated battle would not be healthy, or really safe at all.
Christofer backed away a bit, not feeling like disturbing the people nor the 'soldier' who had smacked him on the gut and left, causing some additional pain to that empty stomach of the boy. He would leave him and the others be for now. Judging By the noise they were capable of making, he would be finding them again sooner or later.
Speaking of the noise, he was a bit hesitant on pulling down his hood for it was protecting his ears from the loud noises...
But now that they had died down, partly, the boy could possibly benefit more from not having it on as he was leaving the place. Having the ears uncovered, at least for the time being, would help him hear any possible threats a bit easier. Besides, he could always just pull the hood back on if the noises got too loud...
And so he did it, making some distance to the somehow still soldier, pulled down his hood to reveal his head and listened away. He himself wasn't aware of it in any way, but what he would have to consider as his ears now, were more than likely to be something that a human wouldn't usually have. He took a quick hearing round, thinking that the feel he had on his head was just a faint breeze. He then pulled the hood back on to cover his head partly, hiding the dog like ears, and started making his way out of the forest.
Man, he would really appreciate some food now...
Christofer backed away a bit, not feeling like disturbing the people nor the 'soldier' who had smacked him on the gut and left, causing some additional pain to that empty stomach of the boy. He would leave him and the others be for now. Judging By the noise they were capable of making, he would be finding them again sooner or later.
Speaking of the noise, he was a bit hesitant on pulling down his hood for it was protecting his ears from the loud noises...
But now that they had died down, partly, the boy could possibly benefit more from not having it on as he was leaving the place. Having the ears uncovered, at least for the time being, would help him hear any possible threats a bit easier. Besides, he could always just pull the hood back on if the noises got too loud...
And so he did it, making some distance to the somehow still soldier, pulled down his hood to reveal his head and listened away. He himself wasn't aware of it in any way, but what he would have to consider as his ears now, were more than likely to be something that a human wouldn't usually have. He took a quick hearing round, thinking that the feel he had on his head was just a faint breeze. He then pulled the hood back on to cover his head partly, hiding the dog like ears, and started making his way out of the forest.
Man, he would really appreciate some food now...
Time was a precious resource at that very moment, despite the fact that the gunfire has suddenly came to a halt, the Ranger still had to deal with the cybernetic lady and get into his ship, or else his little 'operation' had a great chance to fail miserably in a near future.
Hiding from his enemy was not an option, if the Ranger couldn't track anyone hidden in these woods, they'll probably find him with some sort of advanced alien technology. Without any proper equipment to a direct assault, fist clenched his Revolver, the Ranger ran further into the woods. The thick vegetation could provide him some cover, if only minimal, to a counter assault against the girl... If she didn't lost him, that is.
BACKUP HYDROGEN SPLITTER SHUTDOWN IN... 22 MINUTES
Hiding from his enemy was not an option, if the Ranger couldn't track anyone hidden in these woods, they'll probably find him with some sort of advanced alien technology. Without any proper equipment to a direct assault, fist clenched his Revolver, the Ranger ran further into the woods. The thick vegetation could provide him some cover, if only minimal, to a counter assault against the girl... If she didn't lost him, that is.
BACKUP HYDROGEN SPLITTER SHUTDOWN IN... 22 MINUTES
Nirix watched the half breed carefully, eyes scanning and remembering every subtle detail. After all, one could learn a lot from others mannerisms, dining habits were a special one. His order was normal, a quick deduction of what was what on a foreign menu before answering. Nirix couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at his reply. Whatever Eoclu cuisine is most known for? That was hard to gauge. Most Eoclu dishes were a combination, A harmony of tastes and herbal flavors. Majority of them being sour, sweet, spicy and salty or the five S's as some would say.
"Two roasted Cracsuts and Yorira, Sul'sashi" The white haired Eoclu ordered, a small smirk forming on her lips. It was one of Nirix's favorite dishes during her childhood and it was probably one of the of most "Well known" dishes of her culture. With a quick nod, Sul'sashi took both of their menus away and hurried off to the back where the kitchens were. Shifting in her chair, Nirix's ear twitched only slightly as she remembered his hesitation earlier. Water? Why the need to pause on something so simple? Odd...
"Tell me, Da'len," Her lavender eyes flickered up towards his two unusual ones as she paused briefly. "No, you have spoken of your name, you are Da'len no longer." Another pause as she tried his name in her head before saying it out loud.
"Kete, What brings you on this planet? Family? Friends? Or Adventure?" Nirix asked casually. The assassin was not normally a conversationalist, opting for silence even when there was room to talk. But like she had stated before, she was curious. And curiosity often led Nirix to do more than she was use to.
"Two roasted Cracsuts and Yorira, Sul'sashi" The white haired Eoclu ordered, a small smirk forming on her lips. It was one of Nirix's favorite dishes during her childhood and it was probably one of the of most "Well known" dishes of her culture. With a quick nod, Sul'sashi took both of their menus away and hurried off to the back where the kitchens were. Shifting in her chair, Nirix's ear twitched only slightly as she remembered his hesitation earlier. Water? Why the need to pause on something so simple? Odd...
"Tell me, Da'len," Her lavender eyes flickered up towards his two unusual ones as she paused briefly. "No, you have spoken of your name, you are Da'len no longer." Another pause as she tried his name in her head before saying it out loud.
"Kete, What brings you on this planet? Family? Friends? Or Adventure?" Nirix asked casually. The assassin was not normally a conversationalist, opting for silence even when there was room to talk. But like she had stated before, she was curious. And curiosity often led Nirix to do more than she was use to.
At this point, a minor headache was beginning to pulse through Kete's skull. Nothing too bad - if he showed any indication of its onset it would be very subtle and entirely subconscious. He had, however, begun to notice it.
In fact it was starting to put him on edge. The main reason - by far - that Kete could remain ever so happy and carefree was that he never need worry about who might be behind him. He knew where everyone was at any given time if they were anywhere near him. It was virtually impossible to sneak up on him, to ambush him, unless he was extremely distracted - and even then his instincts had been so honed over those three centuries that it was still difficult.
Yet there was no power or strength in this omnipresence - in fact, there was a sense of weakness.
Because when that sense of stability wavered or crumbled - there was nothing to support it. It was blindness.
Not yet, though. Not blindness - that came with EMP or other devices which could shut down his field entirely. That was when the panic came, when he went essentially mad and became a flailing mass of failure.
This was merely a cataracts - a fog - the headache was that of one who had been concentrating too hard for too long, trying to see through sunlight or mist. Someone who was getting tired.
But the signs were subtle.
"Whatever it is it sounds great." The kid replied with a smile, following the woman vocalizing her decision on his order.
Then the assassin spoke again, his attention returned to her and he brushed a stray lock of hair from his eye. Certainly this had nothing to do with providing just that little bit of extra coverage to the protruding wire - which was still not entirely hidden, but ever so slightly more out of view now.
Either his subconscious was still processing the incoming data of other minds, or his instincts had simply become that sharp - or it could have been mere coincidence that he took that minuscule measure of secrecy at the exact point where the woman was looking.
Or, close, anyway.
"...to this planet...?" He repeated quietly to himself, looking downward in thought.
This was a strange habit which had been present with him as long as he could recall, though he only recalled it vaguely and tended not to notice when he did it. Repeating, in part or in entirety, questions that were asked to him - then looking as though he had never thought about the answer before in his life, however simple or commonplace the subject may have been.
"Well the cargo-liner I'd hitched a ride with told me it was end of the line is all. So I hopped off! That's it, I guess."
Except for the detail of /why/ he had hitched a ride with a cargo starliner in the first place, or the mention that he had been forcibly ejected from the starliner upon landing after being discovered illegally stowing away in a crate of what /should/ have been Hiyamalaian Gopher-in-a-Can.
But such details were best glazed over. He had gotten pretty good about hiding when he was leaving something out, but today with that...weird feeling he was having, it might have been perceptible to a particularly perceptive individual.
That weird feeling! Impossible to put his finger on, yet it was there, he knew it. Something was making it harder to 'see', and it was slowly getting worse.
"It's about time. I've been missing my programs."
"Hey, don't blame me, blame the Administration of Truth over in the communications wing."
"I know, I know. Have you checked it out yet?"
"Nope. Figured you'd wanna' do that."
"Does it really matter?"
"Nope."
"Hit that switch over there, please? Thank you...Wow, this is pretty impressive."
"Yeah, actually. I didn't think it would be nearly that sort of clear. I wonder what the LPS delay is?"
["I've got no strings, to hold me down..."]
"Wow."
"Who...who would program a combat droid to..."
"To sing showtunes as it tore its enemies to meaty shreds?"
"A little descriptive there, Alex. But yes."
"Well if it's really been orbiting a captured moon for thousands of years, isn't it possible something could have gone AWOL in the programming?"
"Yes, but something like /that/? It seems incredibly unlikely."
"Haven't we been around long enough to know that just because something is incredibly unlikely, doesn't mean-"
"Doesn't mean it's impossible, infinite monkeys, yes yes, don't lecture me you brat."
"But I have to agree with you, there's got to be another reason."
"Maybe the programmers just had a good sense of humor?"
"And what in the 'Verse do /you/ know about humor?"
"Well I know doing harm to others can be humorous. Maybe someone else thought so too."
"I recant my statement."
"Personally, I simply can not wait to get my hands on it. Maybe have a chat - Do me a favor, will you?"
"Uuuugh, seriously? I've been doing everything today."
"......You're right, I'll take care of it."
"Thank you."
"I'll be back in a few minutes. I'm going to see if there are any old codes or overrides that might force the thing to be on our side. That would make things /so/ very much easier."
"Be sure to check with Drakis too, he might know something."
"You do think of everything, don't you?"
"Very nearly."
In fact it was starting to put him on edge. The main reason - by far - that Kete could remain ever so happy and carefree was that he never need worry about who might be behind him. He knew where everyone was at any given time if they were anywhere near him. It was virtually impossible to sneak up on him, to ambush him, unless he was extremely distracted - and even then his instincts had been so honed over those three centuries that it was still difficult.
Yet there was no power or strength in this omnipresence - in fact, there was a sense of weakness.
Because when that sense of stability wavered or crumbled - there was nothing to support it. It was blindness.
Not yet, though. Not blindness - that came with EMP or other devices which could shut down his field entirely. That was when the panic came, when he went essentially mad and became a flailing mass of failure.
This was merely a cataracts - a fog - the headache was that of one who had been concentrating too hard for too long, trying to see through sunlight or mist. Someone who was getting tired.
But the signs were subtle.
"Whatever it is it sounds great." The kid replied with a smile, following the woman vocalizing her decision on his order.
Then the assassin spoke again, his attention returned to her and he brushed a stray lock of hair from his eye. Certainly this had nothing to do with providing just that little bit of extra coverage to the protruding wire - which was still not entirely hidden, but ever so slightly more out of view now.
Either his subconscious was still processing the incoming data of other minds, or his instincts had simply become that sharp - or it could have been mere coincidence that he took that minuscule measure of secrecy at the exact point where the woman was looking.
Or, close, anyway.
"...to this planet...?" He repeated quietly to himself, looking downward in thought.
This was a strange habit which had been present with him as long as he could recall, though he only recalled it vaguely and tended not to notice when he did it. Repeating, in part or in entirety, questions that were asked to him - then looking as though he had never thought about the answer before in his life, however simple or commonplace the subject may have been.
"Well the cargo-liner I'd hitched a ride with told me it was end of the line is all. So I hopped off! That's it, I guess."
Except for the detail of /why/ he had hitched a ride with a cargo starliner in the first place, or the mention that he had been forcibly ejected from the starliner upon landing after being discovered illegally stowing away in a crate of what /should/ have been Hiyamalaian Gopher-in-a-Can.
But such details were best glazed over. He had gotten pretty good about hiding when he was leaving something out, but today with that...weird feeling he was having, it might have been perceptible to a particularly perceptive individual.
That weird feeling! Impossible to put his finger on, yet it was there, he knew it. Something was making it harder to 'see', and it was slowly getting worse.
"It's about time. I've been missing my programs."
"Hey, don't blame me, blame the Administration of Truth over in the communications wing."
"I know, I know. Have you checked it out yet?"
"Nope. Figured you'd wanna' do that."
"Does it really matter?"
"Nope."
"Hit that switch over there, please? Thank you...Wow, this is pretty impressive."
"Yeah, actually. I didn't think it would be nearly that sort of clear. I wonder what the LPS delay is?"
["I've got no strings, to hold me down..."]
"Wow."
"Who...who would program a combat droid to..."
"To sing showtunes as it tore its enemies to meaty shreds?"
"A little descriptive there, Alex. But yes."
"Well if it's really been orbiting a captured moon for thousands of years, isn't it possible something could have gone AWOL in the programming?"
"Yes, but something like /that/? It seems incredibly unlikely."
"Haven't we been around long enough to know that just because something is incredibly unlikely, doesn't mean-"
"Doesn't mean it's impossible, infinite monkeys, yes yes, don't lecture me you brat."
"But I have to agree with you, there's got to be another reason."
"Maybe the programmers just had a good sense of humor?"
"And what in the 'Verse do /you/ know about humor?"
"Well I know doing harm to others can be humorous. Maybe someone else thought so too."
"I recant my statement."
"Personally, I simply can not wait to get my hands on it. Maybe have a chat - Do me a favor, will you?"
"Uuuugh, seriously? I've been doing everything today."
"......You're right, I'll take care of it."
"Thank you."
"I'll be back in a few minutes. I'm going to see if there are any old codes or overrides that might force the thing to be on our side. That would make things /so/ very much easier."
"Be sure to check with Drakis too, he might know something."
"You do think of everything, don't you?"
"Very nearly."
It would take a while for the boy to reach any sort of 'civilization', but at least he'd be away from the gunfire and the only noise that would 'bother' him was the grass rustling under his feet and the ever-growing growling of his stomach. By the sounds of it though, no-one seemed to follow him. There had been some a bit louder stepping a little earlier, but they seemed to stop after the boy started running. Whatever or whoever had caused the rustling had left him alone. Or was he just imaging it? His head was spinning and the boy felt dizzy - it was highly plausible...
The city, town, whatever, didn't really help him feel any better... The ammount of people walking around made him feel bad, nauseous...
No-one really seemed to notice his sickness, or well, all they did was glare at him or walk past like there was nothing out of the ordinary... The boy sighed. No way did he feel like really talking to anyone or asking for advice, who knows, he might just go and snap at somebody - that wouldn't be nice.
He groaned as his stomach did too, but the dizziness forced him to stop his search. The German just basicly went and sat on the closest bench, laid down on it and took a nap. As good as he could with all the noise around him
The city, town, whatever, didn't really help him feel any better... The ammount of people walking around made him feel bad, nauseous...
No-one really seemed to notice his sickness, or well, all they did was glare at him or walk past like there was nothing out of the ordinary... The boy sighed. No way did he feel like really talking to anyone or asking for advice, who knows, he might just go and snap at somebody - that wouldn't be nice.
He groaned as his stomach did too, but the dizziness forced him to stop his search. The German just basicly went and sat on the closest bench, laid down on it and took a nap. As good as he could with all the noise around him
Bravo seized firing his rifle and clamped it on his back, turning around towards the wreckage "Detonation detected, resuming diffusion protocols" he said and began stepping towards the wreckage an arm raising towards the wreckage and a wire cutter attachment from the other arm. His arrival at the wreckage was quick paced as he had his wire cutters snip once to ensure they were functioning, Bravo ripped off an access panel and begin a scan of the wreckage. "Damage sustained, heavy damage as a matter of fact, cannot identify technology preparing diagnosis for possible solutions" The droid stated as he stood just inches away from the wreckage.
Trying to catch his breath after the brief assault against the cybernetic lady, The Ranger were about to check out on his target when his wrist-held device beeped, and that could only mean something bad. Really bad.
"EMERGENCY." - He could hear from his radio feed. "BACKUP HYDROGEN SPLITTER TAMPERING DETECTED. DETONATION IMMINENT."
Just now the Ranger was starting to regret the decision of spending a over two months savings into a mass destruction weapon, just so he could e caught into a cloud of nuclear death. Of course, he had nothing to lose before the recent events of his past doings and the bomb would just destroy anyone who thought they just simply can kill the fabled Mad Ranger, but it seems that his machinations turned against him, judging by the situation.
Disregarding any kind of threat that he may encounter into his way, the masked man shut his hands tightly on his Revolver, dating way back towards his gunship. The screams of a furious Ranger could be easily heard from the depths of the jungle, beyond the clearing where his gunship and Bravo were.
"NO!!! DON'T <beeping> TOUCH ON THE REACTOR!!! YA'LL TAKE ALL OF US STRAIGHT TO HELL!!!"
His heart pounded as fast as he ran towards his fighter. He just hoped he would arrive at it just in time to prevent it from detonating...
With a brief analysis, basic details like approximate explosive yield and superficial mechanical operations of the device could be easily figured out. While the splitting of an hydrogen atom were a primitive form of mass destruction mechanism, Bravo scans could indicate that if the device were triggered, it would take a good chunk of the planet along with it.
Judging by a electrical measurement, the device's contained complex wiring encased into it's inner plates and that if just one of those were plied, the anti-tampering mechanism of the device would turn off, detonating it immediately.
Bravo somehow gained access to the Hydrogen Splitter's Cryptographed Signal Emitter, enabling him to hear any data it sends to a receiver with it's frequency.
For some reason, though, the Hydrogen Splitter could be also modified to serve as a backup thrusting system for the gunship, in the case it's Petroleum Derivative engine had been damaged.
EMERGENCY. BACKUP HYDROGEN SPLITTER TAMPERING DETECTED, DETONATION IMMINENT.
BACKUP HYDROGEN SPLITTER SHUTDOWN IN... 18 MINUTES.
"EMERGENCY." - He could hear from his radio feed. "BACKUP HYDROGEN SPLITTER TAMPERING DETECTED. DETONATION IMMINENT."
Just now the Ranger was starting to regret the decision of spending a over two months savings into a mass destruction weapon, just so he could e caught into a cloud of nuclear death. Of course, he had nothing to lose before the recent events of his past doings and the bomb would just destroy anyone who thought they just simply can kill the fabled Mad Ranger, but it seems that his machinations turned against him, judging by the situation.
Disregarding any kind of threat that he may encounter into his way, the masked man shut his hands tightly on his Revolver, dating way back towards his gunship. The screams of a furious Ranger could be easily heard from the depths of the jungle, beyond the clearing where his gunship and Bravo were.
"NO!!! DON'T <beeping> TOUCH ON THE REACTOR!!! YA'LL TAKE ALL OF US STRAIGHT TO HELL!!!"
His heart pounded as fast as he ran towards his fighter. He just hoped he would arrive at it just in time to prevent it from detonating...
With a brief analysis, basic details like approximate explosive yield and superficial mechanical operations of the device could be easily figured out. While the splitting of an hydrogen atom were a primitive form of mass destruction mechanism, Bravo scans could indicate that if the device were triggered, it would take a good chunk of the planet along with it.
Judging by a electrical measurement, the device's contained complex wiring encased into it's inner plates and that if just one of those were plied, the anti-tampering mechanism of the device would turn off, detonating it immediately.
Bravo somehow gained access to the Hydrogen Splitter's Cryptographed Signal Emitter, enabling him to hear any data it sends to a receiver with it's frequency.
For some reason, though, the Hydrogen Splitter could be also modified to serve as a backup thrusting system for the gunship, in the case it's Petroleum Derivative engine had been damaged.
EMERGENCY. BACKUP HYDROGEN SPLITTER TAMPERING DETECTED, DETONATION IMMINENT.
BACKUP HYDROGEN SPLITTER SHUTDOWN IN... 18 MINUTES.
Lydia stayed kneeled behind her now semi-holy drop pod, her shield in front of her. Her armor couldn't stand hard light, it really couldn't stand up to lasers or beam weapons either, just kinetic projectiles.. The anti-beam coating on her shield, a useful ablative coating against weapons like her own, might have done something, but that sounded iffy at best and not something to try in the field. so Lydia did the best she could do, hiding behind her pod and cutting power to all non-critical components...then wait and hope for a change in the situation.
After Bravo stopped firing, she continued to sit in her position, listening for any indication that he might be moving in to check for her survival. Instead she heard him messing with the Rangers ship and something about a detonation. Not that it mattered, she had decided it was time to leave the nut job droid and return later with a proper capture team. That just left the Ranger himself to take care of. Reactivating all but her active sensor systems, Lydia backs slowly away from her pod and out of the clearing.
Holding up a her right hand, two actually as the movement made it clear the girls had four arms, the larger clearly being mechanical in nature, the right twin make a slight hand gesture "Girls, that goes for you too. Hold fire until fired upon." standing up straight to full height, it also became clear that the one currently speaking in fact stood a couple of inches taller then her other half, even though both stood over seven feet.
Clearing her throat, the taller one addresses Kallenger "Captains Raizy Hartman and Naomi Rall, Fifth Special Operations Group of the Unified System Alliance. You Ardellian's are in a bit trouble. This is an Alliance zone...and normally we would have just escorted you out of this zone and told you to try doing things the official way. But you fired on us, didn't even give us the curtsy of finishing our official little rights speech. Under Alliance charter special provision...." Pausing as if thinking for several moments she then points behind Kallenger "Actually...Lesson time for Corporal Lennox. Our units new little law girl. Corporal, please inform Agent Kallenger here on the charter provision...and the reason for your knife."
With her expression barely changed from her earlier shock, Lennox pipes up loud enough for all to hear "A-Alliance charter special provision Five five dash four...point three zero seven. Any hostile action received After or During intervention inside of declared special operation area zones...is to be ended with any force deemed necessary as dictated by the on-scene commander. In this case Captains Hartman and Rall" taking a breathe she continues ,her eye moving from kallenger to her knife then back "Finally...Alliance training manual chapter three says that the quickest path to ending resistance...is to visibly decapitate the enemy command structure. In this case You Agent Kallenger." Lowering her voice she whispers to Kallenger "Y-You seem like you might be nice outside of your job and I'm sure you have people that care for you. I don't want to actually...remove your head. So please have your men drop their weapons and and apologize. Lets all leave here in one piece? The Captains aren't really bad. If you place nice they might even help you find your criminal. The very least they'll boot you out of the zone...."
After Bravo stopped firing, she continued to sit in her position, listening for any indication that he might be moving in to check for her survival. Instead she heard him messing with the Rangers ship and something about a detonation. Not that it mattered, she had decided it was time to leave the nut job droid and return later with a proper capture team. That just left the Ranger himself to take care of. Reactivating all but her active sensor systems, Lydia backs slowly away from her pod and out of the clearing.
Holding up a her right hand, two actually as the movement made it clear the girls had four arms, the larger clearly being mechanical in nature, the right twin make a slight hand gesture "Girls, that goes for you too. Hold fire until fired upon." standing up straight to full height, it also became clear that the one currently speaking in fact stood a couple of inches taller then her other half, even though both stood over seven feet.
Clearing her throat, the taller one addresses Kallenger "Captains Raizy Hartman and Naomi Rall, Fifth Special Operations Group of the Unified System Alliance. You Ardellian's are in a bit trouble. This is an Alliance zone...and normally we would have just escorted you out of this zone and told you to try doing things the official way. But you fired on us, didn't even give us the curtsy of finishing our official little rights speech. Under Alliance charter special provision...." Pausing as if thinking for several moments she then points behind Kallenger "Actually...Lesson time for Corporal Lennox. Our units new little law girl. Corporal, please inform Agent Kallenger here on the charter provision...and the reason for your knife."
With her expression barely changed from her earlier shock, Lennox pipes up loud enough for all to hear "A-Alliance charter special provision Five five dash four...point three zero seven. Any hostile action received After or During intervention inside of declared special operation area zones...is to be ended with any force deemed necessary as dictated by the on-scene commander. In this case Captains Hartman and Rall" taking a breathe she continues ,her eye moving from kallenger to her knife then back "Finally...Alliance training manual chapter three says that the quickest path to ending resistance...is to visibly decapitate the enemy command structure. In this case You Agent Kallenger." Lowering her voice she whispers to Kallenger "Y-You seem like you might be nice outside of your job and I'm sure you have people that care for you. I don't want to actually...remove your head. So please have your men drop their weapons and and apologize. Lets all leave here in one piece? The Captains aren't really bad. If you place nice they might even help you find your criminal. The very least they'll boot you out of the zone...."
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