There'd been a question regarding X-1 having an emergency shutdown code, to which Joe had simply shouted [color=39b54a]"Probably!"[/color], and then didn't give it any thought because he knew the thing was outside of Shinra control, ergo the ability to tell it to do [i]anything[/i] was out of commission. From his perspective, it seemed rather clear why the machine had modified itself. Given that it was malfunctioning to the point of being 'off the leash', it must've engaged some sort of self-preservation protocols to make certain its combat capabilities remained at high levels. While he was fighting it, he could see that the bits where extra armor and new equipment had been installed were in a damaged state, meaning it'd been damaged previously and needed to replace parts of itself accordingly. No matter. What was important [i]at the moment[/i] was that the woman Turk - Ah, what was it? Lovell? Reno just kept calling her 'Maddie'. - was out of immediate harm's way. She'd managed to keep herself from being buried under a ton of rubble, but Joe had to question her immediate choice of cover. A washing machine? The Sweeper's bullets would chew through that like tissue paper! It was probably just spur of the moment, getting out of immediate sight of the thing. Couldn't blame her for that. The other woman's robo-drones were, in the meantime, creating some decent openings for attack. Well, [i]once[/i], at least. You see, the basic problem with having a disc-shaped shield drone was that, eventually, someone was gonna see it as a frisbee. Cue X-1 treating it as such by grabbing Naisha's flying robot and flinging it away with its grabby scissor claws. Well, it was good while it lasted. He was really starting to dig into armor of the thing, popping the stacked-on metal plates off with the Force Stealer's pointed end. Then, without warning, he saw a blast of ice hit the ground near X-1's foot. It's come from Agent Lovell's direction, probably meaning to hit the thing, but instead caused a big ice patch. [color=39b54a][i]Perfect![/i][/color] He gave the robot a nice big Force Strike and knocked it back. X-1 attempted to stop itself and gain traction, but the ice made that impossible and it slid into a pile of cars near a junkyard crane. The Sweeper had taken a nice bit of damage from that, maybe even receiving proper chassis and part damage now that he'd gotten some of that armor off. Best of all, the Cutter blade was stuck, at least for the moment. It couldn't move! Joe took a stance and prepared to attack, but then he was interrupted by the voice of the woman in the wheelchair. A reset? What, like rebooting a computer? Good god, it couldn't POSSIBLY be that simple! ...could it? About a second ago, it was aiming guns at him, maybe tricking about missling the entire area, when it...stopped moving. Wait, really?! Joe quickly pulled out his phone, and found that the tracking data on his phone was getting new information, a display that Naisha could also see. [hider=X-1 Readout] [center][h3][b]X-1 Status:[/b] [b][color=92278f]UNKNOWN[/color][/b][/h3][/center] [b]REBOOTING FROM CLOUD DATA.....DONE.[/b] [b][color=92278f]UNKNOWN HARDWARE INSTALLATIONS DETECTED.[/color][/b] [b]THE FOLLOWING NON-STANDARD MODIFICATIONS WERE DISCOVERED UPON START-UP: Sweeper AutoCannon x3 Single-Arm Rigging Shinra Cutter Blade Atomic Scissors Super-Tract Light-Treads x2 Shinra Mine/Grenade Deployment Kit[/b] [color=92278f][b]DOWNLOADING GUIDANCE SOFTWARE.[/b][/color] [b]SOFTWARE DOWNLOADING.....DONE.[/b] [color=92278f][b]ACTIVATING OVERCHARGE.[/b][/color] [/hider] Ah shit... It has [i]grenades?[/i] Slightly easier than missles to dodge, but in this junkyard, the shrapnel levels were gonna be through the roof! Naisha couldn't stop the software download. It was automatic [i]and[/i] quick. They couldn't have their robo-killers stumped for [i]long[/i], right? A few second later, the thing's engine went into Overcharge and it pulled itself free from the cars it'd been stuck in, as well. Joe prepared for Round Two, now, but...weirdly...it didn't come. Another quick look at the display would reveal that it was not registering any enemies. At least, for now. Nobody was fighting it [i]at the moment[/i], so it seemed to have forgotten all about he fight it was [i]in[/i]. The X-1 prototype then turned to face Joe...and waited. Joe paused, and then realized that it had scanned him and determined him to be the highest local authority, and [i]that's[/i] when the wheelchair woman's comment from before came back to him. [color=39b54a]"X-1, engage emergency shutdown protocol."[/color] YES! It was responding! He watched it begin to fold in on itself for transport purposes and...oh wait. It couldn't physically do that now. X-1 attempted to collapse into the standard inactive mode for Sweepers and found itself unable to do so. It returned to a standing position, and from there both he and Naisha got an error message and an irritating [i]BLAAAT[/i] noise, indicating that the order could not be completed as directed. Joe sighed in frustration, digging the end of his sword into the dirt. [color=39b54a]"Fine, standby mode, then. Do not act without further orders."[/color] This seemed to satisfy it as its engine calmed and it settled into its usual longterm standing position, completely motionless. Joe knew, of course, that it would react to any attacks on its 'person', of course. He turned to the others in the area now. [color=39b54a]"Alright, immediate problem's dealt with. Yes, I realize this wasn't handled properly and that anybody outside the junkyard might've gotten killed, but I didn't get much choice on how to deal with things, and I was trying to keep it from going out there and [i]definitely[/i] killing alot of people. This unit went rogue. Looks like it has been for weeks. If I hadn't come here, it might've killed half a Sector before someone finally puts it down."[/color] This was all mainly directed at Naisha, since she'd beratted him so venomously before the fight. However, Joe wasn't some heartless or ungrateful pain in the ass, unlike [i]some people[/i] in his line of work - [i]*CoughHeideggerCough*[/i] - that he could mention, so he also softened up, saying [color=39b54a]"Thank you for helping me get it under control."[/color], aaand then he realized that Maddie was in civilian clothes, not her Turk attire, meaning he maaay have just called her 'Agent' out of turn... Honestly, some days, it just doesn't pay to get up. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Akira managed to come through with a nice length of cable relatively fast, and then was trying to suggest a means to lure the robots in before realizing that it may be a bad idea and stating that he didn't want to interfere with whatever Jessie was planning. The Avalanche member gave him sort of a funny look and said [b]"I don't think they need much initiative. They [i]wanna[/i] come in."[/b], indicating that the only thing keeping them from charging in [i]right now[/i] was the fact that they seemed keen on suppressing the mercs at the door first. Even then, they were showing levels of that initiative unseen in robots before. She DID give a nod to the locating of a firehose and DID find such a thing already prepared with an extension line by the good people of Fort Condor...who obviously had to be ready in case of fire emergencies. Once that was in place... [b]"Alright, everybody pull back and ready the hose and the cable!"[/b] Good god, they were lucky that the floor itself was insulated, otherwise this would be a mess... All the remaining mercenaries stepped back, and - as if on cue - in came the Sweepers! Two of them. [i]Just[/i] two of them. Jessie stifled a curse and shouted "NOW!" as everyone in the room did their thing. The water sprayed as X-2 and X-4 began to assess their surroundings, as ordered by X-9. What followed was a bright flash of electricity surging across wet surfaces that everyone got [i]well away from[/i], and the two Sweepers soon overloaded and exploded! Power was shut off, and there was some brief cheering. However...there were only two in here. One of them was still out there. But while they were concerned about the lone Sweeper out there, the technicians back at the bottom of the hill - some of them silently hoping that X-9 would get itself destroyed so they wouldn't have to deal with it - were going over the readouts as they had received some data from the Weapons Division personnel who had discovered just what was wrong with the X-Series. One of them looked back at the active screen once it was reported that the other two Sweepers were finished. [b]"Uhh, guys? You might wanna look at this. I think the randomization is happening..."[/b] [hider=X-9 readout] [center][h3][b]X-9 Status:[/b] [b][color=39b54a]GREEN[/color][/b][/h3][/center] [b]Status of Other X-Series Units: [/b] [b]X-1 - [color=92278f]UNKNOWN[/color] X-2 - [color=ed1c24]DESTROYED[/color] X-3 - [color=ed1c24]DESTROYED[/color] X-4 - [color=ed1c24]DESTROYED[/color] X-5 - [color=ed1c24]DESTROYED[/color] X-6 - [color=00aeef]Currently Deployed in Junon[/color] X-7 - [color=00aeef]Currently Deployed in Junon[/color] x-8 - [color=ed1c24]DESTROYED[/color] X-9 - [color=39b54a]Coordinating, Undamaged[/color] X-10 - [color=ed1c24]DESTROYED[/color][/b] [color=39b54a][b]PROCEEDING WITH ATTACK- ATTAC- ATTA- NEGATIVE. HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS DETECTED. ALL OTHER UNITS UNAVAILABLE.[/b][/color] [b]ORDERS: ATTACK FORT CONDOR.[/b] [color=39b54a][b]NEGATIVE. UNABLE TO PROCEED. CANNOT ATTACK. NEGATIVE. NEGATIVE. NEGATIVE. NEGATIVE. .....[/b][/color] [/hider] >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Back in Junon...things were heating up for a big ole' chase! [center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB9Mi_hf7og[/youtube][/center] The bikes were weaving around other cars, down below. Decent drivers, whoever they were. Avalanche couldn't afford to have too many rookies on their team, otherwise they wouldn't have lasted [i]this long[/i] against Shinra. Tseng continued to follow them, mindful of anything that could be of any obstruction up here. Not as much as in Midgar, of course, but one could not afford to be careless, after all. The Vice-President was looking for the right opportunity to shoot... Tseng felt his phone ringing in his pocket. He'd switched it to vibrate so as to limit the possibility of distraction, but he couldn't just switch it [i]off[/i]. He had bosses to answer to. Only President Shinra could order him to go [i]completely[/i] silent. However, as it happens, this was a [i]good[/i] call. It was from Ranger Krait, who was below them in hot pursuit. To both inform Rufus of this fact and to answer the man, he spoke thus. [b]"Why, [i]I[/i] am in the chopper, Mr. Krait, as is the Vice-President. We will take all necessary precautions. Thank you."[/b] He hung up. Rufus smirked as he explained what Lex said to him. [b]"Good. Star?"[/b] Behind them, Darkstar stood up and casted. Below, the situation was as you'd expect. They were trying to get away from any pursuit - by road or by air - via weaving in and out of traffic as they attempted to get out of the city. They'd take just a little longer than that other guy, though the [i]problem[/i] with that was that the chopper looming overhead could still follow for miles and might just unload on them once they were out of the city, maybe even sooner than that! Biggs and Wedge didn't like their chances, as they were too busy driving to really open fire, and their little peashooters weren't going to be much help, anyway. And then, there were the sudden gunshots. Kanade would've seen a Manaward go up, and then a man in a white suit up there stick his arm out the side window of the helicopter to open fire. It was [i]perilously[/i] close to the rear tires of the bike she was on! If the two Avalanche members hadn't already been working to be as evasive as possible... They were in a bad spot, though. That man would get his bearings [i]soon[/i] and shoot them down, probably to take them alive, which [i]might[/i] mean...which might mean they had something in mind, and [i]that[/i] was never good. Fortunately, Biggs and Wedge's eyes lit up at the mention of grenades, remembering that she could throw like a champ! Biggs reached into his pocket and handed two devices back to her. They looked like compact explosives that magnetized to a surface on impact. [b]"Jessie specials! Don't waste 'em!"[/b] >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The monster had latched itself onto the moving can as it tried to dislodge it, but it was stuck fast to its scalp, so it wouldn't be going anywhere. There were sounds of potential prey inside of the thing, and that was good. The giant owl-beast almost tried to lift the damn machine right off of the ground, though it was too heavy for that. Tace would find that his Zenzelett rider wasn't going anywhere, so he'd have to get rid of the thing himself. To that end, he got out of his car quickly - an errant talon would get [i]real close[/i] as he did - and soon he was ready to fight. The flying beast screeched at him again, launching a Thunderbolt at him before jumping off of the car and going into a claws-first power dive! Luckily, about mid-dive, his spellcasting took effect, and the bird-beast descended upon him more slowly. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Back in Midgar, Aiko had managed to secure a job, and one that she would excell in with her personal talents, no less. A decided 'Take That!' to the forced of evil working for Don Corneo, at the very least. Soon, there would be some excitement going on, and a challenge, to boot. Oh, if she only knew the [i]purpose[/i] of that venture...and how much was going on around her during her day-to-day life. The Avalanche member was satisfied once he had secured the services of the girl. Yeah, he'd heard of [i]that one[/i]. Definitely a stroke of luck, getting her to sign on. Well, he could move on, then, and report in person to the others. He was heading off, then, when he found himself accosted by what looked like a gang of roughs. [b]"Can I help you gentlemen?" "Yeah, just a little favor is all. You're gonna cancel whatever it is you got going with that girl. Someone's got [i]plans[/i] for her." "Is that a fact? Well, I don't really give a damn." "Oh, you will, buddy. You [i]will[/i]."[/b] He really didn't, and to demonstrate this fact, he dropped a Smokebomb and kicked the lead man in the face to get past and head out the alley he'd been using, giving them all a decided laugh as he - at least for them - practically vanished. Well, what could they do, really? They didn't stand a chance against a career [i]mercenary[/i]. This town was gonna blow, so he didn't have time for these petty-anty thugs. Although, speaking of which, Aiko might notice after a while that she herself was being followed...by three goons who looked like they were in a gang, a little short on cash and brains, and figured her for an easy something-or-other. Or they were more of the Don's trash. Either way, a situation to be resolved, yes?