I am stuck as to how to get Trapp out of that cockpit without killing him. :D
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Plank Sinatra
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So... how big are the surface bases we're talking about?
A personal post for Itzal in the meantime, while Har and I work out this murder mystery thing. Partly also because I don't want to have to type out a huge massive post in the middle of my semester.
Not many seraphim were willing to admit that just like any other city, Adalrich had its dark corners where crime thrived and sin was currency. Especially not the guards who were charged with protecting the city. They would never publicly admit that one of their most reviled enemies, the Spectres, had their headquarters right in the capital. Of course, they could never admit it as long as they had no clue where the actual headquarters was located. Detailed sweeps of the city by the guards, no matter how discreet or thorough, had never turned up anything.
That was because they all thought like seraphim. For a race that could fly, they would never think to look underground. Or among their own dead. Itzal strolled through the cemetery, stopping at the statue of Mercy. It was so named for it stood guard over the graves of those who had died too young, or of terrible illness. As detailed as the statue was, a closer inspection of the statue would have revealed that there was a missing feather on one of its wings. The missing feather was the key to the door, so to speak. Each member of the Specters had a feather that matched the missing one and placing it upon the wing would reveal a flight of stairs that led straight to the entry.
Of course, stealing a feather would not guarantee one access. Ancient magic tied the feather to the life of its holder. If a Specter were to be killed, the feather would cease to function. If the feather were to be used by anyone else, the thief would find themselves joining the dead in that graveyard. Unsure if the magic was still in place after his "death", Itzal unlocked the entrance and braced himself for the pain. None came.
He descended underground, appearing in an elaborate hall carved right out of the mountain. It was supported by huge marble and obsidian pillars, a testament to the prosperity and brazenness of the founders who built the organisation. Alcoves and balconies also lined the wall, so that floor of the main hall also became a killing floor in case someone managed to breach the entrance. It wasn't crossbows and magic that met Itzal's arrival, but the head of the organisation himself, along with those who were present in the headquarters at the moment. A welcoming committee, or execution squad?
"The prodigal son returns." Veles commented, spreading his arms open and embracing Itzal. The old man sure had gotten sentimental in old age. "A bittersweet moment for me, I suppose. You swore never to return until Halden was brought to justice for his crimes, and that oath was fulfilled. A pity my son would not see reason, but at least I did not lose the one I adopted. Even if he returns with a new face."
Itzal gave a pained smile. Halden was a brother to him once, but the man's death was a weight off his shoulders, not some grudging mercy kill of a man he could not save. No, the bastard made his choice, he reaped its reward. "Come, we have much to talk about."
So passed an hour where Itzal detailed the six years of his journey, or however much of it Veles had not heard through his own agents. Even the part with Neon's quest. Including the events of the past two days. Veles furrowed his brow in frustration. "To murder a councilman in his own home. I suppose you came back for answers more than a reunion."
Itzal nodded. "This was where... she died. I found it hard to return even after the blood debt was paid. I might not have, if the situation were not dire. We are killers, but not warmongers. We do not assassinate a member of the Council and throw the city into chaos. Those are important tenets of our organisation. I cannot imagine Vates had any information that might endanger us that would warrant his death, no matter how much he loved reading ancient tomes."
"No, we have not needed to take such extreme measures in a century. After Halden's treason, I kept a close eye on our operations here. No one could have taken a contract on the councilman without my knowledge or permission. Someone else wanted him dead, though whether it is to incite a war, I cannot say for certain. It seems we need to ferret out this killer." The old man answered. The Specters were assassins and spies, but they thrived in the midst of law and order, not war and chaos. Armies on alert and soldiers on every street were bad for their business, after all.
"Though there is another thing that worries me. The fact that you returned with a new body." Veles got went over to his shelf of books, and pulled out a thick tome that looked like a religious text. "The spell you performed can only be done by a select few. It's not just ancient magic, Itzal. For all their knowledge, none of the ancient races that walked our earth could truly cheat death. It seems my fears are confirmed at last, when I first found you in that burned down village."
Itzal was confused. When he was first taught the spell by Veles, it was described to him as ancient magic only available to shadow users, those who could directly manipulate spirits and the life force unleashed upon death. There was more to this power he was given? What was the old man talking about?
"Perhaps it might be tied to the state of our world at present..." The old man was musing to himself, under his breath.
"Spit it out, old man." Itzal's patience was wearing thin. He had died to achieve this spell and rise anew. The cryptic talk of the old man was pissing him off, and when Veles got in such a mood, he could talk for hours before getting to his point. No, the black seraphim wanted answers now.
"The magic only works for those who have a spark of divinity within them. Individuals chosen by the gods."
That was because they all thought like seraphim. For a race that could fly, they would never think to look underground. Or among their own dead. Itzal strolled through the cemetery, stopping at the statue of Mercy. It was so named for it stood guard over the graves of those who had died too young, or of terrible illness. As detailed as the statue was, a closer inspection of the statue would have revealed that there was a missing feather on one of its wings. The missing feather was the key to the door, so to speak. Each member of the Specters had a feather that matched the missing one and placing it upon the wing would reveal a flight of stairs that led straight to the entry.
Of course, stealing a feather would not guarantee one access. Ancient magic tied the feather to the life of its holder. If a Specter were to be killed, the feather would cease to function. If the feather were to be used by anyone else, the thief would find themselves joining the dead in that graveyard. Unsure if the magic was still in place after his "death", Itzal unlocked the entrance and braced himself for the pain. None came.
He descended underground, appearing in an elaborate hall carved right out of the mountain. It was supported by huge marble and obsidian pillars, a testament to the prosperity and brazenness of the founders who built the organisation. Alcoves and balconies also lined the wall, so that floor of the main hall also became a killing floor in case someone managed to breach the entrance. It wasn't crossbows and magic that met Itzal's arrival, but the head of the organisation himself, along with those who were present in the headquarters at the moment. A welcoming committee, or execution squad?
"The prodigal son returns." Veles commented, spreading his arms open and embracing Itzal. The old man sure had gotten sentimental in old age. "A bittersweet moment for me, I suppose. You swore never to return until Halden was brought to justice for his crimes, and that oath was fulfilled. A pity my son would not see reason, but at least I did not lose the one I adopted. Even if he returns with a new face."
Itzal gave a pained smile. Halden was a brother to him once, but the man's death was a weight off his shoulders, not some grudging mercy kill of a man he could not save. No, the bastard made his choice, he reaped its reward. "Come, we have much to talk about."
So passed an hour where Itzal detailed the six years of his journey, or however much of it Veles had not heard through his own agents. Even the part with Neon's quest. Including the events of the past two days. Veles furrowed his brow in frustration. "To murder a councilman in his own home. I suppose you came back for answers more than a reunion."
Itzal nodded. "This was where... she died. I found it hard to return even after the blood debt was paid. I might not have, if the situation were not dire. We are killers, but not warmongers. We do not assassinate a member of the Council and throw the city into chaos. Those are important tenets of our organisation. I cannot imagine Vates had any information that might endanger us that would warrant his death, no matter how much he loved reading ancient tomes."
"No, we have not needed to take such extreme measures in a century. After Halden's treason, I kept a close eye on our operations here. No one could have taken a contract on the councilman without my knowledge or permission. Someone else wanted him dead, though whether it is to incite a war, I cannot say for certain. It seems we need to ferret out this killer." The old man answered. The Specters were assassins and spies, but they thrived in the midst of law and order, not war and chaos. Armies on alert and soldiers on every street were bad for their business, after all.
"Though there is another thing that worries me. The fact that you returned with a new body." Veles got went over to his shelf of books, and pulled out a thick tome that looked like a religious text. "The spell you performed can only be done by a select few. It's not just ancient magic, Itzal. For all their knowledge, none of the ancient races that walked our earth could truly cheat death. It seems my fears are confirmed at last, when I first found you in that burned down village."
Itzal was confused. When he was first taught the spell by Veles, it was described to him as ancient magic only available to shadow users, those who could directly manipulate spirits and the life force unleashed upon death. There was more to this power he was given? What was the old man talking about?
"Perhaps it might be tied to the state of our world at present..." The old man was musing to himself, under his breath.
"Spit it out, old man." Itzal's patience was wearing thin. He had died to achieve this spell and rise anew. The cryptic talk of the old man was pissing him off, and when Veles got in such a mood, he could talk for hours before getting to his point. No, the black seraphim wanted answers now.
"The magic only works for those who have a spark of divinity within them. Individuals chosen by the gods."
Now we start blowing up Jehan!
5 months ago
"Nishizumi. We need to talk about what happened earlier." Tori came to look for Maki as she sulked alone in a quiet corner of the hangar, watching the technicians repair the severely damaged Hellcat. For a machine that wasn't very well armoured, it seemed to have taken a beating that would have killed her ten times over.
"Come to lecture me on being suicidal?" Maki droned, having heard said lecture from different members of the team already. Tori just chuckled and shook her head. She probably knew that job was taken care of.
"No, I came to thank you for saving those idiots. Someone had to do it. We get a lot of suicide missions but it's not our job to die doing them." Tori replied. That was unexpected. Maki expected commiseration, sympathy. Hell, even a counselling session, but not gratitude. "But you know, that goes for you as well. Don't get yourself killed. You're good, but you're not immortal. Trust the rest to take care of themselves. Your job is just to fight with them, not for them."
Present Day
Maki heard the alarms blaring in her cockpit and cursed. Nothing ever went their way. For once, she'd like to have a day where nothing went wrong and everything just went smoothly as planned. If she continued trying to drag Trapp back out of his fall, they'd be hit by... what the hell was that thing? A missile made from plasma?
Well, a normal missile would have killed two of them, maybe one if they got lucky. That thing was definitely going to get them both. She didn't really have time to dodge it even if she let Trapp go. Dealing with four Coalition machines even with Alice for back up, was a risky bet with the Hellcat wounded. So it meant she had to take option two.
"Trapp, you owe me a fucking drink after this. I'm always covering your ass." Maki grumbled into the comms as she cut power to her thrusters and let Trapp's Sentinel drag her along into the atmosphere. The missile missed, obviously not accounting that the pilots would willing enter freefall with a wounded machine rather than fight back. "Hunter to Lincoln, coming under heavy fire and unable to recover. We're making planetfall."
"Alice, I'm going to need your help. The Sentry's too heavy, once we enter the atmosphere I won't be able to slow this damn thing down."
Alice's mind raced as she suddenly spotted a projectile on a trajectory set for Maki's hellcat. She had never seen such a weapon before: some kind of missile incorporated with plasma. Could it be a new form of EKP weapon? Whatever it was, in the meanwhile, the weapon itself wasn't as important as the damage it could inflict on her teammate. For a moment, she considered moving into it's path and taking the blow for her, as one of her primary functions would require of her. But her already diminished shields couldn't take such a hit, and if she even survived, she would have to return to Santoro and Beil with a wrecked Eagle. One choice would end in certain deresolution, the other with dead teammates and a failed function.
Thankfully, she didn't have to make the choice. At the last moment, Maki cut off her thrusters, letting her fall with Trapp into Jehan's atmosphere and the plasma missile flash past her. But while they avoided that danger, Maki and Trapp were still left tumbling down into the atmosphere, and hostile territory. As fast as she could, Alice blasted towards them and grabbed the tow cable connecting their machines.
"Don't worry, Hunter! You didn't think I'd let you explore a research colony without me, did you?"
She felt a tinge of guilt at leaving the rest of the team behind, but Trapp's Sentry was disabled, and Maki might not be able to hold off the Coalition forces by herself on Jehan's surface. No, they would need an advanced MAS piloting AI on their side for. Besides, the rest of the team had each other. Hell, she was probably more worried that she wouldn't be there to dissect the new white MAS, if the others would even be able to capture it.
With the three beginning to enter Jehan's atmosphere, Alice pulled Maki's and Trapp's machines close and out of the way of her thrusters before diverting as much power as she could to them. Her Eagle wasn't as fast as the Astelion, but she could come damn close, and hopefully could decelerate their entry enough to soften the blow upon impact. Indeed, she slowly began to slow down their fall, but they still plummeted at a dangerous rate, at least for organics.
The ground eventually became visible as they broke the clouds, and while Alice might live when they crashed, Trapp and Nishizumi were still flesh and bones, and likely would be crushed inside their MAS's from the force of the impact. Their shadow became visible on the ground, and she rerouted just a little more power to her thrusters. A few of her systems started to shut down when their power was transferred to the thrusters, but thankfully the rate of their fall continued to slow.
"Trapp! Nishizumi! Brace for impact!"
"That's the understatement of the century." Maki deadpanned as she put power to her thrusters as well. The Hellcat had a lot of grunt in her mobility, but that wasn't meant for decelerating in the atmosphere with a deadweight MAS in tow. The best she could do was to find a soft landing spot. Hopefully Jehan had deserts or lakes somewhere in their trajectory.
"Okay, we might risk bogging ourselves down for the enemy, but there's a lake right there that shouldn't hurt too much." Maki cried out, desperately trying to ignore all the warning sirens going off in her cockpit. The console was very helpfully reminding her that the Hellcat was descending too fast, too quickly, and to cut the cables. The machine was trying to save its pilot. The pilot was trying to save someone else. [/i]"Worst case scenario, we'll punch out of the cockpit before impact and hope the debris doesn't hit us." She wondered for a moment if it might have been better to just let Trapp fall on his own and get hit by the missile. It was probably a less messy way to die than being crushed by her own machine. At least the recovery crew wouldn't have a mess to clean up then.
"I don't think we have much of a choice at this point. It's worth a try!" With that, Alice tilted herself to somewhat try and aim the trio towards the lake Nishizumi indicated. While they still had the advantage of altitude, Alice scanned the horizon, taking note of the terrain surrounding the lake and searching for any Coalition activity in the area. When they landed, they would need to plan what to do next, and understanding the lay of the land would help considerably in that endeavor.
The blaring of the sentry’s siren as the reactor slowly reached critical rose Trap from G-LOC. Body feeling entirely numb and buzzing like a swarm of bees as blood began to rush back to its facilities. He had half expected to be dead by now or at least close to dead but apparently he wasn't so lucky. Out the view screen he could see a mixture of metal, green, and blue as Jehan was slowly getting larger and larger. Though he had not expected to see the Hellcat and Eagle coming down with him for the ride. What were they doing? Trying to save him?
Trapp cursed under his breath for that was the most idiotic thing he had ever heard. Risking two highly experienced pilots and their very expensive toys to save one more? What are they thinking? Flipping a series of switches he waited as static came through and eventually the backup communications array made a low whistle as it came to life. Voices filled his helmet as he checked the Sentry’s condition. All main systems were down making the sentry the equivalent of a very large and expensive falling brick. Reactor integrity was at 20% and falling fast. Alice seemed to be directing them towards a lake which may just actually save their hides if they could cool it down.
”First of all let me say you two are showing blatant disregard towards 101st basic operating procedures. Secondly thank you even though you two are crazy. Thirdly not to put any more pressure on us or anything but the Sentry’s reactor is about to go critical. So we have about three minutes to hit water before we all are consumed in a small nuclear explosion.” He explained checking to make sure he brought his service pistol still strapped to the side of his chair as the lake began to take up more and more of the view in front of them.
"Nishizumi. We need to talk about what happened earlier." Tori came to look for Maki as she sulked alone in a quiet corner of the hangar, watching the technicians repair the severely damaged Hellcat. For a machine that wasn't very well armoured, it seemed to have taken a beating that would have killed her ten times over.
"Come to lecture me on being suicidal?" Maki droned, having heard said lecture from different members of the team already. Tori just chuckled and shook her head. She probably knew that job was taken care of.
"No, I came to thank you for saving those idiots. Someone had to do it. We get a lot of suicide missions but it's not our job to die doing them." Tori replied. That was unexpected. Maki expected commiseration, sympathy. Hell, even a counselling session, but not gratitude. "But you know, that goes for you as well. Don't get yourself killed. You're good, but you're not immortal. Trust the rest to take care of themselves. Your job is just to fight with them, not for them."
Present Day
Maki heard the alarms blaring in her cockpit and cursed. Nothing ever went their way. For once, she'd like to have a day where nothing went wrong and everything just went smoothly as planned. If she continued trying to drag Trapp back out of his fall, they'd be hit by... what the hell was that thing? A missile made from plasma?
Well, a normal missile would have killed two of them, maybe one if they got lucky. That thing was definitely going to get them both. She didn't really have time to dodge it even if she let Trapp go. Dealing with four Coalition machines even with Alice for back up, was a risky bet with the Hellcat wounded. So it meant she had to take option two.
"Trapp, you owe me a fucking drink after this. I'm always covering your ass." Maki grumbled into the comms as she cut power to her thrusters and let Trapp's Sentinel drag her along into the atmosphere. The missile missed, obviously not accounting that the pilots would willing enter freefall with a wounded machine rather than fight back. "Hunter to Lincoln, coming under heavy fire and unable to recover. We're making planetfall."
"Alice, I'm going to need your help. The Sentry's too heavy, once we enter the atmosphere I won't be able to slow this damn thing down."
Alice's mind raced as she suddenly spotted a projectile on a trajectory set for Maki's hellcat. She had never seen such a weapon before: some kind of missile incorporated with plasma. Could it be a new form of EKP weapon? Whatever it was, in the meanwhile, the weapon itself wasn't as important as the damage it could inflict on her teammate. For a moment, she considered moving into it's path and taking the blow for her, as one of her primary functions would require of her. But her already diminished shields couldn't take such a hit, and if she even survived, she would have to return to Santoro and Beil with a wrecked Eagle. One choice would end in certain deresolution, the other with dead teammates and a failed function.
Thankfully, she didn't have to make the choice. At the last moment, Maki cut off her thrusters, letting her fall with Trapp into Jehan's atmosphere and the plasma missile flash past her. But while they avoided that danger, Maki and Trapp were still left tumbling down into the atmosphere, and hostile territory. As fast as she could, Alice blasted towards them and grabbed the tow cable connecting their machines.
"Don't worry, Hunter! You didn't think I'd let you explore a research colony without me, did you?"
She felt a tinge of guilt at leaving the rest of the team behind, but Trapp's Sentry was disabled, and Maki might not be able to hold off the Coalition forces by herself on Jehan's surface. No, they would need an advanced MAS piloting AI on their side for. Besides, the rest of the team had each other. Hell, she was probably more worried that she wouldn't be there to dissect the new white MAS, if the others would even be able to capture it.
With the three beginning to enter Jehan's atmosphere, Alice pulled Maki's and Trapp's machines close and out of the way of her thrusters before diverting as much power as she could to them. Her Eagle wasn't as fast as the Astelion, but she could come damn close, and hopefully could decelerate their entry enough to soften the blow upon impact. Indeed, she slowly began to slow down their fall, but they still plummeted at a dangerous rate, at least for organics.
The ground eventually became visible as they broke the clouds, and while Alice might live when they crashed, Trapp and Nishizumi were still flesh and bones, and likely would be crushed inside their MAS's from the force of the impact. Their shadow became visible on the ground, and she rerouted just a little more power to her thrusters. A few of her systems started to shut down when their power was transferred to the thrusters, but thankfully the rate of their fall continued to slow.
"Trapp! Nishizumi! Brace for impact!"
"That's the understatement of the century." Maki deadpanned as she put power to her thrusters as well. The Hellcat had a lot of grunt in her mobility, but that wasn't meant for decelerating in the atmosphere with a deadweight MAS in tow. The best she could do was to find a soft landing spot. Hopefully Jehan had deserts or lakes somewhere in their trajectory.
"Okay, we might risk bogging ourselves down for the enemy, but there's a lake right there that shouldn't hurt too much." Maki cried out, desperately trying to ignore all the warning sirens going off in her cockpit. The console was very helpfully reminding her that the Hellcat was descending too fast, too quickly, and to cut the cables. The machine was trying to save its pilot. The pilot was trying to save someone else. [/i]"Worst case scenario, we'll punch out of the cockpit before impact and hope the debris doesn't hit us." She wondered for a moment if it might have been better to just let Trapp fall on his own and get hit by the missile. It was probably a less messy way to die than being crushed by her own machine. At least the recovery crew wouldn't have a mess to clean up then.
"I don't think we have much of a choice at this point. It's worth a try!" With that, Alice tilted herself to somewhat try and aim the trio towards the lake Nishizumi indicated. While they still had the advantage of altitude, Alice scanned the horizon, taking note of the terrain surrounding the lake and searching for any Coalition activity in the area. When they landed, they would need to plan what to do next, and understanding the lay of the land would help considerably in that endeavor.
The blaring of the sentry’s siren as the reactor slowly reached critical rose Trap from G-LOC. Body feeling entirely numb and buzzing like a swarm of bees as blood began to rush back to its facilities. He had half expected to be dead by now or at least close to dead but apparently he wasn't so lucky. Out the view screen he could see a mixture of metal, green, and blue as Jehan was slowly getting larger and larger. Though he had not expected to see the Hellcat and Eagle coming down with him for the ride. What were they doing? Trying to save him?
Trapp cursed under his breath for that was the most idiotic thing he had ever heard. Risking two highly experienced pilots and their very expensive toys to save one more? What are they thinking? Flipping a series of switches he waited as static came through and eventually the backup communications array made a low whistle as it came to life. Voices filled his helmet as he checked the Sentry’s condition. All main systems were down making the sentry the equivalent of a very large and expensive falling brick. Reactor integrity was at 20% and falling fast. Alice seemed to be directing them towards a lake which may just actually save their hides if they could cool it down.
”First of all let me say you two are showing blatant disregard towards 101st basic operating procedures. Secondly thank you even though you two are crazy. Thirdly not to put any more pressure on us or anything but the Sentry’s reactor is about to go critical. So we have about three minutes to hit water before we all are consumed in a small nuclear explosion.” He explained checking to make sure he brought his service pistol still strapped to the side of his chair as the lake began to take up more and more of the view in front of them.
Yup, give me a day or two to finish up my uni assignments and I'll get to posting it. Still have to do some formatting on Maki's part
Well, jump on the pad and you'll see why we thought you might want to get involved
I think our collab is more or less ready to go... Just waiting on Myke or Princess if they want to add anything to it
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